Macedonian Mafia
Encyclopedia
The Macedonian
Mafia is a term used to describe illegal gangs and criminal organisations operating in the Republic of Macedonia
and within the Macedonian diaspora
.
figures operate mostly in Europe
and North America
(countries such as Germany
, Austria
, United States
, Canada
, Monaco
, Italy
, France
, Spain
, Turkey
, Greece
, Switzerland
, England
, Serbia
, Montenegro
, Kosovo
and Bulgaria
are primarily favored by Macedonian organized crime figures for operating in or for forming partnerships with local organized crime groups, primarily from other Balkan or Eastern European countries as well as Italian syndicates, for their cultural, linguistic, ethnographic and geographical similarities as well as because of existing mutual ties between the organized crime groups or their members abroad and in the home countries, or the use of countries such was Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg and Cyprus for off-shore banking and money laundering), as well as Canada
, the United States
, Australia
and New Zealand
. Macedonian organized crime groups co-operate with other Balkan
organized crime groups including the Serbian
, Bulgarian
and Albanian
groups, both in the Balkans and in other places around the world, as well as the Italian mafia and the Russian mafia
(through Bulgaria
). Macedonian organized crime is usually centered around all types of legitimate businesses alongside typical organized crime activities such as smuggling
, import
and export
, drug trafficking, extortion
, arms trade, fraud
, auto theft, racketeering, gambling
, human trafficking
, murder
, contract killing
, bodyguarding, prostitution
and money laundering
. Macedonian organized crime is also involved in security companies like the Bulgarian mafia, as well as with them, especially operating out of cities in eastern Macedonia, such as Štip
. They are thought to have ties with the Janev Clan
and the Albanian Mafia when concerning the trade of tobacco
. Macedonian organized crime in Australia
and Toronto
, Canada
is predominant among youth.
Macedonian organized crime, similarly to Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian and Russian organized crime, utilizes the concept of using security groups to protect their businesses, enforce their power and eliminate competition. These security groups are usually composed of ex military, special forces, martial artists/MMA fighters and bodybuilders. While most security groups are responsible for low level activities such as posing as nightclub bouncers(nightclubs are a Macedonian gangsters' favorite meeting and party place, along with the kafana). These security groups hide behind and operate mainly under a corporate structure, but some are more militarized than others and have been labelled as terrorist groups. It's also safe to say that the Macedonian military itself is also heavily influenced and involved in organized crime activities and is a breeding and training ground for some gangsters. Some well known and higher quality security groups usually possess Macedonia's best and most infamous enforcers, and aside having checkered backgrounds these criminals have gone to be the top ranking Macedonian politicians(presidents and prime ministers) and businessmen's personal security detail and bodyguards. They have even killed people on their behalf.
Same as the above, the banking system in Macedonia heavily relies on organized crime in order to flourish, with limited foreign funding from its umbrella banks in Western European countries, it's unable to flourish on its own. It's also safe to say that some Western European, Russian and Middle Eastern banks have set up money laundering centers in Macedonia in the form of banks, companies, religious and educational institutions. Recently, a growing trend in Macedonia used by organized crime groups to launder money(because of the country's poorly organized justice and financial system and widespread political corruption it's hard for law enforcement officials to find evidence highlighting any type of illegal activities in terms of financial crimes when the Macedonian legal statues on financial crime is still heavily based on the Communist Yugoslavian one which does not apply in any way to the modern Capitalist system) is through the use of gambling institutions such as sports betting and casinos.
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
Mafia is a term used to describe illegal gangs and criminal organisations operating in the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
and within the Macedonian diaspora
Macedonian diaspora
The Macedonian diaspora consists of ethnic Macedonian emigrants and their descendants in countries such as Australia, Italy, Germany, Canada, the United States and others. It is a result of historical and modern day emigration. It is claimed that the diaspora numbers over a million people...
.
Background
Macedonian organized crimeOrganized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
figures operate mostly in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
(countries such as Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
are primarily favored by Macedonian organized crime figures for operating in or for forming partnerships with local organized crime groups, primarily from other Balkan or Eastern European countries as well as Italian syndicates, for their cultural, linguistic, ethnographic and geographical similarities as well as because of existing mutual ties between the organized crime groups or their members abroad and in the home countries, or the use of countries such was Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg and Cyprus for off-shore banking and money laundering), as well as Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Macedonian organized crime groups co-operate with other Balkan
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
organized crime groups including the Serbian
Serbian mafia
Serbian Organized Crime or Naša Stvar are various criminal organizations based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs in the Serbian Diaspora. Serbian mafiosos are very active in European Union countries...
, Bulgarian
Bulgarian mafia
The Bulgarian mafia is an informal term to describe any number of organized crime groups originating from Bulgaria.-Organised crime groups and activities:...
and Albanian
Albanian mafia
The Albanian Mafia or Albanian organized crime are the general terms used for criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians. Albanian organized crime is active in Albania, the United States, and the European Union countries, participating in a diverse range of criminal...
groups, both in the Balkans and in other places around the world, as well as the Italian mafia and the Russian mafia
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
(through Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
). Macedonian organized crime is usually centered around all types of legitimate businesses alongside typical organized crime activities such as smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
, import
Import
The term import is derived from the conceptual meaning as to bring in the goods and services into the port of a country. The buyer of such goods and services is referred to an "importer" who is based in the country of import whereas the overseas based seller is referred to as an "exporter". Thus...
and export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
, drug trafficking, extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, arms trade, fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, auto theft, racketeering, gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, contract killing
Contract killing
Contract killing is a form of murder, in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for consideration, monetary, or otherwise. The hiring party may...
, bodyguarding, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
and money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
. Macedonian organized crime is also involved in security companies like the Bulgarian mafia, as well as with them, especially operating out of cities in eastern Macedonia, such as Štip
Štip
Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796...
. They are thought to have ties with the Janev Clan
Serbian mafia
Serbian Organized Crime or Naša Stvar are various criminal organizations based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs in the Serbian Diaspora. Serbian mafiosos are very active in European Union countries...
and the Albanian Mafia when concerning the trade of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
. Macedonian organized crime in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
is predominant among youth.
Macedonian organized crime, similarly to Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian and Russian organized crime, utilizes the concept of using security groups to protect their businesses, enforce their power and eliminate competition. These security groups are usually composed of ex military, special forces, martial artists/MMA fighters and bodybuilders. While most security groups are responsible for low level activities such as posing as nightclub bouncers(nightclubs are a Macedonian gangsters' favorite meeting and party place, along with the kafana). These security groups hide behind and operate mainly under a corporate structure, but some are more militarized than others and have been labelled as terrorist groups. It's also safe to say that the Macedonian military itself is also heavily influenced and involved in organized crime activities and is a breeding and training ground for some gangsters. Some well known and higher quality security groups usually possess Macedonia's best and most infamous enforcers, and aside having checkered backgrounds these criminals have gone to be the top ranking Macedonian politicians(presidents and prime ministers) and businessmen's personal security detail and bodyguards. They have even killed people on their behalf.
Same as the above, the banking system in Macedonia heavily relies on organized crime in order to flourish, with limited foreign funding from its umbrella banks in Western European countries, it's unable to flourish on its own. It's also safe to say that some Western European, Russian and Middle Eastern banks have set up money laundering centers in Macedonia in the form of banks, companies, religious and educational institutions. Recently, a growing trend in Macedonia used by organized crime groups to launder money(because of the country's poorly organized justice and financial system and widespread political corruption it's hard for law enforcement officials to find evidence highlighting any type of illegal activities in terms of financial crimes when the Macedonian legal statues on financial crime is still heavily based on the Communist Yugoslavian one which does not apply in any way to the modern Capitalist system) is through the use of gambling institutions such as sports betting and casinos.
Austria
- Metodija Smilenski: Metodija is a wealthy Austrian citizen who is currently in prison for his involvement in organised crime in AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Macedonia.
Macedonia
- Goran Georgievski (aka Mujo) (1969–2005): Former member of the Lions special police force. ].
- Nikola Mojsovski (aka Koljo): 2001 Macedonia conflict2001 Macedonia conflictThe insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army militant group attacked the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia at the beginning of January 2001...
combatant who was involved in racketeering in PrilepPrilepPrilep is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 citizens. Prilep is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko.-Name:...
.
- Zoran Manaskov (aka Skrseniot): The alleged leader of the Frankfurt mafia, a huge Macedonian led heroin ring operating in Germany and Austria based out of the city of Veles, Macedonia.