List of criminal enterprises, gangs, and syndicates


The following is a listing of enterprises, gangs, mafias, and criminal syndicates that are involved in organized crime. Tongs and outlaw motorcycle gangs, as well as terrorist, militant, and paramilitary groups, are mentioned if they are involved in criminal activity for funding. However, since their stated aim and genesis is often ideological rather than commercial, they are distinct from mafia-type groups.

Drug cartels

In several drug-producing or transit countries, drug traffickers have taken advantage of local corruption and lack of law enforcement to establish cartels turning in millions if not billions of dollars each year. Sometimes if government enforcement is particularly poor, the cartels become quasi-paramilitary organizations.

[Illegal [drug trade in Latin America|Latin America]]

Brazil">Crime in Brazil">Brazil

Active

Venezuela">Illegal drug trade in Venezuela">Venezuela

Active

Colombia">Illegal drug trade in Colombia">Colombia

Active

Ecuador">War on Drugs in Ecuador">Ecuador

Active

Mexico">Mexican Drug War">Mexico

Juárez Cartel

Asia

North American organized crime

Canada

United States

American Mafia

Italian immigrants to the United States in the early 19th century brought with them the underground government many Americans refer to as "Cosa Nostra" along with its traditions and formal induction rituals along with the concepts and precepts of Omerta, which espouses honorable and manly behavior at all times and under all conditions, taking care of your own problems and assisting your community, as well as non-cooperation with corrupt law enforcement and government officials. Many Italian-Americans around this same time also formed various small-time gangs which gradually evolved into sophisticated crime syndicates, but the nationwide organization known as "Cosa Nostra" has traditionally dominated organized crime in America for several decades. Although government crackdowns and a less-tightly knit Italian-American community have largely reduced its power, the American Mafia remains an active force in the underworld. Other organized crime gangs such as the 10th and Oregon crew are independent entities and thus not a part of “Cosa Nostra”, but have predominantly Italian-American membership and essentially run the same traditional rackets as the American Mafia.
Active

Jewish mafia">Jewish-American organized crime">Jewish mafia

[African-American organized crime]

[Irish Mob]

European organized crime

[Italian organized crime]

Organized crime in Italy, especially the south, has existed for hundreds of years and has given rise to a number of notorious organizations with their own traditions and subculture which have managed to infiltrate almost every part of Italian society. The Italian mafia is often thought of as being the archetype for organized crime worldwide.

British organised crime "firms"">British firms (organized crime)">British organised crime "firms"

[Balkan] organized crime

Balkan organized crime gained prominence in the chaos following the communist era, notably the transition to capitalism and the wars in former Yugoslavia.

Post-Soviet organized crime

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, 'mafiya' or mob is a blanket term for the various organized crime groups that emerged in this period from the 15 former republics of the USSR 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.

Caucasian crime syndicates

See also Caucasus Emirate

Central Asian crime syndicates">Drug trafficking in Central Asia">Central Asian crime syndicates

Asian organized crime

East Asian criminal organizations

Korean criminal organizations">Kkangpae">Korean criminal organizations

Japanese Yakuza">yakuza">Japanese Yakuza

Active yakuza groups
Defunct yakuza groups
Hangure are considered to be “jun-bōryokudan” groups. The term half-grey in Japanese refers to groups that commit crimes, yet are not considered to fit the description of criminal organizations. They mostly consist of former Bōsōzoku teenagers and former juvenile delinquents in middle and high schools, who became an adult and refuse to join the Yakuza because of their dislike for the traditional code of the Yakuza. Sometimes they outsource their crimes to their kōhai delinquents at Old Bōsōzoku group or Alma Mater as Senpai.
  • Kanto Union 関東連合
  • Dragon 怒羅権
  • Uchikoshi Spector 打越スペクター
  • *Kimura Brother's 木村兄弟
  • Ota Union 大田連合
  • Tuwamono 強者
  • *Kenmun's crew 拳月グループ
  • Abyss アビス

Chinese Triads">Triad (organized crime)">Chinese Triads

Hong Kong-based Triads
  • Chiu Chow Group 潮州集团
  • * Sun Yee On 新義安
  • * King Yee 景仪
  • * Fuk Yee Hing 福怡兴
  • * Yee Kwan 怡君
  • 14K Group 十四K
  • * 14K Yee 十四怡K
  • * 14K Hau 十四豪K
  • * 14K Yan 十四颜K
  • * 14K Yung 十四容K
  • * 14K Ngai 十四魏K
  • * 14K Chung 十四钟K
  • * 14K Mui 十四梅K
  • * 14K Tak 十四德K
  • Wo Group 和字頭
  • * Wo Shing Wo 和勝和
  • * Wo On Lok (Shui Fong) 和安樂
  • * Wo Hop To 和合圖
  • * Wo Yung Yee 和容义
  • * Wo Kwan Ying 禾均英
  • * Wo Li Wo 窝里窝
  • * Wo Shing Tong 和盛堂
  • * Wo Hung Shing 和鸿盛
  • * Wo Kwan Lok 和均乐
  • * Wo Yee Tong 和宜堂
  • * Wo Shing Yee 和盛义
  • * Wo Yat Ping 禾一平
  • * Wo Yee Ping 和宜萍
  • Sze Tai 四泰
  • * Luen Group 聯字頭
  • ** Luen Ying Sh'e 联英社
  • ** Luen Kwan Ying 联君英
  • ** Luen Yee Sh'e 联谊社
  • ** Luen Kwan Sh'e 联官社
  • * Tan Yee 陈怡
  • * Macau Chai 澳门仔
  • * Tung Group 通氏集团
  • ** Tung San Wo 东山和
  • ** Tung Lok Tong 同乐堂
  • ** Tung Yee 东义
  • Big Circle Gang 大圈
  • Hunan Gang 湖南帮
  • Rung Group 梯级组
  • Shing Group 盛氏集团
  • Chuen Group 全集团
  • * Chuen Chi Wo 全志和
  • * Chuen Yat Chi 全一志
  • Carpet Bomber 地毯轰炸机
  • Neon Dragon 霓虹龙
  • Sio Sam Ong
  • Chinese-American gangs '
  • Wah Ching 華青
  • *Ping On
  • Black Dragons 黑龍
  • Jackson Street Boys 積臣街小子
  • Secret societies in Singapore
  • ai Lok San / Pek Kim Leng
  • Wah Kee華記
Taiwan-based Triads
Triads in Chợ Lớn

Southeast Asian criminal organizations

Thai gangs

Cambodian crime gangs">Drugs in Cambodia">Cambodian crime gangs

Indonesian crime gangs">Organised crime in Indonesia">Indonesian crime gangs

Malaysian crime gangs">Crime in Malaysia">Malaysian crime gangs

Filipino crime gangs">List of gangs in the Philippines">Filipino crime gangs

[Vietnamese Xã Hội Đen]

South Asian criminal organizations

[Indian mafia]

Sri Lankan criminal groups">List of Sri Lankan mobsters">Sri Lankan criminal groups

Pakistani mafia">Organised crime in Pakistan">Pakistani mafia

Middle Eastern criminal organizations

Iranian">Iran">Iranian mafia

[Israeli mafia]

[Lebanese mafia]

[Turkish mafia]

Source:

Yemeni">Yemen">Yemeni mafia

Australian">Crime in Australia">Australian organized crime

Caribbean crime groups

African organized crime

[Cybercrime] networks

As society enters the Information Age, certain individuals take advantage of easy flow of information over the Internet to commit online fraud or similar activities. Often the hackers will form a network to better facilitate their activities. On occasion the hackers will be a part of a criminal gang involved in more 'blue collar crime', but this is unusual.

Drug and smuggling rings

Smuggling is a behavior that has occurred ever since there were laws or a moral code that forbade access to a specific person or object. At the core of any smuggling organization is the economic relationship between supply and demand. From the organization's point of view, the issues are what the consumer wants, and how much the consumer is willing to pay the smuggler or smuggling organization to obtain it.

Drug rings">Illegal drug trade">Drug rings

Prison gangs

Prisons are a natural meeting place for criminals, and for the purposes of business and protection from other inmates, prisoners join gangs. These gangs often develop a large influence outside the prison walls through their networks. Most prison gangs do more than offer simple protection for their members. Most often, prison gangs are responsible for any drug, tobacco or alcohol handling inside correctional facilities. Furthermore, many prison gangs involve themselves in prostitution, assaults, kidnappings and murders. Prison gangs often seek to intimidate the other inmates, pressuring them to relinquish their food and other resources. In addition, prison gangs often exercise a large degree of influence over organized crime in the "free world", larger than their isolation in prison might lead one to expect.

[Prison gangs in the United States]

Street gangs

Youth gangs have often served as a recruiting ground for more organized crime syndicates, where juvenile delinquents grow up to be full-fledged mobsters, as well as providing muscle and other low-key work. Increasingly, especially in the United States and other western countries, street gangs are becoming much more organized in their own right with a hierarchical structure and are fulfilling the role previously taken by traditional organized crime.

North America

African-American

Native American/Indigenous

Asian-American

Hispanic

Historical

Gangs in Canada">List of gangs in Canada">Gangs in Canada

Other

South America">Crime and violence in Latin America">South America

Europe

Africa">Poverty in Africa">Africa

Asia

Oceania

Outlaw motorcycle clubs

Other

Historical