Editing Russian Mafia (section)

===2001–present===
As the 21st century dawned, the Russian mafia remained live and well. New Mafia bosses sprung up, while imprisoned ones were released. Among the released were Pachovich Sloat,Marat Balagula and Vyacheslav Ivankov, both in 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Balagula_release_22-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-Balagula_release-22 [22]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ivankov_dead_23-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-Ivankov_dead-23 [23]]</sup> The latter was extradited to Russia, but was jailed once more for his alleged murders of two Turks in a Moscow restaurant in 1992; he was cleared of all charges and released in 2005. Four years later, he was assassinated by a shot in the stomach from a sniper.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ivankov_dead_23-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-Ivankov_dead-23 [23]]</sup> Meanwhile, [[Monya Elson]], along with [[Leonid Roytman]], were arrested in March 2006 for an unsuccessful murder plot against two [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev Kiev]-based businessmen.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Elson_2nd_arrest_24-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-Elson_2nd_arrest-24 [24]]</sup>

In 2009, FBI agents in Moscow targeted two suspected Mafia leaders and two other corrupt businessmen. One of the leaders is Yevgeny Dvoskin, a criminal who had been in prison with Ivankov in 1995 and was deported in 2001 for breaking immigration regulations; the other is Konstantin "Gizya" Ginzburg, who is reportedly the current "big boss" of Russian organized crime in America after it was suspected that Ivankov handed over his control to him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4_criminals_25-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-4_criminals-25 [25]]</sup>

In the same year, Semion Mogilevich was placed on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI_Ten_Most_Wanted_Fugitives FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives] list for his involvement in a complex multi-million dollar scheme that defrauded investors in the stock of his company YBM Magnex International, swindling them out of $150 million.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FBI_26-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-FBI-26 [26]]</sup> He was indicted in 2003 and arrested in 2008 in Russia on account of tax fraud charges, but because the US does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, he was released on bail.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-CNN_27-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-CNN-27 [27]]</sup> Monya Elson stated that "[h]e's the most powerful mobster in the world" in 1998.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Semion_powerful_28-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-Semion_powerful-28 [28]]</sup>

Around the world, Russian mafia groups have popped up as dominating particular areas: Alec Simchuk and his group ripped-off and robbed unsuspecting tourists and businessmen in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Florida South Florida], leading to Rick Brodsky of the FBI to say that "Eurasian organised crime is our no. 1 priority";<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-South_Florida_29-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-South_Florida-29 [29]]</sup> Russian organized crime has a small hold in the city of Atlanta where members are distinguished by a spade with a 3 under it tattooed on their body. Russian organized crime was reported to have a stronger grip in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Riviera French Riviera] region and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain] in 2010;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bauer_5-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-Bauer-5 [5]]</sup> and Russia was branded as a virtual "mafia state" according to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak WikiLeaks cables].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WikiLeaks_30-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-WikiLeaks-30 [30]]</sup> The Jewish branch of the Russian mafia has created tremendous problems for the Israeli government. There has been a large increase in criminal activity in Israel due to the large influx of Russian-Jews. The Israeli police and intelligence services have focused their resources on the Palestinians and have not paid adequate attention to this growing problem. The Russian Jewish mafia has cooperated with Israeli mafiosi [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/03/98/russian_mafia/70095.stm [1]][http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/03/98/russian_mafia/69521.stm [2]][http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/virtual-mafia-states-russian-mafia-an-international-concern-for-us-diplomats-a-732345.html [3]]

As of 2009, Russian mafia groups have been said to reach over 50 countries and, as of 2010, have up to 300,000 members.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-CBS_worldwide_7-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-CBS_worldwide-7 [7]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-moscow_times_31-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-moscow_times-31 [31]]</sup>