Vory V Zakone (Seattle)

The Vory smuggle in a lot of interesting hardware courtesy of
their friends in the Russian military-industrial complex. They’ll sell
this stuff to anyone, even kids. I’ve seen thirteen-year-old gangers
prowl the docks with assault rifles.
> Red Anya

Vory prostitutes prowl those docks too—Ivans and Ivannas all
tagged with pricelists for their various services. The Russians also
use the tags to track down runaways.
> Butch

Aside from smuggling and the flesh trade, the Vory excel at Matrix operations: everything from data brokerage and credit fraud to e-hijacking and denial-of-service extortion attacks. Many of these operations are coordinated with Vory allies in Russia against Seattle targets, making prosecution difficult.

Not that the Vory worry much about being arrested. They’ve already
made great inroads towards infiltrating the prison system
here. They don’t get the life of luxury and security behind bars like
the ol’ corrupt prison system in Russia allowed for, but they do
have a lock on prison economy staples like makeshift knives, prison
tattoos, and home-made intoxicants, especially in old-school
hellholes like the Hollywood Correctional Facility and Silcox Island
Correctional Facility.
> Hard Exit

Interestingly, the explosion of Goblin Rock and Orxploitation Rap
in Seattle is partly due to Vory sponsorship of prominent ork recording
artists. Semi-retired Vory members Josif Radek and Sergei
Malenkin own Hez Music, and Hez Music promotes major artists
like CrimeTime. The Vory use the industry and concert channels to
sell BTLs while Hez Music launders the proceeds. Also, I hear that the Tsar Alexander "Terminator"
is a lunatic who some say is a cyberzombie. It's said that he suffers from constant paranoia; switching
up his guards, generals, and employees constantly.
> Fatima

FWIW, the Vory are also tight with the Chimera hit squad. They
don’t play this trump card often—Chimera’s expensive, even for
the Vory—but they will if you cause them too much grief.
> Riser

Vory Prostitution Ring



The Vory have a very successful Prostitution Ring. Why is it so successful? While the Yakuza have customizable ladies, and the LAÉSA have the most beautiful elven maidens, the Vory have an upper hand on all of them. They have the CHEAPEST prostitutes on the streets. Shipping the ladies over from Moscow, the women make double what they did in the ruski city, while the clients pay half of what they would with any other "flesh-trade". And though the odds of catching something with Vory ladies is a greater risk, many low end streeters or wage slaves looking for a thrill tend to sway towards the low costing lady over a high end girl any day.

Vory Chop Shops



With job demands for computer techs going down in Russia, many grads became discouraged and in return, turned to crime. Hackers are bountiful in the Vory and use their expertise to break into vehicles' security; riggers then deliver the cars to Vory chop shops. Using the Balard docks, they ship the vehicles out of country to areas with less strict security and investigations for grand theft.

Firearm Sales

The Vory are well known for their cheap weaponry shipped over from the "Motherland". Most guns supplied to gangs in Tacoma are sold by the Vory v Zakone are more often then not sold or stolen from the Russian or the Yakut (Awakened Siberia) Military. Though cheap in price, unlike Chinese firearms, the Vory's weaponry is more often then not reliable in a gun fight.

Intimidation

Whether it is the direct breaking of bones or a more subtle technique, the Vory v Zakone use intimidation to ensure obedience and cooperation. A favorite technique of the Avtoritet is to stop by a man’s house and talk to his wife and children. During this interaction, the boss is extremely polite and amiable. Later, when the man comes home, he will find his wife sitting at the dinner table with the Avtoritet—depending on how obtuse the man is, the Avtoritet will make it clear that he can hurt this family at any moment. The unstated threat is that failure to comply will result in the man’s family being hurt rather than him directly. In contrast, a Vor will send several bojeviks down to the house. They will park their car across the street and simply watch the house, making it perfectly clear that they know where the man lives and can break down the door at the drop of a hat. Strong arm tactics extend to businesses as well as individuals. The Vory have been known to go into a bar, throw everyone out and have an extended "talk" with the proprietor. In these cases, violence and pain are used in the intimidation, but the enforcers do their best to not kill anyone. Dead people can’t pay the protection fund.

Bribery

With roots in the corrupt and unstable regions of Russia and Eastern Europe, the Vory are well practiced at bribing officials or greasing palms to get what they need. More than one politician has died under unusual circumstances, only to be replaced by a successor who is able to be bought. The Obschak supplies the funds for the bribes and there are politicians on the payroll who may never directly aid the Vory, but they never get in the way either. Beyond direct cash on the barrelhead, Avtoritet are known to purchase expensive gifts for the spouses and lovers of politicians and key figures. These gifts in kind serve as tokens  hat can later be called in when the Avtoritet needs something.

Some of the older Vors and Avtoritets take a longue durée look at their operations and infiltrate companies or security firms. They begin grooming a shestiorka for a position and a decade later have their own man on the inside. To streamline the process, these tsars often bribe promotion review boards to fast-track candidates. In order to not show their hand, the candidates that are fast-tracked are not always the shestiorka infiltrators. Instead they can be bought men and women who now have a vested interest in helping the Vory or staying out of the way. Beyond law enforcement, there are Vors that lead double lives themselves in mega-corporate roles. The Tolo Vory in Hong Kong is an example of a leader being fully-entrenched in both spheres of influence. By running the Marine Authority for Evo, he is well placed to warn his people about crack-downs by local police forces.

It’s rumored that Evo knows of his involvement and turns a blind eye to it. The benefits for both sides can be enormous, with the
AAA and the syndicate both scratching each other’s back.

Data Brokerage

Tracking the logistics of who is working for whom, can be difficult but worthwhile. During the initial exodus into Europe, the Western Vory began developing networks of informants and freelance watchers. Paparazzi without the glitz, these watchers follow an individual and collect information about their lives and habits. The pay scale depends on how secure the target is, and whether or not the Vory are able to resell the information. Exclusive rights to findings can be purchased, but they come with a high price tag.

This process was in many ways aided by the Second Crash. Now, agents and hackers track down and monitor their targets through the Matrix. With a member of the Vory following the mark physically and overwatch, the amount of information that can be gathered in a few days now used to take weeks. Sorting through the information that they gather, and cross-checking against who is buying, creates a web of intrigue that has helped several of the Avtoritet stay a few steps ahead of danger.

Loan Sharking

The Vory have money. When people like you borrow money from us, we tell you when the nuyen needs to be paid back. The problem comes when you can’t get the money or you don’t think we’re serious. That’s when Sergei and Ivan break your legs. Beyond letting our enforcers play with new punching bags, loan sharking helps us launder money. When we invest in businesses who need our help, they pay us back and the cred has gone through enough hands that it can’t be traced. When businesses who are under our protection fall behind on their loans, we use shadowrunners. Sending one of the bojeviks gives a mixed message and let’s them think we aren’t doing our best to protect them. The runner’s job is to get the money or make as messy an example as possible so that others know what happens when you don’t pay.

Matrix Crimes

Beyond the hybrid data-brokerage, relying on meat and matrix presences, the Vory dabble is just about every Matrix based crime that there is a law against. From denial of service to credit fraud, they extort money from small business owners and individuals.

Few of the other syndicates have embraced the wireless matrix as thoroughly as the Vory have. The Western Vory, combine their digital warfare with strong-arm tactics to ensure cooperation. Due to the prolific nature of the Matrix, it is possible for groups to work across factions—utilizing a local spotter to sniff out an Access ID, then have a hacker in another country bounce through proxy nodes and do the actual hack.

A growing industry is e-hijacking, intercepting of physical shipments by altering the shipping manifests. The Vory v Zakone discovered the profitability of this a few years ago and have been quietly shifting contents ever since. By altering the delivery manifest and the quantities, hackers re-route shipments in whole or in part to a new location. Due to the increased automation, these technological crimes can go unnoticed for a week or more, by which point the goods have already been distributed through the black market.

Prostitution



In contrast to the more glamorous Yakuza parlora with geisha or the technological bunraku parlors, the Vory prostitutes maintain the classics. Joytoys walk the streets, in the docks and red-light districts. Each of them is tagged with prices for their services. More established organizatsy, run cheap motels and coffins, where you pick your room and are charged by the minute. Certified funds are paid to the pimp or the house and the John gets his joytoy. The houses are each protected by the bojeviks and local gangs. The gangs are paid in cash and trade at the house.

Pandering to the basic human needs, the Western Vory also do home deliveries. They bring in custom toys for special clients and guarantee confidentiality. Many of the prostitutes used, are pulled out of z-zones, former squatters who are willing to trade their bodies for three squares a day. Some of the prostitutes are implanted with sim-rigs. This enables the Vory to get a double use out of their toys, both as whores and sim-starlets for the sim-porn productions that push out low-grade, cheap BTLs.

Protection

One of the first things that a new organizatsy sets up is a protection racket. Why, because protection is easy. People pay us and we make sure the thugs don’t hurt them. Refuse to pay, and well, gang violence is everywhere. Each group is slightly different in how they provide protection. Most of us let the local gangs know who is off the list. There is no reason to leave marks on doors or AROs. AROs are like matching tattoos, we’re criminals not sorority members. If a gang rolls one of the shops protected, the gang pays back the protection fund.

Smuggling

Within Russia, the Red Vory control almost all black market and smuggling operations. They utilize a similar structure to megacorporate supply chain. The Avtoritets track purchasing trends and move a gross of assault rifles, the same way a Stuffer Shack orders another case of Soykaf. Similar to the Stuffer Shack, the Vory don’t care who they are selling to. Loaded down with the latest and greatest toys out of the military-industrial complex, the only thing they care about is how much you are willing to pay.

White Colar Crime

The avtoritet run this stuff. Their organizatsy are set up like corps, and so they do the crimes the corps do. Lideri bring in new investors. The books all show the company is solid and a "prime investment opportunity." For a few months, the gruppa manages the capital flow and even gives money back to initial investors as a return on investment. This is to get more people to invest rather than actually holding up the bargain. I’m told that the money paid out is from new investors putting money in, so the obschak is never touched. When enough money has come in, the lideri siphon the money out and dump bad debt in. Soon enough the holding company is dumped and the investors are all out of luck.

Aurora



Little is known of this elven female, save for the fact that she acts as bodyguard for the Tsar and enjoys a high level of independence within the organization. Though typically aloof and cold towards others, she does show emotion freely in high-risk situations.

Initially freed from a Triad (Eighty-Eights) controlled warehouse, Aurora revealed she's a skilled driver and melee combatant, possessed of extraordinary upper body strength that her slim frame would not hint at.

The Commissar



Not much is known about the human decker known as the Commissar, save for the fact that his decking skill is far above average and that he is equally as well-trained in handling an assault riffle. He owns a black, heavily tuned, Eurocar Westwind 3000.

He seems to handle much of the "day-to-day" affairs of the Vory in Seattle, including the hiring of shadowrunner teams. Not afraid of field work, the Commissar seems to prefer this type of work to merely acting as a Fixer or Mr. Johnson.