Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime

Description: 

Organized crime is big business, and like many other businesses during the past century, it has gone global. While the Mafia remains the most familiar and best-established crime group in the United States, dozens of similar outfits exist in nations around the world. They observe their own criminal traditions and practices and pursue their illegal interests through the network of the international underworld. Drug trade, human trafficking, illegal arms sales, corruption of governments • • • these are the signature endeavors of outlaw groups that subvert the law on every continent and operate by codes of violence and dishonesty. Until now, these criminals have derived strength from operating in the shadows.

Viva-Facts On File Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime is a landmark reference book that collects information gathered from sources around the global and uses it to expose the insidious presence of criminal enterprises in every part of the world. Among the most notorious crime leaders, many not well known in the United States despite the long reach of their influence, are:

 • Abdullah Catli, Turkish crime lord whose corruption of high-ranking government officials created a crisis in Turkey

 • Monya Elson, reputed boss of Russian crime groups based in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, involved in counterfeiting, drug trafficking, and other crimes

 • Pablo Escobar, infamous Colombian drug lord, hunted down and killed after defying law-enforcement efforts by both the U.S. and Colombian governments

 • Dawood Ibrahim, based in Karachi, Pakistan, one of the most powerful crime lords on the Indian subcontinent and mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai (Bombay) bombings in India

 • Kazuo Taoka, boss of the most powerful Yakuza family in Japan, the Yamaguchigumi, who died of a heart attack in 1981

With more than 50 photographs, many depicting rarely seen criminals, and more than 400 entries, this volume is a must-have guide for crime buffs and law-enforcement officials alike.

Countries covered include: Australia, Afghanistan, Canada, China, Colombia, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and many others.

Crime groups covered include: Colombian and Mexican drug cartels; the Jamaican Posse; motorcycle gangs such as the Hells Angels and Rock Machine; the Russian Mafia; street gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, and Latin Kings; the Triads; the Yakuza; and many more

Target Audience: 

Students of criminology