Young Russians and OC in the US

So someone claimed on the " Why do made guys have to be 100% Italian " thread that the number of young Russian immigrants resorting to organized crime is on the increase in the US . This topic deserves a thread of its own , which is why I'm kicking this one off .


Are there any articles and/or law enforcement publications that deal with this topic ? If stated claim is indeed true , then what is responsible for this uptick ?


I mean I'm not aware of any sudden increase of young Russian immigrants , much less of said immigrants having poor job prospects or what have you . If anything Russian/Eastern European immigrants in the US have a reputation for holding white collar jobs and are supposed to earn more than average .

Personally I think much of this ballyhoo about Russian organized crime in the USA is very much politically motivated , but I digress .

I haven't heard anything about it. Not from the Russian news at least. But I guess it's usual crime levels as always.
http://www.bbc.com/russian/features-40197626 - Article from last year in Russian about a Georgian crew(they state it's a "Russian Crime Syndicate", says 33 have been arrested. Leader is 40 years old, some are younger. They've been doing extortion, sales of illegal firearms, conspiracy to selling drugs, organizing a murder for hire, credit card fraud.