ORGANIZED crime is simply highly efficient terrorism. Unless they wish to make a point with some public massacre, the mafias of the world do not bother with senseless slaughter. Sometimes they kill each other in turf wars but, more often, they target anyone who dares to stand in their way, who threatens the further spread of their secret empires of drugs, gambling, racketeering, theft, prostitution and extortion. One such target was Andrei Kozlov, who dedicated itself to bringing order to the tangled world of Russian finance.
As a deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank, Kozlov had spearheaded a campaign to crack down on rogue banks used by the country’s various mafia gangs to launder and move money around the globe. Earlier in his career, he had worked closely with the Swiss banking authorities concerned at the growing flows of Russian mobster money through Zurich.
Though Moscow police say it is too early to be sure why Kozlov and his driver were gunned down as they left the Moscow Spartak football pitch Wednesday, few doubt that he was targeted by mafia gangsters because of his uncompromising stance on Russian banks. Kozlov had already revoked the licenses of a handful of banks and only last week made a speech promising further tough measures against the banking industry to clean up the system.
Chances are Kozlov knew he was in danger. The methodology of these murderous thugs does not change: It starts with a warning, perhaps a friendly visit from a stranger, a letter or a phone call. The message would have been stark: ease up or die. Kozlov was not a man who would have been cowed by such threats and now he has paid the price. His death, which is only the latest in a series of assassinations of journalists, bankers, politicians and businessmen, all of whom had been outspoken critics of corruption and organized crime, once again raises a disturbing question: How many other Russians in important positions like Kozlov’s are still alive today because they responded precisely in the manner expected by the mafias when they were approached with threats (or bribes, for that matter)? Those that don’t respond in kind risk becoming high-profile examples of what happens to those who don’t play the treacherous games of the underworld. As such, the mafias certainly tolerate the occasional Kozlov until they decide that an example needs to be made.
At some point Russian authorities are going to have to start fighting back, before the whole system becomes overrun with the cancer of organized crime. As a former KGB boss, President Vladimir Putin ought to know better than most how “untouchable” police and intelligence units could be deployed to take on the mafias. As the example of Kozlov proves, there are still brave men prepared to stand up for what they know is right. However if the Kremlin fails to act, it can only suggest one of two things: either that the government does not really care if the mafias win, or, more alarmingly, that many Russian government officials have already taken the oath of omerta.
