Romanian mafia

The Romanian mafia or Romanian organized crime (Romanian: Mafia Românească) is the category of organized crime groups whose members are of Romanian descent. In recent years they have expanded their criminal activities in the European Union, reads a Europol report on EU organized crime, being active mostly in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The Romanian Mafia is composed of several major organized groups, which in turn have wider networks throughout Europe and have even reached as far as North and Central America.[1]

Romanian mafia
FoundedLate 1960s
Founding locationRomania
TerritoryRomania, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, Moldavia
EthnicityRomanian
Criminal activitiesHuman trafficking, illegal drug trade, prostitution, murder, cigarette smuggling, extortion, cyber crime, arms trafficking, property crime, racketeering, RFID skimming, online automotive fraud, wire fraud, robbery, loan sharking, assault, kidnapping, theft, contract killing
AlliesSicilian Mafia
Camorra
Ndrangheta
Albanian mafia
Ukrainian mafia
Bulgarian mafia
Serbian mafia
Sinaloa Cartel

Including major heists and some of the biggest scams in history, the Romanian mafia is known worldwide for ATM-skimmings as well as pimping and drug trafficking. Gangs are organized horizontally, the leader of a group being called 'Nașu' which means "Godfather" in Romanian. Some Mafia groups in Romania also known as "Clanuri Interlope" or "Brigăzi" have codes of silence and also marked Mafia tattoos. Police in Australia who have dealt with a violent wave of Romanian gangs said that "The Romanians are one of the hardest criminal enterprises to crack due to the fact that they usually only deal with other Romanians and can be extremely violent when needed. Romanian Mafia gangs in the Americas are different than those in the EU, where in the Americas the Romanian mafia has built a very lucrative pact with the Sinaloa Cartel".

In Italy, most of the Romanian criminals are involved in theft and pimping, however, in Turin, they created an Italian-style mafia within their local community, extorting money from Romanian night-clubs that ran prostitutes, and would impose their own businesses and singers on weddings by force.[2] Also in Turin, Romanian criminals created the 'Brigada Oarza' group, specialized in extortion, robbery and drug trafficking.In 2014, 15 members of the Brigada Oarza were convicted of mafia affiliation, being sentenced up to 15 years in prison. It was the first Italian sentence that condemned a group of Romanian people for mafia-style criminal association.[3] The leader of the Brigada Oarza was allegedly the former professional boxer Viorel Oarză.[4]

Most notorious criminal groups

The capital of Romania, Bucharest, is divided into 6 administrative units called sectoare:

  • Sector 1: dominated mainly by the Geamănu clan, which became famous after stealing the vehicle of the Romanian businessman George Becali.[5] The Sadoveanu clan operates here too, which is engaged in prostitution.[6]
  • Sector 2: controlled by the Caran clan.[7]
  • Sector 3: under the control of the Chira clan, known for prostitution.[8]
  • Sector 4: Sportivii clan, known for extortion and credit card fraud.[9] The Vancica Clan is also active in this sector, in particular in the cigarette smuggling business.[5]
  • Sector 5: Cămătarilor clan, prostitution, loan sharking.[10]
  • Sector 6: Luptătorii clan, extortion, usury and racketeering. [11]

References
  1. "Southeast Europe Online". Southeasteurope.org. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  2. "Expat Romanians: their own worst enemy". theblacksea.eu. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  3. "Torino, 15 romeni condannati per mafia: la prima volta in Italia". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 2014-10-27. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  4. "FOTO VIDEO Il capo di tutti capi. Povestea boxerului român care conducea un clan de mafioţi din puşcărie". adevarul.ro. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  5. "Capitala Romaniei, sub zodia crimei organizate. Cum si-au impartit clanurile interlope Bucurestiul". Ziare.com (in Romanian). Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  6. "Lider al "Clanului Sadoveanu", reţinut în urma unor percheziţii". Mediafax.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  7. "Liderul clanului Caran, capturat după un an de căutări". romaniatv.net. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  8. "Clanurile nu au limită! Un interlop din Cernica, membru al clanului Chira, i-a tăiat piciorul unui rival, ca răzbunare, după ce acesta i-a rupt piciorul!". Libertatea (in Romanian). 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  9. "Șeful Clanului Sportivilor, în spital după o răfuială. Un deget i-a fost amputat și este tăiat pe aproape tot corpul". www.digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  10. "Investigație Rise Project: În bârlogul traficanților de măști. Cum a ajuns clanul Cămătarilor să facă bani din Covid". www.digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  11. "Luptătorii lui Preda şi clanul Vasiloi, „şerifii" din sectorul 6 VIDEO". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 2020-09-02.

https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/6765-uk-el-chapo-s-cartel-joins-forces-with-romanian-gangsters-to-smuggle-cocaine

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