Throughout history, and under the influence of social changes, the forms of criminal associations have also changed. The globalization of the world and the modernization of business practices have led to the connection of international criminal groups. By increasing the speed of business, the activity of criminal associations also increased. As a result of the increasing occurrence of organized crime, the occurrence of a larger amount of money and property acquired illegally also followed. In order to deal with the growing global problem, states have decided to establish and harmonize the international legal framework by adopting conventions and other legal sources in order to fight against organized crime and money laundering. The implementation of international legal sources in the domestic legal system led to the expansion of the scope of punishable behavior in order to suppress the emergence of organized crime. The adoption of new regulations and changes to existing ones creates current judicial practice, which has been asked legal questions, some of which will be the subject of this thesis. The diploma thesis deals with the topic of the appearance of organized crime, its specificities in Croatia and Croatian legislation through the period from the foundation of the Republic of Croatia to the current situation today. The diploma thesis also deals with the topic of money laundering through an identical time period. Money laundering and the appearance of organized crime are analyzed through legal regulations and court practice, taking care to emphasize the changes that occurred in the mentioned period. In the final part of the paper, the connection between the two processed entities is analyzed based on statistical data and judicial practice.