Tag Archives: organized crime
How the Mob Gets Rich Off of Recessions
Great article from Roberto Saviano, an author I admire a lot, about how economic climates affect crime, something I argue strongly about in posts about Russian Organized Crime. http://www.vice.com/read/how-the-mob-gets-rich-off-of-recessions-0000528-v21n12 The Mafia has always profited from economic crisis. Recessions fill up the … Continue reading
The Uralmash Gang- A Case Study of Russian Organized Crime
The Uralmash gang is a good case study because it demonstrates how by adapting to the changing circumstances of the transition, Uralmash was able to overpower the Vory in one of their traditional strongholds and insert themselves into the political … Continue reading
The Globalization of Russian Organized Crime
Another important trend in Russian organized crime is globalization. Expansion happened quickly after the transition- by 1993 the Russian police claimed that crime groups based in the former Soviet Union conducted business in twenty-nine nations.[1] Different parts of the world … Continue reading
Krysha- Organized Crime and Private Protection in Russia
In the first years of the 1990s, violence and crime were rampant in Russian cities. Crime rose by 33 percent from 1991 to 1992, and in 1993, the murder rate increased 27 percent while crimes committed with firearms rose an … Continue reading
The Political-Criminal Nexus in Russia
When the political establishment collaborates with the criminal underworld, they form a political-criminal nexus (PCN). PCNs undermine state-building, rule of law, and the trust between the state and its citizens that is required for good governance.[1] While the Vory were … Continue reading
Bandits: Understanding the Post-Soviet Russian Criminal Class
Unlike the traditional mafia in Italy, or crime groups in Columbia or Mexico, criminal organizations in Russia were not based on ethnic ties, but built from groups of people with similar backgrounds.[1] Many of the bandits had ties to the … Continue reading
The Vor v Zakone: Soviet Era Organized Crime
Organized crime was radically different during the Soviet era than in the post-Soviet era. Officially, the Communist Party taught that there was no organized crime in the Soviet Union, but in reality, organized crime thrived in the vast networks of … Continue reading
Deviant Globalization, the new criminal markets of the modern world
Globalization, like most things, is neither purely good nor purely bad, but contains elements of both. Globalization allowed for increased trade and financial freedom, but companies and states are not the only groups that have benefited. Organized crime has managed … Continue reading
Following the Money, the financial tools available to fight Organized Crime
Fighting organized crime and carrying out the “war on drugs” presents several unique challenges to law enforcement. Many organized crime groups operate in a culture of Omerta, or the virtue of silence. In this culture, it is prohibited to provide … Continue reading
The Criminal-Terror Nexus, exploring connections between Terrorism and Organized Crime
In recent decades, the connections and similarities between terrorism and organized crime have increasingly grown. Long time terrorist groups like the FARC in Colombia or the PKK in Turkish Kurdistan have been dedicating more and more time and resources to … Continue reading