The Russian Mafia are also of course operating all over the world,
and not just in Russia. You may find them even in Los Angeles!
I never heard of an Albanian Mafia, but it may well exist. I do
recall hearing about an enormous "ponzi" scam played in Albania,
where people were promised a doubling of any investment. Apparently,
thousands of citizens got involved, and the government even promised
to back it up. Then it collapsed, and many people were left screwed
over. This was 1996? The government collapsed soon after. Not
surprisingly, people who were raised in a communistic society are
often naive about investing money, and are easily fooled by scams.
John
--- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_y..., mayhem <meurtre_at_e...> wrote:
> My understanding is that with the Italians and other traditional
gangsters,
> they will take you out if you go against them. With the Russians,
they will
> go after your whole family.
>
> They are very smart, and they can think both within a bureaucracy
and
> outside it. A number of them have Ph.Ds, and they were "trained" in
> negotiating bureaucracies in the USSR. When caught there, they were
> tortured--so if they are interrogated here in the U.S., they just
laugh and
> say, "what are you going to do to me?"
>
> And they don't think like criminals--more like a foreign
> intelligence-gathering agency. They've been known to place
surveillance
> cameras outside the police stations to identify whistle-blowers.
>
> It's like the difference between a normal cancer and something very
> aggressive, like a melanoma.
>
> --J
>
> > I don't know about the LA Times, but the Russian Mafia has a
> > reputation for being utterly ruthless. As a result, they are also
> > very bold, since nobody with any common sense is going to blow the
> > whistle on them.
> >
> > In the old USSR days, there was no Mafia as such. Criminals were
> > watched closely by the authorities, and were in jail most of the
> > time. After the collapse of the USSR, some of the criminals
adapted
> > to the new way of life. They called themselves "businessmen" and
> > their wealth skyrocketed. This was when the Russian Mafia was
born.
> >
> >
> > John
> >
> > --- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_y..., "Hiram Gonash"
<okfreddy_at_h...>
> > wrote:
> >> Sorry for the change of topic...
> >>
> >> A few weeks ago the LA Grimes had an article in part about the
> > Russian
> >> Mafia here in LA (I think).
> >>
> >> Anyway.
> >>
> >> It mentioned that with most normal Mafia types there's a certain
> >> protocol - you just don't go around killing people (competitors).
> >>
> >> Except the Albanians.
> >>
> >> The article mentioned that the Albanian Mob is utterly,
absolutely
> >> ruthless and feared for their lack of civility.
> >>
> >> So much for sweet kind Albania (though there is that habit of the
> >> Blood Feud).
> >>
> >> Back to mundane..
> >> --.d.o
> >
> >
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>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Received on 2002-09-14 00:33:10