UNODC, through the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP) of the Ghent University in Belgium, carried out a study on the links between organized crime, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. The objective of this exercise was to provide insight into what is known on the involvement of organized crime in trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants cases. Developing appropriate criminal justice responses to combat trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants as forms of organized crime requires a knowledge-based response More information about human trafficking on the website of UNODC.