http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3839
The List: The World's Most Powerful Crime Syndicates
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Posted May 2007
The Sopranos, an acclaimed television drama about a fictional
Italian-American mobster, is headed for its last season finale after six years
of startling success. But what of the real-world mafias that control illicit
trade and terrorize innocent victims from Moscow to Mexico City? This week's FP
List shows that when it comes to powerful global crime networks, we can't just
"fuggedaboutit."
The Yakuza
AFP/Getty ImagesThe big picture: With close ties to many politicians and
right-wing pressure groups, Japan's crime syndicates can operate without much
fear of the law.
Major players: The largest yakuza group is the Yamaguchi-gumi, whose
39,000 members account for nearly half of all Japanese gangsters. Headquartered
in Kobe, the group has been growing fast through corporate-style acquisitions.
Current godfather Kenichi Shinoda manages the criminal empire from jail. This
incarceration is his second stint; in the 1970s, he did time for slicing up a
rival with a sword.
Distinguishing features: Publicity and style. The yakuza are the most
open of crime syndicates, with official headquarters, nameplates, and business
cards. Flashy suits, distinctive tiger tattoos, and missing fingers (cut off as
penance for failure) make for a romantic public image. Humanitarian gestures
and an avoidance of "civilian" casualties, meanwhile, leave the public willing
to look away from the groups' violence.
Where they're headed: Conflict with the authorities. Several recent
high-profile killings may mean the end of the government's tolerant
approach-and the police are now adding 10,000 extra officers to take on the
gangs. Yamaguchi-gumi's expansion into Tokyo, meanwhile, is provoking
resistance from rivals and may lead to bloody turf wars.
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Russian Mafiya
The big picture: As much as one tenth of Russia's territory, and one
quarter of its economy, may be under the sway of roughly 300,000 members in
some 450 different Russian mob groups.
TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP/Getty ImagesMajor players: No one organization seems
dominant-unless you count the Russian government itself, parts of which have
been completely taken over. The recently arrested Vladimir Nikolayev's résumé
is typical: member of Russian President Vladimir Putin's governing party, mayor
of Vladivostok, and owner of an empire of seafood, meat, and timber processing
companies. He got his mayoral post when his opponent "tripped" over a grenade
left outside his office.
Distinguishing features: Ruthlessness. The Russians are willing to go
after journalists, the police, and senior officials to an extent that would
make other syndicates squeamish. The September 2006 slaying of Andrei Kozlov,
top deputy at the Russian Central Bank and an anticorruption crusader, was a
clear statement that the Russian mob will back down from no one.
Where they're headed: Upscale. Russia's crime lords are moving out of the
constraints of the black market and taking over legitimate operations, like
chemical factories, ports, and banks. Shootouts are down, as gangs consolidate
control and focus on backroom deals. Globalization is in, too, with heavy
Russian presence growing in Israel and New York's Brighton Beach.
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Italian Mafia
AFP/Getty ImagesThe big picture: The Italians are still the ones that
first come to mind when the topic is organized crime. With estimated revenues
of $50 billion in 2005, the Mafia would be one of Italy's biggest companies if
they incorporated.
Major players: Sicily's Cosa Nostra is obviously a force to be reckoned
with, having held the island in its grip for decades. Calabria's 'Ndrangheta,
however, is emerging as a bigger, stronger, more brutal, and more global
presence. Its 10,000 members are at the center of drug-running networks linking
Colombia to Europe's markets.
Distinguishing features: Strong local and family connections. Cosa Nostra
has been famous for enforcing omertà, its code of silence, on local
populations, government officials, and even the Church. They and the other
Mafia families take advantage of poor communities and almost feudal societies
to maintain power and influence.
Where they're headed: A fight for survival. The arrest of Bernardo
Provenzano, the cappo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses), outside Corleone in
April last year dealt Cosa Nostra a grave blow. Soon after, 24 godfathers were
picked up in a series of dramatic raids. An aggressive attitude by Italy's
center-left government has been credited with breaking the Sicilian Mafia's
leadership, and may soon turn its focus to 'Ndrangheta and the other criminal
families.
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Mexican Drug Cartels
The big picture: Increased interdiction efforts by U.S. authorities put
the Colombian cartels out of the transport sector of the drug trade, and
vicious gangs in Mexico have risen to take their place.
OMAR TORRES/AFP/Getty ImagesMajor players: The Sinaloa and Gulf cartels
have a lock on business across the Arizona and Texas borders, respectively. A
third major group operating out of Tijuana competes with them for the rights to
keep American users flush with cocaine and methamphetamines sourced from as far
away as China. All three cartels' leaders are in jail, but their organizations
have continued their murderous ways.
Distinctive features: Multimedia flair. The cartels have recently been
locked in a low-intensity war, and the executions and torture through which it
is being fought have been the subject of numerous music videos posted on
YouTube by gang members. When a video hasn't said enough, gang members have
been known to brandish the decapitated heads of their enemies as warnings.
Where they're headed: Nowhere good. Mexican President Felipe Calderón has
brought the full force of the Mexican military to bear on the gangs, even
creating a special commando unit answering directly to him. But the drugs still
flow and the bodies are piling up. The cartels have killed over 1,000 people so
far this year, including a number of high-ranking officials. The groups' reach,
meanwhile, is spreading to Peru and Central America.
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Italian-American Mafia
SPENCER PLATT/Getty Images News
The big picture: Despite its vaunted reputation, the American version of
Cosa Nostra is a pale reflection of its former self. Once a nationwide
presence, now its reach is limited to New York City and Chicago.
Major players: None now. U.S. presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani and
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff made their names in
high-profile trials of top "godfathers" in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, New
York's "Five Families"-Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Colombo, and Bonanno-are
still presences in New York. But after decades of relentless prosecutions, none
of them now has an easily identifiable don.
Distinguishing features: Disloyalty. Wiretapping and the United States'
federal RICO statute gave prosecutors wide latitude to threaten bosses and
soldiers alike. Facing long prison terms, hundreds of made guys have dropped
pledges of omertà and turned states' evidence. Younger members shun the low
profiles and family loyalties of their predecessors, undermining the families'
effectiveness from within.
Where they're headed: Hopefully, irrelevance and eventual extinction. The
mob is still able to squeeze cash out of corrupt unions, the construction
industry, gambling, drugs, and extortionate loans. But the life lacks the
glamour it once held, and is just as likely as ever to lead to a violent end.
Some experts worry, however, that a shift in law enforcement priorities away
from the Mafia may lead to a resurgence
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