INW 2026

15th Illicit Networks Workshop

June 29–30, 2026 | Complexity Science Hub | Vienna, Austria

Register

Image: Complexity Science Hub

Programme

The detailed schedule will be announced closer to the event. Below is the list of accepted presentations.

Stream 1 — Publication Ready Research

  1. Structural determinants of youth violent victimisations: Evidence from Cambridgeshire, UK
    Paolo Campana, Noemi Corsini and Cecilia Meneghini
  2. Layers of Trust: Multiplex Social Ties and the Structural Organization of the Sinaloa Cartel Network from El Chapo’s Trial
    Francesco Calderoni
  3. Illicit Enterprise and Innovation: A Comparison of Two Financial Malware Networks
    Jonathan Lusthaus, Michael Levi, Rutger Leukfeldt, Thomas Holt and Edward Kleemans
  4. Understanding Self-Starter Terrorism: A Network Mobilization Perspective
    Michael Genkin and Alexander Gutfraind
  5. Disrupting Terrorist Networks: Comparing the Effectiveness of Social Network Analysis-Informed Intervention Strategies
    Callum Jones, David Bright, Chad Whelan, Matthew Roughan, Lewis Mitchell and Cameron Cornell
  6. Shaming Epstein’s licit and illicit networks
    Michael Levi
  7. Multiplex Illicit Networks in Global Sport Governance: A Social Network Analysis of Corruption in the FIFA World Cup Bidding Process
    Lucas Tosi Rodriguez, Sarah Osman and Stefano Caneppele
  8. The Role of Social Embeddedness in Violent Youth Co-offending
    Shaun McLaws, Molly McCarthy, Stephane Shepherd and David Bright
  9. White-Label Fraud Ecosystems: Campaign Clustering and Multiplex Infrastructure Network Analysis of Online Investment Scams
    Ashleigh Rhea Gonzales Burnside and Ian MacKinnon
  10. Decoding the Global Cocaine Supply Chain
    Bart Peters, Frederike Oetker, Robby Roks and Huijuan Wang
  11. Green-Collar Crime: A Social Network Analysis of Transnational Emissions-Credit Fraud
    Christian Leuprecht and Rhianna Hamilton
  12. Beyond Source–Transit–Destination: Using Social Network Analysis and Clustering to Identify Dynamic Country Roles in Global Cocaine and Heroin Flow Networks
    Phillip Screen
  13. Hybrid Criminal Ecosystems: A Network Theory of Corruption–Cybercrime Convergence
    Issa Luna-Pla
  14. Predicting the formation of co-offending ties among Outlaw Motorcycle Gang affiliates
    David Bright, Callum Jones, Tomas Diviak, Chad Whelan and Hamid Azizi
  15. Adaptive dynamics of procurement corruption: A multilevel longitudinal network analysis of municipal contracting in Guatemala, 2012–2026
    Harald Waxenecker and Christina Prell
  16. Selecting For Certainty: How Workplace Friendships Form and Function in Police Work
    Marie Ouellet, Sadaf Hashimi and Na Na
  17. The emergence crime-as-a-service money laundering networks in the Netherlands
    Paul Duijn
  18. Criminal Social Network Analysis: The Challenge of Digital Crimes
    Kerlly Santos and Luciano Digiampietri
  19. Exploring the Dynamic Interplay between Communication and Co-offending Using Relational Hyperevent Data on an Italian Mafia Network
    Tomáš Diviák, Caterina Paternoster, Jürgen Lerner and Francesco Calderoni

Stream 2 — In-Progress Research

  1. Social foraging for crime: A formal model of co-offending dynamics
    Ruslan Klymentiev, P. Jeffrey Brantingham, Rafael Prieto-Curiel, Luis E. C. Rocha and Christophe Vandeviver
  2. The role of darknet marketplaces for the supply of highly potent synthetic opioids
    Meropi Tzanetakis and Teodora Groshkova
  3. The Evolution of Drug-Control Regulation: A Network Approach
    Alyssa Meier and Corinna Coupette
  4. Structural Patterns in Interfamily Marriages in the ’Ndrangheta
    Caterina Paternoster, Daniele Durante, Maurizio Catino and Alberto Aziani
  5. State capture in the Italian public procurement network
    Marti Medina-Hernandez, Mihaly Fazekas and Janos Kertesz
  6. Shared Cryptocurrency Infrastructure Across Dark Web CSAM Services
    Thomas Niedermayer and Eljo Haspels
  7. Beyond Events: Political and Structural Drivers of Interstate Cyber Relations
    Gaia Michelazzi
  8. Beyond Individual Vulnerability: A Temporal Network Analysis of Incel Radicalisation in Online Forums
    Giorgia Caon
  9. How Prescription Regimes Shape Illicit Demand and Supply in Online Drug Markets
    Filippo Andrei, Ákos Szigeti and Richard Frank
  10. Cocaine Trafficking via Container Ships, Dynamics between Corruption, and Inspections: A Neural Network Agent-Based Model
    Maykol Rodriguez Prieto and Daniel Cárdenas Sánchez
  11. Evolving Ties: A Longitudinal Analysis of Youth Peer Network Dynamics in a British Columbia Youth Recreational Centre
    Courtney Robertson and Martin Bouchard
  12. Understanding illicit knowledge sharing on online platforms in the facilitation of economic crime and cyber crime
    Rose Alexander, Jess Kelly, David Décary-Hétu and Samantha Dowling
  13. Modeling the evolution of human trafficking networks using Bayesian network reconstruction methods
    Felipe Aros-Vera and Edward Asante
  14. Mapping the Shadows: Graph-Theoretic Intelligence and Behavioral Clustering Across the TRON Transaction Network
    Tanmay Thapliyal and Rachit Agarwal
  15. Mapping the ‘mafia cultural-digital drift’. A digital ethnography of networks of Calabrian parochialism and ’ndrangheta values on TikTok
    Anna Sergi
  16. The role of prescription drugs in darknet markets
    Katharina Ledebur, Richard Frank and Bernhard Haslhofer

Registration

Registration for non-speakers will open on April 1, 2026. Accepted speakers will receive registration details by email.

Key Dates

Proposals due
March 2, 2026
Notification
March 9, 2026
Full papers due
June 22, 2026
Workshop
June 29–30, 2026

Venue

Welcome to the Complexity Science Hub!

The Complexity Science Hub (CSH) is Europe’s research center for the study of complex systems, based in Vienna. Founded in 2016, the CSH is home to around 80 scientists driven by the growing need for a genuine understanding of the networks that underlie society – from healthcare and cybercrime to supply chains.

Address: Complexity Science Hub, Metternichgasse 8, 1030 Vienna

Download Venue Guide (PDF)

Getting to Vienna

From Vienna Airport (Schwechat): Take the REX 7 (direction Wien Floridsdorf) or S7 (direction Wolkersdorf) to station “Rennweg” – approx. 25 minutes. From there it’s a 6-minute walk to CSH. Tickets can be purchased via the ÖBB app or at the red ticket machines at the station.

From Vienna Central Station (Hauptbahnhof): Take any S-Bahn (S1, S2, S3) or regional train to station “Rennweg” – approx. 10 minutes. Walk along Rennweg toward Unteres Belvedere, turn right into Metternichgasse; the CSH entrance is on the left.

Stations Nearby

  • Bus 4A (Am Modenapark) – 4 min walk
  • Tram 71 (Unteres Belvedere) – 3 min walk
  • Tram O (Rennweg) – 6 min walk
  • Metro U4 (Stadtpark) – 10 min walk
  • S-Bahn S1, S2, S3, S7 (Rennweg) – 6 min walk

Accommodation

NH Hotel Belvedere – 2 min walk from CSH
magdas Hotel – 10 min walk from CSH (discount code: CSH280626)
Lindner Hotel am Belvedere – 5 min walk from CSH

About

The Illicit Networks Workshop (INW) includes the leading scholars and analysts from across the world that share a research interest in the use of network analysis in furthering the understanding of the activities of individuals, groups and organisations engaged in organised crime, gangs, transnational crime, terrorism, economic crime and corruption issues. The INW is designed with the goal of maximizing meaningful and on-going knowledge exchange among researchers, policy makers and those involved in policy, programme and practical engagement with illicit networks. While some members draw heavily on quantitative social network analysis, others utilise other methods (e.g., ethnography) for studying illicit networks. The focus is less on the relative merits of approach and more on the rigour of the science and value of the insights to theory building and practical policy solutions.

INW was launched by Andrew Goldsmith from Flinders University in 2008. Carlo Morselli (R.I.P.) joined the organizing committee in 2009 as the head of the Équipe de recherche sur la délinquance en réseau (ERDR) at the Université de Montréal. INW has been hosted in six countries since its inception.

Sponsor

Past Events:
2024: Leiden, Netherlands · 2023: Melbourne, Australia · 2022: Limerick, Ireland · 2019: Montreal, Canada · 2018: Seattle, USA · 2017: Adelaide, Australia · 2016: London, UK · 2015: Montreal, Canada · 2014: Adelaide, Australia · 2013: Los Angeles, USA · 2012: Vancouver, Canada · 2011: Cardiff, Wales · 2010: Wollongong, Australia

Committee

Scientific Committee

Local Organizers

Contact

INW 2026: Bernhard Haslhofer

Past & future editions: David Décary-Hétu

Stay in touch: @NetworkIllicit · Mailing List