Human Trafficking and the Russian Mob

Two CSU, Chico sociology students summarize their research on the major role of Russian organized crime in the trafficking of women to the sex trade and the selling of babies for adoption in other countries.  They explain that Russian mobsters have proliferated since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The resulting political and economic chaos allowed them to get a strong foothold in Russia, a country with a large amount of domestic violence and no defined laws against organized crime.  Russian criminals are working in casinos and brothels in Europe and Asia, as well as in 27 states in the U.S.