Russian Mob, Drug Cartels Joining Forces (September 29, 1997)<
snip>
"In the early 1990s, according to Russian experts, a consortium of Russian organized crime leaders sent Vyacheslav Ivankov, a well-known mob figure, to the United States to move Russian criminal enterprises here and expand their operations. Ivankov was arrested in New York on extortion charges in June 1995 and remains in prison, but he was responsible, according to federal authorities, for expanding the reach of the Russians to Miami.
In Miami, Ivankov allegedly frequented a nightclub and strip joint called Porky's near the international airport, which beckons prospective clients with pink neon lights urging them to "Get Lost in the Land of Love." Porky's was owned by another reputed Russian mobster, Ludwig Fainberg. Known as "Tarzan" because of his long hair and muscular build, Fainberg was arrested in February in a case law enforcement officials said shows how close the Russian organized crime groups and the Colombian cocaine cartels have become.
According to the indictment, brought after a three-year undercover investigation, Fainberg and others used Porky's as a meeting place to arrange the sale of at least two Soviet military helicopters to the Cali cartel. According to officials, they also were negotiating to sell the cartel a Tango-class diesel-powered patrol submarine to be used to move cocaine from Colombia to the coast of California. The submarine was based in Kronshtadt, a large Russian submarine base on the Gulf of Finland, off St. Petersburg.
During the negotiations, according to law enforcement officials familiar with the operation, the price of the submarine, which included a crew of 20 for a year, dropped from $9 million to $5 million. The deal fell through when the Colombians backed out, apparently feeling such an enterprise was too ambitious."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russiagov/stories/mafia092997.htm