Chapter 2080

The Albanian community...is actually just a very small block.

This block used to belong to the Mao Bear Gang...The Mao Bear Gang is still very powerful in the United States. After all, there are many Russian immigrants in the United States.

The history of Russian gangs is also very long. Russia formed a group of gangs as early as the Tsarist era. Most of the earliest gang members in Russia were peasants. Under the exploitation of serfdom at that time, some extremely poor peasants could not bear the oppression and took risks to engage in banditry, theft and other activities. These people gradually formed their own set of codes of conduct. They formed a complex world of thieves by relying on strict loyalty to each other. The new Soviet regime after the October Revolution in 1917 tried to eliminate these thieves. Later, it was proved that if the root cause of the banditry was not eliminated, then relying solely on military bandit suppression would only result in "spring breeze blowing again". In the Stalin era, tougher measures were taken to directly put these people into labor camps.

Under Stalin's severe crackdown, the underworld forces in the Soviet Union almost completely disappeared. But after Stalin's death, the Soviet Union released about 8 million prisoners during the political transition. Some of them made profits in the black market by organizing some small illegal enterprises after being released from prison. In the 1980s, Gorbachev relaxed the control of private enterprises. During the economic transformation of the Soviet Union, a group of people formed a chaebol oligarchic power by embezzling state assets. Most of these chaebol oligarchs have a background in gangs: oligarchs need to use the power of the underworld, and gangsters also need oligarchs to provide shelter. In the period before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian mafia took advantage of the social transformation to grow and spread rapidly. Assassination, robbery, smuggling, drug trafficking, collecting protection fees, human trafficking and other evil deeds made the Russian mafia notorious. The Russian mafia has also infiltrated the country's political and economic fields: the Russian mafia controls tens of thousands of companies. It is said that the total economic volume controlled by the Russian mafia is almost equivalent to 20%-25% of Russia's GDP. The Russian mafia has even formed an intricate alliance with criminal organizations in Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, the Middle East and other places.

The economic downturn and the continuous social unrest before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union caused a large number of people to leave the country. During this period, many Russians went across the ocean to settle in developed Western countries. There were also many gangsters among these Russians who went to developed Western countries. The United States is a country composed of immigrants from all over the world. The complex racial structure of the population in the United States has created a social environment where all kinds of people are mixed. In addition, the United States does not strictly manage pornography, gambling and drugs, so this provides soil for the activities of gangs. For example, gambling in the United States is basically no big problem as long as the procedures are legal.

In Nevada, the United States, the pornography industry is also legal. Some states in the United States even liberalize drugs. As early as the 18th century, the Italian Mafia took the opportunity to pour into the United States during the wave of immigration. By the 20th century, the Italian Mafia had been active in various parts of the United States: they manipulated the gambling industry, pornography industry, drug trafficking, and arms smuggling in the United States. In addition to the Italian Mafia, various gang organizations such as the Mexican Mafia, the Japanese Yamaguchi-gumi, and the Hong Kong Triad were once active in the United States. In comparison, the Russian Mafia came to the United States relatively late.

The Italian Mafia in the United States has a tight organizational structure and has a considerable degree of penetration into the political and business circles of the United States. The Italian Mafia has accumulated such a huge power in the United States after hundreds of years of development. Japan's Yamaguchi-gumi and Hong Kong's Triads also have relatively tight organizational structures. However, the newly arrived Russian Mafia exists in the form of small teams: when everyone needs each other, they can cooperate with each other, and when there are differences in interests, the internal disputes of the Russian Mafia are also quite fierce.

The newly arrived Russian Mafia has limited strength, so it cannot exist in the form of a super mafia family like the Italian Mafia. Whether it is the US government or the Italian Mafia, Japan's Yamaguchi-gumi, and Hong Kong Triads, which have been active in the United States for a long time, these gangs are threats to the Russian Mafia. If the Russian Mafia forcibly forms a large gang like the Italian Mafia, it may be uprooted by others, but existing in the form of small teams can avoid being wiped out by others. Although a big ship is good at riding the waves, a small ship is more flexible and easier to turn around.

In terms of the number of members alone, it is not comparable to those old American gangs with hundreds or thousands of members. But the number of Russian gangs is large. This can be seen from the small gangs on the streets of the United States. Often a few people can form a criminal gang. They are extremely scattered and have different attributes. But like the Mafia, they all have their own "godfather", that is, the winner of the title of "thief of law" just mentioned above. It is for this reason that the Russian gangs have formed a special situation in the United States where the scale of the organization is not as large as the Mafia, but the number of members is much higher than the Mafia. Even if the US government authorities want to crack down on it, they have no way to start, and can only slowly eliminate one gang after another.

According to a report from the U.S. Criminal Justice Information Service, as of 2017, there were 5,000 to 6,000 active members of the Russian gang in the United States alone. In contrast, the mafia organizations of different factions in Italy, such as Sicily, Camorra, and Ndrangheta, together have only about 3,000 active members in the United States. In terms of the quality of the members, some members of the Russian gangs in the late 20th century were not just a collection of street gangs or criminals like other American gangs. Rather, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, while the country was falling apart, it used various means to win over a large number of elites, including KGB agents, special forces soldiers who had retired from the Afghan battlefield, scientists, engineers, and even athletes from the national team.

This does not include a considerable number of people in the Russian gang, who are all real "old guns" who survived the Gulag concentration camp. In the Gulag, their opponents were not only the Soviet government, but also a group of ex-convicts called "Suka" who had been baptized by the Soviet-German war. And this bloody underground war lasted from 1945 to 1953. Coupled with the 1980 Olympic Games held in Moscow, the Soviet Union ushered in a wave of fitness craze. Young people's pursuit of physical fitness indirectly increased the gang's talent pool. The most critical thing is that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian gangs corrupted government military personnel, obtained a large number of weapons through theft or purchase, and subsequently transported them to the world through smuggling, including armored vehicles, tanks, missiles, Even raw materials for nuclear weapons. In 1998, the U.S. official issued a report. At that time, more than half of the Russian economy was controlled by gangs. Many private bank bosses were also involved with Russian gangs. Their total economic volume was as high as 25% of Russia's GDP at that time. %. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the US government deliberately exaggerated the data to target Russia, but it cannot be denied that Russian gangs did have innate advantages in smuggling arms that traditional American gangs at the time could not match, and they made a lot of money. .

However, they never formed a huge gang and had many conflicts with each other. There is no unity at all.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the neighborhood in front of us was snatched away by Albanians.

…

"Are you sure?"

In a huge laboratory about ten kilometers away from the community, Barry came to work.

A physical evidence technical scientist with the Barry Allen Police Department. One day, he was splashed with chemical reagents shattered by lightning in his office, thus gaining the Speed ​​Force. Under the influence of the Speed ​​Force, Barry can do anything at extremely high speeds. Barry, a kind-hearted and righteous man, decided to use his superpowers to fight crime. He transformed into "The Flash" and became the guardian of Los Angeles.

Barry Allen is definitely a role model among superheroes.

He works at the police station during the day and comes to work at Xingchen Laboratory after get off work at night.

Star Labs, founded by Harrison Wells. He was deeply in love with Tess Morgan, whom he met when they were research partners in Maryland. After their marriage, the couple moved to Starling City. In 2000, the couple discussed plans for an independent research laboratory that would have no ties to government or big business. After sketching a preliminary design on a paper towel, Wells wanted to name his concept the Institute of Technological Engineering Scientific Studies, or Tess Institute for short.

But Tess proposed Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories, or laboratories for short. That is Star Laboratory.

Unfortunately, Tess died of illness before construction of the laboratory began, which made Dr. Harrison Wells even more determined to build it.

Then in 2004 the laboratory was finally completed.

Harrison also devoted all his efforts to this laboratory. Until a few years ago, when Wells activated a particle accelerator and exploded, the release of dark matter energy transformed many people into superpowers, including Barry Allen. Wells was also paralyzed from the lower half of his body in the accident.

Originally this would have resulted in a complete shutdown of the laboratory.

Kekai noticed this laboratory, funded its reopening, and affiliated it to Kingsman.

After a series of coincidences, Barry Allen met Harrison and his assistants Cisco Ramone and Caitlin Snow. Wells pushed Barry to grow faster as a speedster by defeating super-powered criminals.

So Star Labs became the headquarters of Barry Allen and his Flash team.

Of course, it can also be said that the Flash is Kai's non-staff employee to a certain extent...he comes to work overtime every night, rain or shine, and he doesn't have to be paid.

Of course, if you want to say how much Kai took advantage of... that's not the case.

After all, Barry uses the laboratory equipment here for free, and uses the laboratory equipment to create various magical props for Blitz without spending any money.

Kai had never cared much about the funding of Star Lab, which was managed by Kingsman. However, since Kingsman had never reported to him about the funding issues of Star Lab, it meant that everything was running smoothly.

It has to be said that although Dr. Harrison Wells is keen on chivalry, his own ability is still very powerful. While focusing most of his energy on the Flash, he can still ensure that the laboratory can make a profit, which is quite amazing.

But this is also taken for granted. You have to know that the money Dr. Harrison Wells spent to build this laboratory from scratch can be said to be a very large number. Whether it is spending money by himself or finding someone to invest, it requires a very strong management ability.

"Yes! That group of Albanians! It's getting more and more excessive! This month, we have found the bodies of five girls in the sewer! What do they think of Los Angeles? ! ! We can't let them continue to be arrogant!"

The person who spoke was Iris West. Listening to her words, she seemed like a police officer. But in fact, she is not, she is just a reporter, and not a formal reporter, and currently only a picture editor of a magazine!

Iris is the daughter of detective Joe West and a childhood friend of Barry Allen. After Barry's mother was murdered, his father was wrongly convicted, and Barry was adopted by Joe, the two grew up together. She started out as an employee preparing coffee at a local coffee shop. During her work, she would write a blog about the Flash, which attracted the attention of a magazine, and then she became a web editor. Now she specializes in photo editing... the kind that specializes in providing pictures for articles.

"Oh my god, honey, if you really want to help, you'd better ask your colleagues to write less about us. You know, nine out of ten pages of your magazine are scolding us!"

The person who spoke at this moment was Iris's father, Joe West. An experienced detective. He was a colleague of Kai, but of course they were not in the same bureau. His precinct was the worst area in Los Angeles, an immigrant settlement.

"That's to spur you! We must guarantee freedom of the press!" Although she was just a waitress in a coffee shop before, she seemed to have become a real journalist since she started working at a news magazine.

"Damn it! Why don't you report the news of our solving the case? I've been a police officer for decades and solved countless cases, but I still get scolded all day long." Joe didn't want his daughter to become a reporter. In his opinion, those reporters are clowns who are sensationalists. Look at their articles. They don't write about good things at all, but they publicize bad things!

"That's because no one reads the praises! Dad! We have to think about sales. After all, reporters have to eat!" Iris pointed out the truth of the matter very coldly.

"Okay, Iris, tell me about the previous intelligence. Is what you said true, the auction house of the Albanian gang?" Barry stopped the quarrel between father and daughter in time. He knew that this thing would never end.