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Serbian Transnational Criminal Organizations The Serbians? Some say they are back on track, while others say they are long gone. Transnational organized crime is coordinated across national borders, involving groups or markets of individuals working in more than one country to plan and execute illegal business ventures. In order to achieve their goals, these criminal groups use systematic violence and corruption. Common transnational organized crime activities include conveying drugs, weapons, trafficking for sex, toxic waste disposal, materials theft, and poaching. Serbian TCOs are politically and financially motivated groups that are responsible for causing significant financial harm to the United States each year. Unlike traditional organized crime groups, they tend to operate around ethnic associations and friendship ties. They also appear to be more agile, organic, and project-based. Serbian TCOs are adept at adopting new technological methods to enhance their illicit activities, thus increasing their ability to expand their criminal market base through cyber-enabled fraud. These groups engage in a myriad of illegal ventures including passport fraud, access device fraud, identity theft, healthcare fraud, real estate fraud, insurance fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, human smuggling, prostitution, and extortion. Organized crime in the Balkans has its roots in the traditional clan structures. In these largely rural countries, people organized into clans with large familial ties for protection and mutual collaboration. Starting in the 15th century, clan relationships operated under the kanun, or code, which values loyalty and besa, or secrecy. Each clan established itself in specific territories and controlled all activities in that territory. The protection of activities and interests often lead to violence between the clans. The elements inherent in the structure of the clans provided the perfect backbone for what is considered modern-day Balkan organized crime. Many years of communist rule led to black market activities in the Balkans, but the impact of these activities was limited to the region. When communism collapsed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it led to the expansion of Balkan organized crime activities. Criminal markets once closed to Balkan groups suddenly opened, and this led to the creation of an international network. Within the Balkans, organized crime groups infiltrated the new democratic institutions, further expanding their profit opportunities. Balkan criminal organizations have been active in the U.S. since the mid-1980s. At first, these organizations were involved in low-level crimes, including bank robberies, ATM burglaries, and home invasions. Later, ethnic Albanians and Serbians affiliated themselves with the established LCN families in New York, acting as low-level participants. As their communities and presence have become more established, they have expanded to lead and control their own organizations, spreading across multiple states. There is no single Balkan “Mafia” structured hierarchically like the traditional La Cosa Nostra (LCN). Rather, Balkan organized crime groups transcended their clan-like structure to the United States. They are not clearly defined or organized and are instead grouped around a central leader or leaders. Organized crime figures maintain ties back to the Balkan region and have established close-knit communities in many cities across the nation.3 points
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Hello everyone, this topic will be directed towards the development of my character Jaquan Hudson, who I believe has been bringing content that I think deserves a space of its own, so I will be posting it here. It's my first time opening a topic like this, so I'm open to comments, opinions and constructive criticism, feel free to follow the topic and enjoy the journey! (Further info is being worked in)1 point
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Fixed some issues where certain screenshots were not picked up. Should have re-archived old posts from this forum affected by the bug.1 point
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