Latvia: Organized crime and government response

A 27 October 1999 Baltic News Service report, which covers a seminar held in Lithuania on organized crime and the protection of witnesses, quotes prosecutors from the three Baltic States as saying that organized crime in their countries has been following the same patterns since independence from the Soviet Union. The report also quotes a prosecutor from Latvia's general prosecutor's office as saying that organized crime was thriving in Latvia and that criminal groups adjusted themselves to the "changing business environment." The prosecutor is also quoted as saying that "organized crime is accomplished according to the Russian petty thievery model, where laws in fact allow crime to prosper, and not according to the western mafia model." The article further states that:

Latvia's organized crime structures include former KGB officials, famous athletes and business people who operate legitimately.

In Latvia, a new type of activity by organized gangs has recently blossomed -- Russian oil is transported through Latvia to Kaliningrad as contraband. Law enforcement is also seeing an increase in the flow of narcotics accross the country to Lithuania.

A 4 October 1999 Baltic News Report states that organized crime

activities have over the last five years switched from extortion of businesses through "protection" to extortion activities performed through legal channels in the context of the privatization of state owned companies. The report also states that, according to experts, the return of stolen cars to their owners against remuneration was one of the most practiced form of extortion in Latvia.

Country Reports 1999 states that:

Both adult and child prostitution are widespread, often linked to organized crime, and abetted by economic problems. Prostitution in Rigais increasing, and trafficking in women for prostitution abroad also is increasing. (Feb. 2000, section 5)

…The Government participates in the Council of Baltic Sea States task force on organized crime, which is addressing the trafficking of persons (section 5f).

Furthermore, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 1999

released in March 2000 by the U.S. Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs states that the port of Riga has become a key transit point for drugs originating in Russia and Central Asia and that the Latvian domestic market for drugs was increasing at "an alarming rate." The report also states that "crime groups" from the former Soviet Union that include "ethnic Russians, Azerbaijanis and Latvians connected to outside traffickers" have been identified by the Latvian police. For information on the Latvian policy, accomplishments and law enforcement efforts with regards to drug control, please refer to the attached excerpts of the report.

A 17 March 2000 Estonian Radio broadcast states that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed an agreement on the "protection of victims and witnesses [of crime].

According to the report:

Latvia began to set up witness-protection programmes and required structures when 6-7-years ago leaders of a criminal group were arrested and in the course of court proceedings some witnesses were killed. According to Latvia and Lithuania, a few dozen individuals require protection of this kind annually.

No further information on organized crime could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, for additional information on Latvian government measures against organized crime and corruption, please refer to the attached Internet home page of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Baltic News Service (BNS). 27 October 1999. "Baltic Legal Officials Consult on Organized Crime." (NEXIS)

_____. 4 October 1999. "Extortionism Down in Latvia." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1999. February 2000. United States Department of State. Washington, DC.

[Accessed 1 June 2000]