Till the time when people were allowed to get back their businesses, these laws still worked about selling stuff. That's like till 1989 if I'm not mistaken. In Soviet Union everything happened as everywhere else. Russian Organized Crime Groups operate since the 60's, the majority of nowday crime groups operate since the 80's. There were shootings, crime and everything else. Of course it wasn't like in 1994 with bombings, but still stuff happened. The fact you think that it wasn't there, is just that USSR censored it's news and such events were not advertised.
There was crime, but how could it be as powerful as today if there were no businessmen and no private property? The mafia is strong where there is BIG money. You couldn't have a bank business account and legally export money. As for the shootings, I am only telling what I know and what my parents and grandparents know about the part of the country we lived in: independently from the injustices of communism, in the 70s if you walked through the streets, the possibility of being beaten up and robbed or killed were not nearly as high as today.
I repeat, I am not a communist and I don't defend the USSR, I am just saying that the mafia today has become more powerful because now there is big money and the power made it become more vicious. I am not saying the Soviet Union was better - there were MANY infamous things equally bad as the mafia, I am just saying that the crime situation has worsened. It's like in Italy - if I say the mafia situation during fascism was worse for the mafia, it doesn't mean I am justifying fascism.
