owlsbooks Chapter 2080
Chapter 2080
Chapter 2080
The Albanian community...is actually just a very small neighborhood.
In the past, this neighborhood belonged to the Russian mafia... The Russian mafia is still very powerful in the United States. After all, there are many Russian immigrants in the United States.
The history of Russian gangs can be regarded as a long history. As early as the Tsarist era, a group of gangs were formed in Russia. Most of the earliest gang members in Russia were of peasant origin. Under the exploitation of serfdom at that time, some impoverished peasants could not bear the oppression and took risks to engage in banditry, theft and other activities. These people gradually formed their own set of codes of conduct. They formed a complex world of thieves by relying on strict loyalty to each other. The new Soviet regime after the October Revolution in 1917 tried to eliminate these thieves. Later, it was proved that if the root causes of banditry were not eliminated, then relying solely on military suppression of banditry would only result in "spring breeze blowing again". In the Stalin era, tougher measures were taken to directly put these people into labor camps.
Under Stalin's severe crackdown, the underworld forces in the Soviet Union almost completely disappeared. However, after Stalin's death, the Soviet Union released about 800 million prisoners in the process of political transformation. Some of them made profits in the black market by organizing some small illegal enterprises after being released from prison. In the 80s, Gorbachev relaxed the control of private enterprises. During the economic transformation of the Soviet Union, a group of people formed chaebol oligarchs by embezzling state assets. Most of these chaebol oligarchs have a background in the underworld: oligarchs need to use underworld forces, and gangsters also need oligarchs to provide shelter. In the period before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian mafia took advantage of the social transformation to grow and spread rapidly. Assassination, robbery, smuggling, drug trafficking, protection fees, human trafficking and other evil deeds made the Russian mafia notorious. The Russian mafia has also infiltrated the country's political and economic fields: the Russian mafia controls tens of thousands of companies. It is said that the total economic volume controlled by the Russian mafia is almost equivalent to 20%-25% of Russia's GDP. The Russian Mafia has even formed complex alliances with criminal organizations in Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, the Middle East and other places.
The economic downturn and the continuous social unrest before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union caused a large number of people to leave the country. During this period, many Russians went to Western developed countries to settle down. There were also many gangsters among these Russians who went to Western developed countries. The United States is a country composed of immigrants from all over the world. The complex racial structure of the U.S. population has created a social environment where all kinds of people are mixed. In addition, the U.S. does not strictly manage pornography, gambling and drugs, so this provides soil for the activities of gangs. For example, gambling in the United States is basically no big problem as long as the procedures are legal.
In Nevada, the sex industry is also legal. Some states in the United States even have a liberal approach to drugs. As early as the 18th century, the Italian Mafia took the opportunity to flood into the United States during the wave of immigration. By the 20th century, the Italian Mafia had been active throughout the United States: they manipulated the gambling industry, the sex industry, and sold drugs and smuggled arms in the United States. In addition to the Italian Mafia, various gangs such as the Mexican Mafia, the Japanese Yamaguchi-gumi, and the Hong Kong Triads were once active in the United States. In comparison, the Russian Mafia came to the United States relatively late.
The Italian Mafia in the United States has a tight organizational structure and has a considerable degree of penetration into the political and business circles of the United States. The Italian Mafia has such a huge influence in the United States after hundreds of years of development and accumulation. Japan's Yamaguchi-gumi and Hong Kong's Triads also have relatively tight organizational structures. However, the newly arrived Russian Mafia exists in the form of small teams: when everyone needs each other, they can cooperate with each other, and when there are differences in interests, the disputes within the Russian Mafia are also quite fierce.
The newly arrived Russian Mafia has limited strength, so it cannot exist as a super mafia family like the Italian Mafia. Whether it is the US government or the Italian Mafia, the Japanese Yamaguchi-gumi, the Hong Kong Triads, and other gangs that have been active in the United States for a long time, they are all threats to the Russian Mafia. If the Russian Mafia forcibly forms a large gang like the Italian Mafia, it may be uprooted. However, if it exists in the form of small teams, it can avoid being wiped out by others. Although a big ship is good at riding the waves, a small ship is more flexible and easy to turn around.
In terms of the number of members, they are not comparable to the old American gangs with hundreds or thousands of members. But the Russian gangs are numerous. This can be seen from the small gangs on the streets of the United States. Often a few people can form a criminal gang. They are extremely scattered and have different attributes. But like the Mafia, they all have their own "godfather", that is, the winner of the title of "thief of law" just mentioned above. It is for this reason that the Russian gangs have formed a special situation in the United States where the scale of the organization is not as large as the Mafia, but the number of members is much higher than that of the Mafia. Even if the US government authorities want to crack down on it, they have no way to start, and can only slowly eliminate one gang after another.
According to a report from the U.S. Criminal Justice Information Service, as of 2017, there were 5000 to 6000 active members of the Russian mafia in the United States alone. In contrast, the number of active members of the Italian mafia organizations of different factions, such as Sicily, Camorra, and Ndrangheta, in the United States is only about 3000. In terms of the quality of members, some members of the Russian mafia in the late 20th century were not like other American gangs, which were just a collection of street thugs or criminals. Instead, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, while the country was falling apart, they used various means to win over a large number of elites, including KGB agents, special forces retired from the battlefield in Afghanistan, scientists, engineers, and even athletes from the national team.
This does not include a considerable number of Russian gangsters who are real "old guns" who survived the Gulag concentration camps. In the Gulag, their opponents were not only the Soviet government, but also a group of ex-convicts "Suka" who had been baptized by the Soviet-German War. And this bloody underground war lasted from 1945 to 1953. In addition, the 1980 Olympic Games held in Moscow also ushered in a wave of fitness craze in the Soviet Union. The pursuit of physical fitness by young people indirectly increased the talent resource reserves of the gangs. The most important thing is that after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Russian gangs obtained a large number of weapons by means of corruption and enticement of government military personnel, stealing or purchasing, and then transported them to the world by means of smuggling, including armored vehicles, tanks, missiles, and even nuclear weapons raw materials. In 1998, the US government issued a report that the Russian economy was controlled by more than half of the gangs at that time, and many private bank bosses were also involved with the Russian gangs. Their total economic output was as high as 25% of Russia's GDP at that time. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that the US government deliberately exaggerated the data in order to target Russia, but we cannot deny that Russian gangs did have inherent advantages in arms smuggling that were unmatched by traditional American gangs at the time, and they made a lot of money.
But they never formed a huge gang, and there were many conflicts among them. There was no unity at all.
So it is not surprising that this block was taken over by the Albanians.
……
"Are you sure?"
Barry came to work in a huge laboratory about ten kilometers away from the community.
Barry Allen is a forensic scientist at the police station. One day, he was splashed by a chemical reagent that was shattered by a lightning in his office, and thus gained the Speed Force. Under the effect of the Speed Force, Barry can do anything at a very high speed. Barry, who is kind-hearted and full of justice, decided to use his superpowers to fight crime. He transformed into "The Flash" and became the guardian of Los Angeles.
Barry Allen is definitely a role model among superheroes.
He works at the police station during the day and comes to work at the Star Laboratory after get off work at night.
Star Labs was founded by Harrison Wells. He was in love with Tess Morgan, whom he met as research partners in Maryland. After they got married, the couple moved to Starling City. In 2000, the couple talked about plans for an independent research laboratory that was not affiliated with the government or large companies. After sketching a preliminary design on a paper napkin, Wells wanted to name his concept Technological Engineering Scientific Studies, or TESS for short.
But Tess proposed the Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories, or STAR Laboratories.
Unfortunately, Tess died of illness before the laboratory was built, which made Dr. Harrison Wells more determined to complete it.
Then in 2004 the laboratory was finally completed.
Harrison also put all his efforts into this laboratory. Until a few years ago, Wells activated the particle accelerator and it exploded. The release of dark matter energy turned many people into super-powered people, including Barry Allen. Wells was also paralyzed from the waist down in this accident.
This would have resulted in a complete closure of the lab.
Ke Kai noticed this laboratory, funded its reopening, and registered it under Kingsman.
After a series of coincidences, Barry Allen met Harrison and his assistants Cisco Ramone and Caitlin Snow. Wells pushed Barry to run faster to increase his ability as a speedster by defeating super-powered criminals.
So Star Labs became the headquarters of Barry Allen and his Flash team.
Of course, it can also be said that the Flash is, to some extent, a non-staff employee of Kai... He comes to work overtime every night, rain or shine, and he doesn't even have to be paid.
Of course, if you want to say that Kai took great advantage...that's not the case.
After all, Barry can use the laboratory equipment here for free, and use the laboratory equipment to make various magical props for Blitzkrieg, without spending any money.
Kai never cared much about the funding of Star Lab, as it was all managed by Kingsman. However, Kingsman had never reported to him about the funding issues of Star Lab, which meant that everything was running well.
It has to be said that although Dr. Harrison Wells is keen on doing justice, his own abilities are still very impressive. While focusing most of his energy on the Flash, he can still ensure that the laboratory can make a profit, which is quite impressive.
But this is also understandable. You have to know that the money Dr. Harrison Wells spent to build this laboratory from scratch is a very huge figure. Whether he spent his own money or asked others to invest, it requires considerable management ability.
"Yes! Those Albanians! They are getting more and more outrageous! This month, we have found the bodies of five girls in the sewers! What do they think Los Angeles is? ! ! We can't let them continue to be so arrogant!"
The person who spoke was Iris West, and from what she said, she sounded like a police officer. But in fact, she was not. She was just a reporter, and not even a formal reporter. She was currently just a photo editor at a magazine!
Iris is the daughter of Detective Joe West and a childhood friend of Barry Allen. The two grew up together after Barry's mom was murdered and his dad was wrongly convicted, and Barry was adopted by Joe. She started out as a coffee preparer at a local coffee shop, and while working she would write a blog about The Flash, which got her noticed by a magazine, and then she became a web editor, and now she specializes in photo editing... the kind that specializes in illustrations for articles.
"Oh my god, honey, if you really want to help, you'd better ask your colleagues to write less articles about us. You know, nine out of ten pages of your magazine are just scolding us!"
The person who was speaking at this moment was Iris's father, Joe West. He was an experienced detective. He was a colleague of Kai, but of course they were not in the same police station. His police station was in the worst area in Los Angeles, an immigrant-populated area.
"That's to spur you on! We must ensure freedom of the press!" Although she was just a cafe waitress before, she seemed to have become a real journalist since working in a news magazine.
"Damn it! Why don't you report the news about us solving the case? I have been a police officer for decades and solved countless cases, but I still get scolded all day long." Joe actually didn't want his daughter to become a reporter. In his opinion, those reporters were clowns who were seeking attention. Look at their articles, they never wrote about good things, but publicized bad things!
"That's because no one will read the eulogies! Dad! We have to think about sales. After all, journalists have to eat too!" Iris pointed out the truth of the matter very coldly.
"Okay, Iris, tell me about the previous intelligence. Is what you said true, the auction house of the Albanian mafia?" Barry stopped the quarrel between father and daughter in time. He knew that this thing would never end.