Crime Situation in Latvia
Crime is something that exists in every country and unfortunately it will always have place in life of any small town or big city. Latvia is not an exception. It is a small European country, but the level of criminality is very high and is still rising.
First of all, there are a lot of organized crime groups structured in hierarchical manner where four large associations divide the territory. Usually these people extort money from people who are running business, and instead they provide the safety, as they say. A major part of groups have contacts with organised crime groups abroad, mainly Russia, but also Lithuania and other neighbouring countries. The activities requiring such cooperation are typically related to smuggling and transit of smuggled goods. Smuggling is the main area of contacts since Latvia is an important transit country for smuggling stolen cars and other goods.
Organised crime - cash flow
Gangsters: Organized Crime
English: Organized crime brochureThen, another big problem is drug trafficking. Latvia's geographical position makes it attractive as a transit country for narcotics. New drugs have entered the market, and new drug abuse patterns are emerging. New and younger user groups are emerging, and a high social acceptance of some drugs, such as cannabis and LSD. Actually, that is a social problem what forces children and young people to spend more time in the streets where there are strong temptations for drug abuse. So there is much to be done to stop and control the drug supply system.
Every day there are several cases of robbery, burglary, rape, thievery and other crimes in Latvia. In my opinion, that is a social problem, and we have to try to solve it all together, loving and helping each other in difficult situations, not inciting a person in trouble to crime.