Transcript criminal networks in the baltic sea region

From the Vodka Sea to Mare Narcoticum:
Criminal Networks in the Baltic Sea Region
Dr. Risto Pullat
Police Lt. Col.
The 25th Baltic Criminological Seminar
The Challenge of Crime in the Globalized World
12-13 April 2012, Tallinn
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC
SEA REGION
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criminal organizations
versus criminal networks
Timo Kyntäjä
relationships of a supplierconsumer or employeremployee
partnership of pairs or
small groups
organized crime in Baltic
Sea Region is rooted in
spirits smuggling during
Prohibition
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC SEA
REGION
• economic, social and quasi-state
tasks
• “Mutual Fund”
• “Kolja Zolotoi”
• OMCGs
•Bandidos, Hells Angels, Cannonball
• Black Cobra
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE
BALTIC SEA REGION
The symbol of a “thief-in-law” aka
“vor v zakone” on the floor of the
meeting room of a deluxe villa of a
well known Georgian “thief-inlaw”
Vyacheslav Ivankov, nicknamed
Yaponchik ("Little Japanese"), a
top figure in Russian organized
crime
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC
SEA REGION
 monopoly of the market of illegal products
 major part of the synthetic drugs smuggled into
Finland come from Estonia
 Lithuanian drug traffickers are oriented towards
Sweden and Finland
 Latvian organized crime act’s as a mediator for
Russian organized crime
 Latvian organized crime does not operate in
Scandinavia
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC
SEA REGION
 social embeddedness
 homogenous criminal
networks
 correlation of social
position and criminal
possibilities
 Klaus von Lampe
CONSTELLATIONS OF ORGANIZED
CRIME IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION
= isolated criminal network
= integrated criminal network
Klaus von Lampe. Organized Crime in Europe: Conceptions and Realities.
Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2(1), 2008: 7-17.
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC
SEA REGION
 heroine is replaced by fenthanyl
 “White Chinese” in entering Nordic
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drug market
Estonia is amphetamine producing
country
amphetamine production is cheaper in
Netherlands and Russia
Lithuanian produced amphetamine and
methamphetamine is conquering Nordic
countries
new synthetic drugs (Bromo Dragonfly,
Dextromethorphan aka DXM, Crocodile,
mephedrone)
cannabis (indoor and outdoor) harvest
an indoor plantation with four halls, a
total of 720 to 800 plants, and four
harvests per year would have a sales
value of 494,000 to 988,000 euros
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC SEA
REGION
 illegal goods and services are moving
from East to West and vice versa
 successful effort of LEA have ensured
that the prices of narcotic substances
in the Nordic countries are
continually high
 Russia will still be an enticing illegal
market for both international and
national drug trafficking and St.
Petersburg as a gate for it
 young drug couriers
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC SEA
REGION
 subculture of “thieves” has influenced the whole Baltic
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Sea Region
“Mutual Fund” symbolizing, the subculture of “thieves”,
is unique in the Baltic Sea Region
“Mutual Fund” will fall apart in the nearest future
criminal networks dominate in the OC of the Baltic Sea
Region
Baltic Sea countries are countries of origin, target and
transit for different areas of crime, which provide OC
and the related drug business with a broad area of
activity
CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC SEA
REGION
“If images are to be drawn from
fictional accounts the indications
are that criminals far more often
operate
within
structures
illustrated in ‘Lock, Stock and
Two Smoking Barrels’ than those
illustrated in ‘The Godfather’”
Professor David Canter
REFERENCES
 Pullat, Risto (2009). Organized Crime Related Drug Trafficking
in the Baltic Sea Region. Police Point of View. Tallinn: Estonian
Police Board.
 Pullat Raimo, Pullat Risto (2010). Viinameri. Salapiiritusevedu
Läänemerel kahe sõja vahel. Tallinn: Estopol.
 Lampe, K. von (2005). Organized Crime in Europe. Handbook of
Transnational Crime and Justice. Ed. Philip Reichel. Thousand
Oaks: Sage Publications: 403–424.
 Lampe, K. von (2008). Organized Crime in Europe: Conceptions
and Realities. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2(1): 7-17.
Thank you for your attention!
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