Policing the Flow of Goods

This book examines the often-overlooked role of customs authorities in today’s pluralised security landscape. Drawing on four years of fieldwork within the Belgian customs administration, the book explores how customs officers police the movement of illicit goods, from undervaluation fraud and illegal tobacco trade to drug trafficking.

Through observations, interviews and documentary research, it provides a rare inside view of how customs authorities operate and how they perceive and reflect on their role, place and nature as a policing actor. The book elucidates the complex dimensions that position customs as a key policing actor and examines the dynamics of its collaborative partnerships in the governance of illicit flows of goods. Building on these insights, it builds the argument of customs being an essential, yet multi-faceted policing body. Focusing on Belgium while consistently situating the analysis within wider European and international developments, the book offers the first comprehensive criminological analysis of customs. In doing so, it contributes new perspectives to debates on policing, borders, security governance and the regulation of global trade.

Therefore, the book provides relevant insights for scholars, students and practitioners engaged with the intersecting fields of, inter alia, (geo)politics, trade, criminology and public administration.