Abstract.  This paper analyzes the dynamics of organized crime in post-socialist Lithuania. Three overlapping periods in evolution of organized crime are discerned. During the mid 1980s organized crime emerged with the attempts to liberalize the state socialism by legalizing cooperative and individual property as a basis for economic activities. The liberalization of economic activities occurring with a lack of legal and fiscal infrastructure to regulate the new forms of economic activities enabled criminals connected to the state and party officials to use state property for personal gain. The basis for the illegal advancement was related to consumer demand for basic consumer goods. Criminal groups become wealthy by illegally using state resources for the manufacture of goods. As Soviet state power continued to decline during the late 1980s, wealth acquisition via illegal manufacturing began to merge along with the more traditional manifestations of violence associated with organized crime.

By the early 1990s organized crime in Lithuania began to metamorphose from illegal manufacturing to opportunistic criminality associated with the privatization of state property. Privatization and the redistribution of state property occurred amidst conditions of weakened state power caused by the disintegration of Soviet state institutions and the absence of legal and fiscal regulations. The most prominent crimes committed were: (a) armed robberies, extortion and racketeering and (b) appropriation of state functions, inter alia, illegal or semi-illegal privatization of state property, regulating trade in nonferrous metals and oil products and, smuggling of cars, alcohol, and tobacco. The latter group also included the evasion of paying customs levies imposed on imports and exports transported through Lithuanian territory. In addition, the number of violent offences, particularly premeditated murder, committed with weapons or explosives during this period of time increased dramatically; criminal gangs quickly became adept at, and were able to, terrorize whole regions of the country intimidating judges, prosecutors and the police.

Since the mid 1990's organized crime has again undergone change. It has entered what could be termed a maturation phase. This maturation was influenced by a number of factors including; the end of the privatization process, resumed growth of the economy, development of the legal and fiscal infrastructure to regulate a market economy, and increasing effectiveness and successes of policing in Lithuania . As a result, there has been a decline in criminal activities based on intimidation. Instead, organized criminality has evolved into participation in more lucrative illegal activities such as drug smuggling, prostitution, and gambling. Inter-gang violence has also decreased, as organized groups prefer peaceful coexistence and the subdivision of illegal markets into spheres of control. During this time the degree of professionalism within organized crime grew. Crime groups became increasingly adept at reducing evidence of criminal activities and to rapidly switch from one type of illegal activity to another depending upon opportunity and legal and technological innovation. Illegally gained capital was increasingly invested in legal business ventures. In this article the political, socio-economic, organizational and cultural factors that influenced the dynamics of change in organized crime are analyzed.