List of criminal enterprises, gangs and syndicates

This is a listing of criminal groups and associations, the primary purpose of which is to generate income through illegal means. It does not cover groups that primarily engage in such activity for funding political and/or military objectives (such as terrorist organizations), or groups which have been accused (or have had members accused) of such activity but are not inherently criminal in their nature (such as motorcycle clubs or Chinese-American Tongs).

Contents

Drug cartels

In several drug-producing or transit countries, drug traffickers have taken advantage of local corruption and lack of law enforcement to establish cartels turning in millions if not billions of dollars each year. Sometimes if government enforcement is particularly poor, the cartels become quasi-paramilitary organizations.

Latin America

Asia

Italian organized crime

Organized crime in Italy, especially the south, has existed for hundreds of years and has given rise to a number of notorious organizations with their own traditions and subculture which have managed to infiltrate almost every part of Italian society [16]. The Italian mafia is often thought of as being the archetype for organized crime worldwide.

American Mafia

Italian immigrants to the United States in the early 20th century formed various small-time gangs which gradually evolved into sophisticated crime syndicates which dominated organized crime in America for several decades. Although government crackdowns and a less-tightly knit Italian-American community have largely reduced their power, they remain an active force in the underworld.

Active crime families

Defunct mafia families

Canadian mafia families

Non-Italian, American crime syndicates

Jewish mafia

African-American organized crime

Irish Mob

Post-Soviet organized crime

Although organized crime existed in the Soviet era, the gangs really gained in power and international reach during the transition to capitalism. The term Russian Mafia, 'mafiya' or mob is a blanket (and somewhat inaccurate) term for the various organized crime groups that emerged in this period from the 15 former republics of the USSR and unlike their Italian counterparts does not mean members are necessarily of Russian ethnicity or uphold any ancient criminal traditions, although this is the case for some members.

Balkan organized crime

Balkan organized crime gained prominence in the chaos following the communist era, notably the transition to capitalism and the wars in former Yugoslavia.

British crime 'firms'

Other European crime syndicates

Yakuza organizations

The yakuza of Japan are similar to the Italian mafias in they originated centuries ago and follow a rigid set of traditions, but have several aspects that make them unique, such as their full-body tattoos and their fairly open place in Japanese society. Many yakuza groups are umbrella organizations, smaller gangs reporting to a larger crime syndicate.

Active yakuza groups

Defunct yakuza groups

Triads and other Chinese criminal organizations

The Triads is a popular name for a number of Chinese criminal secret societies, which have existed in various forms over the centuries (see for example Tiandihui). However not all Chinese gangs fall into line with these traditional groups, as many non-traditional criminal organizations have formed, both in China and the Chinese diaspora.

Triads

Other Asian organized crime

South Asian criminal organizations

Middle Eastern organized crime

Other crime syndicates

Cybercrime networks

As society enters the Information Age, certain individuals take advantage of easy flow of information over the Internet to commit online fraud or similar activities. Often the hackers will form a network to better facilitate their activities. On occasion the hackers will be a part of a criminal gang involved in more 'blue collar crime', but this is unusual.

Drug and smuggling rings

Smuggling is a behavior that has occurred ever since there were laws or a moral code that forbade access to a specific person or object. At the core of any smuggling organization is the economic relationship between supply and demand. From the organization's point of view, the issues are what the consumer wants, and how much the consumer is willing to pay the smuggler or smuggling organization to obtain it.

Prison gangs

Prisons are a natural meeting place for criminals, and for the purposes of protection from other inmates and business prisoners join gangs. These gangs often develop a large influence outside the prison walls through their networks. Most prison gangs do more than offer simple protection for their members. Most often, prison gangs are responsible for any drug, tobacco or alcohol handling inside correctional facilities. Furthermore, many prison gangs involve themselves in prostitution, assaults, kidnappings and murders. Prison gangs often seek to intimidate the other inmates, pressuring them to relinquish their food and other resources. In addition, prison gangs often exercise a large degree of influence over organized crime in the "free world", larger than their isolation in prison might lead one to expect.

Non American

American

Street gangs

Youth gangs have often served as a recruiting ground for more organized crime syndicates, where juvenile delinquents grow up to be full-fledged mobsters, as well as providing muscle and other low-key work. Increasingly, especially in the United States and other western countries, street gangs are becoming much more organized in their own right with a hierarchical structure and are fulfilling the role previously taken by traditional organized crime.

Non American

American

African-American

Asian American

Hispanic

Historical

Miscellaneous

Historical

See also

References

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