| Founded by | Nikolay Suleimanov[citation needed] |
|---|---|
| Founding location | North Caucasus Chechen Republic of Ichkeria |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Territory | Active mostly in Europe and many parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (mostly Moscow). |
| Ethnicity | Predominantly Chechens |
| Leader(s) |
|
| Criminal activities | Money laundering, racketeering, extortion, arms trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, arson, fraud, larceny, murder |
| Rivals | Lebanese mafia Russian mafia Ukrainian mafia Serbian mafia |
The Chechen Mafia (Chechen: Нохчийн мафи, Noxçiyn mafi; Russian: Чеченская мафия, tr. Chechenskaya mafiya) is one of the largest ethnic organized crime groups operating in the former Soviet Union next to established Russian mafia groups.
While most Slavic and Caucasian gangsters in the Soviet era followed the thieves in law subculture, Chechens largely resisted this, instead preferring to use the tribal structure of the teip as well as the concept of an abrek, the outlaw-hero.[1]
The Moscow branch of the Chechen Mafia, also known as the Obshina or "community", was founded by gangster Nikolay Suleimanov during the 1980s. Suleimanov operated a second-hand car business and made the bulk of his profits through tax evasion. The group later moved into extortion as capitalism penetrated the Soviet economy, and at this point Khozh-Ahmed Noukhayev, at the time a university student and part of an underground student movement dedicated to Chechen independence, was brought in as an enforcer. The more ideological Noukhayev imposed an additional condition on businesses under his "protection", which was that they must invite a Chechen into their workforce. Facilitating Chechen migration into Moscow would mean his organisation became a formidable force in the underworld. Boris Berezovsky was one of the businessmen associated with the Chechens during this period.[2]
The Chechen reputation for violence was formidable, and before long they became the dominant crime group in Moscow.[3] This brought them into conflict with the Slavic gangs, including the Solntsevskaya bratva and the Orekhovskaya gang, who were concerned at the growing links between organised crime and the Chechen separatist movement.[4]
Khozh-Ahmed Noukhayev claimed that he started racketeering as a student to help raise funds for the Chechen nationalist cause. Indeed, over the course of his activities, Noukhayev became acquainted with Dzhokhar Dudayev, who recognised his important role in Moscow's Chechen community and took him on as an unofficial aide, before helping him escape from prison in 1991.[citation needed]. Noukhayev played a prominent role in the lead-up to the First Chechen War, participating in last-minute negotiations with the Russian government. He later fought in and was wounded in the Battle of Grozny. After the war, Noukhayev continued to play a key role in Chechen politics and set up a holding company, the Caucasian Common Market, which aimed to bring prosperity to Chechnya by building an oil pipeline between Europe and Azerbaijan.[5] But the Second Chechen War ended this initiative.
In the chaos of war-torn Chechnya, many of the insurgent forces turned to criminality in order to raise funds. Kidnapping became a key business for both rebels and local bandits, including Arbi Barayev's Special Purpose Islamic Regiment. In one particularly notorious case, four British engineers were abducted and beheaded. Oil theft and smuggling also became a major source of income. During its brief period of independence, Chechnya quickly fell into anarchy, becoming a major hub for arms trafficking (with a gun market in central Grozny), mobsters using local banks to launder profits from criminal activities, and rival warlords, armed gangs, and Islamist terrorists all fighting each other for control. It was this atmosphere of lawlessness that exacerbated tensions with Russia and helped provide justification for the Second Chechen War.[6]
Under the rule of Ramzan Kadyrov, the criminalisation of Chechnya has taken a somewhat different turn to the wartime chaos that preceded it. Government officials have been accused of embezzling billions in state funds from Moscow, turning Chechnya into something of a financial "black hole", as well as demanding kickbacks for construction projects.[7][8] The Kadyrovtsy are also believed to be responsible for a number of murders and attempted murders, some of them political as in the case of the Yamadayev brothers, and some business-related, such as the attempted hit on banker German Gorbuntsov in London in 2012.[9]