Russia says Portugal has extradited Stepan Furman, a notorious criminal figure, to Moscow for being a "thief-in-law," the highest title in the criminal world's hierarchy in the former Soviet Union.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, the probe against the 58-year-old Furman, known among criminal groups as Stepan Murmansky, was launched in 2019 right after being a "thief-in-law" was criminalized in Russia in April that year.
The ministry said on February 23 that Portugal was the first European nation that had extradited a criminal wanted in Russia on the simple charge of holding the title.
The title of "thief-in-law" originated in Stalin-era prison camps across the Soviet Union.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) describes the "thieves-in-law" as a "Eurasian crime syndicate that has been linked to a long list of illicit activity across the globe." It says the syndicate poses a threat to the United States and its allies.
According to OFAC, the syndicate's members are "initiated or "crowned" after demonstrating an "ideal" criminal biography and take an oath to uphold a code that includes living exclusively off their criminal profits and supporting other "thieves-in-law."
Being a "thief-in-law" was criminalized in Georgia in 2005.
Two other former Soviet republics -- Armenia and Ukraine -- also have made it a crime to hold the title.