A review of the literature on criminal and illegal entrepreneurship reveals significant diversity in terms of research approach, level of analysis, and focus. This heterogeneity underscores the need for a comprehensive and systematic analysis. In this mixed-methods study, we employ a bibliometric approach, specifically co-occurrence analysis, to map the intellectual landscape of this field. Subsequently, we conduct a qualitative content analysis to develop a conceptual framework of the research conducted within the past 35 years (1989-May 4, 2024). First, we conducted a co-occurrence analysis of studies published in the Web of Science database within the specified timeframe. The analysis revealed that "entrepreneurship," "business," "crime," "behavior," "organized crime," "corruption," "illegal," and "farmers" were the most frequently occurring keywords, with total link strengths of 85, 46, 26, 27, 16, 14, 20, and 17, respectively. Second, through qualitative content analysis of the selected studies, we developed a conceptual framework that categorized the existing research into seven major themes: 1. Antecedents of the formation and development of illegal and criminal entrepreneurship, 2. Conceptualizations of illegal entrepreneurship, 3. Consequences of criminal and illegal entrepreneurship, 4. Change strategies of illegal businesses, 5. Intervening factors between antecedents and illegal entrepreneurship, 6. Intervening factors between illegal entrepreneurship and its consequences, and 7. Environmental institutions. Finally, the study concludes with a discussion of the practical and policy implications of the findings and outlines promising avenues for future research.