Listed below are profits and income generated by illegal jobs that generate income from the black market. The data regarding the illegal jobs and the cash that drug dealers, pimps, and other illegal business practices earn is based upon public documents. Click on the figure to see the source of the numbers.
All profits from crime and black market criminal activities is listed in US dollars.
- Afghanistan – Taliban – $200 Million a year from Opium
- Antique Looter – 1 percent of final sale price
- Asian Massage Parlor – New Jersey, United States – $108,000 per year
- Asian Massage Parlor – Washington DC, United States – $1.2 Million per year
- Assassin – Colombia – $600 monthly retainer, $3,000 per hit
- Assassin – Mexico – $3,000 to teenagers
- Bootlegger – Pakistan – $4,000 per year
- Bride Trafficker Broker – Cambodia – $1,500 per bride
- Child Beggar – Pakistan – $1.88 to $2.36 per day
- Child Beggar – Thailand – $20 per day
- Child Begging Ring – China – $40,000 per year
- Child Begging Ring – Saudi Arabia – $15,000 per month
- Child Prostitute – New Zealand – $496 to $662 per day
- Cigarette Smuggler – Mali – $200 per trip, $2,000 if cocaine
- Cigarette Smuggling – USA – $500,000 from One Run
- Cigarette Truck Unloader – Indian Reservation, USA – $200 per truck
- Coal Mining – Mexico – $25 Million by Los Zetas
- Coca Farmer – Peru – $9,860 per year, $1,554 growing coffee
- Cockfighting – Management of Matches – $2,000 a day
- Cockfighting – Prize Money for Winning Rooster – $15,000
- Counterfeit Dollars – Peru – $20,000 for every $100,000 in fakes
- Counterfeit Drug Seller – $450,000 based on $1,000 investment
- Crystal Meth Smuggler – Indonesia – $311 per trip
- Custom Officials – Mexico – $1 Million per shipment passed through
- Driver License Broker – Afghanistan – $10,000 per year
- Drug Dealer – Rio de Janeiro – $15 Million in Favelas
- Drug Mule – Indonesia – $15,000 to swallow 76 capsules of heroin
- Drug Mule – Panama – $5,000 per trip
- Drug Mule – Paraguay Local – $200 per trip
- Drug Mule – Paraguay Tourist – $3,970 per trip
- Drug Mule – Teen in Mexico – $50 to $100 per trip across border
- Drug Smugglers – Guatemala – $600 Million to $800 Million per year
- Extortionist – Guatemalan Prison – $6,000 a week
- Extortionist Gang – Colombia – $100,000 per month
- Fake Degrees – Europe – $50 Million per year to 15,000 customers
- Fake Degrees Online Website – $5 Million in 9 years
- Football Match Fixing Syndicate – $15 Billion per year
- Gambling Runners – Singapore – $1,957 per day handling bets
- Gold Smuggler – India – $33.50 for 10 grams
- Gun Straw Purchasers – United States$500 per gun for Mexican Drug Cartel
- Heroin Dealer – Ireland – $694 per week
- High Class Escort – Florida, United States – $80,000 a month
- Human Smugglers – Indonesia – $1 Million per boat to Australia
- Human Smugglers – South Korea – $2,500
- Human Trafficker – Canada – $79,380 per year
- Human Trafficker – New York City – $100,000 per year
- Human Trafficker – United Kingdom – $77,000 per year
- Human Trafficker – Vietnam – $470 to move victim to China
- Human Trafficking Broker – Bangladesh – $1,638 per girl
- Human Trafficking Broker – Ireland – $394 per child
- Kidnappers – Virtual Kidnappers – $1,000 to $3,000 per ransom
- Legal Brothel Owner – 40 to 50 percent of sex workers earnings
- Logger – Madagascar – $1.33 per kilo for illegal timber
- Marijuana Plant – United States – $2,200
- Meth Trafficking – Thailand – $168 per trip
- Money Launderer – Mexico – 15 cents to each dollar laundered
- Money Mule – United Kingdom – 8 percent of cash laundered
- Oil Thieves – Nigeria – $6,098 per day
- Online Dating Scammers – Ivory Coast – $13,000 a month
- Online Drug Dealer – $3 Million for Top Seller on Silk Road
- Online Extortion – $500 to $15,000 in “sextortion”
- Online Game Hacker – $16,000 a month in China
- Online Streaming Website – $4.4 Million for largest sites
- Opium Farmer – Afghanistan – $4,900 vs $770 for wheat farmer
- Opium Farmer – Myanmar – $6 per day vs. $1.20 for rice
- Opium Farmer – Students – $15 to $20 per day during season
- Organ Trafficker – Turkey – $10,000 profit