Someone please help: Russian Mafia info needed

[LaylaM]

I grew up in Chicago and my parents were very close to an Italian couple who had intimate ties with the mafioso through family and the neighborhood they grew up in. The husband and my father were (legitimate) work colleagues for over 30 years and remained close all of their lives. We learned that, in everyday life, most people will be vastly unaware of the presence of crime families. For obvious reasons, they operate deep beneath the surface and remain successful because they have learned to do this flawlessly - until someone makes a costly mistake...

Most organized crime syndicates profit from hugely layered drug rings, prostitution, black market import/export businesses, gambling, cyber operations, as well as legitimate business ownership. It's true that they have lots of street 'soldiers' who do their small jobs but, for the most part, you should not really feel their presence. This is not to say they aren't extremely dangerous, just not to the average citizen minding his/her own business.

I lived in Seattle and Bellevue/Redmond for over 35 years and we were always aware that there was some Russian gang activity on the East Side. They were part of a large wave of Ukrainian and Russian (family-sponsored) immigration that started in the 80's. Many people seemed to believe they were more dangerous than the Mexican and Asian groups in the area. As someone mentioned earlier, the Crossroad Station Police office was established because there was some street violence between various groups in those days, but it's largely died down now.