Serbian mafia
Various criminal organizations / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Serbian organized crime or Serbian mafia (Serbian: Cpпска мафија / Srpska mafija) are various criminal organizations based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs in the former Yugoslavia and Serbian diaspora. The organizations are primarily involved in smuggling, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, human trafficking, assassinations, heists, assault, protection rackets, murder, money laundering and illegal gambling. The mafia is composed of several major organized groups, which in turn have wider networks throughout Europe and across the world.
Founded | Founded: 1901[1] |
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Territory | Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, European Union, Balkans, North America, Germany, Austria, Sweden,United States, Italy, North Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus, Australia, Spain, United Kingdom, France, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Netherlands, Belgium |
Ethnicity | Serbs |
Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking, assassination, assault, heist, robbery, bribery, burglary, extortion, fraud, illegal gambling, kidnapping, illegal prostitution, money laundering, murder, racketeering, loan sharking, smuggling, theft. |
Allies | Cosa Nostra Romanian mafia Ndrangheta Sacra Corona Unita[2] Greek mafia Russian mafia Montenegrin mafia Israeli mafia Moroccan mafia Gulf Cartel[3] Camorra[4] South American drug cartels[5] American mafia[6] Gambino crime family[6] Sinaloa Cartel[7] Irish Mob[8] Medellín Cartel[9] |
Notable members | see list of notable Serbian mafioso |
It includes some highly successful groups, including one of the largest cocaine import enterprises in Europe "Groupa Amerika", and the "YACS" Crime Group, out of NYC. The "Pink Panthers" is responsible for some of the biggest heists ever committed.[10] The Serbian mafia gave many Serbs a perceived way out of the economic disaster that occurred in the country following the implementation of internationally imposed sanctions against Serbia during the Yugoslav Wars. Serbian criminals have been recruited into state security forces, a notable example being Milorad "Legija" Ulemek, a commander in Arkan's Tigers, which was re-labelled as the JSO (Red Berets) after the war.
Serbian mafia is made up of several major international criminal organizations, specializes for cocaine trade, each of them has annual income of several billions. Two of them are declared as the most powerful in Europe, (Cartel "Los Balcanes" and "Group America").
It has established a direct connection with the majority of cocaine producers, purchasing drugs directly from South American producers, selling them only to wholesalers operating in Europe.[11][12]
During the period when the cigarette mafia operated, Serbian mafia earned about 100 billion dollars.[13]
Serbian mafia today, is estimated to earn €62 billion annually, their annual earnings on the cocaine market in Europe are worth €5.4 billion Euros. According to the DEA, alone cartel Tito y Dino is estimated at 23 billion euros on cocaine market.[14] In June 2013, the world renowned magazine Forbes published a list of the richest mafia bosses in the world, Serbian drug lord Darko Šarić, was in a high fifth place, he is estimated to have assets worth of 27 billion dollars.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]
According to estimates by the DEA and Europol, Serbian cartel known as "Los Balcanes", send about 500 tons of cocaine annually to the Old Continent. The boss of everything was the Serb, Dejan Stanimirovic, who was wanted by more than 30 countries.[22][23]
One of the most significant mafias in Scandinavia is the Serbian-Montenegrin mafia in Scandinavia, also known as “Juggemaffian” (“Yugo Mafia”). The foundations of the gang began during the mass immigration of Yugoslav guest-workers to Sweden in the 1970s. Its power base is in the cities of Stockholm and Copenhagen, and territory in Malmö and Gothenburg, among other cities in western Sweden. They received significant media attention in Sweden especially during the 1990s, thanks to flashy top-ranking members such as Dragan "Jokso" Joksović. The founder and first leader of the gang is believed to be warlord Željko Ražnatović Arkan and the current leader is alleged to be Milan Ševo.
Ethnic Serb organized crime groups are organized horizontally; higher-ranked members are not necessarily coordinated by any leader.[24]