[IM_YOUR_GOD]

The secret is to keep your mouth close and bullets eh' plenty.

[Pedochu]

QUOTE (OdDsOcK @ Friday, Jul 6 2012, 01:09)

Well I've never thought about it in large detail, but having researched characters from Boardwalk Empire (as a good number of them were real people), I admire the business stylings of Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. All business, no violence, keep things civilized and rolling,

The brilliance of the Luciano/Lansky machine WAS their violence. Violence as a tool to restructure, not to avenge petty insults. It got them far. They knew that when you take out a major underworld figure, everyone who is loyal to him goes as well. And then just like that, you reap the profits.

Anyways. I would use a convoluted system of acquiring loans to finance my enterprise. I would place bets via the most legitimate looking bookmaker available. If I win, $50,000 in my pocket. If I lose, I refuse to pay. Given gambling laws, what is he going to do? He can't report me to the police. If he still doesn't comply, I've already hired two local thugs as muscle who I will keep out of the loop who can beat him up. This lays the groundwork that our organization is the dominant force. All criminals understand is force and dominance. Many of them are alpha males. When they clash, you must show strength. Finally, I demand weekly protection payments. As long as he pays, I will use what little connections I have to double his gambling clientele, thus doubling his income. As I bring in more and more customers, I ask for more and more tribute. Mathematically there is no way the bookmaker can say no. By the end of it all I have a large bookmaking operation and a frontman to insulate myself from the law. If I ever get worried he might flip on me, I can order him to install a day to day manager. Three tiers of insulation.

By now I've sent my two muscle thugs to drive the other local gamblers out of business. They either pay a small 'street tax' or lose their clientele (and probably their legs). The 'street tax' is easy money because it's hardly traceable and nobody ever really seems to get arrested for this. When the other gambling joints are sufficiently intimidated, I will have whatever intelligent workers I've acquired loan money out of their gambling joints. Gambling and loan sharking go hand in hand. What happens when our neighboring bookmaker has clients who owe him? We're right there to lend the money. And we get weekly interest, too.

By now, we hire a legal broker guy to help us invest our illegitimate gains in to bars and clubs. And we move our loansharks out of the gambling joints and in to the bars and clubs. If we are more feared than the competiiton by now, then no one will harass us in our own establishment. Next, we need to corrupt the cops on thte night beat and the day beat (forget the terms, sorry) if we optionally wish to sell meth or ecstasy out of the backrooms of the clubs and bars. It's the only way to safely peddle drugs. I would actually opt against larger amounts for a year or so. Take over more bookmaking, loan out bigger money, and slowly work on procuring information for a hijacking ring. I would need to buy a warehouse or some kind of front business for the hijacking. Assume we're stealing clothing. We will need to start laundering money through (purchasing) a clothing store. Say we're stealing jewelery - the organization will purchase a shop on jeweler's row. Pretty simple. Whatever covers you from the law. Back to information. Basically there would be no more kicking people around any more. People would know your crime ring was untouchable by now.

So now it's time to start making friends. Naturally, people will want to get in your good graces and thus, will tip you off on big scores. Big trucks coming in. And that's all the hijacking really takes. And one more thing. A modern organization can't survive off murdering people. It's never worth shedding blood. Once you're respected, it's not worth raising your fists. And unless I was able to expand this theory in to forming political ties and international contacts, it wouldn't be worth pushing heroin.

But for the moment, there you have it. A dominant and profitable local crime ring.

TL;DR: Stay away from big drug shipments, stay away from murders, focus on gambling, have three layers of insulation for anything.

This post has been edited by Pedochu on Saturday, Jul 7 2012, 02:22

[GTA-King]

^f*ck every idea I ever had. Just hire me as one of your goons and I'll work for you!

[zoo3891]

First I'd hire a bunch of chemists to create a designer drug, I'd call it "Da Bomb" or something like that. After that I'd rally up a few friends and get my starts on the streets. The moment Da Bomb starts dominating the market I'd begin to hire mentally unstable drug addicts and build my image up as some sort of jesus-type messiah. Once I build a nice little group of bodyguards I'd fire all of my friends, and pick up little kids at the arcade to peddle my drug around, they could get past certain protocols the cops have around here.

My messiah figure would force the followers to revive me should I die, maybe I'd come back as some sort of cyborg, that'd be cool.

[NateShaw92]

run for office - BOOM

actually I think I would be a scarface kind of deal - kill any f*cker who gets in my way or crosses me. but with a 3 strikes rule -
1st strike wages gone
2nd strike ???
3rd strike - 2 in the back of the head

serious offences will warrent strike 3 immedietly

this is why I won't do it.

[Djdevin10]

QUOTE (Pedochu @ Saturday, Jul 7 2012, 02:12)

QUOTE (OdDsOcK @ Friday, Jul 6 2012, 01:09) Well I've never thought about it in large detail, but having researched characters from Boardwalk Empire (as a good number of them were real people), I admire the business stylings of Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. All business, no violence, keep things civilized and rolling, TL;DR: Stay away from big drug shipments, stay away from murders, focus on gambling, have three layers of insulation for anything.

Crome, why am i not surprised?

I'd probably do an office space type of thing, steal from the man. Except wait a couple days, burn down the place, and run to LA, and get a nice loft, a nice car, and sell weed from there. Legally of course

[Mr.Mister]

I'd love to just have a piece of property on vancouver island where I can run a grow op. It would be my 2nd job, my 1st running some kind of "legit" business (For money laundering). I'd deliver weed via boat and make thousands, all while enjoying life.

My formula for success is high quality weed, no ripoffs, no violence (I would carry a piece just to be safe) and speedy delivery.

[EDMEISTERX]

Well I'd save up on cash by : stealing guns from dead guys after a gang war.I'd steal drugs,guns,etc from police evidence lockers and airports.With the cash I'd save I would get cheap gang workers : African or Asian immigrants.I would be smart about it.I'd use the average legal business's as a coverup for illegal stuff.I'd hide drugs,guns,etc carefully,so that even the guy dealing it could forget where it's hidden.I'd become super careful about everything.Get guards,never use my own brand,not let personal things get in the way of crime.When I get to the top I'd ease up a little bit,but not to much.I would also research other crime empires,crime movies,etc and find their mistakes.I would not let those mistakes happen to me.

This post has been edited by EDMEISTERX on Sunday, Jul 8 2012, 17:24

[GTA-King]

So, by stealing guns after a gang war from the bodies, I assume you would already be part of a gang?

[EDMEISTERX]

QUOTE (GTA-King @ Sunday, Jul 8 2012, 17:25)

So, by stealing guns after a gang war from the bodies, I assume you would already be part of a gang?

Not really.I would just go to the scene and quietly wait for them to finish up.After that I make a move.

[GTA-King]

Well, I'd imagine cops and paramedics would be on the scene pretty quick. So you'd have to be hiding in the bushes until the last man is down, then grab some guns, then high tail it out of there before the cops arrive.

[Sanjeem]

Too start something big, I'd need start up money so I reckon I'd gather a few friends who were willing to do the same as me and they'd be people I can trust, family therefore as well and then get around 100,000 grand by doing home invasions and stealing valuable things. I'd also find a reliable fence who buys items in bulk to ship off. I'd just do petty things to get 100,000.

With that money I would buy possibly two kilos of cocaine and try and find a buyer in the market, like a street gang leader or something. Once a relationship is developed between us that's when the deal would take place and has he and his cronies package it and sell it for a profit, I would collect my cut every week or so. Now I would have double the money, or whatever a profit none the less.

Now with more money, I can expand even further, maybe start up something quiet like an illegal gambling ring. Those who lose must pay up and if they don't they shall be roughed up a little by some thugs. If they need to borrow money to pay back the money they already owe just to buy them a bit more time they can, but must pay back a lot more the next time, that's when loan sharking comes in handy. Hopefully one of these degenerate gamblers has a business that I can later take over due to his debt problems and use as a front for my illegal businesses. Once this is done, this is the start of my criminal career.

That's what I got for now.

[GTA-King]

^ Sounds good! Just pick the gang you want to sell your drugs to wisely, because they may try to rip you of and/or kill you.

[Sanjeem]

QUOTE (GTA-King @ Sunday, Jul 8 2012, 17:58)

^ Sounds good! Just pick the gang you want to sell your drugs to wisely, because they may try to rip you of and/or kill you.

Yeah, That's why I said I would build a stable relationship with the leader first, also I'd warn him in the beginning not to mess with me, I'd have backup prepared.

[joemcg15]

Scarface style

[Rolf Harris]

I think the premise of an illegal empire is exactly the same of that of a legal empire. However, there's a serious amount of opportunity in the illegal side of things with bigger rewards if you're willing to take the risks. A legal business of any sort would have you jumping through hoops to scavenge any kind of profit, whereas an illegal business would stare you in the eye with all kinds of glorious avenues.

Off the top of my head,

You could purchase any class of drug off a corner, and push it elsewhere for a bigger asking price.
Then you grow the stuff off your own back - take out the middleman and so on... the profit margin gets bigger, and you know where your money is coming from.
But there's no legislation or tax on that stuff either, so no wonder the criminal market is so damned huge.

[blitz]

Have a low profile, find some allies, make my gang. Do what I want and play it safe.

As for keeping close, no one.

[Viperman]

Definitely be a marijuana farmer. Grow small and regular. Minimal contacts, sell in bulk then its someone elses problem. Hide money under my bed, and have the coolest engined toys in the garage.

[Sanjeem]

If I had to actually become a criminal though or did so somehow, the best option I think for anyone is to start their own Illegal gambling, Loan Sharking and extortion ring, the mob are right when they say drugs bring down heaps of heat, although they are some of the main people dealing it because they are just too greedy for money and power

Seriously though, Illegal gambling rings do destroy families and debt can be collected unlawfully (Use of intimidation and extortion) but it's a lot safer than drugs for your group. Loan Sharking then would again fit in perfectly, gamblers who need to borrow money or anyone else can do so and you make heaps of money from the high interest rates. Extortion would be good because that's how you collect the money and also can extort local businesses maybe or force them to buy from a certain company you own to boost your profit margin. All in all, this would be a good venture with risks but the jail sentences can be quite lenient, especially if you find the right state and area to do it in...

[El Zilcho]

Pedochu's seems to be one of the more realistic and well thought out ones. If I had to I'd do something along those lines.