Organized crime syndicates are transnational criminal organizations that gain power through a low profile by working within the existing structure and seeking powers susceptible to corruption. Criminal organizations exist in every part of the world and are often referred to as a “Mafia.” These groups are a part of everyday life in many cultures and though they are not a part of everyday life in others, they are still there. Two of these organizations in particular stand out. One is the oldest organization, the Yakuza of Japan, and the other is the most ruthless, the Russian Mafia.

The Yakuza trace their past to at least the 17th century and are even older than the Sicilian Mafia. The Yakuza portray their ancient predecessors as itinerant gamblers, peddlers, renegade warriors, and roving bandits. They served shoguns and municipalities, and their legend includes a strict following of the Bushido code. Yakuza leaders claim that Japan's 80,000 Yakuza are Robin Hoods who adhere to a feudal code of honor. In reality they are much like gangsters anywhere else, social dropouts who prey on the weak and troubled.

The roots of the Russian Mafia do not run quite as d

The Yakuza, unlike the Russian Mafia, did not just explode on to the scene of Japan. Like organized crime in other cultures, the Yakuza began controlling construction labor and dockside labor, adding to traditional areas of enterprise in the vices, prostitution, gambling, liquor distribution, and entertainment. Because of their unique role in Japan's history and popularity, Yakuza seemed to be an accepted fact of life in Japan.

Since the fall of the former Soviet Union, the strength and numbers of the Russian Mafia has been on a steady incline. Unlike its Russian counterpart, Yakuza strength rises and falls according to the tides of Japanese society, with estimates of core membership ranging from 80,000 to more than 110,000 in the years from 1945 to 1996. Some authorities believe Japan's National Police routinely undercount the Yakuza, numbering only those names found in confiscated membership rolls or recorded from routine police intelligence reports.

Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the Russian Mafia has become larger, more brutal, and better armed. It is widely believed to be more powerful than any other criminal organization, including the Sicilian Mafia. The Russian mob buys and swaps drugs, money, handguns, assault carbines, submachine guns, anti-aircraft missiles, helicopters, plutonium, enriched uranium, and submarines. What makes the Russian Mafia so powerful is that unlike any criminal organization, the Russians literally control an entire state, which was formerly a world super power. This gives them a massive base of operations with unlimited resources.

eep. It is believed the Russian Mafia began during the Bolshevik Revolution in the early 1900s when many professional criminals sided with Bolshevik revolutionaries. It is surmised that an intertwined relationship began between government officials and professional criminals during the Communist years and continuing to the present. During the Communist years, the Communist Party members existed above the law, and they were the real organized crime figures during that time. White-collar crimes of bribery, kickbacks, and document tampering were common and lucrative for corrupt government officials.

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