Police bust Czech-based mafia ring

By Wency Leung and Sarah Borufka

Staff Writers

Among the many who pass by Polská and U Kanálky streets each day, Paulina Odvárková is one of few who recalls the 2007 fatal shooting of a 25-year-old man on this Vinohrady street corner.

Odvárková, the owner of a nearby pet store, had already closed up shop that Nov. 27 evening when the shooter approached his victim's black Bentley and unloaded two bullets into the driver's chest and one in the head. Odvárková did not hear about the execution-style murder less than 150 meters from her door until the next day.

Like most who live and work in this neighborhood, the shop owner knew nothing about the victim or the shooter, and, soon afterward, the incident was swept from her thoughts.

"Everybody has their own problems," Odvárková told reporters last week. But, before returning to her business, she pointed out a small wooden cross nailed to the street corner - the only tangible reminder left marking the scene of crime.

Inscribed on the cross are the victim's name, Michal, his age and the date of his death.

In 2007, police had said they arrested a suspect, who allegedly mistook the victim for his intended target. But then, for more than a year, no further news of the case emerged.

Last week, however, the Organized Crime Unit of the police (ÚOOZ) announced that it has smashed a "Russian-language criminal organization" responsible for the Vinohrady shooting and a slew of other crimes, including attempted murder, robberies and extortion.

Under a mission code-named "Wolfram," ÚOOZ officers arrested four suspects from Armenia March 23, among them the alleged ringleader, whom they described as a 41-year-old "Vora v zakóně."

Vory v zakóně, the Russian term for "thieves in law," refers to a notorious criminal order that emerged from Soviet gulags. Popularized by books, films and television series, Vory have become near legend, earning comparisons to the Italian mafia, with a reputation for symbolic tattoos and ruthless violence. However, what is true and what is myth about the Vory is subject to debate.

ÚOOZ said the alleged ringleader, who had been in the Czech Republic since 2004, had ordered the botched Vinohrady hit, intending to target someone else. The same suspect is also believed to be behind a November 2007 murder attempt on a foreigner on Wenceslas Square. Lower ranking members of the group were tasked to plot and execute the attacks.

Police would not release the names of those arrested, but noted that three of the individuals could face 12 to 15 years in prison on murder-related charges, while one of them could face an unspecified "special sentence."

ÚOOZ officials said the organization had begun to extend its reach into Austria in the summer of 2008. There, members consisting mostly of Armenian citizens are believed to have committed at least 100 robberies on electronic shops and fashion and perfume retailers within a span of four months, according to the ÚOOZ.

The organization is also accused of having drawn up lists of Armenians living in Austria legally, and forcing them to pay, in one case as much as 5,000 euros, under the threat of violence.

In concert with ÚOOZ's announcement last week, Austrian police said they, too, had arrested at least three individuals suspected of being involved in the same criminal network. One of them, identified as Arsen H., was believed to be a leader of the organization.

"They are Vory v zakóně," said Gerhard Joszt, spokesman of the Austrian Organized Crime Unit. "The whole thing started in 2004 in the Czech Republic and then started expanding into other countries, such as Austria."

Creating monsters

According to Joszt, criminal networks of this type generally split up different areas of crime - such as drugs, human trafficking, extortion and money laundering - and assign each area to a specific branch of their organization. While members of such organizations tend to cooperate across ethnic lines, around 98 percent of the group that Czech and Austrian police busted are believed to be from Armenia, he said.

"The Armenian mafia members are very, very, very ready to use violence. … It is not uncommon for them to have a mentality of: 'If you don't cooperate, I'll shoot you,' " Joszt said. "Part of that can be explained by their background; they come from areas of civil war and unrest."

Joszt noted the alleged Armenian crime boss operating in Austria, whom he identified only as Andranik S., had been actively involved in extorting businesses, such as casinos.

"When a victim went to the police to complain about the extortions, new threats followed, and the victims withdrew their testimonies," he said.

Contrary to the police's portrayal of the crime group, sociology professor Georgi Derluguian of Northwestern University in Chicago, who has researched organized crime in the former Soviet Union, said that, while professional crime surely exists in Armenia, he had never heard of an Armenian mafia, let alone one led by Vory v zakóně.

"There has never been a specifically Armenian Vory organization, nor could there be," Derluguian said.

As a Soviet gulag phenomenon, Vory v zakóně was a nonethnic status similar to Catholic popes or abbots, who could be from different countries, but adhered to the same hierarchy, he explained.

"There could be Vory from Armenia who knew each other somehow… but could very well compete with each other precisely because they would be originating from a small place with local rivalries over status and market share."

Derluguian added that he was doubtful the Vory actually exist anymore, noting that police everywhere tend to over-report cross-border crime. "This creates monsters that live mostly in police news conferences and newspapers," he said.

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- Martina Čermáková contributed to this report.

The writers can be reached at news@praguepost.com