[1] Each new thief is made and vetted, literally a "crowned" male, with respective rituals and tattoos, by the consensus of several Vory (воры).
[1][2] Although Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia had groups of criminals and bandits for a long time, during the disorder of the Russian Revolution of 1917, armed gangs proliferated until they became a very significant factor that controlled society.
"[1] The "thieves in law" formed as a society for ruling the criminal underworld within the prison camps, "who govern the dark gaps in Soviet life beyond the reach of the KGB.
[1] Acceptance into the group is often marked by specific tattoos, allowing all members of the criminal world to instantly recognize a "thief in law".
The Suki were former members of the criminal underworld who had broken the thieves' code by agreeing to cooperate with administration of prisons and labor camps, and the government, mostly by taking up arms (unacceptable for a thief) and joining a Soviet Army.
The group was able to "infiltrate the top political and economic strata while taking command of the burgeoning crime network that spread murderously through the post-Soviet countries.
"[1] Thieves In Law are given the title by other vory and in order to be accepted they must demonstrate considerable leadership skills, personal ability, intellect, charisma, along with a well-documented criminal record.
Reportedly, "today the Vory have spread around the world, to Madrid, Berlin, and New York" and are "involved in everything from petty theft to billion-dollar money-laundering while also acting as arbiters among conflicting Russian criminal factions.
"[1] Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, author of The Gulag Archipelago, claimed never to have seen any thief honor the code if it conflicted with his personal criminal wants.