Code of Silence

Code of Silence - Chapter 15

Anatoly Dragovich hadn't slept well. For the first few nights following his ousting from Ekranotech he'd struggled to come to terms with it. A proud and stoic man he wasn't used to being on the receiving end of bad news, nor being unable to control a difficult situation. But Ekranotech was now in his past and the payoff Radoslav had made would go some way to easing the pain.

In his younger days he'd been directly involved with the Vory at ground level. As a brigadier within one of the Working Groups, as they were called, he was instrumental in operating criminal activities at a local level: drugs, extortion, trafficking and general fraudulent activity designed to make serious money. He'd learned the ropes quickly and excelled in his roles, developing a ruthless focus and a blind eye to any consequences that didn't directly affect him or the job he had to do.

The Vory was an organisation with a long and chequered history, and he was to meet with the senior tier of the Solntsevskaya, the largest of the mafia organisations operating in Moscow. They numbered into the thousands, yet were operated through a lean and effective structure. At the top was the Elite Group operated by the Pakhan and his two generals, sometimes known as his spies. The Pakhan was responsible for the big decisions, the running of the organisation, the philosophy and culture of the whole thing.

Below the Elite Group were two more: the Security Group and the Support Group, each managed by one of the Pakhan's spies. The Security Group was responsible for daily organisational activity and intelligence, plus ensuring there was no crossover with other mafia organisations. The Support Group was assigned to specific tasks, and to oversee the activities of the Working Group. Both the Security and Support Groups had equal standing and were run by the Vory's most experienced and dangerous people. Below them was where the dirty work happened: the Working Groups.

The Working Groups were created and disbanded based on instructions from the Support Group, depending on where criminal activity was required and where there was the most money to be made in the shortest period of time. Dragovich knew this structure well, and it reminded him of the larger corporate organisations he'd eventually worked in, with their board and management structures. Similar, but far more effective and operated with ruthless efficiency.

He had risen from the Working Groups in his late twenties to become part of the Support Group. It was in this role that he first got involved with the Russian postal service as part of the Vory's plan to have one of their own within large national organisations that were vital to Russia's infrastructure. It helped them legitimise their own activities and, once they were involved in these huge businesses, it was very difficult for them to be detected or removed. Energy companies, mining, banking, logistics and airlines were the primary targets, and all of them were riddled with Vory insiders, ensuring the organisation's reach was truly international.

As Dragovich approached the hotel on a side street just off the main square, close to the hustle and bustle of one of Moscow's prestigious shopping centres, he was excited about his reunion with the Vory bosses. He'd been pleased to discover that there had been little change at the top, and the same people that he'd worked with since his promotion to the Support Group and on to the Russian postal service were still firmly in charge.

It was like a sort of homecoming after an arduous assignment in a corporate role that he'd reluctantly taken up as a loyal servant. But he knew his time on this corporate assignment would benefit the organisation and promote his own ability with the people that mattered. He was well respected by his Vory peers and bosses. At first his loyalty had been questioned when he'd explained he wished to do things a little differently, balancing his early Vory activities with a more honest approach in the future. Some saw it as a sign of weakness and proposed drastic action; others could understand but feared to comment. It was the senior people who recognised that the world was changing and that the Vory needed a new, or at least an adjusted, approach to take them into the future.