Mafia, Inc. - Polish and Russian Gangsters Co-operate
The (in)famous "Pruszkow" mafia is well known all over Poland, as the most dangerous and brutal Polish
criminal organisation. However, few people realise that the Polish gang is only one of the links in the European network
of Solncevo ? the worst Russian mafia. The Pruszkow gang has played this role since the beginning of the 1990's.
Under the Russian network, the Polish gangsters were given carte blanche for small and medium-sized business. Larger
deals, such as international trade in weapons, drugs and women, was coordinated by representatives of Solncevo in
Warsaw. According to the general inspector of tax information, about $9 billion earned through criminal activity flows
annually into the Polish market. Officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBS) estimate that about $5 billion
of that amount comes from funds laundered in Poland by Solncevo ? mainly by firms owned by Pruszkow.
At the end of 1980's and early 1990's, when Polish mafias were still in their early development phases,
Solncevo was already a huge criminal operation. A report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1995 stated that
this mafia was the largest Eurasian criminal organization, in terms of its assets, influence and scope of financial
control. At that time, the group had seven thousand members. According to the FBI report, the real bosses of Solncevo
are, since the end of 1980's, high-ranking officers in the Russian special forces. In foreign countries ?
especially in the former Soviet Bloc ? the mafia closely cooperates with Russian intelligence, both civil and military.
The gang operates according to the setup of a spy network ? it has residents in foreign countries ? and covers over 80
countries worldwide.
In Poland, the Solncevo mafia did not establish its own structures, as it did in Hungary or Lithuania. Instead, it
chose the strongest domestic organization and made it subordinate to itself. It all began in 1992, when an emissary of
Solncevo met with the middle management level of Pruszkow. An agreement between the two groups was reached in spring of
the same year. At the beginning of cooperation, Poles offered their Russian colleagues assistance in smuggling goods
across Poland. In return, they were promised assistance in the "removal" of competition, and the opportunity
to use foreign posts of Solncevo. For the Russians, the most important fact was that the Polish gangsters had their
gateways at borders ? at set times, trucks with smuggled goods could cross the border without any control.
Representatives of Solncevo organized groups controlled the transfer of cars stolen in Poland and in Western Europe
across the Polish border. The cooperation was not free from problems ? usually over areas of influence. But no serious
conflict ever arose. The Russians forced everyone to obey. Anyone who tried to stand up to them, and refused to follow
their lead, soon met with their revenge. Such was the case of the boss of the seaside underworld, killed for betrayal.
For a long time, the Russians did not want to allow Pruszkow to participate in its largest business ventures ? such as
large-scale drug traffic. This changed when one of the friends of the high-ranking men from Pruszkow saved the life of
one of the heads of the Medellin cartel. It happened during a vacation in Florida. The Columbians were so grateful that
they have granted special privileges to the people from Pruszkow. This convinced the Russians to accept their services,
but a "hostage of honor" from Poland had to be sent to Columbia.
Several months ago, when the police and CBS arrested most of the leaders of the Pruszkow gang, it seemed that the
mafia was conquered. It turned out that the largest Polish underground structure still operates, because the Russians
reanimated it quickly. They still need it. The recent events in Lithuania illustrate the modus operandi of the Russian
special forces. The foreign residents of Solncevo closely cooperate with them. In Poland, the structures of Solncevo are
the same as in Lithuania, or perhaps even better developed. This means that a scandal similar to the one in Lithuania
has already happened and went by undiscovered; or it may be discovered at any given moment
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