Russian Organized Crime's Hierarchy

In this paper it was asked of us as a team to give an in-depth historical analysis of an organized crime group. With this class being about organized crime one would think to write about mobsters, but we decided to think outside the box. Even though when thinking of organized crime the first thought is The Italian Mafia and groups of that sort, one has to remember that organized crime comes in many different forms of organizations. From this class we were able to understand more on organized crime and who can be classified as an organized crime organization. Organizations that one would never really think of as having ties to organized crime may have some

3. Characterize the initiation ritual. How do you think it compares to the “real” ritual – if such a ritual exists?

Organized crime in Canada can be identified as a multi-layered issue throughout the country. Posing a significant threat to the safety of Canadian citizens, it would prove beneficial to seek further information on crime networks in relation to how and why organized crime networks occur and how they can be/are being controlled. Illegal acts such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, prostitution and theft undoubtedly catalyze adverse effects on the communities in which they operate in and around, and should therefore be analyzed more in depth in an effort to keep Canadians safe. This paper will be discussing the description and function of organized crime networks in Canada, as well as how these networks relate to street gangs, drug trafficking

Organized crime is found in the United States of America today and the law enforcement agencies are trying to find a way to curb its existence. Even though there are illegal businesses associated with organized crime, they are mixed in with legal businesses to portray a legal front. It also can be called a social institution because it is led by a boss and follows a chain of command much like a pyramid. Empirical and speculative theories have been developed through the years in order for the law enforcement agencies to better understand organized crime and how to deal with it. This paper will examine a social institution as it applies to

Russian organized crime in the United States is unique to traditional organized crime, specifically La Costa Notra, in several ways. These unique traits distinguish the abilities and operations of Russian organized crime. It is generally agreed by researchers and practitioners that Russian groups are generally less structured than Italian organized crime groups. Additionally, they have thrived by adapting to and exploiting technology. Many Russian organized crime members are highly educated, including Semyon Moglievich who had a degree in economics (Radanko, 2011). There are also Russian mafia members who have PH.D’s in mathematics, engineering, or physics (Friedman, 2000). Many law enforcement agencies characterize Russian organized crime as organized crime groups who primarily speak the Russian language, thus comprised of groups from different regions of the former Soviet Union. For the purposes of this paper, this author will follow the same guideline to characterize Russian organized crime.

Oligarchy as it is known in Aristotle’s politics; is a government run by a small group of people, ‘elites’. However, the oligarchy which this essay addresses is currently referred to in Russia as “a very wealthy and politically well-connected businessman...one who is the main owner of a conglomerate of enterprises and has close ties with the president” (Aslund and Dabrowski, 2007; 144). In the 1990s Russia’s economic reforms are said to have created the rise of a small group of oligarchs who gained an overwhelming amount of power and control. By 1997, this small group of previously unknown businessmen and bankers, often with gangster ties, had acquired control of many of the key parts of the Russian economy. Why did they emerge? It is argued by David Satter that three processes facilitated the emergence of the oligarchs. The first was hyperinflation and the social, economic and political consequences. The second was the process of privatisation, and finally the third was criminalisation (Satter, 2003). However, were these powerful oligarchs just a phase during the transition from Soviet to Post-Soviet Russia? Even with Putin’s efforts and declaration to distance the oligarchs from politics and power, and start a war against them exemplified by the Khodorkovsky affair, are oligarchs still significantly powerful in contemporary Russia? What is the role they play in Russia? It seems that the power of those original oligarchs of the 1990s has decreased or been concealed in

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, criminal organizations have begun to develop within various nations throughout the world. Some of these criminal organizations consist of various national and ethnic groups who centralized themselves as a single enterprise and various illegal activity which results in monetary gains, such as drug trafficking, racketeering, human trafficking, setting up illegal gambling establishments, and corrupting the local government with members of their own. For example, the Mexican drug cartels control one of the vast drug routes in Latin America while the Sicilian Mafia have set up a large protection racketing system throughout Italy. The Yakuza have established themselves in Japan and are

Organized crime in America comes in many structures, yet it was the Mafia that developed with the most elevated profile and aided in various demonstrations of Congress to enable law authorities to deal with the threat. In the meantime, a significant part of the early history of organized crime is generally indistinguishable from political corruption. In the first half of the twentieth century, the law had regularly been known to choose not to see to illegal activity in light of personal involvement, the risk of striking back, or political weight. In spite of the fact that organized crime long originates before Prohibition, it was the illegal production and distribution of alcohol that made endless offenders extremely wealthy and started the

The characteristics defined above provide a basis for deciding if a specific group of criminals represent organized crime. This type of information is essential because organized crime has be handled in a different way from those of traditional offenders. Researchers can do a more comprehensive understanding could be acquired from the many empirical and speculative theories that contribute in the clarification of organized crime; this writer would it to be known that there is not one theory that can be applicable to the various groups of organized crime or its participants (Mallory & Mallory, 2012).

When people think of organized crime they think of the Italian mob and the Russian mafia. They are the ones that they see in movies and on television, and the ones that they hear about the most. However, they were created a couple centuries after their Asian counterparts, the Yakuza in Japan, and the Triads in China. These Asian syndicates were founded in the sixteenth and seventeenth century and consisted of merchants and other people in what was basically the middle class. They were just groups of poorer people who were just looking for protection or were trying to help other people. The first organized crime syndicates were a kind of Robin Hood, they helped the poor. They weren’t big or powerful, and they didn’t have large numbers. The

The Russian Mafia: Protectionism in the New Capitalist Russia The Russian Mafia has always exercised an important role in the Russian economy. The contemporary mafiosi are descendents of the seventeenth Century highwaymen and Cossack robbers. These men occasionally murdered families prior to raids preventing them from being captured. The Russia mafiosi made a point to remain aloof from the state. Mob men were actually spurned when returning home from fighting in the Great Patriotic War. The gangs begin to dominate markets such as car sales, spare parts, cigarettes, food distribution, and other markets that the Communist Party failed to provide under the Bolsheviks (Remnick196). Since the collapse of Communism and the

The term "Russian organized crime" (ROC) refers to criminal groups from the 15 republics which comprised the former Soviet Union. ROC has existed for 20 years in the United States but during the last five years law enforcement authorities have observed a distinct increase in their criminal activities. Criminals from the former Soviet Union have established their networks in major cities and are also emerging in some smaller cities. ROC groups are involved in murder, money laundering, extortion, auto theft, weapons smuggling, narcotics trafficking, prostitution, counterfeiting currency, and a multitude of complex fraud schemes.

The topic of this paper is gangsters in organized crime can either work alone or work with other gangsters. When people commit crimes with other criminals, their personal ties to each other become strong when there is especially trust or there could be no trust, however, those ties can become strong at some point.

The Russian Mafia, also known as Bratva (Brotherhood) is a collection of various organized crime groups that originated during the former Soviet Union era. It is made up of underworld leadership in which engages in providing illegal goods and services that range anywhere from drugs and weapons smuggling to gambling and human trafficking. As in the U.S, there is no universally accepted definition of organized crime in Russia. However, the Bratva shares many basic characteristics with other well-known criminal organizations such as the Italian Mafia. Therefore, the definition that has been commonly used in the U.S will be fitting for the Bratva as well. The FBI defines organized crime as, "any group having some manner of a formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities" (FBI). The Bratva falls under this definition with one of its many groups, the 'Vory v Zakone ', which translates to 'Thieves-in-law '. They are bound by a code of honor in which states that one is not to make a living on anything other than thievery, complete submission to the laws of criminal life, including obligations to support the criminal ideal and refusal to participate in all political activities (Omics).

The Mafia way of life may seem like a romantic updated version of the western movie played out on the streets of the big cities where the good guys and the wise guys who share the same instincts and values do battle before an enthralled public but it is actually very different. The Mafia is really just a group of uneducated thugs making money by victimizing the public. Initially, the Mafia was setup as a prominent supplier of bootlegged liquor, but it has spread into many different areas of crime. During this research paper I will discuss three aspects of the Mafia which are crime, structure and decline in leadership.