Iron and other racketeering methods in the 1990s
In the 90s of the twentieth century, even children knew the meaning of the word “racketeering”. At that time, the most incredible, mostly horrific rumors circulated about racketeers.
What was the cost of their famous instrument of torture — the iron! And there were many similar methods of extortion.
Voluntarily or compulsorily
The racketeers were mainly engaged in the fact that most often forcibly forced merchants and entrepreneurs to pay them part of the income from their business.
In exchange, the criminals defended their wards from encroachments from other gangster groups, that is, they provided entrepreneurs with a so-called “roof”. By the mid-90s, bandits “covered” about 85% of all organizations in the country.
In the current criminal situation at that time, some businessmen voluntarily turned to racketeers in order to protect themselves and their business from other bandits.
However, those who did not want to pay tribute were psychologically broken or simply tortured by the criminals.
Psychological pressure
In the 90s, the racketeers were mainly former athletes and the military, who, as a rule, were in good physical shape.
That is why often the mere appearance of the bandits terrified entrepreneurs. The bandits also played into the hands of numerous rumors and gossip about their atrocities. As a result, the use of violence against victims was sometimes unnecessary.
However, if the merchant turned out to be not a timid dozen, all kinds of methods of psychological pressure were used in the first place.
For example, an entrepreneur could simply be pushed into the salon or trunk of a car and rolled through the streets until he agreed to the conditions of the racketeers.
There are frequent cases when businessmen were taken out of town or to the nearest forest belt, where they were forced to dig his own grave. For the most part, these techniques worked flawlessly.
Racketeer ingenuity
Despite the fact that the gangs of the 90s were well armed, racketeers often visited their victims empty-handed.
They found everything necessary for extortion right there — in the apartment or office of the entrepreneurs.
So the racketeers used household appliances as an instrument of torture. For example, an ordinary iron, which was plugged into a network and applied to the victim’s stomach, back and other parts of the body. Or a toaster, inside which you put the fingers of entrepreneurs, and then lower the lever.
Blow torches have also gained wide popularity among racketeers. With the help of a lamp, the recalcitrant victim was cauterized on the heels or even placed in the poor man’s rectum. In addition, the bandits also used various improvised means for short-term strangulation of the victim.
To do this, they used an ordinary plastic bag, which was put on the head of the entrepreneur, or they simply lowered the head of the merchant into a bathtub filled with water.
But more often than not, uncompromising businessmen were simply beaten. To do this, the racketeers took with them sports equipment, namely baseball bats
