This brief offers a unique and innovative account of the role of internet and digital technologies in human smuggling and trafficking.  It explores new illegal paths through the web by analyzing how traffickers and smugglers use the visible and dark web during different phases of the process, including recruitment, transportation, and exploitation. Featuring case studies from two European countries, Italy and the United Kingdom, it outlines the types of websites used in these processes, how they are used, and common behavior patterns. With a view of transnational criminal activities involving actors from individual criminal entrepreneurs to organized crime groups and fluid large criminal networks, this brief will be of use to law enforcement, researchers of trafficking and organized crime, and policy makers.

Georgios A. Antonopoulos is Professor of Criminology at Teesside University, UK.

Gabriele Baratto is Research Fellow in Criminology at the University of Trento, Italy.

Andrea Di Nicola is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Trento, Italy.

Parisa Diba is Research Associate at Teesside University, UK.

Elisa Martini is former Research Fellow in Criminology at the University of Trento, Italy.

Georgios Papanicolaou is Reader in Criminology at Teesside University, UK.

Fiamma Terenghi is Research Fellow in Criminology at the University of Trento, Italy.

1. Introduction.- 2. The role of the internet and digital technologies in human smuggling and trafficking in Italy.- 3. The role of the internet and digital technologies in human smuggling and trafficking in the United Kingdom.- 4. Conclusion: human smuggling, human trafficking and the role of communication technologies.