Or this one?
Cops, the largest street gang in the world
[quote]Scotacus wrote:
Probably not what youre looking for, but without a doubt the biggest criminal organization in the 20th century was the CIA. The CIA makes the rest of the organizations listed here real small potatoes.[/quote]
Take you Bs to the political forum.
Book recommendation:
Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an [American] Gangster in Japan.
It gives a lot of insight into how the modern Yakuza formed in the aftermath of the Occupation in post-WWII Japan. It also has a couple of interesting mini-biographies on major figures, such as Rikidozan, one of the first Japanese pro-wrestlers, who also had strong Yakuza ties.
Scientology:
They got damn good Lawyers. That’s why the South Park episode making fun of Xenu… their 560000223212132133333 year old god didn’t air on Comedy Central. TWICE.
[quote]Digital Chainsaw wrote:
malonetd wrote:
What about The Legion of Doom?
Wait, this one?[/quote]
Yes, that one, with Grodd, Giganta, Solomon Grundy, and Sinestro.
I was originally going to suggest Cobra, but then I remembered that they are a terrorist organization, not organized crime.
The American Government!
Just kidding…someone was bound to say it.
I read a book about criminal gangs once. It wasn’t particularly good but i found interesting that it stated that pretty much any Chinese restaraunt in the Uk will either be Triad owned or paying protection money.
The Yakuza is an intersting one too. The short story is that they were very well respected in Japan, and the police turned a blind eye to a lot of their activities as long as they didn’t cause too much trouble to law abiding people. Then some innocent old fella got shot and the police got pissed. The Yakuza were clamped down on and you dont see them walking the streets in Yakuza fashions anymore.
[quote]AdamC wrote:
the police turned a blind eye to a lot of their activities as long as they didn’t cause too much trouble to law abiding people. Then some innocent old fella got shot and the police got pissed.[/quote]
Staying under the radar as much as possible is probably a good idea. We had a biker gang war he in Quebec about 10 years ago; there was public condemnation of the acts being done, but as long as it was biker killing biker, there wasn’t that much outcry. Until the day when a Jeep exploded and killed a 4 year old kid. Then the shit really hit the fan.
A special unit was formed “Opération Carcajou” (translates to Wolverine) to investigate and take down criminal bikers. They ended up arresting over one hundred various members and collaborators; most of which are still in jail.
We haven’t had much biker related news since then.
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
What is MS-13?
[/quote]
mexican mafia. scratch that; i’m thinking of something else. some other guy posted correctly here about MS-13; they’re salvadoran.
surenos (mexican mafia) sometimes use the number 13 or M-13, which is why i got confused. i was just briefly checking out both on wikipedia, and surenos don’t seem nearly as organized or ruthless as MS-13. surenos are pretty hardcore though; they shake down other criminals.
My picks:
The De Beers Group
The Bechtel Corporation
OPEC
Microsoft
[quote]AdamC wrote:
The Yakuza is an intersting one too. The short story is that they were very well respected in Japan, and the police turned a blind eye to a lot of their activities as long as they didn’t cause too much trouble to law abiding people. Then some innocent old fella got shot and the police got pissed. The Yakuza were clamped down on and you dont see them walking the streets in Yakuza fashions anymore.[/quote]
I see them walking down the street in Yakuza fashions. And I’m an ousider who doesn’t even know what to look for.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Scotacus wrote:
Probably not what youre looking for, but without a doubt the biggest criminal organization in the 20th century was the CIA. The CIA makes the rest of the organizations listed here real small potatoes.
Take you Bs to the political forum.[/quote]
Well, technically he is right, since they are not allowed to operate in the US and since what they do outside the US is definitely illegal in the countries they operate in, they are by definition organized crime.
[quote]orion wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Scotacus wrote:
Probably not what youre looking for, but without a doubt the biggest criminal organization in the 20th century was the CIA. The CIA makes the rest of the organizations listed here real small potatoes.
Take you Bs to the political forum.
Well, technically he is right, since they are not allowed to operate in the US and since what they do outside the US is definitely illegal in the countries they operate in, they are by definition organized crime.
[/quote]
As is every other intelligence service on the planet by this definition.
How about the Russkies killing their ex-spy with a mini dirty radiation bomb?
Makes the CIA look like a bunch of incompetents.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
How about the Russkies killing their ex-spy with a mini dirty radiation bomb?
Makes the CIA look like a bunch of incompetents.[/quote]
The CIA needs no help from the Russians in that regard.
MS-13 is just a bunch of high-school “bullies”. They where there when I went to high-school, and still there after I left. Their “operations” are jumping people at bus stops. Buncha bitches if ya ask me.
[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
AdamC wrote:
The Yakuza is an intersting one too. The short story is that they were very well respected in Japan, and the police turned a blind eye to a lot of their activities as long as they didn’t cause too much trouble to law abiding people. Then some innocent old fella got shot and the police got pissed. The Yakuza were clamped down on and you dont see them walking the streets in Yakuza fashions anymore.
I see them walking down the street in Yakuza fashions. And I’m an ousider who doesn’t even know what to look for.
[/quote]
Are you sure it’s not just people copying the fashions?
“Yakuza fashion is changing. In the 1990’s punch-perms and colourful fashions were de rigueur, but the trend seems to have died just before the turn of the millenium. Yakuza decided that they stood out too much and were getting a lot of negative publicity in the press so they toned down their image. The Osaka kumicho (boss) of the Yamaguchi-gumi has issued an edict that gang members are to dress plainly so that they do not stand out from the general population. Young people are supposed to dress like college students or street kids and the older men are supposed to look like a salariman. Yakuza no longer wear their gang pins in public and gang leaders who once favoured expensive, antique Zippo lighters are now using the 100 yen variety. Some yakuza, particularly the low ranking ones, still dress like the models in the picture, but enjoy the tackiness while you can because in a few years you probably won’t be able to see it anymore.”
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
The Japanese Yakuza essentially operate openly and touch every facet of Japanese business. I would definetely look into that one.[/quote]
I would ask Sakakibara. 
The goddam DEA, as they blew the hinges off my door trying to introduce themselves.
[quote]pookie wrote:
Triads? (Chinese) and Hell’s Angels? I don’t think the Hell’s Angels have any kind of centralized “command”, but they are active in America, Europe and Australia.
How about CIA, KGB, Mossad, MI6 and all those various government backed intel/counter-intel organizations? They’ll often operate illegally and even criminally in other countries as part of whatever destabilizing missions they’re on.
[/quote]
Illegally by whose standards? The US’s, the country we are operating in, or by the UN’s? While we may bend some rules we still adhere to the UN’s regulations and what may be illegal in the US is standard practice in the country we are operating in. I don’t think you can compare the work the CIA does to the KGB.
[quote]Roy wrote:
MS-13 is just a bunch of high-school “bullies”. They where there when I went to high-school, and still there after I left. Their “operations” are jumping people at bus stops. Buncha bitches if ya ask me.[/quote]
Are you kidding me? MS-13 owns Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. They are the largest and most vicious gang in the Americas, there was fear that they’d start assisting terrorist attacks in America since they’re predominately composed (or were) of people who were fighting against the Salvadoran government and immigrants who fled the war, the government that the US government backed. They probably move more drugs through this country than all other gang output tripled.