It was my greatest fortune that Vikram Chandra kindly introduced me to
Hussain Zaidi in Mumbai. Hussain is without peer as a student of
Mumbai’s and India’s organized crime groups, and he opened all the
crucial doors to his knowledge. I would also like to thank Mrinmayee
Ranade.
Justice Malala was an exemplary mentor in South Africa. Special thanks
to Suzanne Lang, who introduced me to the work of Al Lovejoy. I was then
privileged to meet Al himself, whose wit and intelligence I greatly admire.
Thanks also to Nick Dawes, Jonathan Lang, and Justine Lang.
Special thanks go to my Canadian publisher in Toronto, Sarah
MacLachlan of Anansi Press, as well as to Noah Richler, and also thanks
to Merita Ilo.
In Washington, D.C., my thanks to Robert Gelbard and Jaime Jaramillo-
Vallejo, as well to as several others who prefer to remain nameless. In
Colombia, my sincere thanks to Juan Pablo Morris, and in London, to
Landa Acevedo. In Brazil, I owe a great debt to Emily Sasson Cohen, Ana
de Andrada, and not forgetting Caboclo Sonhador. I would further like to
thank Tony Smith, Marcos Flávio Araujo Assunção, Fabricio, and my
publisher in Brazil, Luis Schwarcz.
In Japan, I was very lucky to work with David d’heilly and Shizu Yuasa.
Before I left Britain, I received important guidance from Peter Hill. In
Tokyo, Velisarios Kattoulas was a lifesaver, while in Osaka, Wolfgang
Herbert offered me profound insights as well as a great night out.
Thanks in China go in the first place to Rui Huang. I could not have
managed without the friendship of Lindsey Hilsum, as well as Betty Du
and Max in the Channel 4 office. Thanks also to James Kynge and Paul
French in Shanghai. Ko-lin Chin at Rutgers University gave me an
essential grounding in the subject before I visited China.
My thanks as well to the remarkable team at Global Witness, in
particular Charmian Gooch and Alex Yearsley. And thanks to Alex for
putting me in touch with Gary Busch, who has been most generous in
sharing his experience and material. The European Stability Initiative
team, led by the indefatigable and disarmingly intelligent Gerald Knaus,
has been consistently ahead of the field in explaining the rational
relationship between society on the one hand and organized crime and
related phenomena on the other. I also wish to express my gratitude to
Federico Varese for sharing his knowledge and material.
In London and New York, I would like to thank my editors, Will Sulkin
and Dan Frank, whose enthusiasm and belief in the project have sustained
me throughout. Their editorial comments and guidance have had a
significant impact on the final version of the book. I would also like to
thank the staff at Bodley Head and Knopf, particularly Dan Hind, Fran
Bigman, Rebecca Carter, Drummond Moir, and Lily Richards.
Clare Conville, my London agent, has been a close friend for thirty
years. Her input into the genesis of this book was uniquely important, and
she proved a wonderful calming influence, particularly when the going got
tough. I cannot thank her enough. Much gratitude also to my New York
agent, Michael Carlisle, for his drive and commitment.
My greatest debt goes to my wife, Kirsty Lang, to whom this book is
dedicated. She assisted me in every aspect of researching and writing this
book and kept me afloat when I was in danger of sinking. She is an
exceptional woman in every respect, and I am very fortunate.
And finally, my love and thanks go to my three children, Miljan,
Alexandra, and Callum.
A NOTE ON SOURCES
The primary source material for this book emerged from nearly three
hundred interviews that I undertook between May 2004 and April 2007.
Many are quoted here, but those that are not still contributed vitally to the
text. In addition to these interviews, I have referred to countless articles,
studies, and a number of important books.
The key criminological study informing this work is Diego Gambetta’s
The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection, which, I believe,
has transformed our understanding of organized crime. On the Sicilian
Mafia, I would also recommend Peter Robb’s stunning Midnight in Sicily
and the partial autobiography of the former mayor of Palermo Leoluca
Orlando, Fighting the Mafia and Renewing Sicilian Culture. The Shadow
Economy: An International Survey by Professor Friedrich Schneider and
Dominik H. Enste has laid the groundwork for our growing ability to
quantify the shadow economy.
There are also several valuable general studies on the rise in organized
crime and the shadow economy. Moises Naim was the first to identify the
true significance of transnational organized crime in our globalizing
world. Jeffrey Robinson’s The Merger contains fascinating details on some
of the global crime networks. See also Gangster Capitalism: The United
States and the Global Rise of Organized Crime by Michael Woodiwiss,
and in German, Die Barbaren kommen: Kapitalismus und organisiertes
Verbrechen by Jean Ziegler.
Chapter 1: Death of an American
The work of Yovo Nikolov and other journalists from the Sofia newspaper
Capital has been especially helpful in this chapter, as have several
monographs produced by the Center for the Study of Democracy in the
Bulgarian capital. I have also drawn on the memoirs of Dimitur Ivanov,
Sesti Odel (Sixth Department) and Afera by Bogdana Lazarova.
Chapter 2: Bloody Lucre
There has been a great deal published in the former Yugoslavia on this
subject both in books and magazines, as well as in some academic studies.
The only material in English is the important series by Nacional, a
Croatian magazine, on the cigarette trade, published in 2002. This was
based partly on interviews with some of the players but also on Croat
secret police sources (so it comes with attendant health warnings). In
German, see Norbert Mappes-Niediek’s Balkan-Mafia: Staaten in der
Hand des Verbrechens—Eine Gefahr für Europa. The most interesting
book in Serbia is Milos Vasic’s Atentat na Zorana, which looks at the
background to Djindjic’s assassination. There is important material in all
major Serbian news magazines and in Montenegro’s Monitor.
Chapter 3: The Mafiya and Chapter 4: Spreading the
Word
There are two crucial English texts dealing with the Russian mafia: Vadim
Volkov’s Violent Entrepreneurs: The Use of Force in the Making of
Russian Capitalism and Federico Varese’s The Russian Mafia: Private
Protection in a New Market Economy. The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power
in the New Russia by David Hoffman is a masterful account of the power
behind Yeltsin’s throne. Stephen Handelman’s Comrade Criminal: Russia’s
New Mafia was an early recognition of what was happening in Russia.
Olga Kryshtanovskaya’s research was indispensable to me. In Germany,
the works of Jürgen Roth are probably the best introduction to the
narrative of the Russian mafia. Der Oligarch, Roth’s biography of
Vladimir Rabinovich, is one of the most useful and detailed explanations
of the social psychology of this rare but hugely influential breed. Much of
Rabinovich’s quotes in my book are from this text, although I also
interviewed Rabinovich myself. See also Roth’s Die Gangster aus dem
Osten. In Russian, I have used Artyom Tarasov’s Millioner, the story of
Russia’s first millionaire, as well as an interview with him. Alexei
Mukhin’s various books are vital chronicles of the emergence of
individuals and groupings, especially Rossiskaya organizovanaya
prestupnost i vlast. Also see Tenevaya Rossiya by Lef Timofeev and Igor
Klyamkin. The only book in English dedicated to the murder of Gongadze
is Beheaded: The Killing of a Journalist by J. V. Koshiw. See also Global
Witness’s report It’s a Gas.
Chapter 5: Aliyah
The late Robert I. Friedman’s Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Invaded
America details how some of the links between the Russian mafia and
Israel developed. It is a rip-roaring read but needs to be taken with a pinch
of salt in parts. There is no comprehensive study of the growth of
organized crime in Israel, although Mark Galeotti, the British scholar, has
written about it in various publications. The Global Political Economy of
Israel by Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler is a very useful
introduction to the shifts in Israel’s economy over the last two decades.
Chapter 6: Xanadu I and Chapter 7: Xanadu II
Material on Dubai beyond the journalistic is scarce, but From Trucial
States to United Arab Emirates by Frauke Heard-Bey is a superb
introduction to the modern history of the UAE. On money laundering,
John Kerry’s report into the BCCI scandal is a seminal text (chiefly
penned by Jon Winer), but see also The Outlaw Bank: BCCI by Jonathan
Beaty and S. C. Gwynne, as well as Nick Kochan’s The Washing Machine:
How Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Soils Us, and the more
academic Chasing Dirty Money by Peter Reuter and Edwin M. Truman. On
the relationship to terrorism see Terror Inc.: Tracing the Money Behind
Global Terrorism by Loretta Napoleoni and the National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks upon the United States’s 9/11 Report. The Journal of
Financial Crime and the Journal of Money Laundering Control, published
in the United Kingdom, are also very useful.
On Bombay and the bombings of 1993, by far the best source is Hussain
Zaidi’s Black Friday: The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts. There
are countless articles and studies published in India and elsewhere on
Dawood Ibrahim and his network. It is also worth checking the several
Bollywood movies that take the Mumbai underworld as their theme.
Chapter 8: The Theater of Crime
The two most useful books for understanding crime and corruption in
Nigeria are Karl Maier’s This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis, and A
Culture of Corruption: Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in
Nigeria by Daniel Jordan Smith. Equally valuable are the writings of
Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka.
Chapter 9: Black and White
The best resource for anyone trying to understand crime in South Africa is
the Institute for Security Studies (www.iss.co.za), which has superb
intellectual resources. The most riveting and illuminating book is Al
Lovejoy’s Acid Alex, while Ted Legget’s Rainbow Vice and Jonny
Steinberg’s The Number are also very important. See also Crime Wave:
The South African Underworld and Its Foes, edited by Steinberg. For the
diamond and coltan trades, the most important source is Global Witness
and their pathbreaking reports, as well as Douglas Farah’s Blood from
Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror and, on Viktor Bout,
Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War
Possible by Farah and Stephen Braun.
Chapter 10: Buddies
Two books are very revealing about British Columbia, Canada, and the
politics of crime: Bud Inc.: Inside Canada’s Marijuana Industry by Ian
Mulgrew is the first, and Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers’ Empire of
Crime by William Marsden and Julian Sher is the second.
Chapter 11: March of Fear
There are three highly readable texts on the cocaine industry of the past
two decades. The first is Dominic Streatfield’s excellent Cocaine: An
Unauthorized Biography, the second is Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden.
The third is Ron Chepesiuk’s Drug Lords. Finally, in Spanish there is the
masterful Los jinetes de la cocaína by Fabio Castillo, a copy of which is
hard to obtain, but it is easily available in various forms on the Internet.
Chapter 13: The Overunderworld
On the modern yakuza, start with the classic Tokyo Underworld by Robert
Whiting, but don’t miss Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan by
Alex Kerr and Yakuza: Japan’s Criminal Underworld by David E. Kaplan
and Alec Dubro. Peter Hill’s The Japanese Mafia: Yakuza, Law, and the
State is essential reading in understanding how the yakuza has developed
since the end of the Cold War. Toppamono: My Life in Japan’s Underworld
by Miyazaki Manabi is available in English in Japan. In German, the most
fascinating book is Japan nach Sonnenuntergang by Wolfgang Herbert.
Chapter 14: The Future of Organized Crime
There is a wealth of material on China, but the starting point must be the
academic papers and reports written by the Rutgers University academic
Ko-lin Chin. See also The Dragon Syndicates: The Global Phenomenon of
the Triads by Martin Booth and Tongs, Gangs, and Triads: Chinese Crime
Groups in North America by Peter Huston. The Triads as Business by Chu
Yiu Kong is also important. For material on Shanghai of the 1930s refer to
Old Shanghai: Gangsters in Paradise by Lyn Pann. Otherwise, the two
best-written introductions to what on earth is going on in the Middle
Kingdom are James Kynge’s China Shakes the World: The Rise of a
Hungry Nation and Duncan Hewitt’s Getting Rich First: Life in a
Changing China. Both are equally illuminating but for different reasons.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
Insert 1
Simeon Saxe-Coburski © Dr. Ivaylo Ditchev
Ilya Pavlov courtesy of Capital Weekly
Arkan © AP/PA Photos
Supporters of Milo Djukanovic © AP/PA Photos
Semion Mogilevich FBI Most Wanted Poster, April 2003, reproduced by
permission of the FBI
Victor Kuliva “Karabas” © Misha Glenny
Tattoo. Image from Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia by Danzig
Baldaev, published by FUEL
Sergei Mikhailov © Reuters
Assassination attempt on Ze’ev Rosenstein © Michael Kremer
Bedouin smugglers, Negev Desert. Photo by Alon Farago © Wayward Lad
Ltd.
Deepak Nachant protesting © Misha Glenny
Commander Rakesh Maria in Mumbai © The Indian Express
Dawood Ibrahim © The Indian Express
Inspector Pradeep Sharma in Mumbai © Misha Glenny
Aftermath of bombs in Bombay, March 1993 © AP/PA Photos
Drugs and guns in Cape Town © AP/PA Photos
Insert 2
Chief Emmanuel Nwude © AP/PA Photos
Nuhu Ribadu © Getty Images
Nelson Sakaguchi © Brazil Photo Bank
Cannabis growing in British Columbia © AP/PA Photos
David Soares © Misha Glenny
Shopfront advertising cannabis, Ottawa © Misha Glenny
Aftermath of Mia Casita, Jamundí © AP/PA Photos
Janneth Pachon © Misha Glenny
Mr. Pringle © Misha Glenny
Protógenes Queiroz © Misha Glenny
Jail riots, São Paulo, May 15, 2006 © Sipa Press/Rex Features
Mr. Agata © Misha Glenny
Pachinko game machines © Misha Glenny
Wolfgang Herbert © Misha Glenny
“Face” houses near Fuqing in Fujian Province © Misha Glenny
Pirated DVDs © Misha Glenny
Su Hangqi and her daughter © Misha Glenny
TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of e-mailing harvesting (Chapter 12): Property of Postini, Inc. ©
2007 Postini, Inc.
Maps of the Balkans (Chapter 2), of the Caspian (Chapter 2), of Russia and
the Middle East (Part 2), and of the Arabian Sea (Chapter 6) by Paul
Simmons
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Misha Glenny is an award-winning journalist and scholar who was
educated at Bristol University in England and Charles University in
Prague. A former BBC central Europe correspondent, he covered the
fall of Communism and the wars in the former Yugoslavia. He has
contributed to most major news publications in Europe and the United
States and is the author of The Rebirth of History, The Fall of
Yugoslavia (which won the Overseas Press Club Award in 1993 for
Best Book on Foreign Affairs), and The Balkans: 1804–1999. During
the 1990s, he was an International Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson
Center in Washington, D.C., and a visiting professor at the London
School of Economics. He has also worked as a political consultant in
southeastern Europe and is regularly consulted by U.S. and European
governments on Balkan issues. Misha Glenny lives in London.
ALSO BY MISHA GLENNY
The Balkans:
Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, 1804–1999
The Fall of Yugoslavia
The Rebirth of History:
Eastern Europe in the Age of Democracy
*1Indicated by the italicization of a name on first appearance.
Return to text.
*2About $1,500 at the time—a fabulous salary for any unemployed
Bulgarian.
Return to text.
*3Although the two communities are now becoming closer and more
intertwined, I spent a pleasant evening in Putin, a bar in the center of
Jerusalem with a low-slung ceiling, where second-generation Russian
teenagers conversed only in Russian; where there is no Hebrew script, only
Cyrillic; and where the DJ plays only the latest songs from Moscow.
Without doubt the most bizarre manifestation of this cultural stubbornness
is the emergence in 2005 of a political grouping in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,
and Haifa called the Russian National Center. Its members are Russian
Jewish teenagers whose avowed goal is to seek the “cleansing from mother
Russia of all Yids, Chechens, and other minorities.”
Return to text.
*4The city’s name was changed to Mumbai in 1997. References to
Bombay denote events before that date.
Return to text.
*5A derogatory Zulu term for black Africans from outside South Africa.
Return to text.
*6Under apartheid, the term “colored” was a racial classification for
people of mixed race. It is still commonly used by almost all South
Africans.
Return to text.
*7There exists endless academic and policy debates about the absolute and
relative size of the markets in illicit commodities and services. But due to
the obvious difficulties in gathering this data, this is not a debate I intend
to engage in. Where I think it important, I will refer to data published by
generally creditable sources (with health warnings attached if necessary).
Return to text.
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2008 by Misha Glenny
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
Published in Great Britain by The Bodley Head, an imprint of the Random
House Group, Ltd., London.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Glenny, Misha.
McMafia: a journey through the global criminal underworld /by Misha
Glenny.—1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Borzoi book.”
1. Organized crime. 2. Transnational crime. I. Title.
HV6441.g54 2008
364.1'06—dc22 2007030522
eISBN: 978-0-307-26862-4
v3.0