Issue No.3 | www.infosources.info August 2018

Regional organized crime Balkan Organized Crime INFOSOURCES™ empowered in Southeastern Sets up in Prague (page 7) READ TODAY WHAT YOU WILL ASK TOMORROW Europe (page 5-6) CRIME

The biggest 5 organized crime groups in the world

Organized crime www.picturesdotnews.com

Cybercrime is grabbing the headlines these days, ver from its effects, rather than what thieves reached $34 billion annually. but the largest criminal gangs are still making earn from their crimes. When you add the market for other illicit drugs most of their money from drugs, sex, and extor- Compare that to estimates of pure revenue and revenue generators like human trafficking tion. from other forms of organized crime like the and extortion, it becomes clear that organized It’s tough to go even a few months without seeing drug trade and human trafficking: the -Or crime is still making most of its money from its the effects of organized crime on the economy and ganization of American States estimates that legacy businesses, despite the fact that criminals everyday life. The most salient example these days is the rash of thefts of credit card data from big- the revenue for cocaine sales in the U.S. has are always looking for new ways to make a buck. name retail chains like Home Depot and Target.

While these threats are headline-grabbing and particularly frightening because e-commerce is a relatively new phenomenon and businesses and consumers aren’t totally sure how to protect them- selves from hackers, it’s still a drop in the bucket in terms of overall organized crime earnings.

A 2013 survey from Javelin Strategy and Research estimates that the annual total loss to Americans due to identity theft was roughly $20 billion. But much of those costs comes from efforts to prevent identity theft or reco- So, who are the biggest organized crime gangs like Chinese Triads, which are a around the world and how do they make their loose conglomeration of crimi- money? Organized crime revenues are very nals bonded together mostly by difficult to estimate, as criminals often spend a familial relations, significant amount of time trying to hide what Yakuza are bound together by they make. “elaborate hierarchies,” and Also, “organized crime” is a loosely defined members, once initiated, must concept. Anything from a vast drug smug- subvert all other allegiances gling ring to a handful of car thieves can be in favor of the Yakuza. Even classified as organized crime groups, and the with the Japanese government cohesiveness of organized crime organizations cracking down on Yakuza in national Crime estimated that mafia activities around the world varies widely. recent years, this centralized structure has generate revenue of $33 billion dollars, mostly made it easy to attribute a massive amount of divided among Italy’s four major mafia gangs. Some groups, like Japan’s Yakuza, are highly revenue to this single gang. is the most successful of these organized and hierarchical, allowing econo- 2. Solntsevskaya Bratva groups, raking in an estimated $4.9 billion per mists and crime fighters in Japan to attribute year on everything from “sexual exploitation, much higher revenue totals to Yakuza groups Revenue: $8.5 billion firearms trafficking, drugs, counterfeiting, than others around the world. Here are the Russian mafia groups sit on the other side of gambling … usury and extortion,” according top five criminal gangs, ranked by revenue the organizational spectrum from Yakuza. to the report. And Camorra has been at it a estimates: Their structure, according to Frederico Vare- long time. se, a professor of criminology at the Univer- Based in Naples, the group’s history dates back sity of Oxford and an expert on international to the 19th century, when it was formed ini- organized crime, is highly decentralized. tially as a prison gang. As members were re- The group is composed of 10 separate qua- leased, the group flourished during the bloody si-autonomous “brigades” that operate more political struggles in Italy during the 1800s by or less independently of each other. The group offering protection services and as a force for does pool its resources, however, and the political organization among Italy’s poor. money is overseen by a 12-person council that “meets regularly in different parts of the wor- 4. Ndrangheta ld, often disguising their meetings as festive Revenue: $4.5 billion occasions,” Varesi says. Based in the Calabria region of Italy, the ‘Nda- It’s estimated that the group claims upwards rangheta is the country’s second largest mafia of 9,000 members, and that it’s bread and but- group by revenue. While it is involved in ter is the drug trade and human trafficking. 1. Yamaguchi Gumi many of the same illicit activities as Camorra, Russian organized crime in general is heavily ‘Ndrangheta has made its name for itself by Revenue: $80 billion involved in the heroin trade that originates building international ties with South Ame- The largest known gang in the world is called in Afghanistan: it’s estimated that Russia rican cocaine dealers, and it controls much the Yamaguchi Gumi, one of several groups consumes about 12% of the world’s heroin, of the transatlantic drug market that feeds collectively referred to in Japan as “Yakuza,” a while it contains just 0.5% of the world’s Europe. term that is roughly equivalent to the Ameri- population. It has also been expanding its operations in can use of “mafia.” 3. Camorra the U.S. and has helped prop up the Gambino The Yamaguchi Gumi make more money and Bonnano crime families in New York. from drug trafficking than any other source, Revenue: $4.9 billion according to Hiromitsu Suganuma, Japan’s While the Italian-American mafia has been former national police chief. The next two severely weakened in recent decades by law leading sources of revenue are gambling enforcement, the Italian mafia in the old and extortion, followed closely by “dispute country is still running strong. SCAN HERE resolution.” Despite years of efforts from citizens, jour- The Yakuza date back hundreds of years, and nalists, and government officials, the local according to Dennis McCarthy, author of An governments in Italy remain linked to and Economic History of Organized Crime, Yaku- protective of various mafia groups, to the point za groups are among the most centralized where a 2013 study from the Università Catto- in the world. While other East Asian gangs lica and the Joint research Centre on Trans- Mafia Wars: How Italy's Military Police Use Metadata To Track Organized Crime

Organized Crime www.picturesdotnews.com

THE CARABINIERI, ITALY'S MILITARY from communication data, simply looking at A number of software tools are already POLICE, USED A NEW SOFTWARE patterns and network features.» available to intelligence agencies, law PLATFORM TO ANALYZE THE PHONE Here's how it works: Police feed phone logs enforcement, military, and private RECORDS OF ORGANIZED CRIME they obtain into LogAnalysis; those then get investigators which apply network analysis GROUPS. HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED. mashed up with mug shots, criminal records, to mobile phone metadata for their and other proprietary information from investigations. In the course of their paper, There's a reason why the NSA likes metadata police databases. This information then shapes IBM i2'sCOPLINK and Analyst's Notebook, so much. Metadata-the auxiliary data the Carabinieri's investigations by giving Xanalys's Link Explorer, and Palantir generated by every digital move you make- vital clues about intra-group relationships Government are all cited. The researchers, can track a person's digital life in detail. Now of an organized crime group believed to be however, feel their software offers a specific a team of Italian academics are showing how behind robberies, extortions, and narcotics need. metadata can reveal the structure of organized trafficking. It's important to note that their Ferrara believes that many investigative crime groups with a software tool called paper anonymized all records, and did not platforms law enforcement use are designed LogAnalysis, which combines information identify which organized crime group Italian for counterterrorism and cybercrime first, from mobile phone records with police law enforcement were investigating. with physical crime as a secondary priority. databases. And among LogAnalysis's first It turns out that metadata can tell quite a lot «Our system is focused on the analysis of users is the Carabinieri, the Italian military about the way an organization is set up. Matt communication data related to criminal police. Unger, the chief digital officer of New York events occurring in the physical/offline Emilio Ferrara, a postdoc at Indiana firm K2 Intelligence, explained over the phone world, as opposed to cybercrime,» he says. University, created LogAnalysis with three to Fast Company that «with a good analytics «It has already proved to be an asset in real researchers from the University of Messina platform, cell phone metadata reveals who the investigations related to robberies, murders, in Sicily. Ferrara explains that their platform influencers are. They are the ones who send prostitution, bribery, and drugs trafficking.» «infers, with pretty high confidence, the roles and receive the most communications, and you of individuals involved in criminal activity can also see the ripples they make in turn.»

SCAN HERE Mapping the mafia: Italy’s web of criminal gangs explained

Organized Crime www.euronews.com

from the and can boast a global turnover of 53 billion euros, mainly coming from drug trafficking, an army of approximately 6,000 members globally (other sources put this figure at 60,000) and almost 400 armed groups operating in over 30 countries. In other words, it sits on a pile of cash as high as McDonald's or Deutsche Bank's , worth 3.5% of Italian GDP.

A family affair

A recent arrest has shed light on how Cosa Nostra elects its executives. If the Sicilian cartel is a top-to-bottom organization with a pyramid structure, the ‹Ndrangheta has wider After the death in a prison hospital of the strategy pursued by Riina. Matteo Messina international ties. Italian mafia's «boss of bosses», Sicilian chief Denaro, Cosa Nostra's most-wanted man - But it is still a family business at heart. Totò Riina, some might wonder: who now believed to be Riina's successor at the top of Orders to members stem from the small town rules the world's most notorious criminal the organization - has been on the run from of San Luca, framed by the foothills of the network? 1993. He is accused of at least four murders Aspromonte massifs, the cradle and epicentre There is no straight answer. but disappeared at the age of 31. of ‹Ndrangheta, whose core group is known as «la Mamma», «the Mother». The Sicilian cartel is only one part of an Who is the most powerful Its blood ties are strong, therefore very few are heterogeneous landscape of criminal groups. mafia in Italy? willing to turn supergrass and collaborate as To a non-Italian, the term «mafia» has become police informers. No one betrays the family. an all-inclusive word that encompasses the «Nowadays criminal groups shoot less than in An example of this claim dates back to various unlawful organizations active in the the 90s but they are extremely vital and, most 2009, when a Calabrian-born woman called racketeering, drug-trafficking and murder importantly, they do more business than ever,» Lea Garofalo decided to expose her former business. writes Italian magazine L'Espresso. «A person partner's illicit trafficking but ended up However, Italian organized crime is multi- living in Lombardy fears the ‹Ndrangheta and being killed and burnt alive by a gang, which faceted and the truth is that the Sicilian the Camorra no differently' from someone included her ex. syndicate has lost prominence in the overall born in the south of Italy.» The port of Gioia Tauro, controlled by the power balance. ‹Ndrangheta, is know as the European entry The criminal group that has literally boomed point of cocaine, with total seizures for 2016 After Riina's imprisonment in 1993, the is the ‹Ndrangheta, a syndicate that «shows accounting for 1.7 tons of the white powder, Italian mafia weakened. His violent strategy a very dangerous ability to colonize the mostly arriving from South America. had culminated in the 1992 killings of two territories where its members are located. prominent anti-mafia judges, Giovanni Today it represents the main challenge to the Gomorra’s Camorra Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Yet the institutions», said the prosecutor who helped bombings - a direct attack on the state - arrest Riina. What Roberto Saviano describes in his created a «suicidal» backlash for the mafia. famous book Gomorra is the Camorra and The crackdown since then has almost This organized group spawns from Sicily's is based north of Calabria, in Campania and annihilated the Sicilian cartel who, as a neighboring region, Calabria, and has slowly around its capital city, Naples. Camorra is the reaction, has gone progressively incognito, became the most powerful syndicate from oldest criminal group in Italy and, unlike the abandoning the blatant, confrontational the early 2000s. It is completely independent Sicilian mafia, does not have a unique centre of command. It has more of a horizontal perpetrated by a confederation of Camorra's Naples' region. International illicit deals structure and features independent clans clans, the Casalesi, leading to the death of happen with the «permission» of ‹Ndrangheta, ready to battle each other for supremacy. seven people and the deployment of 400 who seems to be the Italian group with the It's a much more violent organization troops in the area by the Italian government. monopoly of the global drug trade. At least compared to the Sicilian Mafia and the Casalesi, operating in the , for now. ‹Ndrangheta because of the continuous fights is one of the most influential criminal groups ‹Ndrangheta and Camorra are also very for territorial dominance amongst its factions. in the world, specialized in international drug active not only in drug trafficking and Camorra's tendency is to settle most disputes trade and boasting alliances with Albanian extortion, but also in the allocation of public with the use of brutal force: in the most recent mobsters and Nigerian crime syndicates. contracts in the north of the peninsula. In years it has left a bloodier trail than the two Journalist Roberto Saviano estimates their fact, mafia is northern Italy's problem too, as other groups. total assets as being worth around 30 billion OpenDemocracy puts it. Lacking a pyramid structure, its illegal euros at the peak of their activity, in 2008. revenues have been estimated by Italy's Minister of Home Affairs as being around If Camorra's groups' business interests are 3.75 billion euros-a-year. everywhere in Italy and in Europe, most The massacre in 2008 has notably in Germany and Spain, their core SCAN HERE been possibly the most notable slaughter territory remains confined to Campania,

Regional organized crime empowered in Southeastern Europe

Organized Crime www.serbianna.com

The Southeastern European organized criminal networks, are operating the Balkans as a transit route and play a great role in enchasing the in great capacity despite a series of initiatives both by political and secu- dynamics of around 3.600 groups or organized criminality in all EU rity authorities in Europe to curb their action. A recent extensive report countries. The region of the Western Balkans in particular is a major by Europol estimates that Albanian, Turkish and Pakistani originating illegal trading hub for narcotics, as well as, for small-arms trade. groups dominate the Pan-European heroin contraband, mostly by using Over the past decade, Latin-American cocaine to Greece and Italy. A significant number of bonds that have been created with Albanian cartels have also collaborated with Balkan quantities are then re-exported to other coun- (and Kosovar) groups along with the Calabria illicit importers and play a great role in sup- tries in Europe, with the amounts of ship- ‘Ndrangheta, while the stretch of activities plying an estimated four million addicts with ments usually exceeding one ton per transfer, reaches up to Serbia (Belgrade), Latin Ame- this drug annually in the European markets. made by trucks and vessels. According to rica, Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Central Moreover individuals are being recruited in estimates by the Greek Police in the main Europe. As far as Serbia is concerned the substantial numbers for loading and carrying Western road axis that joins the Greek-Alba- territory of the country is a major trespassing of the drug. This method is preferred by Wes- nian borders with the port of Patras, 2 tons route but also a destination location, since tern African communities, mostly in Greece of confiscation of cannabis takes place per local narcotics consumption is raising. The who pay a sum of around 2-4,000 Euros to month, without including other quantities region of Novi Pazar -Sanjak hosts a number EU citizens to travel and buy directly for them being found from indigenous production. The of criminal entities which are in direct contact cocaine from Latin American countries. In bulk of these amounts comes from transfers with Albanian-Turkish-Kurdish traffickers. that sense the try to minimize the damage via trucks that follow the route Albania-Patras The gradual expansion of this collaboration by a confiscation of large shipment, while and then they are either re-exported to other has evolved to the extent that a gram of heroin the individuals are usually ones without a EU countries or make their way Eastwards is being sold for around 10 Euros in street Police record. A trend emerging according into Athens. prices in Belgrade and tends to drop constant- to recent commentary by the Greek director ly over the past five years. of country’s anti-narcotics unit, is for the re- In Montenegro, EU bodies and local Police cruitment of EU citizens that unload the drug that assume for the existence of 35 organized The heavy involvement of drug cartels in to a destination different than their home- crime syndicates specialized in narcotics Southeastern Europe with arms dealers, has land, whilst they frequently change airport contraband. These groups are also involved also resulted in flooding the local markets locations, so as to confuse authorities, while in arms illegal trade and consequently in with an array of small arms, posing clear a large number of seeming unrelated people money laundering, in similar fashion like in danger for societal stability and concerns for is involved, making investigation process far the neighboring Western Balkan states. The the arming of radical and terrorist groups.AK- more difficult. main spots of concentration of activity for 47’s are being sold in Greece’s underground these groups are the capital Podgorica, town market for 300-1,500 Euros depending on Hashish is widely cultivated and exported of Rozaje, and the ports of Kotor and Bar. quality and times being used. Consequently illegally from Southern and central Albania The main issue is the strong interpersonal robberies even of a small scale by the use of this military- type weapon have multiplied over the years, to the extent that the Greek ministry of justice is preparing a Law to sentence culprits using this machine gun into life imprisonment so as to deter further use. Moreover, sophisticated pistols such as Glock 17 can be found for around 4,000 Euros, Zas- tava ones for less than 2,000 and Tokarev and Makarov for as little as 1,000 Euros. Usually networks dealing small arms have also access to other types of weaponry including hand grenades (100-200 Euros per each) and can even supply RPG rockets to «costumers». The recent revelations by world media that Wes- tern Balkan groups have also been involved in supplying heavy arms to the Syrian battlefield is another worrying trend, since that will further empower both their reach and their economic base.

SCAN HERE Balkan Organized Crime Sets up in Prague

Organized Crime www.derechos.org

Prague, the post-card perfect capital city of Balkan crime gangs used emigrants from their “These groups use (the) Czech Republic as the Czech Republic, has long been hugely home countries to set up what appear to be a logistical base, because their members can popular with tourists. But it’s also very popu- fictitious business structures in the Czech easily obtain residence through establishing a lar with other, less desirable visitors: Balkan Republic. At least six important Balkan crime company. organized crime groups. figures and their groups operate in the Czech companies can be dormant for many years Dozens of companies established in the Czech Republic, especially in Prague. These include without the threat of any penalty, so it often capitol are directly linked to powerful Balkan the Darko Šari? group, Andrija Draškovi?, serves as a smokescreen for actual activities organized crime groups that make their Milan Naran?i?, the Qasim Osmani family, or as an inconspicuous address for delivery. money from drug trafficking, murder-for-hire Borislav Plavši?’s group and the Izmet Osmani Members of these groups also benefit from and cigarette smuggling. Some of these com- clan. language similarity and prefer the position of panies are engaged in the gambling business the Czech Republic in central Europe, with and control chains of casinos. Others look Police say the Czech Republic has been a quality air and motorway connections to the like offshore paper companies without offices, favorite logistics hub for drug shipments since Balkans as well as the European Union. financial reports or any information on record the early 1990s for various Balkan groups, and about the businesses. that this continues today. Each week, at least Several of the people who established these one multi-million dollar drug shipment goes companies for the crime groups. They said the through the Czech Republic into Germany, companies were used mainly to obtain Eu- says Hynek Vlas, a former policemen and SCAN HERE ropean Union (EU) residency for the Balkan head of the Czech unit for combating orga- figures. Czech law allows foreign nationals nized crime (ÚOOZ). who own businesses to obtain Czech (and Besides the narcotics business, the groups thus EU) residency. use Czech territory for setting up companies. Turkish Organized Crime Organized Crime www.worldpress.org

Turkey's strategic location as a gateway from in the 1980's reduced that city's suitability as and vehicle repair shops are examples of such Asia into Europe, and its proximity to opium a prime port for the narcotics trade and this businesses. producing areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, role was then taken on by Istanbul. Thus, the A large number of heroin shipments enter have long made it an important locus for nar- situation after the end of the Cold War in Turkey each month. They are then delivered, cotics trafficking, predominantly heroin. 1989 found Turkish organized crime groups mainly through the Balkan route, to destina- involved in heroin trafficking much stronger tion countries throughout Europe. Turkey itself has long been an opium financially from their trade in the previous producer. In the early 1970's, international decades and ready to pursue stronger ties with Historically, the Balkan route is the main pressure-mainly from the Nixon administra- the supplier countries of Central Asia. overland connection between Asia and Eu- tion in the United States-obliged Turkey to Furthermore, the rise of Albanian organized rope. Every year, this route is taken by around enforce stricter rules for opium production in crime and militant groups in the 1990's, and 1.5 million trucks, 250,000 coaches, and 4 mil- 1974, strictly limiting it to amounts required the civil wars in former Yugoslavia, provided lion cars. The most common way to transport for pharmaceutical purposes. Up until then ample human resources in the Balkans eager heroin is to hide a relatively small quantity heroin was produced in Turkey as an opium to get involved in the drug trade so as to sur- of 20 to 50 kilograms in a truck. Considering derivative and quantities were sold to the vive financially or gain capital to achieve their the scale of legitimate commercial trade on West with the assistance of the Sicilian and political aims. Europe now already hosted the Balkan route, combined with the fact that Corsican mafias. considerable Turkish minorities-especially it takes many hours to a whole day to search The heroin to be sold was transported by ship Germany-and some individuals from those a truck, explains why it is virtually impos- to Sicily, and then to Marseilles, where the Turkish communities were used to act as local sible to counteract these activities. In 1998, Corsicans had created labs for the production retail agents for heroin distribution in Europe. Tim Boekhout van Solinge estimated that 75 of commercial product. From there it was percent of the heroin smuggled into Europe is transferred to New York and other Ameri- Trafficking Operations transported along the Balkan route. can ports where the Italian-American mafia Turkish organized crime groups function would organize its distribution. The United primarily as coordinators, financiers, and Germany is a central redistribution point States administration at that time declared a facilitators in the drug trade. Their experience within Europe. Once heroin reaches Germany, war against narcotics and obliged the Turks in areas such as transportation, company it is repackaged and shipped on from there to to seek other sources of opium. Soon enough formation, and facilitation management is the other major European markets, especially Turkish operational production bases were used for organized crime activities in illegal Britain and Scandinavia. Moreover, some of established in Afghanistan and northern Pa- immigration and trafficking in human beings. the leaders of the Turkish syndicates resided kistan. The conflict in Afghanistan during the Turkey is an important transit country for in Germany in the 1990's and the country be- 1980's, as well as the resurgence of a Kurdish illegal immigration to the European Union came a center of gravity for Turkish organized insurgency in southeast Turkey after 1984 and from, for example, China. Turkish organized crime, at least with regard to their European the Iraq-Iran war of the same period; created crime groups are known to be involved in narcotics trafficking operations. a convergence of political, criminal, and mili- an array of legal businesses that are likely to tary operations along the heroin supply chain be a method of laundering proceeds from from Afghanistan to Turkey. heroin trafficking. Restaurants, bars, fast-food

Moreover, the effective destruction of Beirut franchises, real estate agencies, travel agencies, SCAN HERE