There has always been a special attitude towards "dashing people" in Russia. They were not only feared, but also respected. For their crazy prowess, they often paid a very high price - they ended up in hard labor or lost their lives.
Kudeyar
The most legendary Russian robber is Kudeyar. This person is semi-mythical. There are several versions of his identification.
According to the main one, Kudeyar was the son Basil III and his wife Solomeya, who was exiled to a monastery for childlessness. According to this legend, during the tonsure Solomonia was already pregnant, she gave birth to a son, George, whom she handed over "in safe hands", and announced to everyone that the newborn had died.
It is not surprising that Ivan the Terrible was very interested in this legend, since according to it Kudeyar was his older brother, which means he could claim power. This story is most likely folk fiction.
The desire to “ennoble the robber”, as well as to allow oneself to believe in the illegitimacy of power (and therefore the possibility of its overthrow) is characteristic of the Russian tradition. In our country, every ataman is a legitimate king. With regard to Kudeyar, there are so many versions of his origin that would be enough for half a dozen atamans
Lyalya
Lyalya can be called not only one of the most legendary robbers, but also the most “literary”. The poet Nikolai Rubtsov wrote a poem about him called "The Robber Lyalya".
Local historians also found information about him, which is not surprising, since toponyms reminiscent of this dashing man have survived to this day in the Kostroma region. This is Lyalina Mountain and one of the tributaries of the Vetluga River, called Lyalinka.
Local historian A.A. Sysoev wrote: “In the Vetluga forests, the robber Lyalya walked with his gang - this is one of the chieftains of Stepan Razin ... who lived in the mountains near the Vetluga River not far from Varnavin. According to legend, Lyalya robbed and burned the Novovozdvizhensky Monastery on the Bolshaya Kaksha River near the village of Chenebechikhi.
This may be true, since at the end of 1670 a detachment of Razints really visited here. Lyalya with his gang appeared in the Kostroma forests after the suppression of the Razin uprising.
He chose a place for a robber camp on a high mountain in order to have a strategic advantage in robbing the carts passing nearby along the winter route. From spring to autumn, along the Vetluga, merchants carried goods on ships, and on the way they often stopped in Kameshnik. The main business of the Lyali gang was the collection of ransoms from merchants, local feudal lords and landowners.
Legends draw him, as usual in folklore, strict, harsh and domineering, but fair. His approximate portrait has also been preserved: “He was a broad-shouldered, muscular man of medium height; face tanned, rough; black eyes under bushy, furrowed brows; dark hair."
They wanted to catch Lyalya’s gang more than once, but the detachments sent to catch the robber constantly encountered too loyal attitude of local men towards Lyalya - they treated him rather with respect, Lyalya was warned about the appearance of detachments, some village men even joined the gang. However, over time, the gang nevertheless thinned out, and Lyalya became more and more burdened by his craft. Therefore, he decided to bury his wealth - he drowned it in the lake (it is still called the Pantry) and buried it in the mountain. Where are they still kept? Of course, according to the legend.
Trishka Siberian
Trishka-Sibiryak robbed in the 30s of the XIX century in the Smolensk district. News of him spread to other regions, bringing the nobles and landowners into a state of awe.
A letter from Turgenev's mother, which she wrote to her son in Berlin in February 1839, has been preserved. It contains the following phrase: "Trishka appeared like Pugachev - that is, he is in Smolensk, and we are cowardly in Bolkhov." Trishka was caught the very next month, he was tracked down and arrested in Dukhovshchinsky district. The capture of Trishka was a real special operation.
Knowing about the caution of the robber, he was caught under the guise of pursuing another person. Almost no one knew about the true purpose of the search - they were afraid to frighten them off. As a result, when the arrest nevertheless took place, a message appeared in Smolenskiye Vedomosti about this as an event of extreme importance.
However, until the 50s of the 19th century, the legends about Trishka the Sibiryak continued to excite the nerves of the landlords, who were worried that someday Trishka would get in their way, or get into their house. The people loved Trishka and composed legends about him, where the robber appeared as a defender of the destitute.
Vanka Cain
The story of Vanka-Cain is dramatic and instructive. He can be called the first official thief of the Russian Empire.
He was born in 1718, at the age of 16 he met a famous thief named "Kamchatka" and loudly left the landowner's house, where he served, robbing him, and writing on the manor gates everything he thinks about work: "Work the devil, not me ".
Several times he was taken to the Secret Order, but each time he was released, so rumors began to circulate that Ivan Osipov (that was Cain's real name) was "lucky". Moscow thieves decided to choose him as their leader. A little time passed, and Vanka was already "in command" of a gang of 300 people.
So he became the uncrowned king of the underworld. However, on December 28, 1741, Ivan Osipov recovered to the Detective Order and wrote a "repentant petition", and even offered his services in catching his own associates, became the official informer of the Detective Order.
The very first police operation on his tip covered a thieves' gathering in the deacon's house - a catch of 45 people. On the same night, 20 members of the gang of Yakov Zuev were taken in the house of the archpriest. And in the Tatar baths of Zamoskvorechye, 16 deserters were tied up and the underground with weapons was opened.
However, Vanka Cain did not live in peace. He had a penchant for extravagance and chic, and got burned on the kidnapping of the 15-year-old daughter of "retired serviceman" Taras Zevakin, on corruption and banal racketeering.
The case dragged on for 6 years, until in 1755 the court issued a verdict - flogged, wheeled, beheaded. But in February 1756 the Senate softened the sentence. They gave Cain whips, pulled out his nostrils, branded him with the word V.O.R. and exiled to hard labor - at first to the Baltic Rogervik, from there to Siberia. Where he died.
Mishka Yaponchik
According to the main version, the future "king" was born on November 30, 1891 in Odessa in the family of Meyer Wolf of Vinnitsa. The boy was named Moishe-Yakov, according to the documents - Moses Volfovich.
When Moishe was in his seventh year, his family was left without a father. In order to earn at least some money for food, Moishe got a job as an apprentice at Farber's mattress factory. In parallel with this, he studied at a Jewish school, and managed to finish four classes. At the age of 16, Moisha Vinnitsky went to work as an electrician at the Anatra plant. Moishe's life changed radically in 1905, when, following the publication of the tsar's manifesto on the granting of freedoms, Jewish pogroms began in Odessa.
The police preferred not to intervene too much in the bloody riots organized by the Black Hundreds in Moldovanka, and the local population began to organize Jewish self-defense units. In one of these detachments, the future Mishka Yaponchik received his first combat experience. Since then, he has not parted with weapons. Moishe Vinnitsky joined the anarchist group "Young Will", which became famous for daring raids, robberies and racketeering.
In 1907, the hand of justice nevertheless grabbed Moisha by the collar. The anarchist received 12 years of hard labor. If Moishe were an adult, we would definitely not recognize Mishka Yaponchik. On the basis of all his actions, the death penalty was guaranteed to him.
Yaponchik returned to Odessa in the summer of 1917. This was no longer the boy who could be sent to carry a bomb to undermine the chief of police - during the hard labor Moisha managed to talk with both "political" and "thieves".
Moishe quickly assessed the situation. Taking advantage of the unrest that is constantly happening in Odessa, Yaponchik quickly puts together his gang, “carries out” cash desks and shops. Moishe also adopts revolutionary rhetoric. Now he not only robs, but expropriates for the needs of the revolution and the working class. He organizes a large revolutionary detachment of Jewish self-defense.
The story of the robbery of a gambling club by his gang became a textbook. Yaponchik's people were dressed in the uniform of revolutionary sailors. The proceeds were notable: 100 thousand from horses and 2000 thousand from visitors. One of the club's visitors literally died on the spot when he saw a crowd of armed men in front of him.
The “bandit-tramp element” played a big role in the life of Odessa. And if it was impossible to suppress it, then it was necessary to lead it, putting your own man in the place of the “king”. Yaponchik secured serious financial and organizational support from the Bolsheviks and became the commander of a detachment of the Red Army.
His regiment was assembled from Odessa criminals, anarchist militants and mobilized students. Before sending the regiment to the front against Petliura, a chic banquet was arranged in Odessa, at which Mishka Yaponchik was solemnly presented with a silver saber and a red banner.
However, reliability and revolutionary awareness from the people of Yaponchik was not to be expected. Of the 2202 people of the detachment, only 704 people reached the front. The thieves also did not want to fight for a long time and quickly "fought". On the way back to Odessa, Yaponchik was shot dead by Commissar Nikifor Ursulov, who received the Order of the Red Banner for his "feat".
Grigory Kotovsky
Kotovsky was born in 1881 into a noble family. His parents were not rich, his mother died when Grisha was only two years old. He didn't finish vocational school, dropped out of agricultural school and worked as a trainee on the estate of Prince Kantakouzin.
From here the glorious days of Grishka the Cat began. The princess fell in love with the young manager, her husband, having learned about this, whipped Grishka and threw him into the field. Without thinking twice, the offended Kotovsky killed the landowner, and he himself disappeared into the forest, where he gathered a gang of 12 people.
Glory thundered - Kotovsky was afraid of all Bessarabia, newspapers wrote about him, calling him another Dubrovsky. There is somewhere in Pushkin: “The robberies are one more wonderful than the other, they follow one after the other. The head of the gang is famous for his intelligence, courage and some kind of generosity ... ". The generosity of Grigory Kotovsky, in the end, with all the palette of personal qualities, became the main one for the public audience, creating the halo of Robin Hood for Cat.
However, for that same "people" Gregory was often a "benefactor". So, Kotovsky and his 12 associates saved the peasants arrested for agrarian unrest, persecuted in the Chisinau prison. They rescued loudly, one of the escorts left a receipt: "Grigory Kotovsky released the arrested."
Kotovsky had to visit places of detention twice. And run free twice. For the first time, a woman and bread helped Gregory. The wife of one of the chiefs of the Kishinev prison, who visited the hero at rest, gave Kotovsky a loaf and smoke, in other words, opium, browning, a rope and a file.
Grishka got out, however, he walked for less than a month. Then he went to Siberia for 10 years. Gregory fled two years later. While Kotovsky ran, the myth of his nobility grew stronger. It was said that during a raid on the apartment of one of the owners of the bank, Kotovsky demanded a pearl necklace from the entrepreneur's wife. Mrs. Circassian did not lose her head and, taking off her jewelry, broke the thread. Kotovsky pearls did not raise, smiled at female resourcefulness.
Grigory Kotovsky definitely had an administrative streak, and if it weren’t for a love adventure with Princess Kontaktuzino, Kotu would not be a red commander, but an enemy of the proletariat. Kotovsky liked to manage: after another escape, having taken possession of someone else's passport, Kotovsky again served as the manager of a large estate. Kotovsky had another weakness - he wanted fame. Having given money to some fire-fighter, the manager said: “Build up again. Come on thanking, Kotovsky is not thanked.
In 1916, Kotovsky was sentenced to death. Military field court agreed that there was no revolution in Kotovsky's actions, they condemned him as a bandit nobleman. Bessarabian Robin Hood was saved by a woman and a writer. Nothing is known about General Shcherbakova, and the friendship between the writer Fedorov and Kotovsky continued for a long time. The revolution gave Kotovsky freedom. Somewhere in Odessa, he underwent military training, and then climbed into Romania.
Calling himself exclusively an anarchist, Gregory independently formed cavalry regiments. The regiments of Kotovsky were formed from those who were close in spirit earlier. The former criminal, they say, served bravely, received two award crosses, was reputed to be merciful - he was loved by the Jews and five thousand rescued white officers.
Being at the crosses, at the zenith of glory, preparing the entry of the Red Army into Odessa, Grishka, disguised as a colonel, took out jewelry from the basement of the state bank. It took him three trucks to vacate the premises. However, this feat of Grigory Ivanovich did not destroy his military career.
The luck of the red commander was deceived once, but with extreme fatalism. On August 6, 1925, at the state farm Chebanka, Grigory Kotovsky was shot dead by Meyer (Mayorchik). There was a lot of talk about murder. They said that Mayorchik, in love with Olga Kotovskaya, eliminated his friend, they said that they killed him by order "from above." The death of the commander gave rise to a lot of rumors, nevertheless, without obscuring the posthumous luck of Grishka Kota. On August 11, 1925, a daughter was born to Grigory Kotovsky.
Lenka Panteleev
Lenka Panteleev (real name Leonid Pantelkin) was born in 1902, at the age of 17 he joined the Red Army, fought with the Whites, after the Civil War he got a job in the Pskov Cheka, from where he was soon dismissed. According to one version, “to reduce staff,” according to another, because he showed extreme unreliability by starting to steal during the search.
Then Panteleev moved to St. Petersburg, where he first tried to find a job, and then set foot on the path of banditry - he made a gang and began to "rob the loot." The raids by the Panteleev gang were extremely successful and theatrical. The leader flew in first and introduced himself: “Everyone, keep calm! This is Lenka Panteleev! Of course, there was a hunt for Panteleev, but the operatives over and over again remained with the nose ... Today this is explained very simply - Panteleev was an undercover agent. This indirectly confirms the fact that Lenka's gang included another former Chekist and former commissar of the Red Army battalion, a member of the RCP (b). In addition, Panteleev's gang has never robbed a state institution, private entrepreneurs have always become victims.
In the fall of 1922, while trying to rob a shoe store, the Panteleev gang was ambushed. Lyonka and his accomplices were arrested. The court sentenced them to death, but the next night they escaped from Kresty (the only successful escape from this prison in its entire history). How Panteleev managed to do this - history is silent ...
For a long time, however, Panteleev did not walk free. Already in February 1923, having resisted arrest, he was shot dead by GPU operatives.
People stubbornly believed that Panteleev was alive. To dispel this myth, by order of the authorities, the corpse was put on public display in the city morgue. Thousands of people came to look at the body, but his family and friends did not identify him. And it was impossible to do this - the bullet hit in the face.
The main criminal groups in Moscow.
There are approximately 150 active mafia groups in the capital of Russia, of which only 20 are well-armed, relatively large organizations, and only 6 of them are really powerful. This six includes three Chechen organizations (“Central”, “Ostankino” and “Avtomobilnaya”), as well as “Solntsevskaya”, “Podolskaya” and “Association of the 21st century”.
One of the reasons for the decrease in the number of mafia organizations is their transition to sophisticated and sophisticated methods of work.
If in the past the main means of the mafia was extortion, now the mafia is increasingly interested in financial and economic affairs, as the most profitable and promising, but only a few organizations have the capital to carry out large financial transactions. Therefore, extortion also continues to occur (and even expand), although they are no longer a matter of prime necessity (and concern) for large mafia organizations.
Three Chechen mafia organizations in Moscow
The number of these three organizations is difficult to establish. Previously, the number of the organization reached 3,000 people. At present, the number is believed to have fallen to 1,500 people (mainly because many Chechens left for their homeland to participate in the war). Due to the close interaction of these organizations, it is difficult to separate them into separate organizations, with the establishment of the size of each.
At the head is Nikolai Suleymanov (“Jose”), who settled in Moscow in 1980 and helped many other Chechens to settle. He was considered one of the main leaders until he was killed in 1994. Today, “Aslan” and “Lechi (“Beard”) are considered leaders.”
Potential leaders: the overall control of the common fund is in the hands of Musa Sr. Thanks to this, he is considered the main leader of all Chechen mafia organizations in Moscow (although “Jose” enjoyed much more power in his time). “Musa Sr.” took refuge in Chechnya in 1993-94. for the alleged murder of the leader of the Association of the 21st Century, Amiron Kvantashvili. And only after the murder of his brother Amiron, “Musa Sr.” was able to return to Moscow.
Other key figures: leaders of the former “Lozanskaya” organization – “Khozha N. and Ruslan A.” – share significant power in Chechen criminal circles, acting as intermediaries between the Chechen diaspora in Moscow and Chechnya, where they have connections in the highest echelons of power.
Obshchak (combined source of funding). All three organizations contain one “common fund”. The general money is used to pay for the services of judges, to bribe the authorities, to support persons serving prison sentences. It is believed that the “common fund” has billions of rubles in its account.
General security agencies: Chechen groups have a common security and intelligence department, headed by “Ahmed M.”, “I. Wakhoy Jr., brother of Musa Sr. This department deals with corrupt officials in order to obtain information from them about upcoming raids, as well as to obtain information about competitors.
Connections with corrupt officials: Chechens allegedly have connections in the government and in the city government on higher levels. The Chechens are believed to maintain close ties with the city's organized crime department and the FSB.
Ties to other mafia organizations: Smaller organizations in Moscow such as Lyubnenskaya, Kazanskaya and Baumanskaya are considered loyal to Chechens in Moscow.
International activities: Chechen organizations operate mainly in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Poland, Turkey, Jordan, the Netherlands, the former Yugoslavia and Hungary.
The main operations are: banking, car smuggling, illegal oil trade (including Serbia), drug trafficking and prostitution.
Moscow organization "Central".
Headquarters. Moved from the restaurant "Uzbekistan" to the hotels "Belgrade" and "Golden Ring".
The ringleader - "Bald" was trained in Moscow. Started doing business in 1987 with the help of Jose.
Scope of activity in the city: From the very name it already becomes clear that the organization works in the center, although it is not limited only to operations in the city center, but it does not have a monopoly on the center.
Main operations: forgery of documents, financial fraud, smuggling of drugs and weapons, extortion, kidnapping, prostitution, import of goods and food, smuggling of export of raw materials, materials, control of hotels, casinos and restaurants.
Moscow mafia organization "Ostankinskaya"
Headquarters - hotel "Ostankino".
Leader: "Magomed O.". Arrived in Moscow as a student. Settled in the hotel "Ostankino" with its subsequent use to receive goods supplied by the Chechens. At present, he controls almost the entire trade turnover on the Russia-Transcaucasia route.
Areas of activity in the city: controls the area around the Ostankino hotel, as well as the northern Yaroslavl highway.
Main operations: domestic and several foreign transports of goods, including smuggling to Chechnya, bypassing the Russian blockade. Other operations are: extortion of money from transport companies in Moscow, smuggling of drugs and weapons.
Moscow mafia organization "Automotive"
Leader: was “Jose” (before the murder). It is not known who will replace him. It is believed that “Bald” is the leader of the “Central” organization.
Areas of activity in the city: in all automobile markets of Moscow, including Leninsky Prospekt, streets: Mytnaya, VDNKh, Tverskaya, Yuzhny Port, Danilovskaya and Begovaya.
Other major mafia organizations in Moscow:
The Slavic groups (Solntsevskaya and Podolskaya) are the natural opponents of the Chechen groups. In 1990-91. Slavic groups under the leadership of the famous mafia "Japanese" led " cruel war” against the Chechens. The disagreement between them continues. For the period 1993-94. Chechens were killed more than during the period of the war. Most of the killings were carried out on an economic basis in order to obtain contracts and start new businesses and are not the result of a “strategic war”. One of these battles took place in early 1994 in the Alliance car showroom. The Slavs won the war against the Chechen organization “Automobile”.
Moscow mafia organization "Solntsevskaya"
Number: 3500-4000 people (the largest organization in the country). Armed better than all organizations. It is armed with about 500 AK submachine guns, 1,000 TT/PM pistols, several UZI-type rifles, several anti-tank rifles, grenade launchers (of the Fly type RPG-22-1).
Leader: The leader of the organization is believed to be "Mikhas", a former engineer who served at least 5 years in prison.
Other key figures: “Avera” – assistant to “Mikhas”.
Next come: “Tashkent Dato”, Dzhemal K. and Beslan D. “Yuri R.” is the chief financial expert. The “Japanese”, who was arrested in New York in 1995, also has close ties to this group. Sergey Timofeev, nicknamed “Sylvester”, was the leading authority of the group, was blown up in a car in the center of Moscow in 1994. However, there are rumors that he himself played this murder and now allegedly lives abroad.
The main areas of influence in the city: they have the main control in the Solntsevo region, but they also operate in other places, they are noticeable in the center and in the south of the capital.
Main operations: drug production, smuggling and sale (mainly synthetic drugs such as trimethyl, fentanyl and methadone), arms and car smuggling, extortion, prostitution, kidnapping, hotel and restaurant management, resale, banking, investments, economic crimes, etc. .
Going Abroad: This organization is active in Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium, USA, Czechoslovakia, Italy and the UK, among others. It is mainly engaged in the automobile business, drugs, smuggling of antiques and weapons, as well as illegal trade in oil, raw materials, etc. natural resources. Some sources say that the organization is involved in the transit of drugs from South America to Europe and the United States through Russia. The organization is believed to be linked to the Cali drug cartel. These connections were established by the "Japanese", who went to New York to establish operations in America for his group.
Moscow mafia organization "Podolskaya"
Number: about 500 people. A relatively young organization that has grown stronger only in the last five years. It is armed with 200-300 units of AK assault rifles. Known for her cruelty and strict discipline.
The ringleader is believed to be Lalakin (“Luchek”).
Other key figures: Luchka's closest assistants are Painting and Flint. The main authority of the organization is considered to be “Zakhar”, who is believed to have connections with the Balashikha organization.
Areas of influence in the city: based in the small center suburb of Podolsk, where it has overwhelming influence and control, it also operates in other areas, controlling about 25% of street trading and prostitution in the center of Moscow.
Main operations: extortion, kidnapping, prostitution, gambling, financial fraud, currency laundering, drug and arms smuggling, import and sale of food, electronics and consumer goods, clandestine production of “self-made” food and alcoholic beverages under the guise of “branded” ones. This organization also controls several casinos in the city.
Going overseas: imports/exports all over the world, but the main partner is considered to be the Netherlands.
Main occupation: production of “self-made” food and beverage products with subsequent sale in Russia. It is believed that the organization is also involved in the illegal export of fuel, smuggling of drugs and weapons. Prior to his arrest, the “Japanese” tried to establish contacts in the United States for his organization in order to enter the American market.
Moscow mafia organization “Association of the 21st century”
Background: established in Moscow in 1988 under the guise of an "umbrella" to serve a number of newly created cooperatives. It soon came to be regarded as a criminal organization largely due to its atrocities in extorting money and a cleverly crafted scheme to corrupt officials. In recent years, this organization has moved its activities into the business sector. It is considered one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Russia.
Numbers: It is believed that in case of crisis and need, this organization can have up to 1000 active members (throughout the country). Has access abroad.
Ringleaders: “Anzor”, a Georgian by nationality, a graduate of the elite Soviet diplomatic academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Trained in law school (as a lawyer), has connections in the upper echelons of society, the vice president of the organization is believed to be “Joseph K”.
Other key figures: The most famous figures of the Association were the brothers Kvantrishvili-Amiran and Otari. They were the toughest criminals in Russia, but were killed in the internecine war with the Chechens in Moscow in 1993-1994. Prominent political figures of the country took part in the funeral procession.
Relationships with Corrupt Officials: The Association's leadership is notorious for having close ties to corrupt city and state officials. However, according to one source, the organization's "scandalous nature" has made it difficult to reach out to the highest echelons of Russian government.
Main activities: The operations of the "Association" are diverse. Engaged in extortion, kidnapping, prostitution and other traditional mafia activities. She controls several hotels, casinos and restaurants. However, it is now increasingly entering the arena of economic activity, offering insurance, investments, banking and pension services. Her activity in the oil industry is growing, she has established several charitable organizations (in order to bypass the tax inspectorate). It is believed that the "Association" controls at least 100 companies in the country, opened several charitable institutions for former athletes and military personnel.
Going abroad: has connections with seven countries of the world (in the USA and in Western Europe).
Other small mafia organizations in Moscow
There are about 20 small but important criminal groups in Moscow. In terms of the size of the country, they are very rich, but they are not able to compete with the larger organizations of Slavs and Chechens. In the event of conflicts, these organizations have to go over to the side of one of the warring large organizations. These small organizations include Pushkinskaya and Balashikha (described below). Luberetskaya, Odintsovskaya, Domodedovskaya, Khimkinskaya, Koptevo-Dolgoprudnenskaya, Sokolnikovskaya, Zhdanovskaya, Izmailovskaya, Pokrovskaya, Lublinskaya, Azerbaijanskaya, Mazutinskaya (Georgian ), “Chekhov”, “Shelkovskaya” and “Ingush” groups.
Moscow mafia group "Pushkinskaya"
Number: about 70-100 people
Leader: “Papa” – has been in charge of the organization for a long time. Currently, he is believed to be on the run from Russian law enforcement in Israel, but continues to lead through his aides.
Area of active activity: in the suburbs, areas: Lesnoy, Pravda, Pushkino, Mytishchi and on the Yaroslavl highway to VDNKh.
Main operations: production and sale of contraband alcoholic beverages (mainly vodka).
Exit abroad: mainly work in Israel. There are also connections in the US through Russian mobster “Dmitry B.” (arrested in 1994 by the FBI).
Moscow mafia group "Balashikhinskaya"
Number: no more than 50 people. The size of the group declined sharply after the assassination of its leaders: Chera and Sukhoi in 1992, and then the prominent leader of Frol in early 1994.
Leader: "Zakhar"
Other key figures: “Zakhar” deputies: “Vovan” and “Sapog”.
Area of active activity: the suburban area of Balashikha and neighboring areas in the north-east of Moscow.
Main operations: controls bars in several hotels and the so-called Northern Market. It also controls several wholesale points and is increasingly involved in the business of distributing materials and raw materials.
Exit abroad: at this time, no exit abroad has been established.
The main mafia groups in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg is considered the city of Russia with the most common crime. The US Consulate in April 1994 recommended that American citizens refrain from visiting St. Petersburg due to rising crime, later (and reasonably) this warning was removed.
The high crime rate in the city is due to its strategic location. As a busy seaport located close to Western Europe, St. Petersburg is an excellent transshipment base for smuggling operations and transactions. Infighting between rival criminal gangs is commonplace in the struggle for control of major transit routes. Several bombings at the end of May 1996 indicate that the city may resume the war between the main factions for the division of the sphere of influence. Such warfare has been fought with brutal methods in the past. In February 1994, seven bodies were found found in a Mercedes, in the city center. And in January 1994, about the same place, ten people were killed in a shootout.
There are currently four main groups operating in St. Petersburg: Tambovskaya, Vorkutinskaya, Malyshevskaya and Kazanskaya. They are considered the largest organizations in Russia. It was very difficult to obtain reliable and detailed information on these organizations.
"Tambovskaya" mafia group
Number: 1,500 people (although twice as many members are somehow connected with this group).
Leader: Little is known about the leader of the group, although he allegedly is or was the head of one of the country's oil companies.
Areas of activity: not established, but it is believed that the group controls all areas of the city.
Main operations: production and sale of drugs, provision of a “roof”, racketeering, prostitution, kidnapping, smuggling of alcoholic products, trade in cars, weapons and fuel (oil).
Going abroad: smuggling drugs and weapons, cars, raw materials (including nuclear fuel). They mainly operate in Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. If necessary, they can engage in smuggling of immigrants abroad.
"Malyshevskaya" mafia group
Number: 1500 2000 people. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of non-permanent members of the group, depending on the season, can range from 3,000 to 5,000 people.
Leader: "Malyshev". Little is known about his past. He was arrested in December 1992 for illegal possession of weapons, but managed to pay off. Since then, he has been imprisoned several times, but continued to lead the group even from prison.
Areas of activity: they mainly operate in the south-west of the city (in the Krasnoselsky, Kirovsky and Moskovsky districts), but they also deal with other areas.
Main operations: drug production, prostitution, car trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and arms smuggling.
International operations: drug smuggling, car theft. They mainly operate in Germany, the Baltic Republics, Finland, Sweden, Norway. They can engage in smuggling of immigrants if necessary.
"Vorkuta" mafia group
Number: 2000 people.
Leader: unknown at this time.
Areas of activity: not exactly established, it is obvious that they work in all areas of the city.
Main operations: production and distribution of drugs, prostitution, providing a "roof", racketeering, kidnapping, smuggling of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages, smuggling of cars and weapons.
International operations: drug and arms smuggling, car smuggling, prostitution. It operates mainly in Finland, Sweden and Germany.
"Kazan" mafia group
Number: 1000 - 1500 people. The composition of the group is constantly changing, constantly moving from Tatarstan back and forth.
Leader: Chizhevich (questionable). Recently arrested, but continues to lead the gang from prison.
Areas of activity: in the north of the city (mainly in the Vyborgsky, Primorsky and Kalininsky districts), but can operate in all areas of the city.
Main operations: extortion, theft and sale of cars, drug trafficking, theft of children, prostitution, arms smuggling.
International operations: not exactly established, but possibly smuggling weapons, drugs, cars.
Other small mafia groups
The most important of the small groupings are Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Caucasian and Vologda.
These groups number 100-200 people each and specialize in extortion, child theft and drug dealing operations. They do not work independently, but join one of the city's four major factions or are an appendage of stronger structures. The “Caucasian” group is engaged in taking hostages, especially children.
The main ethnic groupings are Chechen, Azerbaijani and Dagestan. But these ethnic groups are not as strong as similar groups in Moscow, and each of them has no more than a hundred people.
The main activity of these groups is to control the city's fruit and vegetable markets.
The main mafia groups in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is also one of the most disadvantaged cities in terms of crime. Malicious crimes have increased significantly here for Last year. Organized crime turned into anarchy due to the weakening of the influence of the two main groups - "Uralmashskaya" and "Central" - which for a number of years maintained a certain order in the criminal world of the city. Now much less powerful groups are fighting among themselves for the establishment of zones of influence. This means that a full-scale war in the criminal world of the city is actually constantly going on.
"Uralmash" mafia group
Number: in 1990-1992 (heyday) there were 500 people. Now there are 50 key figures left to ensure the activities of the group, but if necessary, another 100-150 people from the old guard can be involved in the work.
Leader: “Konstantin T.” assumed leadership of the group after the murder of “Grigory T”'s brother in 1992. Recently, “Konstantin” had to go into hiding in connection with the initiation of an official investigation into his activities by the authorities. As a result, his role as leader has been weakened.
Other Key Figures: The second most important figure is considered (questionable) to be “Maevsky”, who was recently arrested and is leading the group from prison.
Areas of activity: on the outskirts of the city, in the area of the huge Uralmash plant.
Principal operations: economic crimes, banking transactions, smuggling of minerals and metals, extortion, manipulation of real estate, arms smuggling, prostitution and (possibly) smuggling of nuclear fuel and materials from the nuclear industry.
International operations: it is believed that Uralmash operates in Cyprus, the USA, Poland, Germany, and China. The main operations are the smuggling of metals, weapons and drugs.
"Central" mafia group
Population: it is difficult to determine the population at this time due to the significant reduction in activity.
Leader: Until his arrest by Interpol in Brussels in September 1994 (on charges of extortion), the leader was considered to be “Eduard K.”, the new leader is not known.
Active area: traditionally in the city center.
Main operations: gambling, prostitution, metal smuggling, trade, extortion, arms and drug smuggling. Controls several hotels in the city.
International operations: Hungary and Belgium. The main operations are arms smuggling, extortion in Hungary and “legitimate business” in Belgium. It is not yet clear how much the activity of this group has decreased in connection with the arrest of the leader of Kazaryan.
Mafia group "Afghans"
Number: 15-20 permanent members and up to 200 temporary. Most of the members are veterans of the war in Afghanistan.
Leaders: "Vladimir L. and Victor K." Both had a criminal record, the first - rape, the second - for extortion.
Areas of active activity: in the area of the central market.
Main operations: extortion, trade in cars and gasoline, drug smuggling.
International operations: drug smuggling from Afghanistan.
Mafia group “Blue”
Membership: Consists of ex-prisoners, it is impossible to determine the size as some members enter prison and others leave prison.
Leader: “Severenok” is a former prisoner.
Areas of activity: in the suburbs, on the outskirts of cities and towns. Currently trying to operate in the city center. Grouping "Blue" in 1992 expelled the Chechens from Yekaterinburg with the help of a stolen tank, breaking into the headquarters of the Chechen group.
Basic operations: providing a "roof".
There is no entry into the international arena.
"Azerbaijani" mafia group
Number: constantly changing due to population migration between Yekaterinburg and Azerbaijan.
Leader: "Azeris" do not have a leader, as they are more of a community than a well-established criminal group.
Areas of activity: based in the area of the military town of Torchmeto, near Yekaterinburg, although they are also quite active in the city center.
Main operations: smuggling of weapons and drugs, the proceeds go to finance the war in People's Karabakh.
International relations: none (excluding Azerbaijan).
1888-1916
As a teenager, Nikolai Radkevich was trained in the Arakcheevsky Cadet Corps and had every chance of becoming an officer (and then fleeing to the Cote d'Azur, because all white officers in those days, almost immediately, fled to the Cote d'Azur). However, fate decreed otherwise: at the age of 14, Nikolai fell in love with a 30-year-old widow, who soon abandoned her young lover, leaving him with a bouquet of incurable venereal diseases as a keepsake.
This incident significantly affected the psyche of Radkevich: the young man decided that the mission of his life would be to cleanse the world of depraved women. Having moved to St. Petersburg, Nikolai began to kill prostitutes. In addition to the four priestesses of love, Radkevich's victims were a hotel bellboy who suspected something was wrong, and a maid who seemed to Nikolai too beautiful for this world.
The killer was not particularly careful in his actions, so he was quickly arrested. After being forced into a psychiatric hospital at Pryazhka, Radkevich was sentenced to hard labor. However, he never got there: the cellmates killed him at the stage.
Yakov Koshelkov, raider, murderer
1890–1919
Yakov Koshelkov (aka Kuznetsov) inherited his love for the thieves' business from his father, a recidivist raider. By 1917, the young man was already passing through the Siberian police reports in the status of an experienced burglar who had several convictions. Deciding to expand the field of criminal activity, Yakov moved to Moscow, where, after another arrest, he received the nickname "Elusive": he made a scenic escape, shooting the guards with a pistol, which his accomplices handed over to him in a loaf of bread.
Koshelkov quickly managed to put together his own gang, whose members successfully raided Moscow enterprises and stole cars (at the beginning of the 20th century, stealing a car was much more difficult than now: you had to find it first, because there were very few cars). On January 6, 1919, the gang stole a car, having previously seized all the valuables from the passengers and frightened them half to death. Koshelkov would have escaped punishment this time too, if not for one nuance: one of the passengers turned out to be a politician named Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
For half a year the workers of the Moscow Cheka hunted Yakov, but every time he escaped persecution, leaving behind mountains of corpses - both Chekists and members of his own gang. Finally, on July 26, the famous raider was ambushed and killed in a shootout.
Nikolai Savin, swindler, thief
1855–1937
In 1874, 19-year-old cornet Savin was involved in a high-profile case of the theft of diamonds from the Marble Palace by Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich. The cornet was in a romantic relationship with the American swindler and dancer Fanny Lear, for the sake of a seductive foreigner, the prince went to crime. In some magical way, Savin's name did not appear in the documents on the diamond business.
In the 1880s, Savin pulled off a grand scam by promising the Italian War Ministry the supply of Russian horses for the needs of the army. After receiving the money, he fled to Russia, where in the early 1890s he was convicted of another fraud and sent to the Tomsk province. Savin fled from exile again, this time to the USA, where he lived for almost ten years under the romantic surname "de Toulouse-Lautrec Savin". Having received American citizenship, the swindler went to serve, and he returned to Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Force.
In 1911, Savin tried to pull off another scam, posing as a pretender to the Bulgarian throne, but he was exposed and sent to Russia. Nicholas spent six years in exile in Irkutsk and was released only after the revolution. Knowing that many in the West are aware of his scams, Savin went to conquer Japan and China. Savin died in Shanghai in complete poverty, but at a decent 82-year-old age.
Abbess Mitrofania, a swindler
1825–1899
Paraskeva Rosen was born into a noble family: her father was a general and a hero Patriotic War and mother is a countess. By the age of majority, the girl was appointed a maid of honor at the court of the Empress, but soon changed her mind and entered the Alekseevsky Monastery as a novice, taking a monastic name in honor of Patriarch Mitrofan.
The career of the ambitious and energetic Mitrofania developed rapidly, and by the age of 36, the Russian Orthodox Church elevated the woman to the rank of abbess and entrusted her with the management of the Vladychny Monastery.
Having been the head of the St. Petersburg and Pskov communities of sisters of mercy, Mitrofania decided to start building the building of the Vladyka-Pokrovskaya community in Moscow. However, the abbess invested most of the monastic money in personal commercial projects. The projects were unsuccessful, and Mitrofania had to look for other sources of construction funding.
From December 1896 to February 1897, the Old Believers, having served a funeral rite and dressed in shrouds, descended into dug pits, which were bricked up and buried outside. Since suicide was considered a terrible sin, the inhabitants of the farm decided to entrust the laying process to Kovalev, who worked as a bricklayer. In this manner, Kovalev immured almost three dozen people alive, including a 22-year-old wife, two young daughters, mother and sisters. (What a resourceful deliverance from all relatives at once!)
In April 1897, Kovalev was arrested and, on the orders of Nicholas II, was sent to a monastery prison in order to hide the details of the crime from the general public. Against the background of the general confusion of 1905, Kovalev got out of prison, remarried and became a father three more times. For some reason, he did not bury his new wife and children.
I suggest you look at the faces of the most famous leaders of the world's criminal gangs, because it is precisely such people that they say that it is better to never meet them live in your life. Although in appearance all these criminal authorities are very different, they all lead the largest criminal organizations in different parts of our planet.
One of the bosses of the Mara 18 organized crime group, Marlon Martinez, is on trial in Guatemala, where he is accused of murder. March 30, 2011
Mara 18 is the largest Hispanic gang in Los Angeles. She appeared in the 1960s among immigrants from Mexico and still maintains ties with the drug cartels of this country. The group consists of up to 90 thousand people operating in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
"Ndrangheta" was formed in the poorest province of Italy, Calabria. It is considered one of the most successful Italian organized crime groups. According to some reports, the 'Ndrangheta's income is up to three percent of the country's GDP.
One of the leaders of the Marseille mafia, 75-year-old Jacques Imbert, after being released from prison on April 8, 2005.
Imber was a member of the Three Ducks gang, which was especially influential in the 1950s and 60s. In 1977, an assassination attempt was made on him, which formed the basis of the film 22 Bullets: Immortal.
The alleged leader of the Slavic criminal gangs in Moscow, Alexei Petrov, nicknamed Lenya Sly. September 19, 2011
According to unofficial sources, Petrov was elected leader of the Slavic groups in Moscow in 2009 after the assassination of Vyacheslav Ivankov, also known as Yaponchik.
One of the alleged leaders of the Tambov organized crime group, Yuri Salikov, is being taken to court in the Spanish city of Palma de Mallorca. June 14, 2008
The Tambov organized criminal group appeared in St. Petersburg in the late 1980s and in the next decade actually controlled the criminal life of the city. Its creator is believed to be businessman Vladimir Barsukov (Kumarin), who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for extortion.
One of the alleged leaders of the Tambov organized crime group, Gennady Petrov, is being taken to court in the Spanish city of Palma de Mallorca. June 14, 2008
Petrov, as well as several others Russian citizens, were detained by the Spanish authorities during the Troika operation. They are considered the organizers of the operation to launder the criminal money of the Tambov organized criminal group. Petrov calls himself a businessman. He has lived in Spain since the early 1990s. In 2012, Petrov left for Russia and refused to return to Spain.
Bonanno family boss from New York Vincent Basiano, nicknamed "Handsome Vinnie."
The Bonanno family is one of five Italian-American mafia families that control the New York underworld. The remaining families are the Gambino, Genovese, Colombo and Lucchese clans. Basiano has been serving a life sentence for murder since 2011.
Gigante was the boss of the Genovese clan from 1981 until his death in 2005. In the early 1990s, he was considered the most powerful gangster in America. To avoid trial, Gigante feigned insanity and often walked around New York in a dressing gown and slippers, muttering something inarticulate under his breath. In 1997, he was nevertheless sentenced to 12 years in prison and died in custody.
Retired yakuza boss Shinji Ishihara talks about his criminal past to reporters. April 5, 2006
Ishihara served in one of the largest gangster syndicates in the world, the Yamaguchi-gumi, which has several tens of thousands of members. The headquarters of the group is located in the city of Kobe. Unlike many other organized crime groups, members of the yakuza are allowed to "retire", as Ishihara did after serving his next term.
The funeral of the leader of the Taiwanese group "Bamboo Union" Chen Chili, nicknamed the Duck King in Taipei. October 18, 2007
The Bamboo Union, or Zhulyangbang in Chinese, is Taiwan's largest organized crime group. It belongs to the triads, as the Chinese criminal gangs or secret societies. The Bamboo Union maintains close ties with the nationalists from the Kuomintang party and shares their political platform.
The leader of the Hong Kong branch of the 14K group in Macau, Wan Quokkoy, nicknamed Broken Tooth, is taken to court on November 23, 1999
14K is considered the largest triad in Hong Kong and in the world. It has about 20,000 members and is also active in Europe and North America. 14K controls heroin and opium shipments from Southeast Asia. The group is known for a clear management hierarchy and cruelty.
The grave of Aslan Usoyan, better known as Ded Khasan, at the Khovansky cemetery in Moscow. January 20, 2013
Usoyan is believed to have led ethnic Caucasian criminal groups operating in Russia. At the same time, it is known about the conflicts of his clan with other gangs led by people from the Transcaucasus. Usoyan was shot dead in Moscow by an unknown sniper on January 16, 2013.
The leader of the Taiwanese triad was forced to flee his native island when the authorities decided to limit the influence of criminal gangs. Chen Chili moved to Cambodia and even became a government adviser. He lived in a huge villa in the suburbs of Phnom Penh, where large stockpiles of weapons were found.
"Cosa Nostra" is one of the most famous groups of the Italian mafia. She appeared in late XIX century and is considered the inventor of racketeering. Cosa Nostra does not have a rigid structure. The grouping consists of numerous clans that control their territory.
Abroad, Kalashov is often called a representative of the Russian mafia, although sometimes a Georgian criminal authority. He began his criminal activities in the Soviet Union. He is considered a supporter of the late leader of the Caucasian clans Aslan Usoyan. Since 2010, Kalashov has been serving a prison sentence in Spain, which has already agreed to extradite him to Georgia, where he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
One of the leaders of the Italian group "Ndrangheta" Pasquale Condello after his arrest. February 19, 2008
Condello was on the run for about twenty years. All this time he lived in his hometown of Reggio di Calabria. During his criminal career, he managed to earn at least $ 57 million. In any case, the property owned by him is valued at such an amount. Condello is accused of murdering the head of Italy's national railway company.
Sinaloa drug cartel member Juan Miguel Allier Beltrán at a press conference at police headquarters in Tijuana. January 20, 2011
US intelligence agencies consider Sinaloa the most powerful drug cartel in the world. It comes from the state of the same name on the Pacific coast of Mexico. During the 1990s - 2000s, Sinaloa supplied more than 200 tons of cocaine to the United States. The cartel also produces significant amounts of opiates and marijuana.
Salvatore Miceli, who was in charge of the international drug trade in the Sicilian mafia, at the Caracas airport before being extradited to Italy. June 30, 2009
Miceli was considered in the "Cosa Nostra" a kind of foreign minister. He was responsible for the supply to Europe of cocaine, heroin and other drugs produced in other regions of the world, primarily in Latin America.
One of the leaders of the Tijuana Cartel, Gilberto Iguera Guerrero, in Mexico City before being extradited to the United States. January 20, 2007
The Tijuana drug cartel from the Mexican state of Baja California is the third largest drug trafficker in the United States. He is the principal competitor of the Sinaloa cartel. In the mid-2000s, a significant number of Tijuana leaders were arrested and extradited to US authorities.
Joseph "Giuseppe" Bonanno is the founder of the New York crime family of the same name. 1960s
Bonanno is considered one of the main prototypes of Vito Corleone, the protagonist of the crime saga The Godfather. Bonanno has never been behind bars for a long time in his turbulent career. He died in 2002 at the age of 97 in Tucson, Arizona from heart failure.
The leader of the Corleone clan from the Sicilian city of the same name, Gaetano Riina, after his arrest in Palermo on July 1, 2011
The Corleone clan, which gave the name to the character of the famous film trilogy, has long been the main family of Cosa Nostra. Its leaders bear the title of "boss of bosses". The town of Corleone with a population of 12 thousand people is located in the hills south of Palermo at an altitude of about 600 meters above sea level.
The leader of the Mara Salvatrucha branch of the Mara Salvatrucha organized crime group in the Salvadoran city of Quezaltepeque, nicknamed El Diabolico, and the leaders of the local branch of the Mara 18 organized crime group announce a truce in the prison of the same city. January 31, 2013
The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is one of the most violent Latin American gangs. It was formed in Los Angeles among Salvadoran emigrants who fled from civil war, operates in California and Central America and, according to various sources, has from 50 to 80 thousand fighters. A distinctive feature of the members of "Mara Salvatrucha" are numerous tattoos, often covering the entire body.
Police escort Indian crime lord Rajendra Nikalje alias "Little Rajan" (Chhota Rajan) to the Bangkok Criminal Court after an assassination attempt. September 28, 2000.
Rajendra Nikalje was originally a member of crime boss Dawood Ibrahim's group, which is called D-Company in the media. The gang operated in Mumbai, but then spread its influence throughout South Asia. After a fight with his boss, Nikalje collaborated with the Indian intelligence services to weaken Ibrahim in exchange for information about assassination attempts. The gangs of Ibrahim and Nikalje, like other Indian criminals, launder money by investing it in the production of films in Bollywood.
Former leader of the Tijuana drug cartel, Benjamin Arellano Felix.
Felix was arrested in March 2002 in Mexico and extradited to the United States. In April 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for extortion and money laundering. After serving his term, he is supposed to be returned to Mexico, where he is threatened with another 22 years in prison.
Abu Salem initially worked with the Mumbai group D-Company, but then began to act independently. He is accused of numerous murders and participation in terrorist attacks. In 2007, Portugal extradited Abu Salem to India. Subsequently, Lisbon revised this decision, but Delhi refused to return Abu Salem to Europe. He has not yet been sentenced.
Coluccio belongs to an influential mafia clan. His brother Giuseppe was one of the leaders of the 'Ndrangheta in Toronto, Canada, and was involved in the supply of cocaine to Europe. Salvatore was wanted for four years. He was found in a bunker equipped with an electric generator and supplied with significant supplies of water and food for autonomous living.
The Gambino clan was once the most powerful of the five New York Mafia families. Its gradual decline was facilitated by both civil strife and close attention from the FBI. The last major operation against the family, which led to the arrest of several kapos, took place in 2011, when a network for the forced prostitution of women from Eastern Europe was uncovered.
Vyacheslav Ivankov, nicknamed Yaponchik, leaves the building of the Moscow City Court after the jury found him not involved in the murder of two Turkish citizens. July 19, 2005
Ivankov until his death in 2009 was considered the leader of the Slavic criminal groups in Moscow. In 1997, he was convicted in the United States for extortion, and after serving his sentence in 2005, he returned to Russia. In July 2009, he was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt and died a few months later from complications caused by the wound.
One of the leaders of the Tijuana drug cartel, Eduardo Arellano Felix, is in custody in Mexico City. October 26, 2008
After the arrest of the three Arellano Felix brothers, that is, Eduardo, Javier and Benjamin, as well as the death in a shootout with the Ramon police, the cartel was headed by the youngest of the Luis brothers, nicknamed the Engineer. For help in his capture, the Mexican authorities promise to pay 2.5 million dollars.
A graduate of the journalism faculty of Moscow State University, Lerner served 11 years in the Soviet Union for financial fraud in student construction teams. In 1998 he was convicted of stealing money from Russian banks. Since 2006, he has been in an Israeli prison for creating a financial pyramid and stealing depositors' money.
Former Gambino crime family underboss Salvatore Gravano alias Sammy the Bull is sworn in litigation about corruption in professional boxing. April 1, 1993
In 1991, Gravano became the highest-ranking member of the mafia, who broke the vow of silence "omertu" and cooperated with the authorities. Based on his testimony, Gambino clan boss John Gotti was sentenced to life in prison. In 1995, Gravano, who moved to Arizona, opted out of the witness protection program. He published an autobiography and then went into the drug business, for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He has been serving a term since 2002.
Former Bonanno family boss Joseph Massino.
Massino became the first boss of five New York families to make a deal with the investigation. In 2004 he was sentenced to death penalty based on the testimony of his comrades, including his deputy Salvatore Vitale. In 2011, Massino, in order to earn the right to life, in turn, became a witness in the case of his successor Vincent Basiano.
The boss of the largest yakuza syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, Kenichi Shinoda, after serving a six-year prison sentence for illegal possession of a pistol. April 9, 2011
The synoda holds the title of kumicho, or supreme "godfather", the largest grouping of the Japanese mafia. He is the sixth boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi since it was founded in 1915. The Synod is characterized by an outwardly democratic leadership style. In particular, he prefers to travel to public transport rather than a chauffeur-driven limousine.
If you believe Hollywood, then all members of criminal gangs are exceptionally kind and sweet people whom evil fate has thrown into this environment. The gangster appears to us as a taciturn handsome Italian in an Armani suit, with a cigar in his mouth.
In fact, every country has its own organized crime syndicates. At the same time, with the growth of their number, the methods of influence become coarser. There are probably few countries in the world that have not suffered from organized crime.
If at a small level we are talking about racketeering and extortion, then at the international level we have to talk about drug trafficking. Let's talk about the 10 most famous criminal gangs in the world, indicating not only the place of their action, but also the area of specialization, as well as the name of the alleged leader.
Five families. This group is based in the USA. Her area of activity is bookmaking and gambling, racketeering, drugs and usury. The names of the leaders are also known - these are Vincent Basciano, Nicholas Corozzo, Carmine Persico, Daniel Leo, Vittorio Amuso. The grouping united five mafia families, which were mainly based in New York. It included the Bonnano, Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese and Colombo clans. These mafia structures have controlled almost all criminal activity in the country since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The FBI and the New York prosecutor's office are trying in every possible way to destroy the crime syndicate, but all they have succeeded in is to slightly reduce its influence. Among the five families, the most influential and numerous is the Genovese clan. The progenitor of the American "goat nostra" is the infamous Lucky Luciano, who came to the United States from Italy in the mid-1920s. In addition to luggage, he also brought the methods of influence of the Italian mafia.
"United Bamboo". The group is based in Taiwan. Her main occupation is contract killings and debt collection, bribery and gambling. Who leads the syndicate is still unclear, it is only known that there is more than one person, since there is a complex horizontal hierarchy. This is the largest criminal group in Taiwan, it includes about 10,000 members. "United Bamboo" professes rather old-fashioned principles: members of the triad value unity and harmony with people most of all. "United Bamboo" is suspected of drug trafficking, it is believed that the criminals are associated with politicians (in particular, with the ruling Taiwanese KMT party). The leaders of the group themselves, naturally, deny such connections in every possible way. "Bamboo" operates not only throughout Asia and countries Pacific Ocean but also in Europe and the Americas.
Tijuana cartel. This mafia group operates in northwestern Mexico in the regions of Tijuana and Baja. The main area of activity is drug trafficking, banditry, bribery and contract killings. The leader of the group is Eduardo Arellano Felix. IN South America Colombian cartels reigned until the 90s, but with their collapse a certain vacuum was formed, which was appropriately filled by three Mexican cartels - Sinaloa with Jochin Guzman at the head, Juarez with Vicente Fuentes and the already mentioned Tijuana cartel. He is also called the Arellano Felix Organization and is considered the most aggressive and violent of the trio. It is quite natural that there is a constant war between cartels for spheres of influence, in which dozens of people die every year. According to rumors, more than a million dollars are paid weekly in bribes alone in order to stay afloat by the cartel.
Tai Huen Tea. This gang operates in China. It does not have a clearly defined leader, but it is the largest and most influential in the country. Literally, the name of the group is translated as "Guys of a large circle", and they are all engaged in the same drugs, extortion, prostitution, usury and even human trafficking. The unification was the unexpected fruit of the cultural revolution of the great helmsman Mao Zedong. After his death, most of the hungvenbin soldiers representing the Red Guard were sent to re-education camps, where they were subjected to cruel torture and monstrous humiliation. Is it any wonder that they came out of the camps even more embittered and cruel than they were? And so this band was born. Its difference from other crime syndicates is that there is no specific organizational structure. Often members of the group are compared to strangers who one day suddenly decided to play basketball together. Among themselves, the criminals are practically unfamiliar, but the fame of them thunders throughout Asia, reaching even Australia and America.
Sicilian mafia. This organization is based on the Italian island of Sicily. The mafia is not only involved in drugs and arms trafficking, but also in murder, arson, corruption and counterfeiting money. The leader of the group is Matteo Messina Denaro. The community was originally organized on a territorial basis, it includes about 100 crime families. This mafia arose in the middle of the 19th century, but it acquired its influence and organization only at the beginning of the 20th century. With the export of the mafia Lucky Luciano to the United States in the 30s, the number of its members began to grow rapidly. Some experts believe that only in America the number of members of this group exceeds 2,500 people. In Sicily, the mafia was able to seize power through its control of building contracts. After receiving the first tangible fruits in the form of influence and funds, the group began to sell weapons and drugs. The subsequent series of arrests did not change the situation - the mafia retained influence not only in Sicily, but throughout Italy. In the mid-90s, they started talking about the group again - the murders of two members of the Italian magistrate were organized.
14K. This triad is based in Hong Kong, it is believed that it is she who is the strongest, largest and ruthless there. She is engaged in extortion, contract killings, kidnappings, prostitution, drugs and counterfeiting money. The leader of the group is still unknown. In the 90s, it was 14K that was considered the largest criminal community in the world, until one of the leaders of numerous cells was tried in Portugal. This slightly shook the power of the group. The region of its influence now extends to the whole of Asia, while there are 14K cells in almost all major American cities. The triad has no special moral principles - it uses any means of earning money, the group is accused of almost all violations provided for by law.
Battalion D. This structure is located in India and the United Arab Emirates. Criminals do not shun drug and arms trafficking, extortion, contract killings and counterfeiting money. The leader of the gang is Daoud Ibrahim, who has long been on the international wanted list. India's leading gangster group is also accused of links with Islamic terrorists, in particular with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and carrying out their orders in the country. It is the "D Battalion" that is credited with a series of terrorist attacks in Bombay in 1993, when 257 people became victims, more than 700 were injured. Ibrahim is well known in India, they even say that he has his own professional interests in Bollywood. American intelligence has information that the leader of the gang is now hiding in Pakistan, while he has already managed to perform a number of plastic surgeries to change his appearance.
'Ndranghetta. A group with such an unpronounceable name is based in Calabria, in southern Italy. The main areas of activity are the same: drug trafficking, extortion and contract killings. There is no pronounced leader here, the principles of horizontal hierarchy are used. The 'Ndranghetta, unlike other criminal organizations that are forced to narrow their sphere of influence, are expanding their territories under their control. The task of combating criminals is complicated by the fact that cases of betrayal are practically unknown among the Calabrians. Today, the 'Ndranghetta consists of more than 10 thousand people, the annual income of the family is estimated at tens of billions of dollars. It is this group that is the largest supplier of cocaine in Europe, but the path to power and big money began with a chain of fast food restaurants.
"Yamaguchi-gumi". The group is based in Kobe, Japan. Bandits are engaged in gambling business, extortion, trade in weapons and drugs, prostitution and buying stolen goods. The leader of the gang is Kenichi Shinoda, also known as Shinobu Tsukasa. The Yamaguchi-gumi is the largest Japanese clan, founded as early as 1915. Its own status as the most influential and cruel clan was obtained thanks to the leader Kazuo Taoka. Yamaguchi-gumi nearly broke up. Now there are 40,000 people in the group. Since 2005, Shinobu Tsukasa has come to power in it, more diplomatic than the famous Taoke, but no less cruel. This criminal is now serving a prison sentence for carrying firearms, but from prison he leads a gang in an attempt to expand its sphere of influence to the north of the country.
Solntsevskaya brotherhood. The legendary Russian group is based in Moscow. The scope of the "brothers" is wide: extortion and murder, drug trafficking, weapons and stolen goods, car theft and money laundering, oil. Prostitution and even trade in nuclear materials. Sergei Mikhailov is considered the leader of the gang. Assessing the Russian mafia, former FBI special agent Bob Levinson called it the most dangerous of the criminal gangs on the planet. Such a statement inspires respect and horror, especially when you consider that, according to the most conservative estimates, there are about 300,000 people in the criminal association. The "lads" generally include 450 groups, the most famous of which is Solntsevo. This syndicate stands out for its particular cruelty. According to rumors, its leader is Sergei Mikhailov, nicknamed Mikhas. A short stay in the camp gave him a connection with many criminal authorities, including the world-famous Semyon Mogilevich. Small disparate gangs of racketeers of the late 80s were united, the American model was taken as a basis rather than the Italian one. Russian flavor was also introduced. The bandits worked out a lot in gyms, they were forbidden drugs and alcohol abuse. The fortress of faith and family relations was welcomed.
