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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
@OCCRP
Sep 1, 2020 • 11 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
NEW: Meet #GroupAmerica, one of the most pervasive and violent drug-trafficking gangs you’ve never heard of.

Some say its name stems from rumored ties between the gang's leaders and the US government — maybe even the CIA. 1/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
In the 1980s, a Serb took control of the Westies, a New York Irish-American gang that became Group America.

Decades later, police around the world are impressed by the gang's global scope — and stunned that it remains active. 2/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
Unlike the cartels that control the whole cocaine supply chain, Group America specializes in being the middleman between sellers in Europe and producers in South America — where the gang’s second-in-command may be in prison for life. 3/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
OCCRP journalist Pavla Holcová (@pafak) had to pose as a prostitute to interview this notorious gangster in Peruvian prison.

Read her first-hand account of the conversation. 4/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
As the founder and editor of @investigacecz, our Czech member center, Holcová also investigated Group America’s influence in Slovakia — a coveted EU jurisdiction for traffickers in part because of lax residency laws. 5/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
Group America has operations in several countries, but much of its money is invested in Serbia, the gang’s center of operations since the fall of Yugoslavia. 6/ occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
But Group America’s influence in Serbia extends beyond drug money investments.

Its members were linked to acts of terrorism and assassinations against reformist politicians after the ouster of Slobodan Milošević.

Story reported by @StevanOCCRP 7/ occrp.org/en/group-ameri…
As Group America’s second-in-command sits in Peruvian prison, its leader continues to live comfortably in Queens, NY despite a drug trafficking indictment that has languished since 2003.

Federal officials declined comment on the unusual case. 8/ Miljanić’s row house in Que...
Despite his criminal reputation in Europe, Group America's leader Mileta Miljanić lives in the open in New York and in Serbia.

Here he is with Serbia’s foreign minister during a 2016 televised event in Manhattan. 9/ Image
More than one senior police source has attributed Group America’s success to ties with security and intelligence agencies.

Our reporting indicates that the gang may indeed have an "in" with the U.S. government. 10/
From terrorism in Belgrade to cocaine-trafficking on four continents.

Use this timeline for a tick-tock into Group America’s decades-long history of organized crime, which starts in New York in the 1970s. 11/
occrp.org/en/group-ameri…

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More from @OCCRP

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Dec 18
NEW: A grandson of Tajikistan’s president purchased a luxury Dubai property when he was just 9 years old, leaked real estate records show.

But where did the money come from?

Now 18-years-old, Erajjon Gulov’s three-bedroom apartment is valued at $1.3 million. 🧵 Palm Jumeirah archipelago in Dubai. Photo credit: Ole Martin Wold
Under UAE law, children between the ages of 7 and 18 can buy property with the approval of a legal guardian.

Back in 2015, Gulov’s mother and presidential daughter Parvina Rahmonova had no known source of income.

His father earned a presumably modest salary as a civil servant.
In his 30+ years as head of state, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has promoted family members to key positions in government — including his son Ashraf Gulov.

After his posting at the Tajik embassy in Moscow, Gulov served as Tajikistan’s ambassador to Turkey from 2021-2024. Emomali Rahmon, the long-ruling president of Tajikistan. Photo credit: American Photo Archive/Alamy Stock Photo.
Read 7 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Dec 6
Romania’s constitutional court annulled first-round presidential election results amid allegations of Russian meddling that helped far-right candidate Calin Georgescu emerge as a surprise frontrunner.

The court has ordered the election process to restart.
occrp.org/en/news/romani…
The decision follows findings from the country's intelligence service that Russia influenced the vote through a coordinated social media campaign.
occrp.org/en/news/romani…
Georgescu, known for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "great patriot" and labeling Ukraine "an invented state," was rapidly rebranded as a pro-Western candidate through TikTok and Telegram posts.
Read 5 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Dec 4
NEW: An international money-laundering ring run from Moscow & Dubai has been moving billions in crypto and cash for criminal operations, @NCA_UK says.

84 people have been arrested as part of “Operation Destabilise,” involving police from the U.K., Ireland, the U.S. & France. Photo credit: U.K. National Crime Agency
Several alleged key figures in the ring had “multiple links to the Russian financial sector,” the NCA said.

Some were sanctioned by the U.S. today, including Georgy Rossi, founder of the TGR group of companies, one of two “criminal enterprises” allegedly running the network. Georgy Rossi (right) and Elena Chirkinyan, his "second-in-command" (left). Photo provided by NCA.
The other, Smart, was led by Russian national Ekaterina Zhdanova, who the U.S. sanctioned in 2023. Ekaterina Zhdanova. Photo provided by NCA.
Read 7 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Nov 20
NEW: Two Canadian banks continue doing business with alleged Toronto-based mafia boss Angelo Figliomeni despite high-profile 2019 organized crime and money laundering charges.

OCCRP and @TorontoStar learned that the banks hold four of Figliomeni's mortgages. Image
Figliomeni moved to Canada in the early 2000s after he was convicted on weapons charges as well as mafia membership in his native Italy.

In 2015, Canadian media reports described him as a suspected "Toronto-area mafia leader." Photo credit: York Regional Police. A mugshot of Angelo Figliomeni.
TD Bank and RBC maintained two mortgages apiece with Figliomeni despite these reports.

Even after Figliomeni’s 2019 arrest in what Toronto-area police called its biggest-ever mafia bust and the subsequent collapsed court case, both banks continued to maintain the loans. Image
Read 6 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Nov 1
NEW: The world’s top climate change conference, #COP29, opens soon in Azerbaijan.

The host government, led by the ruling Aliyev regime, is among the world’s most repressive.

We’ve been investigating them for over a decade. Here’s what you need to know ⤵️
occrp.org/en/project/kno…
For our latest story, we looked into the official corporate partners of #COP29.

Almost all of them are linked to the ruling Aliyev family and their inner circle.

It’s indicative of how this regime operates.

But it’s just our latest finding.
occrp.org/en/project/kno…
For years, OCCRP has worked with local journalists to expose how the country’s elite, led by the Aliyev family, has enriched itself.

They have built up staggering wealth.

Even the president’s 11-year-old son owned a London office building.
occrp.org/en/project/the…
Read 7 tweets
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Profile picture
Oct 10
NEW: A court in Kyrgyzstan today sentenced two journalists to 5+ years in prison in a case that has sparked international condemnation from rights groups.
occrp.org/en/news/kyrgyz…
They are among 11 journalists from @TemirovLive, OCCRP’s local partner, who were detained in January for allegedly inciting and organizing mass riots.

Press freedom groups have called the case political.
occrp.org/en/project/unc…
One of the two is Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy. Her husband Bolot Temirov — who founded @TemirovLive — is in exile, stripped of his citizenship.

The judge said their son will now need to go to an orphanage for the six years of her imprisonment. Image
Read 6 tweets

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