Serbian Mafia
| Territory | Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, European Union, North America, Australia, Africa, South America |
|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Serbs, Montenegrin Serbs, Bosnian Serbs |
| Criminal activities | Arms trafficking, Assassination, Assault, Auto theft, Bank robbery, Bank fraud, Bankruptcy, Blackmailing, Bribery, Burglary, Car bombing, Contract killing, Extortion, Fraud, Human trafficking, Infiltration of Politics, Illegal gambling, Insurance fraud, Kidnapping, Military corruption, Military Equipment smuggling, Money laundering, Murder, Police corruption, Political corruption, Protection racket, Racketeering, Tax evasion, Theft, Witness intimidation, Witness tampering. |
| Allies | Italian-American mafia, Romanian mafia, Ukrainian mafia, Russian mafia, Bulgarian mafia, Bandidos, Mexican Mafia, Sureños, Public Enemy No. 1 |
| Rivals | Albanian mafia, Turkish mafia, Crips, Bloods, MS-13, Outlaws MC |
| Notable members | see list of notable Serbian mafioso |
Serbian Organized Crime (Serbian: Cpпска мафија/Srpska Mafija, Serbian Mafia) are various criminal organizations based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs in the Serbian diaspora. The organizations are primarily involved in smuggling, arms trafficking, heists, drug trafficking, protection rackets and illegal gambling. The mafia is composed of several major organized groups, which in turn have wider networks throughout Europe.
It includes some highly successful groups, including one of the largest cocaine import enterprises in Europe, and is responsible for some of the biggest heists ever committed. Its origin dates back to SFRY which had very low crime rate, as criminals were allowed to live peacefully in Yugoslavia as long as they restricted their operations to abroad, and then bring the stolen goods and capital to be spent at home. The Serbian mafia gave many Serbs a perceived way out of the economic disaster that occurred in the country following the implementation of internationally imposed sanctions against Serbia during the Yugoslav Wars. Serbian criminals have been recruited into state security forces, a notable example being Milorad "Legija" Ulemek, a commander in Arkan's Tigers which was re-labelled as the JSO (Red Berets) after the war. Legija also planned the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić.
Ethnic Serb OC groups are organized in horizontally; higher-ranked members are not necessarily coordinated by any leader.
Ljubomir Magaš, aka Ljuba Zemunac, was known as the "Godfather" of the Serbian mafia during the 1970s and 1980s. He and his gang operated in Germany and Italy during this time. He was assassinated in 1986 by his rival Goran "Majmun" Vuković. Vukasin Despotović operated in the Netherlands and became one of the most powerful gangsters through his elimination of rivals while working as a hitman and took over the drug trade in the Netherlands. The drug that was smuggled was cocaine from Colombia and "Joca Amsterdam" became known as the "Cocaine King". He worked for "Duja" Bećirović as an underboss and later lived in Bulgaria where he successfully smuggled drugs until his arrest in 2002. Upon returning to Serbia, he took over companies by force, utilizing the Surčin clan, (one of three then most powerful "clans" of Belgrade). He was later involved in the 2008 assassination of Ivo Pukanić, a Croatian journalist killed by a car bomb.
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Wikipedia