Having read many books on organized crime in the past I just had to give mcmafia a shot as it focuses on the growth of crime on a worldwide scale not only that but because its written by respected bbc correspondent misha glenny. The areas covered by the author vary from far east Russia to Bulgaria/Israel/UAE/UK/Balkans & many other countries & states. He effortlessly combines reports with interviews ranging from mid level racketeers & traffickers to the major key players operating right now. A lot of it was nothing I did not already know but saying that I have read many books on organized crime especially ones centred on & focusing mainly on Russian & eastern crime. For anyone not so familiar with these organizations & their modus operandi then this book will take you on a journey through the shadowy world of multinational crime. The fall of the soviet union opened the floodgates for criminal gangs into Europe & its neighbouring countries, for law enforcement they were dealing with a new wave of crime which was more unpredictable than they expected, not only was it unpredictable it was extremely brutal.
Misha talks about how sour business deals have led to countless assassinations not just in troubled states but in cities like London & Prague, not only that he goes into an area that is rarely discussed by many writers - human trafficking. Weapons trafficked through the Balkans, stolen cars trafficked through eastern Europe, world class Kazakh caviar smuggled into Europe, the multi million dollar narcotics industry & even the more recent bank scams known as 419s originating frequently from Nigeria. He goes into immense detail to giving not only the evolution of the global underworld but a highly in-depth & structured history of the gangs & their origins. Some of the stories & reports may seem a bit over blown but I can assure you as crazy as it sounds its all based on truths, thought not always glaringly obvious organized crime has been & always will be an integral part of every country & state in both the civilised & uncivilized world. As long as governments allow corruption & law enforcement chooses to turn a blind eye then crime will flourish at an extraordinary rate, in some cases many crime families & groups are richer than the countries they target. This was definitely the case when it came to the infamous drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, his control over the Columbian drug cartels netted him vast amounts of cash making him the most untouchable man in the history of Columbia. McMafia is just what the name suggests a story of the globalization of crime itself & like the big multinational corporations that setup once borders fell apart so too have the criminals setup shop in the west, often using cunning & smarts but always ready to pick up a gun & start shooting when cunning is not enough.
The world has become a virtual launderette where gangs & corrupt oligarchs effortlessly wash their illicit funds through not only offshore banking but through legitimate establishments & businesses, because the criminals are always one step ahead of the law this creates an almost impossible scenario that affects countless countries & states. Starting at lower level car theft & contraband cigarette smuggling organizations like the Serbian mafia can net hundreds of thousands of dollars, one report states that the Balkans are the number one location for stolen luxury cars such as Mercedes & BMWs, the cars most of which are stolen in European cities fetch a high price in the car markets of the Balkans, though not a national emergency car theft is one of the number one forms of financing the gangs that have ties to major terrorist organizations the world over. McMafia hops from country to country just as the organizations themselves crossed borders bringing their own unique brand of corruption & brutality - perhaps the strongest point this book makes is that no country is safe from the ever growing tentacles of that spread out worldwide & strike deep into society itself, an uncomfortable read at some points glenny holds nothing back when he discuses documented accounts of the victims of global crime, one such moment when he is talking about the existence of sex trafficking & the women who’s lives who have been directly affected by it. Its clear a change in international law is needed, how exactly this can be done is not an easy question especially when almost every country has a different policy when it comes to dealing with crime, some states refuse to acknowledge the existence even if it threatens their chances of joining into the EU. My closing point is this - as long as there is money to be made off of illicit activities then there will always be organized crime, though it may not be as established or far reaching as Russian mafia gangs or even Japanese yakuza it will still have a chance of climbing the ladder of the global criminal elite & for the governments & law enforcement agencies that are charged with the task of dealing with the McMafia its far too little to late.
Having read many books on organized crime in the past I just had to give mcmafia a shot as it focuses on the growth of crime on a worldwide scale not only that but because its written by respected bbc correspondent misha glenny. The areas covered by the author vary from far east Russia to Bulgaria/Israel/UAE/UK/Balkans & many other countries & states. He effortlessly combines reports with interviews ranging from mid level racketeers & traffickers to the major key players operating right now. A lot of it was nothing I did not already know but saying that I have read many books on organized crime especially ones centred on & focusing mainly on Russian & eastern crime. For anyone not so familiar with these organizations & their modus operandi then this book will take you on a journey through the shadowy world of multinational crime. The fall of the soviet union opened the floodgates for criminal gangs into Europe & its neighbouring countries, for law enforcement they were dealing with a new wave of crime which was more unpredictable than they expected, not only was it unpredictable it was extremely brutal.
Misha talks about how sour business deals have led to countless assassinations not just in troubled states but in cities like London & Prague, not only that he goes into an area that is rarely discussed by many writers - human trafficking. Weapons trafficked through the Balkans, stolen cars trafficked through eastern Europe, world class Kazakh caviar smuggled into Europe, the multi million dollar narcotics industry & even the more recent bank scams known as 419s originating frequently from Nigeria. He goes into immense detail to giving not only the evolution of the global underworld but a highly in-depth & structured history of the gangs & their origins. Some of the stories & reports may seem a bit over blown but I can assure you as crazy as it sounds its all based on truths, thought not always glaringly obvious organized crime has been & always will be an integral part of every country & state in both the civilised & uncivilized world. As long as governments allow corruption & law enforcement chooses to turn a blind eye then crime will flourish at an extraordinary rate, in some cases many crime families & groups are richer than the countries they target. This was definitely the case when it came to the infamous drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, his control over the Columbian drug cartels netted him vast amounts of cash making him the most untouchable man in the history of Columbia. McMafia is just what the name suggests a story of the globalization of crime itself & like the big multinational corporations that setup once borders fell apart so too have the criminals setup shop in the west, often using cunning & smarts but always ready to pick up a gun & start shooting when cunning is not enough.
The world has become a virtual launderette where gangs & corrupt oligarchs effortlessly wash their illicit funds through not only offshore banking but through legitimate establishments & businesses, because the criminals are always one step ahead of the law this creates an almost impossible scenario that affects countless countries & states. Starting at lower level car theft & contraband cigarette smuggling organizations like the Serbian mafia can net hundreds of thousands of dollars, one report states that the Balkans are the number one location for stolen luxury cars such as Mercedes & BMWs, the cars most of which are stolen in European cities fetch a high price in the car markets of the Balkans, though not a national emergency car theft is one of the number one forms of financing the gangs that have ties to major terrorist organizations the world over. McMafia hops from country to country just as the organizations themselves crossed borders bringing their own unique brand of corruption & brutality - perhaps the strongest point this book makes is that no country is safe from the ever growing tentacles of that spread out worldwide & strike deep into society itself, an uncomfortable read at some points glenny holds nothing back when he discuses documented accounts of the victims of global crime, one such moment when he is talking about the existence of sex trafficking & the women who’s lives who have been directly affected by it. Its clear a change in international law is needed, how exactly this can be done is not an easy question especially when almost every country has a different policy when it comes to dealing with crime, some states refuse to acknowledge the existence even if it threatens their chances of joining into the EU. My closing point is this - as long as there is money to be made off of illicit activities then there will always be organized crime, though it may not be as established or far reaching as Russian mafia gangs or even Japanese yakuza it will still have a chance of climbing the ladder of the global criminal elite & for the governments & law enforcement agencies that are charged with the task of dealing with the McMafia its far too little to late. 
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