Top 10 Mafia Around The World

Check out the secretive groups involved in organized crimes spread over a lot of countries. They are usually referred to by the name of the country they originated in and the majority of members will be of this nationality. They usually aspire to have a monopoly over illegal activities like drugs, firearm trafficking trade in everything from stolen art to nuclear technology and so on and so forth. The post is about the mafia groups and their activities. They are listed in an increasing order of their influence in the world.

1 ) Russian Mafia

THEY trade in everything from stolen art to nuclear technology and leave rivals riddled with bullets in the streets of Moscow.  Now the worst thugs in the Russian Mafia have blasted their way to the top of the global organised crime league.  Moscow’s Solntsevskaya Bratva, known as the Brotherhood, have just been named the worst criminal gang in the world in a major survey.  And the planet’s most famous mobsters, the “Five Families” of the New YorkMafia, barely scrape into the top 10.

Russian Mafia originated in the Soviet Union and now has influence all over the world. It has between 100,000 to 500,000 members. They are involved in organized crimes in countries like Israel, Hungary, Spain, Canada, UK, US, Russia, etc. They have also immigrated to Israel, America and Germany by using Jewish and German identities. Their activities include drug and firearm trafficking, bombings, smuggling, pornography, internet fraud, etc.

The Brotherhood took over the underworld of south-west Moscow in the 1980s after godfather Sergei Mikhailov learned his criminal trade in the Siberian labour camps.  Then, by linking up with other gangs, they built an empire worth tens of billions of pounds across Russia and beyond.  The survey says: “From its base in Moscow, this syndicate runs rackets in extortion, drug trafficking, car theft, stolen art, money laundering, contract killings, arms dealing, trading nuclear material, prostitution and oil deals.”

2 ) Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra

Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra is a relatively new group. It was started in the second half of the nineteenth century in Italy. In spite of it being a young mafia, it has a great ability to plan large crimes and get away with it. It is involved in protection rackets, drug and arms trafficking, mediation of criminal business are some of the things the Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra are involved in. It has a small number of members ranging from 3500 to 4000. In addition to these members they have associates who aren’t true members.

3 ) Colombian Drug Cartels

Colombian Drug Cartels were formed mainly for controlling and trafficking drugs. They operate in a lot of countries. They have many organizations that deal with political, military and legal aspects of the cartels. The important cartels from Columbia are the Cali Cartel, Medellin Cartel and the Norte del Valle Cartel. At one point these cartels were threatened by the extradition treaty between the US and Columbia. The lords went into hiding and ordered its members to kill its supporters. They have also been involved in a lot of kidnappings and terrorism

4 ) Chinese Triads

Chinese Triads consists of many criminal organizations which are based in Mainland China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, etc. They are also very active in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver as well as San Francisco. Their organized crime involves theft, contract killing, drug trafficking, extortion, piracy, etc. It is now involved in piracy as well. They started in the 18th century but were called Tian Di Hui then. Even though it is steadily increasing in power, the activities have been low key. The triads can have 50 to over 30,000 members. They are also involved in counterfeiting Chinese currency.

5 ) Yakuza

Japanese Yakuza is a native organized crime group which uses threat and extortion to get their way. Its origin is found to be in the 17th century. A missing joint of the little finger is a tell tale sign of the gang members. This is often offered to the leader as an act of appeasement or apology. Some of the members even have full body tattoos. It has 110,000 active members in this group who are from 2500 families. They are involved in protection rackets, importing uncensored pornography from Europe and America, prostitution and in illegal immigration.

6 ) Mexican Mafia

Mexican Mafia is a very strong prison gang in the United States. It was started in the late 1950s to protect prisoners against other inmates and from the officers. This gang has also been involved in extortion and drug trafficking. It has about 30,000 members all over the United States. The gang members sometimes sport a tattoo with a common design which is a Mexican national symbol over a flaming circle and crossed knives. It is said that there are 150 prison members who have the authority to command murder and 2000 associates who will execute these commands. They force gangs and dealers to pay a protection tax and the ones who refuse will be killed.

7 ) Israeli Mafia

Israeli Mafia works in a lot of countries in activities like narcotics, drug trafficking and prostitution. Times have changed as the Israeli mafia was once looked at with awe and known for its patronage but today they are ruthless and don’t think twice about killing by standers. The Russian-Israeli Mafia has permeated the US political system so well that the US forces are failing to make any significant progress in stopping them.

8 ) The Serbian mafia

The Serbian mafia operates in more than ten nations including Germany, United States, United Kingdom, France, etc. They are involved in diverse activities like drug trafficking, smuggling, contract killing, protection rackets, gambling and gen thefts. It has three major groups called Vozdovac, Surcin and Zemun which control the smaller groups. Presently there are about 30-40 groups working in Serbia.

9 ) The Albanian Mafia

The Albanian Mafia consists of a large number of criminal organizations which are based in Albania. They are active in US and European countries as well. It is said that the Albanian mafia spread to international levels in the 1980s. Organized crime prevailed in Albania right from the 15th century. In United States and United Kingdom, they run sex and drug trafficking rackets and are known for quick use of violence for vengeance.

10 ) The Five Families

The Five Families are the five major Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in New York City since the 1930s. Prior to this was the Maranzano Family and the Masseria Family which ultimately ended up with the two families fighting each other during a period known as the Castellammarese War. The Five Families, under the suggestion of Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, were responsible for the establishment of The Commission, a council which demarcated territory between the previously warring factions and governs Mafia activities in the United States. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Sicilian Mafia in the US.