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Capitalizing on local needs and alliances in organized crime
To succeed in organized crime, groups must seize upon local economic needs or open ecological niches, while also navigating alliances with local gangsters and law enforcement. When Russian-based gangs tried to expand into Baltic states, they were quickly pushed back due to the lack of space and the threat they posed. Local gangsters often collaborated with law enforcement to thwart these invaders, using the state to eliminate external threats and preserving their own turfs. The failure of early criminal conquests led these groups to return in the 2000s as entrepreneurs, leveraging the characteristics of Russian organized crime to succeed in a new guise.