Organized crime has been involved in a variety of efforts from drugs, to alcohol, to prostitution, among others. They are involved because 1) there is an illegal market and 2) there is a high financial reward despite a high risk. But there is one time-tested, profitable activity that requires neither offering a risky product nor having an illegal market: extortion.
It works something like this:
- target an individual, business, or industry that has a large wealth base
- create a situation that places financial strain on the target through added costs that are extraneous to normal business
- when the target is sufficiently weakened financially, offer to provide financial assistance for a high payment
- take control when the target is unable to continue operating under the burden of the artificially imposed financial drain
..