What else can be CAPTURED? Exploring the opportunity structures of illegal trade markets

The study of opportunity structures surrounding the theft of hot products led to the development of the well-established CRAVED framework. It has been argued that to further understand the dynamics of hot products as they navigate through an illicit market beyond its initial theft, the CAPTURED framework may be of use. The current paper provides an overview of three crime types involving a scheme consisting of an initial theft with the movement of those hot products into illicit secondhand markets: organized retail crime, metal theft and organ trafficking. Through these three case studies, special attention will be given to understanding the stages involved in the commission of each of these crimes, identifying ways to destabilize opportunities within each of those stages, presenting possibilities for future research to better understand the mechanisms for how these multi-stage crimes are committed, and discussing policy suggestions to address these issues for practitioners.