Black Caviar

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Studies of Organized Crime book series (SOOC, volume 15)

Abstract

Caviar has a long and rich history, from the food of the poor to a luxury product for the upper classes in Europe. Historically, the symbolic value of caviar is determined in the context of changing social, political and environmental circumstances. The poaching exploded in the 1990s with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, due to which poor local people became unemployed and resorted to poaching. This chapter highlights that criminal networks manifest themselves at all levels of the trade: from the poaching areas where organized criminal groups cooperate with law enforcers and possess top-notch equipment to major smuggling operations in the hands of sophisticated criminal networks. The consequences include not only the possible extinguishing of this ancient fish, but the trade can also become extremely harmful to local people and the Caspian ecosystem.

Keywords

Illegal caviar Russian organized crime Illegal wildlife trade Wildlife crime Green criminology CITES 
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Willem Pompe InstituteUtrecht UniversityUtrechtThe Netherlands

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