Yesterday, late at night on the 14/03/2024, Levan Jangveladze was shot dead on Chavchavadze Avenue in Tbilisi. He was the brother of Merab Jangveladze, the leader of the Sukhumi thieves' clan. Preliminary reports indicate that nine bullets were fired at the victim.

Levan played a key role in his brother's organization and was essentially its "brain center." He handled delicate matters that Merab, due to his status, could not personally oversee, including legal business operations and interactions with corrupt law enforcement agencies.

There are rumors that Levan was responsible for the clan's enforcement operations and was behind several high-profile actions, including the assassinations of prominent Russian criminal figures Vyacheslav Ivankov "Yaponchik" and Ded Khasan, who were in opposition to the Sukhumi-Kutaisi faction. This theory is supported by a "greeting" allegedly sent to Merab by Khasan’s spiritual successor, Lasha Shushanashvili.

Another sworn enemy of Merab—especially after his men wounded Thief in Law Dato Ozmanov—is the supreme thief-in-law, Shakro Molodoy.

For Merab Jangveladze, the death of his brother is undoubtedly an irreplaceable loss.

What will happen next? We shouldn't forget
The leaders of the Sukhumi-Kutaisi Thievs Clan Merab Jangveladze and Tariel Oniani "Taro" are alive and free in Europe, and the Decision maker between them is undoubtedly Taro.

Are we on the verge of a new war in the post-Soviet criminal world? Only time will tell...

I don't know why western/european media have reported so little about Tariel Oniani interesting guy.

Very true, he was operating all over Europe in the 90s, was in Spain and manged to escape during the crackdown on Russian/Georgian criminal groups there in 2005, the same operation which eventually lead to Shakro arrest, Tariel Oniani still operating in Europe, he served his prison time in Spain, released and returned back to Europe, Merab Jangveladze is practically his second hand man, about him there absolutely nothing in western/european media, even he is also living in Europe right now

Any real info on what the big clans like Oniani, Usoyan, Mikhailov etc. are involved in and what kind of money they're making? Everyone always talks about the "Russians" like they're billionaires but it seems there's not much concrete info.

USOYAN

The 75-year-old ethnic Kurd, born in Soviet Georgia, was first convicted in 1956. In the past two decades, he gained control over many criminal groups in Moscow, St. Petersburg and southern Russia, according to widespread accounts from police officials, organized crime experts and media reports. He purportedly controlled underground gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution and legal businesses including in the construction industry. He also kept obschak, an emergency fund for imprisoned top criminals behind bars — a position that gave him immense power. He also was a "top judge" who settled conflicts between other criminal clans.

About Sergei Mikhailov - Mikhas only on his Wikipedia page on English you already can read about a witnesses in one of his cases being shot before he can testify, he is connected to Semion Mogilevich who was on the list of the FBI Top Ten wanted, he was removed because he isn't really a fugitive he is living protected in Moscow and they just aren't going to extradite him, but you can see that he have a really long list of charges, and there the Solntsevskaya Bratva, which allegedly Mikhas lead to this day.

As for Aslan Usoyan, he was very much prominent and strong in Moscow and around different regions across Russia, controlling underground gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution and legal businesses including in the construction industry - he made alot of money in contracts about building facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics, it's was also one of the reasons that got him into conflict with Tariel Oniani, Aslan Usoyan made Millions if not Billions of dollars, and Tariel who just escape capture by Spain Police during operation wasp wanted a share out of those business activities, which Usoyan refused to give him, this become one of many other reasons for the conflict between them, Usoyan organization also run the Afghan Connection, Drug trafficking form Afghanistan hidden in vacuum sealed bricks with raw cotton, getting into the Russian drug market and then all over Europe, he was a man of wide connections, alot of weapon trafficking like in the Georgian Civil War, The War in Abkhazia or to the PKK - Kurdish Workers Party, but he also managed to save life when he secured the release of kidnapped Russian Official, there is no doubt Aslan Usoyan - Grandpa Hassan is a very interesting person, but money love silence and so the Vory V Zakone.

Tariel Oniani - Leader of the Kutaisi Criminal Clan, Together with Merab Jangveladze (Leader of the Sukhumi Criminal Clan) they both united their organization creating one of the biggest Criminal syndicate in the Post Soviet Era, both Tariel and Merab following the collapse of the Iron Curtain moved to Europe, they active all across Europe in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and also active in the Post-Soviet Countries, Tariel Oniani and the Kutaisi Clan are pretty traditional in their crimes, Pickpocket, breaking into apartments, breaking into cars and stealing them, robbery, racketeering, extortion, underground gambling, loan sharks, money laundering, human trafficking, according to different sources Tariel Oniani net worth is about 400 Millions Dollars, there much more to learn about Tariel Oniani and his organization, but there no doubt those people make money and alot of it.

Guys like Oniani make money from all kind of rackets if your on the top of the food chain the profits come to you even Pickpocketing that is why there are called Thieves !

New details have been revealed about the murder of Criminal Authority figure Levan Jangveladze (brother of influential "thief-in-law" Merab Jangveladze) in Tbilisi. Levan had long taken serious security measures, moved only with bodyguards, and did not disclose his whereabouts. Only one month ago, he was in Moscow, where he held meetings.

He traveled to Tbilisi to bid farewell to a close friend, accompanied by a bodyguard there as well.

The criminals knew perfectly well that Levan wouldn’t miss the farewell ceremony for the deceased and simply set up an ambush near the site of the memorial service. A killer wearing a black baseball cap took position at the farewell location, where Levan arrived with his bodyguard. When they stepped outside, the assassin let them pass, then drew a pistol. First, he attacked the bodyguard, who chose to flee. Jangveladze ran toward a bus stop, but the killer shot him in the back, then fired additional rounds to finish him off.

As for Levan influential brother, Merab has not yet reached a definite conclusion about who might be behind his brother’s murder—Levan had plenty of enemies. In the Merab-Levan duo, it was Levan who handled violent conflict resolution, including eliminations.

Levan combined his criminal activities with businesses in transportation, metal sales, and printing services (at one point, his enterprises even printed the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs bulletin), among others.

At the same time, he was always interested in marketplaces and fruit and vegetable bases, which led to bloody conflicts with Azerbaijani mafia clans.

Different sources dismissed theories such as revenge for the elimination of "thief-in-law No. 1" Aslan Usoyan (Ded Khasan) or retaliation from the current "thief-in-law No. 1" Zakhar Kalashov (Shakro Molodoy) for an old attack on his relative, Dato Ozmanov.


Such assassination could have been orchestrated by influential "thief-in-law" Lasha Shushanashvili. In the past, the Tariel Oniani-Jangveladze brothers’ clan eliminated a large number of mafiosi close to Lasha worldwide, and most of these killings were organized by Levan.

It was precisely because of Shushanashvili’s stance that Shakro’s recent idea of a universal "truce" among thieves-in-law never materialized. Lasha refused to let go of his grievances against Taro-Jangveladze.

However, this is just one version—Levan had no shortage of other enemies.

Wasn't Lasha Shushanashvili arrested In Greece some years ago another major player.

True, he was arrested a few years ago in Greece, he was sentenced up to 2028 but he was released in 2023 for health reasons, he still live and operates from Greece and is still a very major player, he was very close to Aslan Usoyan before his death and was in a conflict with Tariel Oniani, and still Lasha Shushanashvili didn't make peace with Taro, look like he never forget to take his revenge