Editing Russian Mafia (section)

===Strongest ethnic criminal groups===
''Russian'' criminal gangs are rarely formed along ethnic lines. Within the post-Soviet criminal world there exist a multitude of strong ethnic criminal gangs who often cooperate with each other regardless of ethnic origin. The strongest, most well-represented groups are the following:
*''Russian'' criminal groups
These consist of both [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Slavs Slavic] as well as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Jews Jewish] criminals. The most well-known of these gangs is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solntsevskaya_Bratva Solntsevskaya Bratva].
*Chechen criminal groups
The [[Chechen mafia]] has long held an important place in the Russian criminal underworld.
*Armenian criminal groups
Organized criminal groups consisting of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_people Armenians] have long been active in the Eastern European underworld. Gangs with ties to the Armenian organized crime kingpins also exist abroad, such as the [[Armenian Power]] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles Los Angeles].
*Georgian criminal groups
Organized crime operating out of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28country%29 Georgia] is regarded to be one of the strongest in the former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union Soviet Union]. ''Georgian'' criminals are mainly based out of the ethnic Georgian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutaisi Kutaisi] region, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svan_people Svaneti] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingrelians Mingrelian] community and the Georgia-based [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi Yazidi] community (such as [[Aslan Usoyan]]). Georgian criminal groups are active throughout the former Soviet Union and Western Europe.
*Azerbaijani criminal groups
Gangs consisting of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis] have long been a major force in the ''Russian'' criminal world. Azeri groups control a large portion of the illegal drug market, as well as being involved in weapon trafficking and kidnapping.
*Dagestani criminal groups<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-superforum.org_32-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_mafia#cite_note-superforum.org-32 [32]]</sup>
The mountainous regions of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagestan Dagestan] have been a hotbed of clan strife for centuries. The Dagestani immigration (mostly by ethnic [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avar_people_%28Caucasus%29 Avars]) to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow Moscow] and other major Russian cities have brought with them the formation of major organized criminal groups involved in a multitude of criminal activities.
*Assyrian criminal groups
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrians Assyrians] who emigrated from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq Iraq] or who have lived in the former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union Soviet Union] for centuries have formed criminal groups as well. Nowadays their power has waned, but ethnic [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_people Assyrian] organized crime groups (not necessarily in connection with their Russian counterparts) are active throughout [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe Europe], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America North America] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Australia].