from the vodka sea to mare narcoticum : criminal networks in the baltic sea region

Dr. Risto PullatPolice Lt. Col.

The 25th Baltic Criminological Seminar

The Challenge of Crime in the Globalized World

12-13 April 2012, Tallinn

From the Vodka Sea to Mare Narcoticum: Criminal Networks

in the Baltic Sea Region

CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION

criminal organizations versus criminal networks

Timo Kyntäjä relationships of a

supplier-consumer or employer-employee

partnership of pairs or small groups

organized crime in Baltic Sea Region is rooted in spirits smuggling during Prohibition


• economic, social and quasi-state tasks• “Mutual Fund” • “Kolja Zolotoi”

• OMCGs

•Bandidos, Hells Angels, Cannonball• Black Cobra

CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN THE BALTIC SEA REGIONThe 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-in-law”

Vyacheslav Ivankov, nicknamed Yaponchik ("Little Japanese"), a top figure in Russian organized crime


monopoly of the market of illegal productsmajor part of the synthetic drugs smuggled

into Finland come from EstoniaLithuanian drug traffickers are oriented

towards Sweden and FinlandLatvian organized crime act’s as a mediator

for Russian organized crimeLatvian organized crime does not operate in

Scandinavia


social embeddedness homogenous criminal

networkscorrelation of social

position and criminal possibilities

Klaus von Lampe

CONSTELLATIONS OF ORGANIZED CRIME IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION

Klaus von Lampe. Organized Crime in Europe: Conceptions and Realities. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2(1), 2008: 7-17.

= isolated criminal network

= integrated criminal network


heroine is replaced by fenthanyl “White Chinese” in entering Nordic

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


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


subculture of “thieves” has influenced the whole Baltic Sea Region

“Mutual Fund” symbolizing, the subculture of “thieves”, is unique in the Baltic Sea Region

“Mutual Fund” will fall apart in the nearest futurecriminal networks dominate in the OC of the

Baltic Sea RegionBaltic 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


“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!

[email protected]

from the vodka sea to mare narcoticum : criminal networks in the baltic sea region

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