From Sabini to international networks: the history of the London mafia

To speak of a "London mafia" is an oversimplification. Unlike Sicily, Naples, or New York, London has never been permanently controlled by a single criminal organization with a central hierarchy. Its criminal underworld has instead been built around territorial gangs, families, specialized teams, and temporary alliances. These structures have evolved alongside the capital's economy, shifting from extorting bookmakers and operating underground clubs to international drug trafficking, cyber fraud, and money laundering.

At the beginning of the 20th century, major London organizations vied for control of the racecourses, where betting attracted considerable sums of money. Bookmakers paid criminal groups to secure a berth, transport the proceeds, or protect themselves from rival gangs. In the 1920s and 1930s, Charles "Darby" Sabini, from an Anglo-Italian family in Clerkenwell, extended his influence over several racecourses in southern England. His men clashed with groups such as the Birmingham Boys, the Hoxton Gang, and the Elephant and Castle Mob, using intimidation, razor cuts, beatings, and bribery.

After World War II, the center of gravity of organized crime shifted to nightclubs, illegal gambling, prostitution, fencing stolen goods, and protection rackets. This period was dominated in the collective imagination by Ronnie and Reggie Kray, twin brothers from the East End who headed The Firm. Behind their close ties to celebrities, boxers, and politicians lay a violent organization built on extortion and the control of nightclubs. Their conviction and life imprisonment in 1969 ended their power but also contributed to transforming the two brothers into almost mythical figures.

South of the Thames, brothers Charlie and Eddie Richardson had developed a rival organization based on the scrap metal trade. Their network invested in clubs, slot machines, private security, and various clandestine activities. The rivalry with the Kray brothers led to several deadly clashes in the mid-1960s. The Richardsons received heavy sentences at the 1967 Torture Trial, while Eddie Richardson was convicted again in 1990 in a case related to cannabis and cocaine trafficking. These trials marked the decline of the large, visible family firms that had dominated the post-war era.

A crime that has become global and much less visible

From the 1980s onward, globalization profoundly transformed London's underworld. The growth of cocaine trafficking, the opening of financial markets, and the faster flow of capital fostered the emergence of transnational networks. British groups collaborated with organizations based in Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East, West Africa, and Latin America. London became simultaneously a major market for narcotics, a logistical hub, and an attractive financial center for concealing or laundering criminal proceeds.

Modern organizations no longer necessarily resemble the criminal families of the 1960s. They can bring together importers, transporters, money launderers, data brokers, and enforcers who don't know each other directly. Encrypted phones, social media, shell companies, and cryptocurrencies have facilitated this fragmentation. The National Crime Agency points out that criminal groups are rapidly diversifying their methods and now make extensive use of digital platforms to identify victims, recruit accomplices, or sell stolen goods. Fraud alone accounts for approximately 41% of reported crimes in England and Wales, at an estimated annual cost of £6,8 billion.

Police data reveals the scale of this ecosystem without allowing us to speak of a single mafia. In 2024, the Metropolitan Police identified 239 active organized crime groups in London using its specialized mapping tool. Another official response counted 102 active gangs, the two figures corresponding to different definitions and bases. A local gang involved in street violence is not necessarily classified in the same way as an international network specializing in drug trafficking, human trafficking, or financial crime.

The contemporary London mafia is therefore less an empire than a networked criminal market. Old figures like the Krays remain present in films, books, and tourist attractions, but they present an outdated and sometimes romanticized image of reality. Today, the most dangerous organizations, on the contrary, seek to remain invisible, to outsource violence, and to infiltrate the legitimate economy. The history of London organized crime thus tells the story of the transition from a world of identifiable territories, clubs, and families to an international system based on finance, technology, and cooperation between specialized groups.