The Organized Crime Division (OCD)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) divides its efforts against organized crime into three separate sections within the Organized Crime Division (OCD).

The Italian Section is devoted to combating Italian organized crime efforts to include efforts against labor racketeering and La Cosa Nostra.

The Eurasian/Middle Eastern Section focuses on criminal enterprises strongly influenced by individuals from or who have family from the former Soviet Union, central Europe, or Middle Eastern countries.

The last section of the OCD is the African/Asian section, which investigates crimes originating or having influences from Asian and African countries.

The Italian Mafia began to show itself in the United States in the 1800s. Mafia activities include drug running, money laundering, gun running, extortion, fraud, kidnapping, and just about any other form of illegal activity that can turn a profit. The Mafia as we know it today has a long and rich history. What originally started as a means of resistance and survival against oppressive armies moving into Italy soon evolved into a criminal organization whose members now selfishly only seek to protect themselves. Many factions (or "families) of Italian organized criminal enterprises exist. La Cosa Nostra (which means "our thing" in English) is a faction of Italian organized crime that the FBI perceives as the biggest threat. While not every Italian criminal organization is directly connected to La Cosa Nostra, most are often incorrectly referred to as La Cosa Nostra. La Cosa Nostra is its own separate criminal organization. Other similar (but less known) organizations are 'Ndrangheta (or Calabrian) Mafia and La Sacra Corona Unita (or The United Sacred Crown).

Eurasian organized crime roots can be found in the old prison system of the Soviet Union. Prisoners banded together for protection, self-preservation, support, and profit while in prison. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, those same prisoners who banded together in prison began to align themselves with dirty politicians in a successful effort to gain control of private industry. These criminals have turned tax-evasion and embezzlement of government funds into art forms.

The Middle Eastern section investigates criminal organizations with roots to the Middle East. After 9/11, the FBI re-examined how they investigated Middle Eastern threats. The results of their observations were surprising to many. The FBI realized that Middle Eastern criminal organizations were not always tied to terrorism or terrorist activities. In fact, most Middle Eastern criminal enterprises had many of the same interests as traditional Mafia groups. Those interests revolved around personal gain and profit through illegal means.

Asian criminal organizations are divided into two types; the underground criminal organizations (like the Triads and Yakuza) and the criminally influenced/criminally affiliated social organizations. These organizations have historically been shown to cooperate more so than other organizations across racial/ethnic lines and tend to participate in traditional Mafia style rackets.

Lastly, African criminal enterprises seem to be the one form of organized crime that touches the most people on a daily basis. Just open you daily email and you'll probably see some cry for help from a Nigerian widow or Liberian Prince. African criminal organizations are most known for their aggressive and expansionist tactics. These organizations fund themselves mainly through drug running and financial frauds. African organized crime appears to be the one group of organized crime to profit from the creation of e-mail.

Sources:

Organized Crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation.