A drug cartel is any
criminal organization with the intention of supplying
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized
commercial enterprise
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
s. The term was applied when the largest trafficking organizations reached an agreement to coordinate the production and distribution. The term is used to refer to any criminal narcotics related organization.
The basic structure of a drug cartel is as follows:
* Falcons (Spanish: ''Halcones''): Considered as the "eyes and ears" of the streets, the "falcons" are the lowest rank in any drug cartel. They are responsible for supervising and reporting the activities of the police, the military and rival groups.
* Hitmen (Spanish: ''Sicarios''): The armed group within the drug cartel, responsible for carrying out assassinations, kidnappings, thefts and extortions, operating protection rackets, as well as
defending their ''plaza'' (turf) from rival groups and the military.
* Lieutenants (Spanish: ''Tenientes''): The second highest position in the drug cartel organization, responsible for supervising the hitmen and falcons within their own territory. They are allowed to carry out low-profile murders without permission from their bosses.
*
Drug lords (Spanish: ''Capos''): The highest position in any drug cartel, responsible for supervising the entire drug industry, appointing territorial leaders, making alliances, in addition to planning high-profile murders.
There are other operating groups within the drug cartels. For example, the drug producers and suppliers, although not considered in the basic structure, are critical operators of any drug cartel, along with the
smugglers,
distributors,
sales representatives,
accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy.
Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certi ...
s and
money launderers. Furthermore, the arms suppliers operate in a completely different circle; they are technically not considered part of the cartel's logistics.
Africa
*
Cape Verdean organized crime
*
Mungiki[Kinnear, Karen L (2009) ''Gangs: a reference handbook'', ABC-CLIO, ]
*
Organized crime in Nigeria[Shanty, Frank & Mishra, Patit (2007) ''Organized crime : from trafficking to terrorism'', ABC-CLIO, ]
**
Confraternities in Nigeria
***
Black Axe (organized crime group)
**
Anini gang
*
Mai-Mai
The term Mai-Mai or Mayi-Mayi refers to any kind of community-based militia group active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that is formed to defend local communities and territory against other armed groups. Most were formed to resis ...
militia gangs
*
Moroccan hashish smugglers
**
Ahmed organization
Americas
North America
Canada
*
Rivard organization
*
Red Scorpions
*
Bacon Brothers
*
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
**
West End Gang
**
Blass gang
**
Dubois Brothers
*
Punjabi-Canadian organized crime
**
Punjabi Mafia
Punjabi-Canadian organized crime is made up of groups that are based in Canada and is made up predominantly of young adults and teenagers of Punjabi ethnic, cultural and linguistic background, while ethnically they typically belong to the Jat Si ...
ਜੌਹਲ ਗਿਰੋਹ (Canada)
[Schneider, Stephen (2009) ''Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada'', John Wiley and Sons, ]
*Canadian mafia families
**
Rizzuto crime family
**
Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan
**
Cotroni crime family
**
Musitano crime family
**
Papalia crime family
**
Luppino crime family
**
Perri crime family
**
Siderno Group
**
Commisso 'ndrina
Mexico

Mexican cartels (also known in
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
as: ''la Mafia'' (the
mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of ...
or the mob), ''La Maña'' (the skill / the bad manners), ''narcotraficantes'' (narco-traffickers), or simply as ''narcos'' usually refers to several, rival, criminal organizations that are combated by the Mexican government in the
Mexican War on Drugs (List sorted by branches and heritage):
Note:As of 2020 the DEA considered the Cartels of Sinaloa-Beltran, Juarez-Linea, Jalisco, Golfo-Noreste-Zetas, La Familia and Rojos-Guerreros the most influential cartels in Mexico.
*''
Gulf Cartel'' (The oldest Mexican criminal syndicate, started as prohibition-era bootlegging gang)
**
Los Zetas (Formerly part of the Gulf Cartel, now independent)
**
La Familia Michoacana
La Familia Michoacana, (English: ''The Michoacán Family'') La Familia (English: ''The Family''), or LFM is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts ...
(Formerly a branch of the Gulf Cartel, then went independent) (Disbanded)
**
Knights Templar Cartel (Splintered from La Familia Cartel)
*''
Guadalajara Cartel'' (The first full-fledged Mexican drug cartel, from which most of the big cartels spawned) (disbanded in 1989)
*''
Sinaloa Cartel'' (Spawned from the Guadalajara Cartel)
**
Colima Cartel (members are now a branch of the Sinaloa Cartel)
**
Sonora Cartel (was reformed in 2018 and is still a branch of the Sinaloa Cartel)
**
Artistas Asesinos (hitman squad) (Disbanded)
**
Gente Nueva (Sinaloa cell in Chihuahua) (Disbanded)
**
Los Ántrax
Los Ántrax is a large enforcer unit and hit squad for the Sinaloa Cartel, a major crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The group was led by the drug lords Jesús Peña (alias "El 20"), José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa (alias "E ...
(enforcer squad)

*''
Milenio Cartel'' (First loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel federation, later independent) (disbanded)
**
La Resistencia (Splintered from the Milenio Cartel) (Disbanded)
**
Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Independent remnants of the Milenio Cartel)
*''
Beltrán-Leyva Organization
The Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO), also known as the Beltrán Leyva Cartel; es, Cártel de los Beltrán Leyva (CBL), was a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate, formerly headed by the five Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Artur ...
'' (Formerly part of the Sinaloa Cartel federation, later independent) (disbanded)
**
Los Negros (Beltran-Leyva enforcement squad) (Disbanded)
**
South Pacific Cartel (branch of the Beltran Leyva Cartel in Morelos)

**Cártel del Centro (cell of the Beltran-Leyva Cartel in Mexico City) (Disbanded)
**
Independent Cartel of Acapulco (Splinter from the Beltran-Leyva Cartel)
**
La Barredora (gang)
**El Comando Del Diablo (gang) (Hitman squad of la Barredora) (Disbanded)
**La Mano Con Ojos (gang) (small cell of Beltran-Leyva members in the State of Mexico) (Disbanded)
**La Nueva Administración (Splintered from the Beltran-Leyva Cartel) (Disbanded)
**La Oficina (gang) (cell of the Beltran-Leyva Cartel in Aguascalientes) (Disbanded)
**Cártel de la Sierra (cell in Guerrero)
**Cártel de La Calle (cell in Chiapas)
**Los Chachos (gang in Tamaulipas) (Disbanded)
*''
Tijuana Cartel'' (Spawned from the Guadalajara Cartel)
**
Oaxaca Cartel (Was a branch of the disbanded Tijuana Cartel, its regional leader was captured in 2007)
*''
Juárez Cartel''(Spawned from the Guadalajara Cartel)
**
La Línea
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
(Juárez Cartel enforcer squad)
**
Barrio Azteca (U.S. street gang) (Allied with La Linea)

*
Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel
*
Caborca Cartel
*Lesser-known small-
criminal organizations:
**
Los Mexicles (
U.S. street gang)
** Los Texas (street gang) (disbanded)
*Government officials: Other organizations that have been involved in drug trade or traffic in Mexico (this does not necessarily apply for the whole institution):
**Mexican officials:
***Municipal, state, and
Federal Police forces in Mexico
***
Mexican Armed Forces (
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...
)
***
Mexico City International Airport
***
Club Xoloitzcuintles (football)
**United States officials:
***
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI)
[ Juan García Ábrego]
***
Texas National Guard
***
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
***United States
Immigration and Naturalization Service
United States

The United States of America is the world's largest consumer of cocaine and other illegal drugs. This is a list of American criminal organizations involved in illegal drug traffic, drug trade and other related crimes in the United States:
*
National Crime Syndicate
**
Seven Group
**
Murder, Inc.[Rockaway, Robert A (2000) ''But he was good to his mother: the lives and crimes of Jewish gangsters'', Gefen Publishing House Ltd, ]
*
Polish Mob
Polish-American organized crime has existed in the United States throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Although not as well known as Italian, Irish, Russian mafias, the Polish Mob has a presence in many urban Polish American communities.
Prohib ...
**
Saltis-McErlane Gang[Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ]
**
Kielbasa Posse
**
The Greenpoint Crew
**
Flats Mob
**
The Flathead gang[Kavieff, Paul (2008) ''Detroit's Infamous Purple Gang'' Arcadia Publishing, ]
*
Prohibition-era gangs
**
Galveston
***
Downtown Gang
***
Beach Gang
***
The Maceo syndicate
**
Shelton Brothers Gang[Angle, Paul M (2991) ''Bloody Williamson: A Chapter in American Lawlessness'', University of Illinois Press, ]
**
Sheldon Gang
**
Broadway Mob
**
The Lanzetta Brothers
**
Circus Cafe Gang
**
Wandering Family
**
Remus organization
*
Hispanic-American
Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...
**
Marielitos
The Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between 15 April and 31 October 1980. The term "" (plural "Marielitos") is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and E ...
***
The Corporation
Arizona Cartel
Border Brothers
Paisas
A Paisa is someone from a region in the northwest of Colombia, including part of the West and Central ''cordilleras'' of the Andes in Colombia. The Paisa region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. S ...
Nuestra Familia

***
Crips
The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the Coastal California, coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially ...
or Locs
***
Bloods
The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, inclu ...
or B Dogs
***
Surenos or SUR 13
***
Nortenos or Norte 14
**
Puerto Rican mafia
***
Agosto organization
***
La ONU
***
Martinez Familia Sangeros
***
Solano organization
***
Negri organization
***
Márquez gambling ring
**
Polanco-Rodriguez organization
*
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
''(See also
Rampart scandal)''
**
Nash gang
**
Wonderland Gang
*
Dixie Mafia
**
Cornbread Mafia
*
Greek-American organized crime
**
Philadelphia Greek Mob
**
Velentzas Family
The Velentzas Organization, also known as the "Greek crew" is a Greek-American criminal organization operating in the New York City area.Jerry Capeci. ''Jerry Capeci's Gang Land.'' (pg.170-172) ''The Man Gotti Never Got''. October 12, 1994/ref> D ...
*
Assyrian/Chaldean mafia[Salinger, Lawrence (2005) '' Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime: A - I, Volume 1'' SAGE, ]
*
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
**
The Company
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
**
Leota mob
*
Wall gang
*
Elkins mob
*
The Chickens and the Bulls
*
Binion mob
*
Johnston gang
=American Mafia
=
Italian immigrants to the United States in the early 19th 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
=
*
American Mafia
*
The Commission[Capeci, Jerry (2002) ''The complete idiot's guide to the Mafia'', Alpha Books, ]
*The
Five Families of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
**
Bonanno
***
Indelicato crew
***
The Motion Lounge Crew
**
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
***
Scarpa crew
**
Genovese
Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form ''Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname.
People
* Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist
* Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine artis ...
***
116th Street Crew
***
Greenwich Village Crew
***
New Jersey Crew
**
Gambino
***
Ozone Park Boys
***
DeMeo crew
***
Baltimore Crew
The Baltimore Crew was an Italian American organized crime group that ultimately became a faction of the Gambino crime family operating in the port city of Baltimore, Maryland from about 1900 until the 1990s. It was originally an independent org ...
***
South Florida faction
***
New Jersey faction
***
The Bergin Crew
***
Cherry Hill Gambinos
The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the ...
**
Lucchese
***
The Jersey Crew
***
The Vario Crew
***
107th Street gang
*
Magaddino crime family
*
DeCavalcante crime family
*The
Chicago Outfit ''(see also
Unione Siciliane)''
**
Las Vegas crew (defunct)
*
Philadelphia crime family
*
Pittsburgh crime family
*
Patriarca crime family
**
Angiulo Brothers crew
*
Cleveland crime family
*
Los Angeles crime family
*
Kansas City crime family
*
Trafficante crime family
*
Detroit Partnership
*
Milwaukee crime family
*
New Orleans crime family
=Defunct mafia families
=
*
Morello crime family
*
Genna crime family
*
Porrello crime family
*
St. Louis crime family
The St. Louis crime family,Devicopp. 197-202/ref>Dietchepp.150/ref> also known as the Giordano crime family or St. Louis Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
History Early Italian gangs
...
*
Rochester Crime Family
*
Bufalino crime family
*
Dallas crime family
*
Denver crime family
*
San Francisco crime family
*
San Jose crime family
*
Seattle crime family
The Seattle crime family, also known as the Colacurcio crime family
by Michael Ro ...
*
Omaha crime family
*
Licavoli Mob
The Cleveland crime family or Cleveland Mafia is the collective name given to a succession of Italian-American organized crime gangs based in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. A part of the Italian-American Mafia (or ''Cosa Nostra'') phenom ...
*
Cardinelli gang
*
New York Camorra
*
East Harlem Purple Gang
= Jewish mafia
=
*New York City
**
Schultz gang
**
The Bugs and Meyer Mob
**
Shapiro Brothers
**
Yiddish Black Hand
**
Rothstein organization
**
Kaplan gang
**
Rosenzweig gang
*Boston
**
69th Street Gang
**
Sagansky organization
**
Solomon organization
*Los Angeles
**
Cohen crime family (mix between Jewish and Italian members)
*
The Purple Gang
*
Zwillman gang
*
Kid Cann
Isadore Blumenfeld (September 8, 1900 – June 21, 1981), commonly known as Kid Cann, was a Romanian Jewish-American organized crime enforcer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for over four decades. He remains the most notorious mobster in the ...
's gang
*
Birger mob
*
Cleveland Syndicate
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
= African-American organized crime
=
*New York City
**
The Council
**
Harlem numbers racket
**
Bumpy Johnson gang
**
Supreme Team[American Gangster, BET](_blank)
**
The Bebos
**
The Country Boys
**
Matthews Organization
*
The Family
A family is a domestic or social group.
Family or The Family may also refer to:
Mathematics
*Family of curves, a set of curves resulting from a function with variable parameters
*Family of sets, a collection of sets
*Indexed family, a family wh ...
*
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
**
Black Mafia Family
**
Young Boys, Inc.
**
Chambers Brothers
*
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
**
Black Mafia[Chepesiuk, Ron (2007) ''Gangsters of Harlem: the gritty underworld of New York City's most famous neighborhood'', Barricade Books, ]
**
Junior Black Mafia
*
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
**
69 Mob
Felix Wayne Mitchell Jr. (August 23, 1954 – August 21, 1986) was a drug lord from Oakland, California, and leader of the "69 Mob" criminal organization, which operated throughout California and into the Midwest. He was known as "Felix the Cat" ...
*
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
**
Williams organization (drug trafficking)
*
Washington, D.C.
**
Rayful Edmond organization
*
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
**
Theodore Roe
Theodore L. "Teddy" Roe (August 26, 1898 – August 4, 1952) was an African-American organized crime figure who led an illegal gambling empire in South Side, Chicago during the 1940s and early 1950s. Roe earned the nickname "Robin Hood" because of ...
's gambling ring
**
Stokes organization
*
Atlantic City
**
Aso Posse
*
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
**
Miami Boys
*
Rosemond Organization
=
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob (also known as the Irish mafia or Irish organized crime) is a collective of organized crime syndicates composed of ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, Canada and Australia, and have been in ...
=
*
Prohibition-era Chicago gangs
**
North Side Gang[English, T.J. ''Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster''. New York: HarperCollins, 2005, ]
**
James Patrick O'Leary
James Patrick O'Leary (1869 – January 22, 1925) was a gambling boss and saloon owner in Chicago. His parents were Patrick and Irish-born Catherine O'Leary, in whose barn the Great Chicago Fire is alleged to have begun.
Biography
O'Leary was ...
organization
**
John Patrick Looney gang
**
Valley Gang
**
Ragen's Colts
Ragen's Colts was a chiefly Irish street gang which dominated the Chicago underworld during the early twentieth century. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the gang became part of the Chicago Outfit under Al Capone.
Originally established as a ...
**
Touhy gang
*
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
**
Mullen Gang
**
Winter Hill Gang
**
Gustin Gang
**
Charlestown Mob
**
Killeen gang
*
Danny Hogan's gang
*
Danny Walsh
Daniel L. "Danny" Walsh (c. 1893 – February 2, 1933?) was an organized crime figure in Providence, Rhode Island involved in bootlegging during Prohibition. He was the top underworld figure in southern New England, and last major Irish-Am ...
gang
*
Tom Dennison empire
*
Danny Greene's Celtic Club
*
Nucky Johnson's Organization
Nucky Johnson's Organization was a corrupt political machine based in Atlantic City, New Jersey that held power during the Prohibition era. Its boss, Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, coordinated the Organizations's bootlegging, gambling, racketeering, a ...
*
K&A Gang
*
Enright gang
*
New York
**
Dwyer gang
**
The Westies
**
White Hand Gang
**
Higgins gang
*
St Louis
**
Hogan Gang
**
Egan's Rats
Caribbean
*
Chadee gang (
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...
)
*Jamaican
Yardies &
Posses
**
Shower Posse
**
POW Posse
**
Tottenham Mandem
***
Star Gang
The Tottenham Mandem (also Tottenham Man Dem, TMD, or Man Dem Crew, formerly known as Frontliners or Tottenham Boys) were an organised street gang based in Tottenham, North London, that began on the Broadwater Farm estate prior to the Broadwate ...
**
Klans Massive
*
No Limit Soldiers
*
Phantom death squad (
Guyana)
*
Zoe Pound (
Haitian, see also
Tonton Macoute)
*
Dominican drug cartels
**
Paulino organization
**
Féliz organization
South America
Brazil
*
Comando Vermelho
*
Primeiro Comando da Capital
*
Terceiro Comando Puro
*
Terceiro Comando
*
Amigos dos Amigos
Bolivia
*
Bolivian drug cartels ''(See also
García Meza regime drug trafficking)''
**
Chapare Cartel
The Chapare Drug Cartel is a Bolivian criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking and human trafficking that operates in the Chapare region. For this, several journalists have baptized this organization simply as the Chapare Cartel
During ...
**
La Corporación
La Corporación ("The Corporation"), also known as the Santa Ana Cartel, was a Bolivian drug cartel and criminal organization, headed in the 1970s and 1980s by notorious drug lord Roberto Suárez Goméz, known as the "King of Cocaine".
"La Corpo ...
**
Santa Cruz Cartel
The Santa Cruz Cartel ( es, Cártel de Santa Cruz) is a Bolivian drug cartel and criminal organization, said to be one of the largest in the country, headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
The cartel was responsible for multiple narco-terrori ...
Colombia

Colombia is the largest producer of cocaine on the planet, Cocaine production in Colombia reached an all-time high in 2017.
Active Colombian Drug Cartels.
*
The Black Eagles
*
Clan del Golfo
The Clan del Golfo (English: The Gulf Clan), also known as Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC) and formerly called Los Urabeños and Clan Úsuga, is a prominent Colombian neo-paramilitary gro ...
*
Oficina de Envigado
La Oficina de Envigado ( en, The Office of Envigado) is a drug cartel and criminal organization originally founded as an enforcement and collections arm of Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel. Despite being noted for its historical affiliation with ...
*
National Liberation Army (Colombia)
*
FARC dissidents
*
Los Rastrojos
Los Rastrojos is a Colombian drug cartel and paramilitary group engaged in the Colombian armed conflict. Th ...
Historical Colombian Drug Cartels.
*
Medellín Cartel
*
Cali Cartel
*
Norte del Valle Cartel
*
North Coast Cartel
*
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
*
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Peru
*
Peruvian drug cartels ''(see also
Vladimiro Montesinos)''
**
Zevallos organisation
Venezuela
Historically Venezuela has been a path to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
for
illegal drugs originating in Colombia, through Central America and
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
and Caribbean countries such as
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
, and
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
According to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
, there has been an increase of cocaine trafficking through Venezuela since 2002. In 2005, Venezuela severed ties with the United States
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
(DEA), accusing its representatives of spying.
Following the departure of the DEA from Venezuela and the expansion of DEA's partnership with Colombia in 2005, Venezuela became more attractive to drug traffickers.
Between 2008 and 2012, Venezuela's cocaine seizure ranking among other countries declined, going from being ranked fourth in the world for cocaine seizures in 2008
[United Nations]
World Drug Report 2010 Statistical Annex: Drug seizures
to sixth in the world in 2012.
The cartel groups involved include:
* The
Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan moved to Venezuela,
[Tom Blickman (1997),]
The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba
", ''Transnational Organized Crime'', Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1997 which became an important hideout as the clan bought hotels and founded various businesses in Caracas and Valencia, as well as an extended ranch in
Barinas, near the Colombian border. ''"Venezuela has its own Cosa Nostra family as if it is Sicilian territory,"'' according to the Italian police. ''"The structure and hierarchy of the Mafia has been entirely reproduced in Venezuela."'' The Cuntrera-Caruana clan had direct links with the ruling Commission of the Sicilian Mafia, and are acknowledged by the American Cosa Nostra.
[
Pasquale, Paolo and Gaspare Cuntrera were expelled from Venezuela in 1992, "almost secretly smuggled out of the country, as if it concerned one of their own drug transports. It was
imperative they could not contact people on the outside who could have used their political connections to stop the expulsion." Their expulsion was ordered by a commission of the Venezuelan Senate headed by Senator Cristobal Fernandez Dalo and his money laundering investigator, Thor Halvorssen Hellum. They were arrested in September 1992 at Fiumicino airport (Rome),][ Fonzi, Gaeton.]
The Troublemaker
". '' The Pennsylvania Gazette'' (November 1994). and in 1996 were sentenced to 13–20 years.[
* Norte del Valle Cartel : In 2008 the leader of the Colombian Norte del Valle Cartel, Wilber Varela, was found murdered in a hotel in Mérida in Venezuela. In 2010, Venezuela arrested and deported to the United States Jaime Alberto "Beto" Marin, then head of the Norte del Valle Cartel.]['' Venezuelanalysis.com'', 20 September 2010]
Venezuela Deports Two Drug Kingpins, Calls US Drug Blacklist "Abusive and Interventionist"
* The Cartel of the Suns According to Jackson Diehl
Jackson Diehl (born 1956) was the deputy editorial page editor of ''The Washington Post'' from February, 2001 to August, 2021. He was part of the ''Washington Post'' team that won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. He wrote many of the p ...
. Deputy Editorial Page Editor of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', the Bolivarian government of Venezuela shelters "one of the world’s biggest drug cartels". There have also been allegations that former president Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Repub ...
and Diosdado Cabello being involved with drug trafficking.
In May 2015, ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported from United States officials that drug trafficking in Venezuela increased significantly with Colombian drug traffickers moving from Colombia to Venezuela due to pressure from law enforcement. One United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...
official described the higher ranks of the Venezuelan government and military as "a criminal organization", with high ranking Venezuelan officials, such as National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, being accused of drug trafficking.[ Those involved with investigations stated that Venezuelan government defectors and former traffickers had given information to investigators and that details of those involved in government drug trafficking were increasing.][
]
Central America
Honduras
* Honduran drug cartels
** Matta organization
** Cachiros
El Salvador
* Mara Salvatrucha
Nicaragua
*Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...
n drug cartels ''(see also Contras
The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 ...
)''
** Oscar Danilo Blandón
Asia
East Asia
Korea
* Korean criminal organizations ''(see also North Korea's illicit activities
The alleged illicit activities of the North Korean state include manufacture and sale of illegal drugs, the manufacture and sale of counterfeit consumer goods, human trafficking, arms trafficking, wildlife trafficking, counterfeiting currency ( ...
)''
Japan
= Japanese criminal organizations
=
''See also Kenji Doihara's criminal activities''
The yakuza of Japan are similar to the Italian mafias in that 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
* Roku-daime Yamaguchi-gumi 六代目山口組[Kaplan, David E. & Dubro, Alec (2003) ''Yakuza: Japan's criminal underworld'', University of California Press, ]
** Yon-daime Yamaken-gumi 四代目山健組
** Ni-daime Kodo-kai 二代目弘道会
** Ni-daime Takumi-gumi 二代目宅見組
** Go-daime Kokusui-kai 五代目國粹会
* Inagawa-kai 稲川会
* Sumiyoshi-kai 住吉会
** Sumiyoshi-ikka Shinwa-kai
The is a yakuza group based in Takamatsu, Kagawa on Shikoku, Japan. 住吉一家親和会
*** Kansuke Juni-daime 勘助十二代目
* Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi
* Matsuba-kai 松葉会
* Kyokuto-kai 極東会
* Dojin-kai 道仁会
** Kitamura-gumi
* Yon-daime Kudo-kai 四代目工藤會
* Roku-daime Aizu-Kotetsu-kai 六代目会津小鉄会
*Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city o ...
沖縄旭琉会
*Kyushu Seido-kai
The was a yakuza organization based in Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan, with an estimated 380 active members. 九州誠道会
* Go-daime Kyosei-kai 五代目共政会
* San-daime Fukuhaku-kai 三代目福博会
*Soai-kai
The is a yakuza organization based in Chiba, Japan. The Soai-kai is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 120 active members.
History
The Soai-kai was formed in 1945 by Toramatsu Takahashi, then a member of a Yokohama-based bakuto grou ...
双愛会
* Yon-daime Kyokuryu-kai 四代目旭琉会
* San-daime Kyodo-kai 三代目俠道会
* Taishu-kai 太州会
* Shichi-daime Goda-ikka 七代目合田一家
* Toa-kai 東亜会
* Ni-daime Azuma-gumi 二代目東組
* Yon-daime Asano-gumi 四代目浅野組
* Hachi-daime Sakaume-gumi 八代目酒梅組
* Yon-daime Kozakura-ikka 四代目小桜一家
* Ni-daime Shinwa-kai 二代目親和会
Defunct yakuza groups
*Kantō-kai
The was a Japanese underworld organization formed by Yoshio Kodama in 1964, and named for the Kantō region from which it drew most of its membership. Kodama envisioned the Kantō-kai as a secret national police force, with the aim of forwardin ...
関東会
* Ni-daime Honda-kai 二代目本多会
* Yamaguchi-gumi
** Goto-gumi 後藤組
**Suishin-kai
The Suishin-kai was a Japanese yakuza gang based in Nagasaki. The gang, affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza syndicate, came to prominence in April 2007 when its former underboss (then demoted to Captain), Tetsuya Shiroo, s ...
水心会
* Ichiwa-kai 一和会
* San-daime Yamano-kai 三代目山野会
* Nakano-kai 中野会
*Kyokuto Sakurai-soke-rengokai
The is a now-defunct yakuza gang formerly based in Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan. It was an organization of the tekiya.
It was designated by the Japanese police as a boryokudan group in July, 1993. It disbanded in November 2004, and its boryokudan s ...
極東桜井總家連合会
East Asia
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
The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the 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.
* Hong Kong-based Triads
** 14K Group 十四K
** Wo Group 和字頭
*** Wo Shing Wo
Wo Shing Wo or WSW () is the oldest of the Wo Group triad societies, and is the triad with the longest history in Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong police, the triad is involved in extortion, drug trafficking, gambling and prostitution. 和勝和
*** Wo On Lok (Shui Fong) 和安樂(水房)
*** Wo Hop To
Wo Hop To, or WHT (和合圖), is a triad group based in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The name translates to "Harmoniously United Association", or "Harmonious Union Plan", and is thought to have been founded in 1908 in Sai Ying Pun as a secret politic ...
和合圖(老和)
** Sun Yee On 新義安(老新)
** Luen Group
Luen group is one of several organized crime groups of Hong Kong, known as triads. The membership of the group exceeds 8,000 and is made up of several subgroups. These include Luen Lok Tong, Luen Tei Ying, Luen To Ying, Luen Ying She, and Luen K ...
聯字頭
** Big Circle Gang 大圈
* Sio Sam Ong (小三王)
* Chinese-American gangs ''(See also Tongs)''
** Wah Ching 華青
** Ping On
** Black Dragons 黑龍
** Jackson Street Boys
The Jackson Boyz, JBZ or Jackson Street Boys, JSB are or were a San Francisco, California based Asian American street gang and criminal organization The gang, composed of Cantonese and Vietnamese members, has been centered in San Francisco's China ...
積臣街小子
*Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
-based Triads
** United Bamboo Gang 竹聯幫
** Four Seas Gang 四海幫
** Celestial Alliance
* Mainland Chinese crime groups ''(see also Hanlong Group Hanlong Group (汉龙集团) is a Chinese conglomerate with holdings in solar energy, communications, chemicals, mineral exploration, and other industries.
Sichuan Hongda (四川宏達; ) is a mining company and subsidiary of Hanlong listed on the ...
)''
** Chongqing group 重慶組
** Defunct
*** Honghuzi gangs
*** Green Gang 青帮
*Triad
Triad or triade may refer to:
* a group of three
Businesses and organisations
* Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America
* Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...
s in Cholon
**Wu Bang
Southeast Asia
* Golden Triangle[Booth, Martin (2000) ''The dragon syndicates: the global phenomenon of the Triads'' Basic Books, ]
** Burmese drug cartels'' (see also Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army)''
*** Khun Sa cartel[Chepesiuk, Ron (1999) ''The war on drugs: an international encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, ] ''(see also Mong Tai Army)''
*** Red Wa ''(see also United Wa State Army and National Democratic Alliance Army)''
*** Hawngleuk Militia
*** Han cartel
** Laotian drug cartels ''(see also Ouane Rattikone
Major-General Ouane Rattikone (Ouan Rathikoun), a Laotian senior military officer, was the commander-in-chief of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (French: ''Forces Armées du Royaume'' – FAR), the official military of the Royal Lao Government and t ...
)''
* Chao pho
** Red Wa
* Filipino crime gangs ''(See also Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf (; ar, جماعة أبو سياف; ', ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, is a Jihadist militant and pirate group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It is ba ...
and New People's Army
The New People's Army ( fil, Bagong Hukbong Bayan), abbreviated NPA or BHB, is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), based primarily in the Philippine countryside. It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aimi ...
)''
*** Kuratong Baleleng
***Waray-Waray gangs
Waray-Waray gangs (also known as Waray-Waray groups) are generic terms used in the Philippines to denote of criminal groups who are of Waray ethnicity. They originated from provinces Leyte and Samar where the majority are of Waray background, ...
[ October 10, 2018]
*** Bahala Na Gang
*** Sigue Sigue Sputnik
*** Defunct
**** Putik gang
* Cambodian crime gangs
** Teng Bunma organization
* Malaysian crime gangs
** Mamak Gang
* Secret societies in Singapore
** Ang Soon Tong昂很快塘
** Ghee Hin Kongsi 酥油軒懸空寺
** Hai San 海新
** Wah Kee 華記
** Ah Kong 新加坡黑手黨
Vietnamese Xã Hội Đen
*Bình Xuyên
Binh Xuyen Force ( vi, Bộ đội Bình Xuyên, ), often linked to its infamous leader, General Lê Văn Viễn (a.k.a. "Bảy Viễn"), was an independent military force within the Vietnamese National Army whose leaders once had lived outside t ...
* Đại Cathay's mafia during the 60s
* Năm Cam's mafia of the 90s
*Khánh Trắng
Khánh Trắng (literally translated as "White Khanh") was the President of Dong Xuan Labor Union. However, it was just a screen for his mafia-like organization in the underworld of Hanoi during the late 1990s. Described as a cold-blooded assassin ...
's "Đồng Xuân Labor Union", a crime syndicate under the guise of a legal entity
*Dung Hà
Vũ Thị Hoàng Dung (better known by her nickname Dung Hà; 1965October 2, 2000) was a Vietnamese female gangster. Born and raised in Haiphong
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest i ...
's gang
*Vũ Xuân Trường's gang: a crime syndicate led by Vũ Xuân Trường, a government official and also a drug lord.
South Asia
* Indian mafia ''(See also Insurgency in Northeast India)''
**Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
***D-Company
D-Company is a name coined by the Indian media for the Bombay underworld organized criminal syndicate founded and controlled by Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian mafia boss, drug dealer and wanted terrorist. In 2011, Ibrahim, along with his D-Comp ...
डी कंपनी
*** Chhota Rajan gang राजन गिरोह
*** Gawli gang गवली गिरोह
*** Bada Rajan gang
*** Surve gang
*** Mudaliar gang
*** Mastan gang
*** Budesh gang
*** Kalani gang
** Pathan mafia
*** Lala gang
**Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
*** Ansari gang
*** Yadav gang
**Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
*** Rai gang
*** Ramachandra gang
*** Jayaraj gang
**Kala Kaccha Gang
Kala Kachcha gang (also known as Kale-Kachchewale or Kale Kachche gang) refers to certain organized criminal gangs in Punjab, India. The Kala Kachcha gang members are robbers and dacoits, who don police uniform or 'Kale Kachche' (black underpants ...
** Chaddi Baniyan Gang
* Sri Lankan criminal groups
* Pakistani mafia ''(See also Peoples' Aman Committee, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and ISI involvement with drugs)''
**Chotu gang
Chotu gang was a Pakistani gang that engaged in kidnapping, murder and other criminal activities led by Ghulam Rasool who goes by the alias, "Chotu." The gang was based in the Kacha area of Rajanpur. This gang was involved in many crimes in areas ...
** Lyari Gang
* Mafia Raj
* Dacoit gangs
** Singh gang
** Veerappan gang
** Devi gang
Middle East
* Israeli mafia ''(see also Stern Gang)''
** Abergil Crime Family משפחת הפשע אברג'יל
** Alperon crime family משפחת הפשע אלפרון
** Zeev Rosenstein organization ארגון זאב רוזנשטיין
** Palestinian organized crime ''(See also Abu Nidal Organization)''
***Doghmush The Doghmush ( ar, دغمش, pronounced "Doe-moosh" or "Durmush", ''see spelling'') are a Palestinian family from the Gaza Strip.
Johnston kidnapping
The family became known internationally in 2007 as they proclaimed themselves as the ''Jaysh al-I ...
clan
* Turkish mafia
** Crime groups in Turkey ''(see also Deep state and Yüksekova Gang The Yüksekova Gang was an illegal organization in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari Province accused of killing 16 people, with apparent links to the Turkish Gendarmerie's JITEM unit and possible links to the Ergenekon organization. According ...
)''
*** Kılıç gang
*** Çakıcı gang
*** Yaprak Family
*** Topal organisation
***Söylemez Gang
The Söylemez Gang was an organized crime organization in Turkey headed by Faysal Söylemez and five of his brothers, which was involved in drug smuggling, kidnapping, and murder. Its activities were first revealed in 1996, with the arrest of 25 ...
**Kurdish clans ''(see also Kurdistan Workers' Party#Involvement in drug trafficking)''
*** Baybaşin clan
*** Cantürk crime family
** Turkish organised crime in Great Britain
*** Arifs
** Turkish organised crime in Germany
*** Arabacı clan
** İmaç clan (Netherlands)
* Iranian organized crime ''(see also Jundallah and illegal activities of the IRGC
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
)''
** Tahvili crime family
*Lebanese mafia
Lebanese mafia is a colloquial term for organized crime groups which origin from Lebanon and Levant. Lebanese organized crime is active in the country of Lebanon itself, as well as in countries and areas with a large Arab community, most notably ...
''(See also Lebanese Civil War militias)''
**Arab crime clans
*** Miri-Clan
*** Al-Zein Clan
** Ibrahim clan
Afghanistan
* Golden Crescent
** Afridi Network
** Afghan drug cartels[Glenny, Misha (2009) ''McMafia'', Vintage Books, ] ''(see also Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...
)''
*** Noorzai Organization
*** Khan organization
*** Karzai organization (alleged)
*** Bagcho organization
Central Asia
* Uzbek mafia ''(See also Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan)''
** Rakhimov organization
* Kyrgyz mafia
** Erkinbayev group
** Akmatbayev group
** Kolbayev group
Eurasia
Russia
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
Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) G ...
, '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
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
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.
* Russian-Jewish mafia
**Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the ...
*** Agron gang
*** Nayfeld gang
*** Balagula gang
** Mogilevich organization
* Brothers' Circle (Existence is debatable)
*Russian mafia
Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) G ...
''(See also Lubyanka Criminal Group, Three Whales Corruption Scandal and Sergei Magnitsky)''
**Moscow
*** Izmaylovskaya gang
*** Solntsevskaya bratva[Varese, Frederico (2005) ''The Russian mafia: private protection in a new market economy'', Oxford University Press, ]
**** New York branch
*** Orekhovskaya gang
** St Petersburg'' (See also Baltik-Eskort)''
*** Tambov Gang
** Togliatti mafia
** Uralmash gang
** Lazovsky gang
** Vladivostok gang
** Kurganskaya group
** Tsapok gang
** 'Elephants' group
** Kazan gang
Caucasus
''See also Caucasus Emirate''
* Georgian mafia ''(See also Mkhedrioni and Forest Brothers
The Guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an armed struggle which was waged by the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian partisans, called the Forest Brothers (also: the "Brothers of the Wood" and the "Forest Friars"; et, metsavennad, lv, mež ...
)''
** Kutaisi clan
** Tbilisi clan
** 21st Century Association
* Armenian mafia[CBS News/Associated Press - Armenian Organized Crime Grows More Complex](_blank)
/ref>
** Mirzoyan-Terdjanian organization
** Armenian Power
* Azeri mafia
** Janiev organization
* Chechen mafia ''(See also Special Purpose Islamic Regiment and Kadyrovtsy)''
** Obschina
** Labazanov gang
Europe
Sweden
* Original Gangsters
*Fucked For Life
Fucked For Life (FFL) is a criminal network in Sweden, probably founded by Daniel Maiorana (born ). At the core of the network are 12 men, some of whom have "FFL" tattooed on their arms or neck.
History
The gang was initially named "Tumba Lords ...
* Uppsalamaffian
* Chosen Ones
*Werewolf Legion
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...
* Asir
* Vårvädersligan
Netherlands
*Organized crime in the Netherlands
Organized crime in the Netherlands, sometimes called penose (Dutch: ''penoze'') is the organised criminal underbelly in Amsterdam and other major cities. Penose usually means the organizations formed by criminals of Dutch descent. It is a slang ...
** Bruinsma drug gang
** Holleeder gang
** Moroccan mafia
France
* French Milieu ''(See also Service d'Action Civique)''
** Corsican mafia[Gayraud, Jean-François (2009) ''Showbiz, people et corruption'', Odile Jacob, ] ''(see also National Liberation Front of Corsica)''
*** Unione Corse
*** Brise de Mer gang
** Les Caïds Des Cités
*** Faïd gang
*** The Barbarians
** Wigs gang
** North African Brigade ''(see also Carlingue)''
** Tractions Avant gang
** Bande des Trois Canards
** French gypsy gangs
***Hornec gang
The Hornec brothers gang, also called "the H" or "the Montreuil gang", is a Gitanes criminal group from the region of Paris. It is the most influential gang in the French capital.
They control many criminal activities (racket, drug dealing, i ...
Greece
* Greek mafia
Ireland
*Ireland
**Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
*** Cahill gang[Newton, Michael (2007) ''Gangsters Encyclopedia'', Anova Books, ]
*** Gilligan gang
*** Foley gang
*** Hyland gang
*** Dunne gang
*** The Westies
**Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
***McCarthy-Dundon
The McCarthy-Dundon's is a criminal gang based in Limerick City, Ireland. Their main base is Ballinacurra Weston on Limerick's southside but they also have a strong presence in Southill and in the northside suburb of Moyross. The gang, involved in ...
***Keane-Collopy
The Keane-Collopy gang is a criminal organisation based in Limerick City, Ireland. Its members are major suppliers of drugs in the Mid-West region and have been heavily involved in the Limerick feud since 2000, when an attempt was made on the lif ...
**Rathkeale Rovers
The Rathkeale Rovers are a group of English Travellers based in Ireland but operating internationally. They are all members of Ireland's Travelling Community, and use traditional Traveller work such as laying tarmac or home renovation as cover ...
** Kinahan Organised Crime Group
Spain
*Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
''(see also ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
)''
** Galician mafia
**Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
clans
*** El Clan De La Paca
Poland
*Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
''(See also Group 13
The Group 13 network ( pl, Trzynastka, Yiddish: ''דאָס דרײַצענטל'') was a Jewish Nazi collaborationist organization in the Warsaw Ghetto during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. The rise and fall of the Gro ...
)''
**Pruszków mafia
Crime in Poland is combated by the Polish police and other government agencies. Poland's homicide rate is among the lowest in Europe and the country ranks 25th in Global Peace Index in 2022.
Crime by type Murder
In 2011, Poland had a murder ...
**Crime in Poland, Wołomin mafia
Slovakia
*Slovak mafia
**Slovak mafia#Hungaro-Slovak mafia, Hungaro-Slovak mafia
Hungary
*Veszprém stabbing, Raffael clan
*Veszprém stabbing, Sztojka clan
Czech Republic
**František Mrázek, Mrázek organization
**Radovan Krejčíř, Krejčíř organization
Italy
*Sicilian Mafia
**Sicilian Mafia Commission
**mandamento (Sicilian Mafia), Mandamenti
***''See also List of Sicilian Mafia clans''
*** Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan
***Inzerillo Mafia clan
***Corleonesi
***Greco Mafia clan
***Motisi Mafia clan
*'Ndrangheta
*La Provincia
**''See also List of 'ndrine''
**Honoured Society (Australia), Honoured Society (Melbourne)
**Mammoliti 'ndrina
**Bellocco 'ndrina
**Cataldo 'ndrina
** Commisso 'ndrina
**Cordì 'ndrina
**De Stefano 'ndrina
**Pesce 'ndrina
**Barbaro 'ndrina
**Piromalli 'ndrina
**Serraino 'ndrina
** Siderno Group
*Camorra[Roberto Saviano (2006) ''Gomorrah: Italy's Other Mafia'', Mondadori, .]
**Secondigliano Alliance
***Licciardi clan
***Contini clan
***Lo Russo clan
***Mallardo clan
**Di Lauro Clan
**Casalesi clan
**Mario Fabbrocino, Fabbrocino clan
**Vollaro clan
**Scissionisti di Secondigliano
**Augusto La Torre, La Torre clan
**Polverino clan
**Rinaldi clan
**De Luca Bossa clan
**Aprea-Cuccaro clan
**Cesarano clan
**Giuseppe Puca, Puca clan
*Sacra Corona Unita
*Società foggiana
*Stidda
*Mala del Brenta
*Banda della Magliana
*2014 Rome corruption scandal, Mafia Capitale
*Romani people, Sinti Casamonica clan
*Clan Spada di Ostia (Rome), Ostia
*Crime in Italy#Central and Northern Italy, Milanese gangs
**Banda della Comasina
**Francis Turatello, Turatello crew
Balkans
Balkan organized crime gained prominence in the chaos following the communist era, notably the transition to capitalism and the Yugoslav Wars, wars in former Yugoslavia.
*Albanian mafia
**Crime in Kosovo, Kosovan mafia
**Albanian Rebellion of 1997#Gangs, Albania
***Gang of Çole
***Gang of Gaxhai
***Gang of Pusi i Mezinit
***Lazarat marijuana growers
**Rudaj Organization (New York City)
** Gang of Ismail Lika
**Princ Dobroshi, Dobroshi gang (International)
**Naserligan[Dagens Nyheter - Ligorna har kopplat greppet om Sverige](_blank)
(Swedish) (Sweden)
**Organized crime in Sweden, K-Falangen (Sweden)
*Bosnian mafia
**Jusuf Prazina, Prazina gang[Siegel, Dina (2003) ''Global organized crime: trends and developments'', Springer, ]
**Ismet Bajramović, Bajramović gang
**Ramiz Delalić, Delalić gang
**Organized crime in Sweden, M-Falangen (Sweden)
*Bulgarian mafia ''(see also Multigroup)''
**VIS (criminal organisation), VIS
**SIC (criminal organisation), SIC
**Ivo Karamanski, Karamanski gang
**TIM (firm), TIM
**Naglite
**Anti-Roma protests in Bulgaria 2011, Rashkov clan
*Serbian mafia
**Željko Ražnatović, Arkan clan
**Zemun Clan
**Joca Amsterdam gang
**Ljubomir Magaš, Magaš clan
**Đorđe Božović, Giška gang
**Pink Panthers
**Serb mafia in Scandinavia
***Rade Kotur, Kotur mob
***Ratko Đokić, Yugoslav Brotherhood
*Montenegrin mafia ''(see also Milo Đukanović#Criminal investigation in Italy, allegations of Milo Đukanović's involvement in cigarette smuggling)''
*Macedonian mafia
**Frankfurt mafia
**Bajrush klan
**Nezim klan'
*Romanian organized crime, Romanian mafia
**Sergiu Băhăian, Băhăian organisation
Great Britain
*Crime in London, London
**Clerkenwell crime syndicate, Adams crime family
**The Richardson Gang[Morton, James ''Gangland Volume 2: The Underworld in Britain and Ireland'', 1995, ]
**Kray Twins, The Firm
**Bernie Silver, The Syndicate
**Jack Comer, Comer gang
**Lee Murray, Buttmarsh Boys
**Interwar unemployment and poverty in the United Kingdom, Interwar era mobs
***Messina Brothers
***Sabini syndicate[Thomas, Donald (2006) ''Villains' paradise: a history of Britain's underworld'', Pegasus Books, ]
***Hoxton Gang
***Elephant and Castle Mob
***Birmingham Boys
*Rettendon murders, Essex Boys
*Gun crime in south Manchester, Manchester
**Quality Street Gang
**Desmond Noonan, Noonan firm
**Cheetham Hillbillies
**The Gooch Close Gang
*Crime in Liverpool, Liverpool
**Curtis Warren, Curtis Warren's drug empire
**Whitney gang
*Aggi Crew
*British firms (organized crime)#Glasgow crime families, Glasgow
**Thomas McGraw, McGraw firm
**Arthur Thompson (gangster), Thompson firm
**Walter Douglas, Delta Crime Syndicate
*Brighton razor gangs
*Bestwood Estate#Recent years, Bestwood Cartel
Ukraine
*Ukrainian mafia
**Akhat Bragin, Donetsk Clan
**Sergey Aksyonov#Alleged links to organized crime, Salem gang
Lithuania
*Foreign relations of Lithuania#Illicit drug trafficking, Lithuanian mafia
**Boris Dekanidze, Vilnius Brigade
Estonia
*Estonian mafia/Obtshak
**Toomas Helin, Linnuvabriku group
Transnistria
*Mafia state#Transnistria, Transnistrian mafia
Australia
*Crime in Sydney, Sydney
**5T (gang), 5T gang[Small, Clive & Gilling, Tom (2010) ''Smack Express: How Organized Crime Got Hooked on Drugs'', Allen & Unwin, ] (1985–1999)
**George Freeman (bookmaker), Freeman gang (defunct)
**Lenny McPherson, Lenny's gang (1960s)
**Abe Saffron, Mr Sin's gang
**Razor gangs (1920s)
*Crime in Melbourne, Melbourne
**The Carlton Crew, Carlton Crew
**Moran family
**Carl Williams (criminal), Williams family
**Pettingill family
**Squizzy Taylor, Richmond gang
*Crime in Perth, Perth
**Salvator cartel
References
Further reading
*
PBS. 2006. Frontline: Drug Wars.
*
External links
*
Worldpress.org. 2006. "Mexico: Drug Cartels a Growing Threat." Worldpress.org.
{{Gangs
Drug cartels,
Illegal drug trade
Smuggling
Organized crime groups
Organized crime terminology
Transnational organized crime