Been reading up on them for the last couple of days and they sound ruthless! and i came across this article, heres a quote.. "Recent FBI report shows that Albanian mafia overtook the Russian and Italian mafia in New York. Same went for several European cities, including London, Berlin and Prague"

Hope you read about the Corporation and of Alex Rudaj and his crew Jay123. They clashed with the Lukes in Astoria, Queens aswell as with the Gambinos and their boss, Arnold Squitieri at a highway rest area. Great stuff!
Beating Them at Their Own Game - New York Times
Jan 3, 2006 ... Alex Rudaj, outside Jimbo's Bar in Astoria, Queens, on April 15, 2003. Authorities say he runs the Corporation, an Albanian group that they ...
www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/.../03albanian.html

The link aint working mate

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/nyregion/03albanian.html Try it now. Good luck

Yeah ive read that before, so are the albanians pretty much running new york then or is it still the italians?

Alex Rudaj crew was taken down in 2004. He also shook down the strip club that began the j
Jack Falcone case. The italian mafia still maintains a stronghold in NY. The Albanians were merely a pebble in their shoe.

One problem that Squitieri had to deal with during the early and mid 2000s was the challenge of ethnic Albanian gangs to the New York Five Families. One particular threat was with the Rudaj Organization (or "The Corporation"), run by mobster Alex Rudaj. At first Gregory DePalma was able to solve minor disputes, but later on relations got worse. In September 2005, Squitieri arranged a meeting with Rudaj at a gas station in New Jersey. When the Corporation mobsters arrived, 20 armed Gambino men came out to confront them.[4] FBI undercover agent known as Jack Falcone states in his book that Squitieri told the Albanians, "You took what you took and that's it or there's gonna be a problem."[4] The Albanians were out numbered were outnumbered 20-6. Rudaj ordered one of his men to shoot a gas tank if a gunfight ensued.[4] The Albanians eventually listened to reason and didn't interfere with mob operations since that event.[

The Albanians would never have fucked with the Chin!

The Rudaj Organization fascinates me. Beating up made men in public, wow. Although, I've always read the Albanians are a loose coalition of gangs, with their own sort of commission coordinating activity in The Bronx. Although without Rudaj, what's left of them?

Long story short, both Alex Rudaj and Lenny Colotti were originally Gambino associates. Lenny was with Skinny Phil Loscalzo. The story is Lenny and some of the Albanians raised their hands to made guys and Loscalzo kicked Lenny to the curb. That's when they formed their own organization which they referred to as "The Corporation" but the press called the "Albanian mob." They had joker poker machines and gambling spots in parts of the Bronx, Westchester, and Queens. In Queens the Lucchese family, according to the FBI, had been weakened enough by repeated federal prosecutions that the Albanians were able to move in on a Greek club called Stamatis that had been paying tribute to the Luccheses. Around that same time the Gambinos tried to open up their own club called Soccer Fever in the area, which the Albanians shut down. This led to a meeting between the Gambinos (led by Arnold Squitieri) and some of the Rudaj guys. The Gambinos were armed to the teeth and far outnumbered the Albanians but one of Rudaj's guys got them to back off by threatening to shoot a gas pump and blow everyone up. They also had a run in with the Bonannos where they shot a Bonanno associate. But their cowboy ways brought them on the fed's radar fast and basically the entire organization was indicted, including Rudaj, Lenny, and other leaders, who all got long prison sentences.

Bottom line, a lot of the talk about the "Albanian Mafia" is just hype from the press. And even law enforcement to some extent. Just about every decade there is a new kid on the block who people predict will take over. In the 60's it was the blacks. In the 70's it was the Colombians. In the 80's it was the Chinese. In the 90's it was the Russians. In the last decade it was the Albanians. Every group carves out it's own piece of the pie but they're not taking over. There are still more examples of Albanians working with or for the Mafia. But naturally the Rudaj gang got all the press.


From a 2006 interview with Jerry Capeci -


Has the Russian mob eclipsed the Italian?

No. And like all other emerging ethnic organized-crime networks, it never will. Not because Italian-American gangsters are any smarter or more ruthless than the others, but because the law enforcement community has learned important lessons from its prior years of abject failure in curtailing the Mafia. For nearly 20 years now, the F.B.I. and other investigative agencies have recruited members of emerging ethnic groups to combat the organized-crime elements in their midst. In the 1980's, for example, the F.B.I. — unlike J. Edgar Hoover, who essentially ignored the Mafia and viewed Italian-American applicants with distrust — began recruiting Chinese- and Russian-speaking agents to deal with emerging organized-crime influence in those communities.

Who are the newest kids on the mob block?

Albanian gangsters are the latest ethnic criminals to be presented by authorities as competition for the old and dying Mafiosi. Like Irish, Cuban, Russian, Chinese and Greek hoodlums before them, the Albanians are not serious competition for what the F.B.I. calls traditional organized crime, the Italian mob. There are nowhere near enough of them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/weekinreview/05capeci.html?pagewanted=all

No other emerging organized crime network will ever eclipse the Italians? What is Jerry Capeci smoking. Yeah I agree the FBI has learned from it's prior mistakes, but that doesn't mean other crime groups will never surpass the Italians. The Russians have a lot of power on American soil, as do the Japanese. Then there's the Mexicans.

I always believed the "Albanian mafia" thing was hyped by the FBI, they need a "threat" to justify their budget. The mafia groups in the US today are usually flashes in the pan, they are around for a few years, then become a non factor just as quickly as they started. Speaking of the Russian mafia, isn't it really the "Jewish mafia," as nearly all members are Jews from the different states of the former USSR? I read "Red Mafiya" and nearly all those involved were Jewish.

That's another myth. It's been known that many Russian gangsters used fake passports claiming that they were of Jewish origin so they could more easily enter the United States.

The subtext of the interview, as well as in many articles dealing with the Mafia and other crime groups, is how things are in New York.

The only groups that it could be argued have passed the Mafia in terms of becoming the biggest organized crime threat were the Colombians, and later the Mexicans, who dominate the drug trade.

The Russians have never lived up to predictions made about them in the early 90's. The Japanese? In terms of organized crime, they're a virtual non-entity in the U.S. The Chinese have a much bigger presence.

Here are a few articles on this subject...


Mafia Feels Heat From Feds, Crime Rivals
CNN
July 16, 2008

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-07-16/justice/fbi.mob_1_traditional-mob-joseph-massino-crime-groups?_s=PM:CRIME


Gangs of New York
New York Post
May 10, 2009

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/item_Sg70KTTLwQcQykvdx9ftrI


Structure Keeps Mafia Atop Crime Heap
Wall Street Journal
January 22, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704115404576096392318489246.html

. These groups may b very powerful on the streets byt will never match the italians especially the italians of years ago. Don't forget 40 - 50 years ago the mafia had political power. They had judges , senators , mayors all in there pockets. They ran unions and built vegas. Some people believe they got JFK elected and then killed him. They cia reaching out to them for help with castro 4get about it . No group will ever have that kind of power again

one thing the 'italians' have is a self sustaining organization. every time someone gets taken down there is someone in place to take over said person's rackets, assume their title, fill their shoes. these other ethnic groups don't have those kind of roots. a couple prosecutions wiped out the whole 'Corporation'. Indict members of a chinese triad operating in Chinatown and they flee the country to never come back.

Even though the quality of guy ready to fill those shoes may be on the decline...with LCN in America (when I say America I mostly mean New York) ...there is always going to be somebody ready to step up.

Other ethnic groups may specialize and control ONE specific type of activity - like the dominicans in the drug trade in NY and maybe some day in the future the mexicans will take their place - but in terms of overall - multi-racket things, i dont see anyone surpassing the italians

What's the deal with these fellas?

I'm liking the non-hype, the hype of the Rudaj Organization blew their influence out of proportion. So if we have info on this Krasniqi Crew it should be pretty realistic.

Bollocks! The vast majority were Jews, but many weren't observant Jews. The Jews had their networks in place even during the communist years in the USSR. When the USSR collapsed it wasn't dumb luck that most of those who became billionaires off of the vast resources of Russia were Jews, like Khodorkovsky, Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Fridman, Vekselberg, Leonid Nevzlin, German Khan, Boris Berezovsky, etc.

It's not "bollocks," Gerry. The former USSR required all citizens to carry internal passports that listed their republic of national origin (Ukraine, Azerbaijan, etc.). But Jews were required to carry passports stamped "Jew." As Sonny pointed out, many Russian gangsters counterfeited Jewish internal passports so they could qualify to emigrate from the USSR to the US under the Jackson/Vanik Act of 1974.

The prime example was Marat Balagulla, supposedly the chief of the Russian "Jewish" Mafia in Brooklyn. He wasn't Jewish. "Marat" is not a Jewish surname. "Balagulla" is Russian/Yiddish slang for "gangster." He was having fun with the US immigration authorities: the name he forged on his passport meant "Marat the Gangster."

Judaism defines a Jew as someone whose mother is or was Jewish (Gen. XVII 16-17). For many years, that was the test for citizenship in Israel: anyone whose mother is or was Jewish could become an Israeli citizen on application. But, after Jackson/Vanik, Israel was blitzed with many applications for citizenship from USSR people whose passports were stamped "Jew," but who could not prove direct descent from a Jewish mother because Stalin and all his successors so relentlessly stamped out all organized religions; and because there was so much counterfeiting of "Jewish" internal passports. So, they broadened their definition to include people who could prove they had one Jewish grandparent--a big departure from Scripture.

Bottom line: there's no definitive way to tell who is or isn't Jewish in the Russian "Jewish" so-called Mafia.

Yes, I know about the passport thing, but I don't believe most of the immigrants weren't Jews for a second, or that most of the gangsters weren't Jews. The people who were most responsible for the looting of Russia and the Ukraines resoruces after the collapse of the USSR were of the Jewish faith, that's just a factoid. The crapola about so and so ain't a Jewish surname is laughable, even in the US it was common for Jews to change their names to fit in. You know John Stewart isn't really a Stewart, and Larry King isn't really a King.

Gerry, I've tried to explain that, due to a variety of factors, it's not possible to know, with certainty, what the religious background or faith of Russian gangsters was or is. But you seem certain that "The people who were most responsible for the looting of Russia and the Ukraines resoruces after the collapse of the USSR were of the Jewish faith, that's just a factoid," and that "The crapola about so and so ain't a Jewish surname is laughable."

Would you be kind enough to tell us the source of your certainty about this "factoid," and of the "crapola" about Jewish surnames?

I would also very much like to know this...

They were an Albanian drug ring. The reason the Rudaj organization was overhyped was because the media was calling them the "sixth family." Nevermind the fact they were dismantled in one indictment. Furthermore, Albanian organized crime is overhyped in the same sense that other OC groups have been in the past. That is, they're just the latest that people predict will take over the underworld by storm. It makes for good press but it's not reality.

It is a known fact that most of the ogilarchs in Russia are Jewish, I listed a half dozen names, and Jews are a very small minority in Russia. The crapola about the surnames is evident even in the US, where it is common for Jews to change their surnames and first names. Larry King did it, John Stewart did it, Gene Simmons from Kiss did it, Ralph Lauren, Jason Alexander, Brad Garret, etc. Do I think there were non Jews who claimed they were Jews to leave Russia, yes! Do I think most of these Jews were really non Jews who claimed to be Jewish, no freakin way!

Sonny Black and I don't know that as a "fact."


...and a very small minority of the olgarchs. Most of them have been driven out of their fortunes by that old Russian standby, antisemitism. See this article, especially the last five paragraphs:


http://www.forward.com/articles/6943/


Does the practice of Jews--and non-Jews like Tony Bennett, Jerry Vale, Peter Criss, Vin Diesel, Hulk Hogan, Cyndi Lauper and, yes, Gerardo Langella--changing names in America to pursue high-profile careers, apply to Russian gangsters? Did Marat Balagulla, in addition to his regular employment as a gangster, also pursue parallel careers as a TV host, actor, rock musician, fashion designer, etc.?

Again, how can you tell for certain? Were you at their circumcisions? Were you a guest at their Bar Mitzvah?

To reiterate: there is no way to tell for certain which Russian gangsters were or are, or weren't or aren't, Jewish.

So far, you haven't provide us with sources.

Well, I know for certain that one of them, Roman Abramovich, is a jew.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich

But I'm not sure about the rest.

A lot of the Russian-American mobsters are in fact Jewish. Evsei Agron, Vladimir Reznikov, Boris Nayfeld,...Marat Balagula is also Jewish. Balagula is in fact a surname in the Russian/Odessan Jewish community, not just a slang term. The fact that most Russian-American gangsters are Jewish isn't a surprise. It were the Soviet Jews that could and did easily migrate to the USA, so it should be of no surprise that there would arise hardcore criminals from that community.

That's not to say the entire Russian mafia is Jewish, as has often been falsely claimed. Not by a long shot. The Mogilevich organization is mostly Jewish and there are of course a lot of Jewish members within Russian criminal organizations. But a lot of the heads as well as footsoldiers of the ''Russian'' organizations are still ethnic Russians. Some of those ethnic Russians indeed counterfeited fake Jewish passports. An example is Sergei Mikhailov, who is about as Jewish as a slice of peperoni pizza.

Then you also have the Chechen, Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani ''mafias'' (for the lack of a better word) that are carelessy thrown into the term ''Russian mafia'' even though they have their own organized crime groups, independent from the Russian and Jewish groups.

There are in fact part Albanians and tecnically full blooded Albanians in the LCN, always have been.(I didnt read the whole thread so if this has already been mentioned I apologize)
There is a segment of Albanian Americans who have always identified themselves as "Italian". They immigrated forst to Sicily and calabria in the late 19th century, then to America. Their native langauge was called "Gheg" or "Ghegita" whch is a confusing mix of an Italian dialect and "Tosk" Albanian and their religion was Albanian orthadox and sometimes roman catholic. They melded into the Italian communities in the 19-teens and 20s.
In the LCN, Joe Pooch Pascuzzi of the outfit and Phil the Horse Albanese, a Genovese associate come to mind as two full blooded Albanians who are considered "Italian"