Russian Mafia - Research Paper Example

Russian Mafia Russian Mafia Russian mafia is a term that is used to address criminal groups involved in various organized crimes. Such groups have been present in Russia from the Tsar period onwards. Factors like the socio-economic and political situations that developed in Russia by the end of World War II, the death of the dictator Joseph Stalin, and the downfall of the Soviet Union contributed to the growth of these groups tremendously. During their most successful periods, these groups were major controlling factor of the Russian economy.

They developed as one of the well-organized crime institutions in Europe with their operations expanding internationally.As Mallory (2006) points out, The Russian organized crime started in US when Soviet criminals started entering the US making use of the liberalized immigration policies of the country. An area called Brighton Beach in southern Brooklyn emerged as their center of operations (p, 76). They emerged as a widespread criminal center in the North America in the following years engaging in criminal activities including drug trafficking, extortion, loan sharking, human trafficking, prostitution etc.

The Russian mafia comprises of Ethnic criminal gangs comprising of Russian, Chechen, Armenian, Georgian, Azerbaijani criminal groups. The Russian mafia has tie ups with American-Italian criminal network La Cosa Nostra on enterprises like gambling, extortion, prostitution and fraud. According to a report given by FBI director Louis Freeh to the US senate, 27 groups belonging to the Russian mafia are operating in the United States, and they are conceived to be based around cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and New York (CIS Report, 1997).

The FBI uses various methods like undercover operations, confidential entities, reports from the intelligence bureau, patrolling, forensic accounting etc. to track down such groups. FBI also joins hands with other federal investigation agencies like the CIA, and also cooperates with agencies of other countries to capitalize information. The FBI and CIA have employed secret agents worldwide who collect information about potential attacks, conspiracies, and illegal activities taking place against the country.

Based on the data they collect from various sources, they form a master plan on how to confront the groups. Russian mafia is so powerful since they cooperate with other mafia organizations, and have financial pumping from all over the world. This makes them one of the most dangerous criminal setups in the world. Evidently, an elaborate action plan is essential to combat their activities.Russian mafia has thus grown as a threat to the United States in many respects. As Hewitt and Webber (n.d.) point out, Russian mafia has catalyzed the drug inflow in both South and North American countries including the US.

They are hugely involved in the sex trafficking of women and children as well. These women are later used for money laundering and drug and firearm smuggling. Credit card and healthcare fraud under the Russian mafia have been reported many times. The Russian mobsters arrested as part of two drug cases of 1996 points to their transnational reach. They have also moved in to sports betting and cyber crimes as they have grown as a globally spread criminal network from a Brooklyn based criminal setup posing a huge threat to the stability and security of the United States.

ReferencesCSIS Report. (1997). Russian organized crime. Frontline. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hockey/mafia/csis.htmlHewitt, S & Webber, T. Russian: Human trafficking & The Russian mob. Retrieved from http://rce.csuchico.edu/sites/default/files/online/human_trafficking_and_the_russian_mob.pdf Mallory, S. L. (2006). Understanding Organized Crime. US: Jones & Bartlett Learning.