The Underworld and Terrorist Guide

 

Afrolineal Gangs African American organized crime.
The Colombians The Columbian drug cartels have been a heavily studied organized crime group, and although arrest or disappearance of their leaders has always brought authorities hope that the syndicate is over, they just seem to keep reorganizing. There's a real sense of popular support for the drug barons in Columbia as little poor guys who made it big, and the different cartels have close, intricate relationships. Although it's dangerous to make rough comparisons, Mendellin type cartels tend to act like petty street hoodlums, and Cali type cartels tend to operate like legitimate businessmen. The Columbians tend to have many sympathizers, and a complex infrastructure, employing as many as 24,000 people in a typical operation.
The Cuban Mafia There is a confederation of Cuban hoodlums who make up a triangle of associates in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the United States. This confederation has become strong to the point of dealing direct in major drug transaction thereby eliminating the middle man. 
The Dominicans Dominicans now rank second in the number of narcotics arrests.
The Italian Mafia More has been written about the Italian Mafia business than probably any other topic, here is a condensed version.
Jamaican Posses The Jamaican Posse underworld (from Kingston) has developed a reputation as one of the first non traditional organized crime groups.  They basically developed the marketing techniques for crack, controlling about 40% of it in the U.S. They also engage in kidnapping, murder, robbery, and auto theft.  There are 40 known posses operating throughout the U.S., for a total of 22,000 hardcore members. 
The Mexican Mafia Alien smuggling, drug trafficking, and money laundering are big business for the Mexican Mafia (Neustra Cosa). Narcotics control has always been the number one U.S. concern.
Outlaw Bikers Drugs, prostitution, strip club infiltration, anti police tactics, and courtroom disruption techniques are just some of the major activities of this group. While many motorcycle enthusiasts are just rowdies, a disturbing number are involved in organized crime.
Piracy Crime on the high seas.
The Russian Mafia The mobsters who now rule Russia are engaged in nuclear smuggling, corruption, loansharking, bootlegging (gasoline) and protection rackets. There are about 5,000 different gangs in Russia, with an average of 20 members each. About 25 of these gangs operate abroad, in the U.S. or Europe, especially in South Brooklyn and Berlin.
Street Gangs Within the U.S.
Terrorists Active ones only.
The Triads The Tongs and Triad (Chinese Mafia) have been involved in business extortion, alien trafficking (with Mexico), the underground garlic trade (in Taiwan), software piracy, and of course, the more traditional drugs, gambling, and prostitution in Chinatowns across the world. The Tongs are an old secret society, going back to the mid-1800s. They operate behind immigrant protection associations, but have many of the characteristics of traditional organized gangs. The Triads are what the British called them because of their fascination with numerology, the importance of the number three, and their mystical initiation ceremonies. They believe it is their destiny to control all vice activity.
Vietnamese Gangs Gangs of Vietnamese origin (e.g. Born to Kill) are of growing concern to U.S. authorities, compared to other gangs. They are considered by many to be the most ruthless of the Asian gangs.

The Yakuza

The Yakuza (origins: 7th century) have always been at the centre of Asian organized crime action, and are a persistent source of irritation to Japanese authorities. They do, however, pose some threats to the United States (in California and Hawaii) in terms of money laundering and weapons smuggling, which are their primary international sources of revenue. Their legitimate activities include banking and real estate. They have a highly structured hierarchy.

 

 

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