The rise of mainly Georgian organized crime groups in Poland could plunge the country into an era of gang terror reminiscent of the 1990s, experts have warned.
Specialists compared the “brutal” methods used by gangsters from ex-Soviet Georgia to the infamous Pruszków and Wołomin clans, which ran the Polish criminal underworld after the fall of communism.
Recent incidents linked to Georgian groups include the daylight robbery of a currency exchange in Poznań and the ambush of an armored van carrying diamonds in Warsaw, according to a report in the Rzeczpospolita daily’s Plus Minus magazine.
Victims in these cases, along with others reported across the country, were threatened or targeted with knives and guns, the publication wrote.
Marek Dyjasz, former director of the crime department in Poland’s Main Police Command, said that such methods had not been seen in the country since the 1990s, when gangsters cut off victims’ fingers and burned people with cigarettes or irons.
“Organized crime groups from beyond our eastern borders are moving into Europe in force, including into our territory. Here it’s mainly Georgian groups, sometimes Ukrainians,” he said.
Andrzej Mroczek, an expert on organized crime and terrorism at Warsaw’s Collegium Civitas, warned that the police need to get a grip of the situation quickly, Plus Minus reported.
“The modus operandi is reminiscent of Polish crime groups in the 1990s,” he said.
Recent incidents linked to Georgian groups include the daylight robbery of a currency exchange in Poznań and the ambush of an armored van carrying diamonds in Warsaw, according to a report in the Rzeczpospolita daily’s Plus Minus magazine.
Victims in these cases, along with others reported across the country, were threatened or targeted with knives and guns, the publication wrote.
Marek Dyjasz, former director of the crime department in Poland’s Main Police Command, said that such methods had not been seen in the country since the 1990s, when gangsters cut off victims’ fingers and burned people with cigarettes or irons.
“Organized crime groups from beyond our eastern borders are moving into Europe in force, including into our territory. Here it’s mainly Georgian groups, sometimes Ukrainians,” he said.
Andrzej Mroczek, an expert on organized crime and terrorism at Warsaw’s Collegium Civitas, warned that the police need to get a grip of the situation quickly, Plus Minus reported.
“The modus operandi is reminiscent of Polish crime groups in the 1990s,” he said.
“If this phenomenon is not stopped, before long we may be dealing with the might of Georgian crime gangs on an even greater scale.”
Since 2017, Georgian citizens have been able to come to Europe’s Schengen area without a visa for a 90-day period.
This has sparked a wave of migration into countries such as Poland, where many have chosen to apply for longer-term residency and found jobs in manufacturing, transport and other sectors of the growing economy.
But criminals have taken advantage of the rules, too, Plus Minus said.
Per capita, Georgians committed more crimes than any other group of foreigners in Poland in 2023. Numbers fell in 2024, Plus Minus reported, tentatively attributing it to an increase in deportations.
“Georgian criminal groups have evolved over the last few years,” Mroczek told the magazine.
“Now well-organized groups work in a corporate structure, that is to say that they have cells in different European countries…
“One group goes into a European country, they commit robberies or attacks then they escape, passing the stolen goods onto accomplices… another group is then sent in to finish the job.”
Polish police have formed a special group to deal with the crime gangs, the magazine reported, but experts say that they need to act quickly and make inroads into the Georgian criminal underworld.
Dyjasz said: “If we don’t get to know the scene pretty quickly and don’t start fighting back, Georgian groups could become so deeply rooted… that it would be very difficult to remove them.”
Visa-free access for Georgians
Since 2017, Georgian citizens have been able to come to Europe’s Schengen area without a visa for a 90-day period.
This has sparked a wave of migration into countries such as Poland, where many have chosen to apply for longer-term residency and found jobs in manufacturing, transport and other sectors of the growing economy.
But criminals have taken advantage of the rules, too, Plus Minus said.
Per capita, Georgians committed more crimes than any other group of foreigners in Poland in 2023. Numbers fell in 2024, Plus Minus reported, tentatively attributing it to an increase in deportations.
“Georgian criminal groups have evolved over the last few years,” Mroczek told the magazine.
“Now well-organized groups work in a corporate structure, that is to say that they have cells in different European countries…
“One group goes into a European country, they commit robberies or attacks then they escape, passing the stolen goods onto accomplices… another group is then sent in to finish the job.”
Polish police have formed a special group to deal with the crime gangs, the magazine reported, but experts say that they need to act quickly and make inroads into the Georgian criminal underworld.
Dyjasz said: “If we don’t get to know the scene pretty quickly and don’t start fighting back, Georgian groups could become so deeply rooted… that it would be very difficult to remove them.”
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