Many important Eurasian organized criminals reside in New Jersey or conduct criminal activity here. These criminals often prey upon law-abiding Eurasians, who gravitate towards ethnic enclaves. Because of cultural and language difficulties, the victims are reluctant to call upon the authorities for assistance. The criminals frequently warn their victims that if they go to the police, harm will befall relatives back in the old country.

The collapse of the Soviet Union permitted Eurasian organized criminals’ strength to grow. They could, in turn, provide financial and other support to their cohorts in New Jersey and elsewhere in the United States. New Jersey State Police Detective Sergeant Keith K. Halton testified at the public hearing that the criminals accompanied suburban  migrations for the Brighton Beach area of New York City to Monmouth, Middlesex and Bergen counties and from Northeast Philadelphia to Atlantic, Cape May and Burlington counties. He displayed photographs of an opulent residence in Monmouth County where two Eurasian organized-crime associates involved in penny-stock fraud had been murdered, execution-style, by killers suspected of having been brought from overseas on assignment. He noted that the victims had dealt with traditional, as well as Eurasian organized crime groups.

The level of violence among Eurasian criminals as they fight to control schemes and settle grievances is extreme. Some members are combat-hardened veterans of two wars in Chechnya and the former Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan. Detective Sergeant Halton testified that houses owned in New Jersey by these criminals have elaborate security features, such as infrared cameras and bulletproof glass in all windows. He added, “[I]t makes us wonder in law enforcement, [since] we haven’t seen this with traditional organized crime, what level of violence do these criminals expect to happen in their neighborhoods?”

Nonetheless, despite this penchant for brutality, Eurasian organized criminals are at the opposite end of the spectrum from mere thugs. Many are highly educated and adept technologically. Detective Sergeant Halton confirmed that the State Police are conducting investigations involving Eurasian gangsters with advanced degrees, who were lawyers, engineers and the like in their home countries. Many are former government officials, including former KGB operatives schooled in covert and black market operations.

 Eurasian organized crime is less structured than traditional organized crime. Detective Sergeant Halton described how elusive the criminal liaisons are:
We’ll see a core group of six or seven criminals engaging in a criminal activity. That group will disband. Four of those criminals with two more new criminals will reform to commit another crime. There is a loose structure to it, but we really have to define how we think of it. We're not going to see the tight hierarchical structure that we saw with traditional organized crime. I believe there are a number of reasons for this. One is that Eurasian organized crime is coming of age in a time of great technological and transportation advances. … Second, these guys are very smart. They know that a tight hierarchical structure is like wearing a RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] bull's-eye on their back.

Within that general framework though, we do see four structures … . One is the Vor-V-Zakone, or thief in [law] or thief within the code. This is the old time, hard core gangster, and it’s a culture that dates back to the Soviet prison system. These guys are bound by a strict code that includes the fact that they can't get married, they can’t work in a legitimate job [and] they can’t cooperate with the government in any sense. These are the criminals that we often see associated with the tattoos.

An up-and-coming structure that we see is the Avtoriety or the thief in authority. These were the corrupt Soviet bureaucrats and plant managers, [who were] well placed within the Soviet system. The Soviet system was so corrupt that they got their [criminal] education working for the government. However, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, they're out-and-out criminals now. They’re not bound by a code. They're highly intelligent [with] advanced degrees. And we feel that this will be the greatest threat in years to come.

Some … groups are based on ethnicity or nationality. We’ve seen Georgian organized crime groups where the structure is slightly different than the Russian Vor-V-Zakone. There are Chechen groups, Azeri groups.

 Lastly, we kind of lump … the crime specialists and the geographic groups [together]. One example of the crime specialist is what we refer to as YACS. It’s an acronym for Yugoslav Albanian Croatian Serbian. Unlike other … Eurasian organized crime, where the focus is entrepreneurial on [multiple criminal activities], this group seems to tend to stay with very sophisticated burglaries of chain stores. Currently, they’re involved throughout New Jersey in breaking into convenience stores and also go-go bars, I think because of the amount of money. It’s happening right now. Geographic groups [would include] the Solntsevskaya, the largest Eurasian organized criminal group in the world probably. And that’s just named after a neighborhood outside of Moscow.

Detective Sergeant Halton testified that in recent years, in an effort to resolve disputes and provide logistical support for criminal operations, 11 so-called “brigades” have formed, ten operating in New York and North Jersey and one in Philadelphia and South Jersey. All contribute funds to a Vor or leadership brigade that controls an Obshak to bankroll criminal schemes and provide relief funds for prisoners’ families. The Vor is composed of old-fashioned Vor-V-Zakone and Avtoriety.

Eurasian organized criminal activity is diverse and entrepreneurial. It includes extortion, for the most part targeting other Eurasians; money laundering; tax and insurance scams; visa violations; falsification of identity documents; stock swindles; computer crime; contract murder; auto theft; narcotics trafficking; burglary; prostitution; and involuntary servitude. The Commission detailed Russian mobsters’ involvement with traditional organized criminals in a February 1992 report entitled Motor Fuel Tax Evasion. Despite reforms in the method of motor fuel tax collection and a marked increase in collections of motor fuel taxes, such schemes continue.

 Eurasian criminal rings gravitate towards insurance schemes, particularly health care fraud. Participating medical providers shuttle phony accident victims from specialist to specialist. They all submit fraudulent bills to the health care insurer. Such schemes have extended to some adult day care, drug treatment and medical diagnostic centers.

Furthering a variety of sham immigration schemes, Eurasian criminals submit false paperwork to authorities that issue visas. Often business sponsorships are bogus, and, upon arrival, the sponsored individuals join criminal enterprises instead of legitimate business endeavors.