"Syndicate" comes from French "syndicat" which means administrator, especially in matters regarding a certain geographical area, and from the Latin word "syndicus" which in turn comes from the Greek word óýíäéêïò (syndikos) which means caretaker of an issue. Crime syndicates are criminal groups running common businesses. Criminal organizations keep illegal actions secret, and members communicate by word of mouth, telephone, or Internet. Many organized crime operations have legal fronts, such as licensed gambling, building construction, and trash hauling, or which operate in parallel with and provide cover for drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, extortion, murder for hire, hijacking, fraud, and insider trading. Other criminal operations engage in human trafficking, political corruption, black marketeering, political violence, racist and religiously motivated violence, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. In order for a criminal organization to prosper, some degree of support is required from the society in which it lives. Thus, it is often necessary to corrupt some of its respected members, most commonly achieved through bribery, blackmail, and the establishment of symbiotic relationships with legitimate businesses. Judicial and police officers and legislators are especially targeted for control by organized crime via bribes, threats, or a combination. Financing is made easier by the development of a customer base inside or outside the local population, as occurs for instance in the case of drug trafficking. In addition, criminal organizations also benefit if there is social distrust of the government or the police. As a consequence, criminal organizations sometimes arise in closely-knit immigrant groups who do not trust the local police. Conversely, as an immigrant group begins to integrate into the wider society, this generally causes the organized crime group to weaken. Lacking much of the paperwork that is common to legitimate organizations, criminal organizations can usually evolve and reorganize much more quickly when the need arises. They are quick to capitalize on newly-opened markets, and quick to rebuild themselves under another guise when caught by authorities. Globalization occurs in crime as much as it does in business. Criminal organizations easily cross boundaries between countries. This is especially true of organized groups that engage in human trafficking. The newest growth sectors for organized crime are identity theft and online extortion. These activities are troubling because they discourage consumers from using the Internet for e-commerce. E-commerce was supposed to level the playing ground between small and large businesses, but the growth of online organized crime is leading to the opposite effect; large businesses are able to afford more bandwidth (to resist denial-of-service attacks) and superior security. Furthermore, organized crime using the Internet is much harder to trace down for the police (even though they increasingly deploy cybercops) since police forces and law enforcement agencies in general operate on a national level while the Internet makes it even more simple for criminal organizations to cross boundaries and even to operate completely remotely. In the past criminal organizations have naturally limited themselves by their need to expand. This has put them in competition with each other. This competition, often leading to violence, uses valuable resources such as manpower (either killed or sent to prison), equipment and finances. The Irish Mob boss of the Winter Hill Gang (in the 1980s) turned informant for the FBI. He used this position to eliminate competition and consolidate power within the city of Boston which led to the imprisonment of several senior organized crime figures including Gennaro "Jerry" Anguilo underboss of the Patriarca crime family. Infighting sometimes occurs within an organization, such as the Castellamarese war of 1930-31 and the Irish Mob Wars of the 1960s and 70s. Today criminal organizations are increasingly working together, realising that it is better to work in cooperation rather than in competition with each other. This has led to the rise of global criminal organizations such as Mara Salvatrucha. The Sicilian Mafia in the U.S. have had links with organized crime groups in Italy such as the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta and the Sacra Corona Unita. The Sicilian Mafia has also been known to work with the Irish Mob (John Gotti of the Gambino family and James Coonan of the Westies are known to have worked together, with the westies operating as a contract hit squad for the Gambino family after they helped Coonan come to power) , the Japanese Yakuza and the Russian Mafia. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that global organized crime makes $1 trillion per year. This rise in cooperation between criminal organizations has meant that law enforcement agencies are increasingly having to work together. The FBI operates an organized crime section from its headquarters in Washington and is known to work with other national (e.g. Polizia di Stato and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), federal (e.g. Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Coast Guard), state (e.g. Massachusetts State Police Special Investigation Unit and the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation) and city (e.g. New York Police Department Organized Crime Unit and the Los Angeles Police Department Special Operations Division) law enforcement agencies. TWF or Syn it doesn't really matter they'll just change names whenever they feel like it. This team did really well last year, even going so far as to making BME sweat a little. This year some of their most important players are quite inactive. Hopefully this will change as this team has the potential to be the king of the fours and with super activity even get into the fabled five trow realm. Their match vs ASS -should- be a good one providing both teams can manage a full roster. I'd personally gauge the health of the tournament on how many people show up for that worthless yet all important QR matchup. Don't let me down assholes. QR Updae: They beat ASS down, but had a bit closer than expected matches vs. TBH and OOH. We'll see how it goes for these guys, I see them on a lot so the activity problem is decreasing. Top 6 finish is possible!This team has received 122 betting pool "votes". |
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