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Russian gang boss poses with machinegun
This is the gun toting organised crime boss bringing misery to the streets of Belfast.
He is public enemy number one, part of a growing army of eastern European gangsters muscling in on the Belfast drugs, prostitution and credit fraud rackets.
This man and his muscle bound boss help control a criminal empire that stretches from Frankfurt to Amsterdam to Dublin and now Belfast.
The Sunday World is aware of their identities but for legal reasons cannot reveal names.
A special Sunday World investigation uncovered the alarming growth of foreign crime gangs, peddling killer drugs and up to their necks in people trafficking and prostitution.
We reveal the workings of the gang known as The Russians – based in south Belfast they are raking in a staggering £100,000 a week all of which is syphoned off to their crime bosses in Dublin.
The Russians already control the drug market in Belfast, out-muscling local dealers.
Today we reveal how they traffic drugs from mainland Europe through Dublin and on to Belfast and most shockingly we reveal they have brought the killer drug Crystal Meth on to the streets of our capital city.
The gang leaders and their cohorts are from the former Soviet state of Latvia.
Grinding poverty and endemic corruption in their homeland has driven these people to crime, many are ex-soldiers.
Eastern European organised crime gangs are now the scourge of Europe, and in Belfast they have found a rich feeding ground.
The Sunday World understands The Russians already run 20 brothels in Belfast alone.
They are populated by eastern European women promised a new life in the west only to arrive in the UK and forced into a life of vice and drug abuse.
Forced to courier drugs across the continent they are then press-ganged into the sex industry and forced to work round the clock.
We have spoken to a former gang member who told us he was offered a woman for £3,000. He said had he taken the deal the woman was his to own; he could put her to work in one of the gang’s brothels in return for a fee, or he could hire her out.
He was told he would make his money back in less than 10 days.
They boast of owning up to 20 houses and apartments across the city and love the trappings of wealth – posing in front flash BMWs and Audis they look every inch the successful gangsters.
The gang leader is also pictured with a Lamborghini, taken in the German city of Frankfurt. The muscle bound gang leader is also pictured at various locations across Belfast and in Dublin.
Sent to Belfast eight months ago he is the main contact between criminal operation in the north and his bosses in Dublin.
He makes regular trips north of the border, preferring to stay in hotels rather than in one of the many houses his gang now owns.
At least two minders keep a watchful eye over the boss every time he is town and the Sunday World can reveal that at least one of them carries a gun at all times.
Other members of the gang carry knives.
The Russians have three main areas of crime – drugs, prostitution/people trafficking and credit card fraud.
We can reveal they are selling heroin, crystal meth and crack cocaine on the streets of Belfast... outside the Europa Hotel, on Castle Street, Elmwood Avenue near Queen’s University, Dublin Road and on Brunswick Street.
The Russians moved in to Belfast six to eight months ago. Having set up in Dublin it was a natural progression to move north.
According to our source they were they staggered at the number of people travelling south to buy drugs.
“The Russians are ruthless but what they are most particular about is the quality of the drugs they sell,” said our source.
“The stuff they sell is high grade, not like the local dealers, so buyers know they are getting good gear.”
Cocaine normally sold in Belfast can be as little as two percent pure, cut with rat poison, scouring powder and cement dust – the Russians insist on at least 25-30 per cent purity, guaranteeing their market.
“They believe Belfast could be one of their best markets.
“They are amazed at the appetite for drugs here, that is by far the biggest slice of their business, and they will make money here as long as they can and when the heat is on they will just move on, just like they have done all over Europe.”
Chillingly, this is an outfit that has no fear about the stranglehold paramilitaries have on their areas – they have an arsenal of weapons and are ready to take on anyone who stands in their way.
Obtaining weaponry is not a problem and they will even sell guns to local criminal gangs offering handguns for £400 – less than half that charged by UK gun dealers.
Belfast is now seeing a new level of organised crime – imported from eastern Europe and more ruthless than anything we have seen before.
Our source – a one time close associate of The Russians, but now in fear of his life – was present when one of the gang opened a wooden box in the living room of a house off the Donegall Road and lifted out four hand grenades.
“We run Belfast, who will f*** with us now?” he growled.