Camparelli-Zukhov Megasyndicate

The Camparelli-Zukhov Megasyndicate is the largest and most powerful organized crime syndicate in the Nova Age.

History

The Megasyndicate grew from the twin roots of the Italian-American mafia and the Russian organizatsiya. Organized crime thrived after the Moscow Crash, particularly at its ground zero in Russia. In 2001, Team Tomorrow took the offensive, rolling up crime families across Europe and North America. Two mid-level players, Luciano Camparelli and Alexi Zukhov, took advantage of the chaos to consolidate the survivors and fill the vacuum created by the arrests. Eventually, the two reached an agreement: open war between their organizations would leave them vulnerable to Team Tomorrow, but an alliance would allow them to dominate the underworld on half the planet.

Organization

The megasyndicate has a dual hierarchy, with Zukhov and Camparelli each sticking to a prescribed territory, but crossover is extensive and growing closer all the time. Their lieutentants, using the titles don or vor, form a council of advisors that keep them appraised of the megasyndicate's operations. Each of the vory oversees a particular territory, or regime; C-Z's control covers most of North America, Europe, and Russia, with limited reach into Mexico, Great Britain, India, Africa and Australia.

C-Z uses more nova enforcers than any other organized crime group in the world, although most of these are contracted elites rather than mafia loyalists. The exceptions are typically those such as Hugo Pinella who were already members before they erupted.

Relations

Zukhov is an old acquaintance of Andrei Srebrianski, which has helped his operations evade the Russian government. Vladimir Sierka considers organized crime a necessary part of Russia's political ecology, and has protected the megasyndicate for the time being. Petr Ilyanovich, the founder of the Directive, also has history with Zukhov, but his colleagues have kept him from pursuing the vendetta.

Project Utopia realized too late that wiping out organized crime would not be as simple as rounding up a few gangsters, and accordingly have reduced their focus. C-Z is a useful villain whenever they need to generate a positive headline, but eliminating it entirely is beyond their grasp.

The Mafia has a long history with the Vatican, and Luciano Camparelli personally engineered the election of Pope Benedict XVI as an insurance policy - any government that makes significant inroads against the megasyndicate will also expose the depth of the Catholic Church's corruption.

The megasyndicate's chief rivals are the Nakato Gumi and the Heaven Thunder Triad.