Estonian mafia

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Estonian organised crime is described as Estonian mafia, which is a loose alliance of Estonian mobster groups, with a wide range of different rackets, from drug trafficking to motorvehicle theft. The Estonian-speakers meet as Nõukogu. The groups do not fight with each other, as this would decrease the profits. The Kemerovo group is the most powerful, led by a man known as "V.G." or "Slava Kemerovsk". Another leader was believed to be Kalev Kurg, who was killed in November, 2005.

The rackets are prostitution, motorvehicle theft, drug trafficking, and "providing" workers to building contracts in Finland, with the mafia taking its share of the workers' salaries. Particularly important are the operations in Finland, since Finland is a Western country and thus is much more lucrative than Estonia. Cannabis is trafficked from North Africa via Costa del Sol in Spain. Amphetamine has a high demand in Finland, and the Estonian mafia manufactures it in Estonia.

The Estonian mafia is known to hold meetings with the Russian mafia to maintain a cartel in prostitution in Finland. This cartel is known as Obtshak "Joint fund" (and as Yhteiskassa by the Finnish police). It has gotten rid of native Finnish pimps and has a virtual monopoly. Obtshak collects membership fees and provides arbitration.

[edit] Further reading

Taagepera, Rein. Estonia: Return to Independence. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993. ISBN 0-8133-1703-7
Volkan, Vamik D. Bloodlines: from ethnic pride to ethnic terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8133-9038-9
Constable, Scott. "Christian and Me". ISBN 0 471 91332 4