Organized crime is an international problem and it exists in several different countries, such as; Italy, China, Japan, Russia and the United States of America. Although all of these organized crime groups have many things in common, they tend to have different ways of doing something, or even not doing it at all. Many also commit similar types of crimes, and others commit crimes that other groups would not. The Russian mafia is believed to have existed in Russia for several centuries. When Russia was still the Soviet Union, corruption began to grow due to the communist era. Citizens were so desperate to pay their bills, buy groceries and more; that they began stealing from each other and engaging in forms of organized crime. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian organized crime was unleashed across the globe, from Russia to the United States and beyond. Russian organized crime groups commit crimes such as: extortion, trafficking in white captives, auto theft, counterfeiting, hostage taking, prostitution, arms smuggling, murder, drug trafficking and fraud. In Japan, there are the Yakuza, also known as the "Japanese mafia", which includes up to 2,500 families. . The three largest Yakuza groups are the Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyaoshi-kai, and Inagawa-kai. These three groups together have approximately 61,100 members, or 73% of Japan's gangster population. These organizations have existed for approximately 300 years and trace their roots to the Tokugawa period (1600-1867), when Japan unified under a central government system (Abadinsky, 2010, 2007) . Some suggest that the Yakuza are the true heirs of the samurai, as the latter formed structured organized crime groups after the end of feudalism in Japan. T...... middle of paper ......larities an accident, or on purpose? No one can really answer that question, but what they can answer is how similar they are in some ways. They are all in it for the gain of oversight, as well as power. When one group is weakened, another takes over to replace it. These groups all still commit similar crimes, such as: money laundering, extortion, drug trafficking, etc. Their operations are also quite similar: they have a chain of command, a boss and soldiers. Organized crime groups are not afraid to turn on each other if a job is not completed as requested or if they feel betrayed.BibliographyAbadinsky, H. (2010, 2007) . Organized Crime, 9th edition. Wadsworth. Works Cited Abadinsky, H. (2010, 2007). Organized Crime, 9th edition. Wadsworth.Websiteshttp://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=811&catid=22&subcatid=147