Self-styled “thief-in-law” charged under anti-mafia law

Armenian law enforcement agencies have taken into custody a self-styled “thief-in-law” and invoked anti-mafia legislation to bring criminal charges.

Another individual, said to have acted under the alleged mobster’s orders, has also been arrested.

The Investigative Committee said in a press release that V.H., who goes by the alias “Thief Bje,” used his unlawful influence within the criminal hierarchy and instructed another individual, A.H., known as “Tetsik,” to resolve a personal dispute with a third party by carrying out punitive actions against an individual who had previously testified against other mobsters. V.H., who is described as a high-ranking criminal figure, allegedly ordered his subordinate to ostracize, humiliate, and punish the victim.

Both V.H. and A.H. have been arrested by National Security Service agents, and a motion to detain them without bail has been submitted to the court. V.H. is charged with maintaining a position of leadership within an organized criminal hierarchy, while the second suspect is charged with membership in an organized criminal group (criminal subculture syndicate).

Criminal subculture—a hierarchy-based code of conduct among criminal groups, originally believed to have emerged in Soviet prisons and associated with the self-styled “thieves-in-law”—has been outlawed in Armenia since the passage of anti-mafia legislation in 2020.