Thread: Russian Mafia

Nope. саша белый жив.

Keep those bastards dead.

Definately not dead. They are happily earning lots of money acting in new TV serials.

Originally Posted by Ramil

What is mafia, by the way? Organized crime exists in every country of the world.

Exactly. I think, the danger of Russian "mafia" is hugely exaggerated. Actually I don't even think these Russian gangs are Mafia.

Even in this article they say "Unlike the Colombian cartels or the Italian Mafia, Russian crime groups are not centralised hierarchical structures but instead work in small groups, with hundreds of gangs around the world that have thousands of embers".
Duh, but that's not a Mafia! No Dons, no worldwide organisation, no hierarhy! It's just thousands of small non-colaborating groups, which are not different from any local gang. Sure, when Russians immigrants are everywhere, it's natural that some of them were (or will be) criminals, but without a strict structure and hierarchy, whithout a man, who leads a "course" it's just criminals, trying to make some money.

Although the Hollywood branch of Russian gangs may not fit the true definition of "mafia", that is the name the LAPD and most other law enforcement branches in California have chosen to call them.
There is also a gang known as the Mexican Mafia which is the name that gang is identified by even though the they may not fit the dictionary definintion.

Originally Posted by JB

Although the Hollywood branch of Russian gangs may not fit the true definition of "mafia", that is the name the LAPD and most other law enforcement branches in California have chosen to call them.
There is also a gang known as the Mexican Mafia which is the name that gang is identified by even though the they may not fit the dictionary definintion.

Oh we're not going to go down this road again are we?
LAPD and most other law enforcement branches in California sit around their TV's and get their ideas from watching "Baywatch". Who cares what they say?

Baywatch hasn't been on the tube for years, not in California or Russia.
And if nobody cares what Californians say (or do) then why is the term "Russian Mafia" showing up in so many other places and publications?
It's not our fault that we're trendsetters!

Originally Posted by JB

It's not our fault that we're trendsetters!

Oh! I do like that! I am going to use it for my signature.

See, even you quote us !

rofl whatcha gonna do with mafia?lol that's some weird curiosity lol

Originally Posted by Niamh

Anyone had direct experience with the mafia?

I had a Russian Jewish friend who seemed pretty shady and had questionable behaviors, but I could never quite prove it and of course, he would never tell me.

1) Would never let me enter his apartment
2) Received phone calls in the middle of the night about pick-up/drop-off of something (in a train station)
3) Had connections to S. Africa and the diamond business
4) Like #1, was extremely paranoid and private
5) Would speak "офейня", the criminal language with his "brother" (who was not actually his brother, as far as I could tell. They looked nothing alike)
6) Would get picked up in a vehicle at night sometimes and when I inquired where he was going, he would just firmly state: "BUSINESS."

!!!!

Couldn't be proven, though....

Originally Posted by ezhikvtumane

5) Would speak "офейня", the criminal language with his "brother" (who was not actually his brother, as far as I could tell. They looked nothing alike)

There is no such thig as офейня. There's only кофейня (coffee shop) and феня (thieves argot). So I think you've invented all this.

Originally Posted by VendingMachine

Originally Posted by ezhikvtumane

5) Would speak "офейня", the criminal language with his "brother" (who was not actually his brother, as far as I could tell. They looked nothing alike)

There is no such thig as офейня. There's only кофейня (coffee shop) and феня (thieves argot). So I think you've invented all this.

Sorry? It's true that I confused the words. But I don't see why you think this should discredit my experience. All of it is true, and seemed very strange, to me, although I could not pin it down.

Why would I make it up? This is an impersonal, online message board. There is no personal gain in it for me, at all.

Also, why is it so incredible for a person to have come across such things? They exist.

It's well known that Russia (Alrosa) and South Africa are two of the world's top diamond miners. Why don't you do a bit of reading on the topic - You might learn something. For me, it started to look strange. Especially after I saw that this person had an "Alrosa" screensaver on his computer and saw that he had connections to S. Africa. Why he had to be so ultra secret about it - I don't know. I'm not claiming he's mafia, just putting things together that seemed very odd to me.

Anyway, as far as I know, nobody in Russia knows феня fluently unless they have a criminal background of some sort. It was used in front of me by these two young men and it was obvious that they didn't want me to understand the topic of discussion.

Anyway, I wonder why you find such pleasure in trying to discredit and discount others' experiences. Maybe because you have no real interesting experiences of your own?

By the way, there is a word "офеня" - I misspelled it.

Originally Posted by ezhikvtumane

Anyway, as far as I know, nobody in Russia knows феня fluently unless they have a criminal background of some sort.

Any fan of Russian criminal TV series can speak "феня" pretty well. It's sad but this "language" is everywhere, it may be not absolutely authentic, but believe me, being a foreigner you couldn't tell a difference.

VM has a split personality between two user accounts, so never mind him.

I too have 'friends' whose behavior is very much alike to what you'd described here. But personally, I think that such people are mostly posers than real criminals. Oh, of course, they may break a law or two (one of such 'friends' of mine was on reselling business of second-hand spare parts for cars (read: stolen ). A minor law violation, granted, even if he's arrested he would be released overnight because there's just no proof of his guilt whatsoever. But he behaves as if he was at least on economic espionage, blackmarket arms wholesale or contract murders.

These things impress girls and gullible friends so they do that.

The real Russian mafiozi are in Duma (Russian parliament) now. All legalized and white and furry. They have 'legal' business on contrafact production, own quotas for oil and gas export, or involved in backbone drugs traffic. They own Bentleys or Ferraris and never ever participate in any activities that could compromise their 'honest name'.

And of course you can find 'mafia' at any railway station or bazaar - but those are just minnows and don't really pose a threat to anyone except several bargainers. (Their activities are usually controlled or even led by the local militia station). I call these 'mafiozi' мальчики в тонированных девятках (they usually drive Ladas with windows tinted at local garage thinking in their manginess that this is cool).

Originally Posted by Ramil

VM has a split personality between two user accounts

Not two. More.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Ramil

VM has a split personality between two user accounts

Not two. More.

And one of them is you, ain't it, eh?

Originally Posted by ezhikvtumane

Sorry? It's true that I confused the words. But I don't see why you think this should discredit my experience. All of it is true, and seemed very strange, to me, although I could not pin it down.

Why would I make it up? This is an impersonal, online message board. There is no personal gain in it for me, at all.

You made it up because you like telling stories, don't you, ezhikvtumane?

Also, why is it so incredible for a person to have come across such things? They exist.

In Western mockumentaries.

Anyway, as far as I know, nobody in Russia knows феня fluently unless they have a criminal background of some sort.

Most native speakers of Russian have some command of феня, many are fluent in it. Like someone already said here, if you watch a certain type of movies and read a certain type of books, you know a fair amount of феня. Even my Nana ботает по фене. By the way, how do you know they spoke феня and not some other slang? If you don't know феня, there's no way you can tell if that's what they spoke.

By the way, there is a word "офеня" - I misspelled it.

Yes, but no Russian speaker uses it

Originally Posted by Ramil

And of course you can find 'mafia' at any railway station or bazaar - but those are just minnows and don't really pose a threat to anyone except several bargainers. (Their activities are usually controlled or even led by the local militia station). I call these 'mafiozi' мальчики в тонированных девятках (they usually drive Ladas with windows tinted at local garage thinking in their manginess that this is cool).

Рамиль, ты давно видел "мальчиков в тонированных девятках"? Я их уже лет 5 точно как не замечал. Их роль теперь с успехом выполняют те же менты(УБЭП), налоговая, госторгинспекция, сэс, и.т.п. А сами они (те, кого не грохнули) перебрались на тёпленькие места в муниципалитетах, местных и региональных парламентах, и.т.д. Лично знаю парочку таких.

Originally Posted by Basil77

Originally Posted by Ramil

And of course you can find 'mafia' at any railway station or bazaar - but those are just minnows and don't really pose a threat to anyone except several bargainers. (Their activities are usually controlled or even led by the local militia station). I call these 'mafiozi' мальчики в тонированных девятках (they usually drive Ladas with windows tinted at local garage thinking in their manginess that this is cool).

Рамиль, ты давно видел "мальчиков в тонированных девятках"? Я их уже лет 5 точно как не замечал. Их роль теперь с успехом выполняют те же менты(УБЭП), налоговая, госторгинспекция, сэс, и.т.п. А сами они (те, кого не грохнули) перебрались на тёпленькие места в муниципалитетах, местных и региональных парламентах, и.т.д. Лично знаю парочку таких.

Да ты за МКАД-то выезжай иногда. Далеко даже ездить не надо - та же Балашиха или Раменское к примеру. Ещё полно. Чиста такие ПАЦАНЫ в трениках, вьетнамках на тонированой девятке (ну, "крутые" катаются на сотой ауди или раздолбанном пассате ).