The potential for the growth of organized crime in Central and Eastern Europe.

The article looks at organized crime and its potential growth in Central and Eastern Europe. It mentions that the rates of reported as well as unreported crime have surged amid the virtual collapse of formal and informal social control in the region. Organized crime prior to the perestroika political movement are discussed which include drug-trafficking and art theft, the first of which is said to serve as a potential growth area where the shipment of drugs abroad generates significant profits. Changes and growth of organized crime following perestroika are also mentioned, one change of which is the increase in the number of targets for crime.