Russian mafia is one of the most powerful in the world, as it is recognized by certain statistical data. In order to understand its essence better and to find out its peculiarities it will be very useful to analyze the history of its development in the country and to compare it with mafia of some other countries. Information that is necessary for such in-depth understanding is presented in this paper.
History of the Russian mafia started in the 1960s, as beforehand the country was economically poor, while mafia arises primarily in such communities where economics is sufficiently developed1. The first signs of mafia in the country were noticed when the economic mechanism began to form, that is, in the times of Khrushchev as a leader – 1950s-1960s. Still, the scope of its activities was ridiculous as of today's standards: in 1958-1959, the average damage caused by the economic crimes on average was 1.5-2 million rubles. Thus, if in 1960 it was possible to talk about the individual signs of the mafia, in 1970 it became a social phenomenon. Those who had been embarrassed of their legal millions, began to invest them in expensive cars, diamonds, and realty. More and more money were taken into private hands from the state budget. There were many ways to do it, but the main one was creation of illegal shops and even factories, through which the state natural resources were stolen.
As a reaction to the emergence of black economy, a quick intensification of the professional criminals’ activities took place, of those who can be called successors of the thieves in law of the Stalinist period. At the same time the basic principles of the current ideology developed: take from those who have something to take; the second – don’t take everything, for the patience of a person has an end; and the third – take law enforcement officers to each case. Guided by these concepts, a criminal organization Mongol began its activities, in which a well-known thief in law Vyacheslav Ivankov (commonly known as “Yaponchik”, which is translated as “Little Japanese”) started working. It is with its appearance in Moscow in the early 1970s, that the local mafia started developing.
The leaders of the illegal business became a target of gangster groups. They were forced to share their income in various ways: arson of cars, houses and villas, kidnapping children, blackmailing, tortures, etc. Money began to flow into the illegal environment in such amounts that the history of professional criminals had never seen2. As soon as huge amounts of money were accumulated, among the thieves bosses started to appear, who were able to keep staff: guards, spies, and fighters. Two levels of the criminal pyramid were sustained: thieves, occupying a lower rank in the social life, and the judiciary, standing on top. The top was paid so as to have backup on the part of the law and to provide supply of illegal shops, while thieves were paid not to become victims of the attacks.
In the first half of the 1970s, along with a wave of immigrants in the U.S., criminals moved there as well. A few years later they became a powerful criminal force in New York and Las Vegas. At the end of 1980s, the following situation was formed. Organized crime existed in the country at three different levels. At the first, the lowest, there were already established criminal groups that were not yet able to reach the floors of the government. At the second level there was the same group, but with relation to corrupt officials. And finally, on the third level, which is the most powerful, in there several groups join into one, and the most powerful clan manages the other ones (in the West it is called a mafia network structure).
Mafia clans are usually led by former athletes, professional habitual criminals, or inconspicuous, grayish managers, like a waiter in pizzeria. But at the same time this waiter has everything – security, intelligence, and a separate system of control over the territory3. What is the most important, such a person has corrupt communication, by which he can go higher and higher.
Further in the history of the Russian mafia there continue to exist several basic conditions, on which organized crime is based. In particular, there is observed further consolidation of criminal groups: small groups form larger ones on the basis of agreements. They seize territories, which is why the struggle for spheres of influence becomes more and more topical (racketeering acts as a catalyst). Second, there is unification of economic and general crimes. Third, the mafia is introduced in the state’s economy, and in the distribution system (trains turn in the opposite directions for bribes). Fourth, there is invasion of organized crime into politics with the help of corrupt senior officials4. Fifth, unlike the West, Russian mafia actively exploits teens. And finally, the sixth: the Russian mafia goes into the international arena.
A distinguishing feature of organized crime in Russia is the fact that it entered the economic life, legal structures, and reached the international level. Its representatives are actively involved in the economic life of the country, albeit in a "shadow" plan. About a half of Russia's economics is black. Some criminal authorities have moved away from brutal violence, the traditional rackets as a way of making money and moved on to other methods of enrichment.
While organized crime in recent years was becoming wealthier and got the best professionals, law enforcement agencies were losing their reserves5. During the period from 1990 to 2000 about 1 million employees left the MIA. A similar leaving of professionals was observed in the security services as well, reinforced by six reorganizations. Then, the state, as if recollecting itself, allocated considerable sums to strengthen the rule of law, but these sums were divided between the corrupt officials from the Interior Ministry that already had all the power they required. In contrast to the organized crime of foreign countries, which developed on the forbidden types of services (prostitution, racketeering, control over gambling, drug trafficking), Russian mafia was formed in the distributional economics and took its shape in the market-oriented economics. The rates of organized crime formation are really impressive: while in Italy it took more than 150 years, in Russia it took only 20-25.
Now it will be useful to consider the distinguishing characteristics of the Russian mafia in detail. Russian organized crime can be compared to the trading of natural resources. Still, they cannot be called traders from a business perspective. Chinese mafia, for instance, doesn’t miss an opportunity to integrate business as a whole in order to maximize profits and its subsequent use for economic development6. Russian organized crime is aimed only to get short-term profits, as is the case of natural resources trade. In such situations, the illegal economics is likened to lawful.
For example, in the process of women trafficking, no one thinks about who will give life to the next generation of Russian people. No one tracks the entire process of women trafficking from the beginning to the end, to the markets in New or York London, where the women are in the highest demand and are sold for the highest prices. Chinese mafia, on the contrary, acts in this way. For the Russian criminal groups it is important to simply sell the goods at the earliest opportunity.
Another characteristic feature is that in the public mind of Russians, there is a common idea that the Russian mafia is patriotic, which can even help the state to fight the enemies of people. And it is a strong basis for the organized crime. The Japanese Yakuza cooperated with the government before the Second World War. Within the same period of time the American Mafia helped the authorities to ensure the smooth operation of ocean ports7. Due to this, organized crime can survive – by catering to the authorities; otherwise, the authorities will try to get rid of it.
It is also interesting and necessary to mention that Russian organized crime has globalized very rapidly. It became an advantage for it, as it is fast and flexible, never missing an opportunity to overcome boundaries and to use a lot of money. Its international spread occurred even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, which in its turn contributed to the further expansion of the geography and its actions, due to the already established connections.
Although the Russian mafia is powerful it is not as cruel and violent as representatives of the other countries. On the other hand, it is not exactly clear what they are capable of in economic schemes, which is potentially much more serious. Sometimes the consequences of criminal operations become apparent too late. As for the number and level of cruelty of the Russian gangs, they are less dangerous than others.
An important distinguishing characteristic of the Russian mafia is the fact that there criminal authorities can become political leaders. It is probably the hallmark of Russia. One example is the story of "Winnie the Pooh" – Vladimir Nikolayev, who was the mayor of Vladivostok. Many people strive to get power in Russia, because the law provides protection from criminal liability for those who hold senior positions. Experts have known little about thieves in law for a long time, which was facilitated by the exceptional secrecy of criminals and tough criminal traditions, which in this case became the organizational basis. It is a community that can be called a criminal cooperative, which appeared in the 1930s, constantly modifying and developing. Currently, you can talk about a new wave of the organization, of over eight hundred people.
At first glance, it is like an amorphous organization that is united only by own illegal laws. It has no permanent place of deployment, there are equal members. However, the relationship is so strong that the thieves act as a whole. Authorized body is gathering, at which problems and other organizational issues are solved. In some cases, written submissions may be taken, which are communicated to the recipient9. In 1990, thieves in the law made a statement that to the criminal world about the avoidance of nationalism in their ranks. In 1991 they tried to raise a rebellion of convicted because of the severity of the law.
The modern thief in law is the organizer of criminal activity. What are the main functions of this cooperation? It activates and draws together criminal elements using the thieves' gatherings and special appeals, takes control of some of the crime branch (racketeering, theft, fraud), resolves conflicts that arise between groups or individuals engaged in collecting money in the general fund, ties relations with foreign criminal world and officials.
Thieves can be leaders of criminal gangs, or be present in them as consultants. It is interesting to note that, based on ideological differences, cooperation of thieves can be of two types: old and new. The latter describe themselves as thieves, but are actually an organizing force of the criminal environment, tending to corrupt relations, and some going even further – penetrating the power structure. It is inconsistent with the laws of thieves. There are also adoption cases in the community and the awarding of a thief title for bribe10.
Different categories of thieves are feuding. The old accused new of the fact that they sold themselves to dealers, bosses of business, became their guards, while new accuse old of the fact that they are not keeping pace with the time. It is understandable. Like society, the illegal world is in constant motion and contradictions.
In the recent years mafia transformed, but remained a major driving force in the economy. Many oligarchs have relation to organized crime, which, in turn, has a huge impact even on the leading corporations. Maybe it's not so obvious or widespread as before, but we cannot say that the government of crime is in the past.
In future mafia is likely to continue playing an important role in the Russian economy. In order to overcome organized crime, Russians need an open and free press, active civil society, rule of law, a valid and respected judicial system – such that people could feel that their problems can be resolved fairly.
Today mafia is rather dangerous for its society. For example, there is topical drug problem, which achieved such a scale only through the actions of organized crime. Russia broke the world record for drug use per capita. Distribution and use of drugs, of course, affects the health of the nation. Trafficking of women deprives Russia of the future, promoting the spread of AIDS, which again is dangerous to the health of the nation. In addition, the Russian mafia has a huge impact on the economy, which is a very negative impact on the status of Russia as a whole.
Notes
1. Julie Anderson, “The Chekist Takeover of the Russian State,” International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence 19, no. 2 (2006): 240.
2. Dina Siegel, “Conversations with Russian Mafiosi,” Trends in Organized Crime 11, no. 1 (2008): 25.
3. Federico Varese, “Mafia movements: a framework for understanding the mobility of mafia groups,” Global Crime 12, no. 3 (2011): 222.
4. Mangai Natarajan, International Crime and Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 145.
5. Federico Varese, “The Structure of a Criminal Network Examined: The Russian Mafia in Rome,” Oxford Legal Studies Research 21 (2006): 57.
6. J.D. Serio, Investigating the Russian Mafia: An Introduction for Students, Law Enforcement, and International Business (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2008), p. 254.
7. Lyudmila Alexandrova, “Most of 'Russian mobsters' arrested in Europe have Georgian roots,” EVXpress, last modified March 16, 2010, http://dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/21504210
8. Michael Schwirtz, “For a Departed Mobster, Wreaths and Roses but No Tears,” The New York Times, last modified October 13, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/world/europe/14mobster.html?ref=global-home
9. Dina Siegel, Hans Nelen and J. M. Nelen, Organized crime: culture, markets and policies (London: SAGE Publications, 2008), p. 198.
10. Baris Cayli, “Social Networks of the Italian Mafia: The Strong and Weak Parts,” CEU Political Science Journal 5, no. 3 (2010): 395.
Bibliography
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