View source for Soviet fur mafia

The '''Soviet fur mafia''' was a major [[organized crime]] uncovered in the [[Soviet Union]] in 1970s as a result of '''Operation 'Cartel'''' by [[KGB]]. It was operating around several [[left production|"underground"]] [[furrier]] factories in [[Kazakh SSR]]. The case ended in prosecution of some 500 people, with 3 top ''[[tsekhovik]]s'' (owners of illegal factories) receiving death sentence.<ref>Martin Mccauley, ''The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union'', ISBN 1317867831, 2014, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uqWsAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA374 pp. 374-375]</ref><ref name=anko>Андрей Колесник, ''Бандитский СССР. Самые яркие уголовные дела'', ISBN 5457056236, [https://books.google.com/books?id=OY_JAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT28 ]</ref><ref name=faki>Фархат КИНЖИТАЕВ, [http://inkaraganda.kz/index.php?article=3051 "Взгляд через годы"] ''Industrialnaya Karaganda'', 18-06-2013</ref><ref>Станислав Малоземов, Елена Малоземова, [http://www.np.kz/old/2004/25/rretro1.html "Охота на пушного зверя"], ''Novoe Pokolenie'' (НОВОЕ ПОКОЛЕНИЕ), Kazakhstan</ref><ref name = erau>Эрик АУБАКИРОВ, [http://old.express-k.kz/show_article.php?art_id=95750 "Как Караганда рассорила КГБ и МВД"] ''Express K'' (''Экспресс К''), № 94 (17933) от May 31, 2014</ref>

In the Soviet Union [[fur trade]] was a major source of hard currency.

The case started in 1972 by an accident when during an investigation of a robbery in Moscow when several [[fur coat]]s were uncovered without proper manufacturer's tags.<ref name=anko/><ref name=erau/>

==References==
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[[Category:Second economy of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Karaganda]]