Crime - Organized Crime A Word History: Russia

Most Russians are said to have celebrated the end of communism and the centrally planned economy, but the shift to free enterprise had an unintended side-effect - vast new opportunities for the Russian mafia. According to an estimate by the Kremlin, the underworld now controls as much as 40 percent of the nations economy. The russian mob has also extended its tentacles into New York and other American cities. The russians may be new kids in the game but they seem just as skilled as their sicilian bretheren.