Too tough to turf
According to analysts from Jane's Intelligence Review, Poland is the only country in the CEE region where the Russian mafia did not manage to take control of the local underworld - but it's not for lack of trying.
In the mid-1990s, the Russian mafia was well on the way to muscling in on the shady side of Polish business. Renowned for their ruthlessness, the red menace's members operated actively in the cocaine and stolen-cars sector. However, the local tough nuts decided they were sick and tired of being ripped off on their own territory and decided to scare away their Eastern comrades.
Jarosław S, alias Masa, the key witness in the Pruszków mafia case, explained to Życie Warszawy: "When they became too pushy in our zone, we shot two of their residents. They understood they'd better reach some kind of an agreement with us because we were not going to let off."
Nobody wanted to share money with the Ruskies nor to answer to Moscow bosses. So, for a short while, Polish perpetrators turned into law-abiding citizens, and each time a newcomer from Russia started to feel a bit too confident on Polish soil, some 'anonymous informer' considered it his duty to let the immigration authorities know about illegal foreign visitors.
This was not always enough, and in 1997 six bullets hit Wiktor Fiszman, a 33-year-old Belarusian who was one of the key figures in the Russian mafia in Poland. He was punished for an attempt to take control over drug trafficking in Pomerania.
Five months later, yet another gangster - Aleksandr Isajew, alias Malowany - was killed in Poznań. Russians could not impose their rules without risking a major conflict, so they paid their respects and retreated to their earlier, niche positions across the border.
In the mid-1990s, the Russian mafia was well on the way to muscling in on the shady side of Polish business. Renowned for their ruthlessness, the red menace's members operated actively in the cocaine and stolen-cars sector. However, the local tough nuts decided they were sick and tired of being ripped off on their own territory and decided to scare away their Eastern comrades.
Jarosław S, alias Masa, the key witness in the Pruszków mafia case, explained to Życie Warszawy: "When they became too pushy in our zone, we shot two of their residents. They understood they'd better reach some kind of an agreement with us because we were not going to let off."
Nobody wanted to share money with the Ruskies nor to answer to Moscow bosses. So, for a short while, Polish perpetrators turned into law-abiding citizens, and each time a newcomer from Russia started to feel a bit too confident on Polish soil, some 'anonymous informer' considered it his duty to let the immigration authorities know about illegal foreign visitors.
This was not always enough, and in 1997 six bullets hit Wiktor Fiszman, a 33-year-old Belarusian who was one of the key figures in the Russian mafia in Poland. He was punished for an attempt to take control over drug trafficking in Pomerania.
Five months later, yet another gangster - Aleksandr Isajew, alias Malowany - was killed in Poznań. Russians could not impose their rules without risking a major conflict, so they paid their respects and retreated to their earlier, niche positions across the border.
