January 2, 1940 - Vyacheslav Ivankov

Few figures better illustrate the post-Soviet criminal diaspora than Ivankov, who carried the vor v zakone tradition across continents, ultimately embedding Russian organized crime within American underworld networks during the 1990s. His alleged ties to state intelligence added a layer of institutional ambiguity that complicated law enforcement efforts on both sides of the Atlantic.

From Wikipedia

Vyacheslav Kirillovich Ivankov (Russian: Вячесла́в Кири́ллович Иванько́в; 2 January 1940 – 9 October 2009) was a Russian mafia boss and thief in law who was believed to have connections with Russian state intelligence organizations and their organized crime partners. He operated in both the Soviet Union and the United States. His nickname, "Yaponchik" (Япончик), translates from Russian as "Little Japanese", due to his faintly Asian facial features.

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