Organized Crime
The Umbrian Republic has a long and infamous history involving criminal enterprises. These organized groups of criminals have existed since the foundations of the Republic, and although the names they assume may change, their general pattern of behavior has not. While this history has been romanticized by some, modern members of the gangs and cartels that plague the Republic are brutal and merciless in pursuing their own enrichment at the expense of others.
Their success and influence on society ebbs and flows. As they gain strength, governments inevitably crack down on their activities, while other priorities can quickly overtake them when the gangs are weak. The current and most illustrative examples are the now defunct Blue Dawn cartel and what many see as its replacement at the head of the table, E-Rho.
Blue Dawn rose to prominence through extortion, racketeering and the trafficking of illicit substances. It would hide its illegal dealings behind a series of innocuous sounding fronts, enabling it to expand rapidly. The Blues spread from the inner core of the Republic to have a presence on nearly every planet up to the edges of the Frontier, achieving this feat in a matter of decades. The problem became so severe that it eventually took the direct action of the Senate to bring the organization to its knees.
The vacuum created by the Blue Dawn's destruction was filled rapidly by a series of smaller gangs, chief amongst which was E-Rho. Headquartered in Umbria’s capital city of Perugia, E-Rho seeks to maximize its returns by focusing on the vices enjoyed by the Republic's uber rich.
It continues to traffic in drugs, but has expanded its repertoire to include bribery and extortion of public officials. This potent combination means that even members of the Senate are no longer secure, and the public outcry generated by their increasingly brazen actions has so far failed to result in any significant government action. With the Republic's focus on the war, organized crime is entering a golden age of success, to the detriment of society as a whole.