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We’re diving into the world of organized crime and identifying the most financially successful and richest criminal organizations. Organized crime is being around in some form for centuries. But modern criminal groups became more prevalent in the 1970s with the rise of the mob, mafia and other richest criminal organizations. These groups range from the Russian mafia to the Mexican drug cartels to American street gangs. Just about every country has some kind of crime syndicate that can be defined as organized crime. The United States’ organized crime control act identifies organized crime as the unlawful activities of a highly organized or disciplined association. Most of these organizations make money from drugs, financial crimes, violence, cybercrime and human trafficking.
In making this list, we took a look at the available information around the financial statuses of some of the most successful and richest criminal organizations in the world. Including reported numbers, estimated amounts of drug sales, seizures of values and other factors. Many of these numbers are at best estimates of the group’s net worth because these organizations aren’t exactly forthcoming about their finances. Let’s now take a closer look at these top criminal segments and their lucrative activities with the top 10 richest criminal organizations in the world.
10: Las Zetas – $8.7 Million
The Zetas were responsible for thousands of deaths during violent drug and turf wars. The victims could often be found in shallow mass graves or swinging from bridges. The leader of Las Zetas was once dubbed the most sadistic drug capo in all of Mexico, by a professor of Latin American politics. It is also said that he didn’t just kill because he had to, he killed because he thoroughly enjoyed it. Under his command, the Zetas were engaged in a turf war with the most powerful cartels in Mexico’s history Gulf, Sinaloa, and the Knights Templar Cartels. Most of the cartel members chose to live a lifestyle out of the limelight. The less attention drew to themselves, the better it was for them to carry out their nefarious activities.
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9: Tijuana Cartel – $9.5 Billion
All throughout the 90s and 2000s, the Tijuana Cartel was Mexico’s most powerful cartel. However, after the arrests of the leaders as well as many attacks by other prolific cartels in Mexico the cartel has weakened exponentially. Operating from the border town of Tijuana this cartel was once believed to be the most dangerous during their time. Their kingpins, two brothers were arrested, and the position went to the remaining brother and the mother.
This cartel was the biggest and most violent. If you slept with the wife of a cartel member then you were castrated. If the cartel could not buy someone’s loyalty, they would simply kill them. Their victims reach numbers well over 1000. It didn’t matter who they were, this cartel killed witnesses, police officers, bystanders, judges and even a Catholic Cardinal. Extortion and bribery were just a part of their game along with the extensive list of narcotics they brought into the United States.
