Smuggling Kidneys and Uranium

This chapter examines the exposure of two nefarious criminal episodes — organ smuggling in Kosovo and highly enriched uranium (HEU) smuggling in South Ossetia — which tested the resolve, organization, and patriotism of specialized mafias. Caught red-handed, the traffickers tainted separatists' legitimacy as the public scandals provoked repression from international military authorities (in Kosovo) or the host state (in South Ossetia). Damage control was necessary — but only one separatist movement managed it. The chapter compares three dimensions of mafia capacity: infrastructure, regarding control of borders and sites; autonomy, concerning the ability to leverage separatist ideology and instrumentalize movement institutions; and community, apropos levels of fear, discipline, and clan-based solidarity. Nefarious crime harmed Kosovo's separatists less because mafia capacity was greater, thereby containing the damage.