DATE Europe Threat Actors

DATE Europe > DATE Europe Threat Actors ←You are here

Significant Criminal Actors

Significant Transnational Criminal Actors in the OE

Group Name	Type	Country	Description
Atbrivosana/ATB	Cyber	Transnational	ATB is a cyber-criminal organization operating in every country in the European and Caucasus regions. Not associated with the Anonymous movement, they nonetheless use many of the same tactics using a veneer of anarchist political leanings. In truth, they are hackers-for-hire in the criminal world. Common tactics include ransomware, distributed denial of services (DDOS) attacks, introduction of malware (logic bombs, worms, viruses, etc) into servers and individual computers, and defacing public websites.
Baltic Buddy	Cyber	Transnational	This is a transnational criminal organization which specializes in cyber theft, media manipulation, perception management through the Internet, and development and dissemination of “fake news”. Not as prolific as ATB, Baltic Buddy has been exceptionally successful at eluding location, arrest, and incarceration. They are known to have operatives in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. They are suspected of having cells scattered throughout Europe using the dark web for communications. Funding also comes form illegal cryptocurrency mining, money laundering, and "Darknet"/"Dark Wallet" operations.
Donovian Mafia	Organized Crime	Donovia	An extension of the Donovian Mafia in the Caucasus, their membership now includes some Torrikans. While openly proud of their Donovian heritage, the main victims of their activities are Donovian expatriates working and living in Bothnia. The Donovian Mafia specializes in prostitution, drug trafficking, financial crimes (illegal Bitcoin mining and money laundering), European smuggling, protection rackets, and extortion. Members greet each other as “moy va brat” (my brother). Non-members are never referred to with that title. Unlike the Torrike branch, the Donovian Mafia in Bothnia is a carefully structured Cosa Nostra–type family with specific rules about member activities and expectations of the organization. In 2016, Bothnian customs officials seized 54 kg of methamphetamines being smuggled from Bothnia to Donovia. The perpetrators were all known associates of the Donovian Mafia.
Nutakus	Smuggling	Bothnia	Olvanans in Nutaku tend to keep a very low profile while using low level criminals to conduct street work. Nutakus specialize in Asian smuggling and corruption of ship crews, stevedores at ports, local law enforcement officers, and judges. In the last ten years, the Nutakus in Bothnia have added counterfeiting and sale of false government papers (national identity cards, passports, customs inspections, etc). These are sold to smugglers and human traffickers as well as local criminals. A percentage of earnings are sent to Nutaku leadership in Olvana.
Saints of Cognitio (SoC)	Cyber	Transnational	SoC is a transnational criminal organization with elements in Ariana, Atropia, Bothnia, and Donovia. SoC uses a variety of INFOWAR actions to right perceived wrongs as well as to raise revenue. Where effective INFOWAR capabilities were once limited to state actors, SoC is known to employ a combination of media manipulation and information activities, alongside computer warfare, to disrupt organizations—state or non-state—that it believes act outside of its own moral code. While their motivations are predominantly ethical, they are not averse to forming short-term alliances with other irregular actors to raise revenue or to achieve maximum effect. Their normal target is national police and security forces, government facilities and major corporations.
Uber Cyber Tree	Cyber	Transnational	(aka "SPRUC_3", "Spruce 3", "3ntity”, and "Entity") This is a decentralized Anonymous network of "Blackhat" hackers which is anti-NATO in political position. Spruce-3 is linked to numerous hackers throughout Europe. Its criminal activity includes infiltration and exploitation of banking vulnerabilities, stealing large amounts of "virtual money" later converted into bitcoins, illegal cryptocurrency mining, money laundering, and "Dark Wallet" operations. The financing network and channeling of funds have not yet been identified. Spruce 3 successfully mounted a complex center of operations in the Onion Tor network (DeepWeb), using encrypted access to establish a secure communication network on the "darknet."

Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs

EUROPOL is especially concerned about the spread of outlaw motorcycle gangs into Europe from the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Since 2015, there has been steady growth in the membership of such gangs worldwide. In Europe, the number of clubs has more than doubled.

The main threat to public safety from outlaw motorcycle gangs stems from their propensity for extreme forms of violence. This includes the use of firearms and explosive devices such as grenades. In general, the use of intimidation and violence is intrinsic to the subculture of outlaw motorcycle gangs and serves to exert control over group members, rival gangs and others, such as victims of extortion.

Founded originally in the southeastern United States, Furnace is the largest and most dangerous group, and the only transnational biker gang in Bothnia. There are smaller gangs which are being slowly subsumed into Furnace after the ‘Nordic Biker Wars’ of the 1990s. The Furnace MC goal is to have Bothnia as a “one patch country” where only the Furnace patch is allowed. This is a multi-racial gang, unlike most other clubs which are organized along racial lines. Other large U.S. gangs are attempting to establish themselves in Bothnia, and several local gangs refuse to “patch over” to Furnace. This has led to violent encounters which have made national attention. Furnace MC in Bothnia specializes in local drug production (methamphetamines, ecstasy, etc.) and distribution, smuggling, extortion, and murder for hire. There are suspected cases of them working for the Donovian Mafia. Furnace MC is known to work closely with the Bocyowicz Crime Family (BCF) in Atropia. See DATE Caucasus for more information on BCF.

FURNACE MC define themselves as “the oven where trash is burned and steel is hardened”. Club colors are black and red. Full members wear back patch of a flaming skull. Top rocker is club name. Bottom rocker is chapter location. MC patch on right. 1%er patch on left. In Otso, this is translated to “Yksi Prosentti”: Otsan language translation for One Percenter, or outlaw biker. The name “Ignitor” is the only name tag allowed on the front of a member’s colors unless he is the chapter president or enforcer. Prospects wear only the bottom rocker on the back, and an embroidered name tag in the left-front which says “BLASTER”. No other patches are allowed on a prospect’s colors.

Titles/Name tags:

• "Breaker". Chapter President.
• "Blaster". Prospective member, usually a year or longer, must “survive the blast”, or successfully complete all tasks assigned without question or concern.
• "Ignitor". Full patch member.
• "Destructor". Club enforcer, a member who has killed for the club. A destructor is a special member function that ends the life of a competitor. The purpose of the destructor is to free up the resources of the victim and acquire them for the club.

Club tattoos are allowed only for full members. Anyone with these tattoos that are not Furnace members (including Blasters) will be beaten, and the tattoo will be removed with a razor or burned off with a torch. All full members have the black flames on their right forearm. The group uses a flaming skull patch on either the right or left shoulder to indicate that a member is an enforcer/Destructor. Full members may have the flaming skull design tattooed to their back. Flame representations may only be red or black. All clothing and accessories with Furnace emblems are considered club property and are kept when a member dies or leaves the club.