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Howard Abadinsky
ORGANIZED
CRIME
Eighth Edition
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CHAPTER
SEVEN
RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME
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RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME Includes any ethnic or
national groupChechen, Armenian, Ukrainian,
Georgian, Jewish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Tatarof
former Soviet Union (FSU). Some include
Albanians or prefer the term Eurasians. Law
enforcement in FSU is inadequate. Public
officials are frequently murdered. Significant
anti-crime legislation is consistently blocked or
watered down by legislators who are de facto OC
representatives.
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Three levels of Russian OC Gruppirovki
Low-level gangs of swindlers, thieves,
extortionists, and drug traffickers with a
rudimentary and episodic structure.
Prestupnaia organizatsiia Relatively large
groups with connections to authorities at
regional levels. Soobshchestvo Highest level
influence extends to multiple regions of the
country, often with international ties.
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Under Communist rule, confidence in and respect
for the rule of law was nonexistent. For the
average Russian, the consequence of honesty was
deprivation. The sudden onset of a market economy
gave rise to unrestrained aspirationsÉmile
Durkheims anomie writ large. People unable to
obtain justice through legitimate sources took
justice into their own hands, often with OC
assistance.
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The vory v zakone, the FSUs professional
underworld, developed in prison camps. The sole
basis for criminal organization is economic, not
ethnic or familial. Hence, elements that
traditionally promoted trust among conspirators
are absent. Vorys strict conspiratorial code
forbade involvement with politics or the
state. Vory is exclusively male being married is
a weakness that undermines loyalty to vory.
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Following Communisms collapse, corrupt managers
and their vory partners took over state
enterprises. Ensuing gang wars led to agreements
defining territories, functional
boundaries. Intimidation and violence then
allowed criminals to infiltrate the banking
industry. By 1992, the bosses had divided the
country into 12 regions where they openly
interact with bureaucrats, industrial managers,
and government officials.
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The Russian Mafiya emerged from young mens
participation in sports clubs/fitness centers.
Fighting sports and martial arts supply all that
is needed to create a racketeer gang fighting
skills, willpower, discipline, and team spirit.
Gangs emerged from the FSUs gyms/sports clubs
whose members found their physical assets could
produce cash by offering to protect businessmen
for a regular fee. The Mafiya and the vory
extort from both legitimate and illegitimate
entrepreneurs.
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In a country where contract law and a tradition
of property rights are weak, OC is a viable
alternative to a formal justice system that is
ineffective, if not corrupt. Banks have fallen
under the control or ownership of OC groups who
use them to launder and embezzle money. Bank
records also provide information for selecting
businesses to extort. OC also traffics in
military weapons there is fear they will
inevitably include nuclear devices in their
trafficking activities.
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Chechnya has become a center of illegal trade in
narcotics, contraband, weapons, counterfeit
money/financial documents. Violent Chechen gangs
run protection rackets, enforce restraint of
trade. Russian-émigré criminals in the U.S. are
engaged in extortion, insurance fraud, Medicaid
scams, securities-related fraud, con games,
identity theft, counterfeiting, tax fraud, and
narcotics trafficking.
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