[Clemenza]

From first hand experience, I can tell you that although the initial gangs in the 1970s were Jewish, many Russian non-Jewish organizations have established a presence in recent years. You also have Georgian gangs active in the New York area. A bigger problem, however, is the Albanian Mafia (largely from Kosovo, BTW), who are very big in the heroin trade in New York, although I am more mad at the fact that they have taken over all the Pizzerias in the city as well, ;-)

[A. Pole]

I can tell you that although the initial gangs in the 1970s were Jewish, many Russian non-Jewish organizations have established a presence in recent years. You also have Georgian gangs active in the New York area.

Very few Russian Russians came to United States, especially before the collapse of Communism. In Russia there are four main ethnic mafias - Chechen, Georgian, Armenian and Jewish . The Jewish one was more prominent in the past when it had the center in Odessa (Meyer Lanski/Sukhovlanski - advisor to Al Capone came from there, so you could call it "Ukrainian Mafia"). The two main "traditional" ethnic mafias in United States were Italian (the Mafia proper which in Italy is represented not only by Sycilian Cosa Nostra, but also by Ndrangheta and Camorra) and Oriental ones like Chinese Triads. Another ethnic mafia is Albanian one, recently spread in Europe and probably reaching United States.

Mafias tend to be based on close knit etnically based subcultures since criminals of mafia type tend to trust their own and not to be very much into multiculturalism.