CRIME CARTEL

HISTORY

Very little is known about the history of the organization known as the Crime Cartel. The organization first came to light in Empire City during an Ultimate Wrestling Federation event where Cartel operatives kidnapped several performers, including Desperado and the tag team named Demolition Squad. In the audience at the event (in their civilian identities) were Tazer, Omen, Human Bomb and Crossfire. These four, along with Mr. Terrific of the UWF, eventually tracked the kidnappers to a secret base located near the house that model Kyle Grant (aka Rift) had recently inherited. The Cartel's scientists had been subjecting the kidnapped wrestlers to experiments designed to give them metahuman powers and were brainwashing them to serve the Cartel. The heroes, joined by Rift, rescued several of the wrestlers including Desperado, who had been given powers but had not yet been subjected to the brainwashing.

Tazer, Omen, Human Bomb, Crossfire, Rift, and the now-metahuman Desperado decided to form a team, the Guardians, and in their first mission together captured the remainder of the Crime Cartel's Empire City operation. Among the costumed criminals apprehended were the brainwashed Demolition Squad and the high-tech thief FX. The Guardians began using the Cartel's hidden base as their own headquarters.

Initially it was thought that the organization was a splinter group from Morgan Edge's Intergang out of Metropolis, but this was only based on the fact that several of the Cartel members captured by the Guardians happened to have previously been associated with Intergang. Since then it has become clear that the Crime Cartel is much larger and has been in operation for much longer than anyone had suspected. The organization has apparently been operating in secret for several years, and was large enough and influential enough globally to be invited to join the Game run by the Grandmaster. Given that one of the rules of the Game was that Empire City was off-limits, it is possible that the Crime Cartel's violation of that rule may directly or indirectly led to the organization's exposure at that time (meaning the Grandmaster may have had a hand in exposing the Crime Cartel's existence as punishment for them operating in Empire City).

Details about the Crime Cartel were still difficult to find even after the exposure. The next activities that could be definitively attributed to the Crime Cartel occurred in Superior City. The first was the "bounty" placed on the city by the Silver Path, an act of revenge against the New Enforcers of Justice after the heroes dealt a serious blow against the Silver Path's drug operations. The Silver Path offered to pay a bonus to super criminals who committed crimes in the home city of the Enforcers equal to 10% of the value of whatever the criminals stole. It was revealed later that the Crime Cartel had helped to finance the bounty (presumably in exchange for something from the Silver Path).

The next known Crime Cartel plot was an attempt to rig the Superior City municipal elections to bring in candidates who would be under the Cartel's control, including the mayor. False ballots were coated with psychoactive chemicals in order to make voters susceptible to suggestion, leading them to cast votes for the Cartel-backed candidates. To help deal with any of the local super heroes who might interfere with the plot the Crime Cartel hired the Cybernetiks and the Sharpshooters while providing their own muscle in the Demolition Squad (who had recently been arrested in Superior City but were freed from prison by the Cybernetiks). The Enforcers of Justice and their allies were able to thwart the scheme, discrediting the Crime Cartel's candidates in the process. As revenge the Cartel had the Sharpshooters assassinate Renegade, the leader of the Enforcers (though in reality they had killed the hero Zodiak, who had been standing in for a missing Renegade).

More information about the Crime Cartel was uncovered when the Enforcers of Justice battled several villain teams and learned about the Enemy Awards. Tracking the Awards broadcast led the heroes to capture several agents of the Exchange who were running the Awards. When DEO authorities questioned the captured agents it tied the Enemy Awards and the Exchange back to the Crime Cartel.

Since then the Crime Cartel has taken a more aggressive stance, operating more openly. Assassins were sent to kill the UWF wrestler Mr. Terrific, explicitly in revenge for his role in the Cartel's initial public exposure years earlier in Empire City. The recent Gang War in Superior City has exposed more of the Crime Cartel's operations in that city, including its involvement in a breakout at Mercy Island Penitentiary and the revelation that the Imperium Romana gang was in fact backed by the Crime Cartel.

Even as the full size and scope of the Crime Cartel's operations slowly comes into focus the organization continues to operate, seemingly unaffected by the recent setbacks.

ORGANIZATION

The Crime Cartel is a for-profit organization that appears to be modeled on a multinational corporation. The Cartel itself is a sort of umbrella organization that oversees the efforts of its "subsidiaries". The Cartel members do not appear to be directly involved in any specific criminal activities, leaving the actual illegal activities to the subsidiaries.

What little is known of the main organization indicates that it is, like a large corporation, controlled by a Board of Directors; though the exact number of board members is unknown as are the identities of any of the members. The Crime Cartel is motivated purely by profit and operates primarily as a service provider, its founders having seen an opportunity in the rise of so-called "super crime" during the Modern Age of Super Heroes. As more and more super criminals came onto the scene, the Cartel was there to provide them with services they might need.

The following organizations and entities have been identified as subsidiaries of the Crime Cartel. This list includes some organizations that were known to the law enforcement and super hero communities prior to the existence of Crime Cartel coming to light, their ties to the Cartel only coming to light afterward. In some cases these organizations may have come into being separate from the Crime Cartel and were later acquired as part of the Cartel's expansion efforts when such organizations fit into the Crime Cartel's business plan.

Known Crime Cartel Subsidiaries

The EXCHANGE

The Exchange is a placement agency for super criminals working for hire. It was one of the first subsidiaries that the Crime Cartel established and soon began working with prospective clients to find suitable candidates for short or long-term jobs. Need a telepath to find the informant in your organization? Call the Exchange. Are you a newly empowered metahuman with a desire to commit crimes but do not know where to start? Sign up with the Exchange.

The Exchange maintains an extensive database of superhuman criminals for hire. Some are on retainer and ready to be dispatched to a client in short order, while others are more freelance and negotiate their fee through the Exchange on a contract-by-contract basis. Even if a super criminal is not affiliated with the Exchange in any way, and perhaps is not even aware of the organization, the Exchange still has a detailed file on that person just in case their particular powers and/or skills might someday match the needs of a client.

The Exchange is entirely professional and completely discrete. Clients seeking someone to hire make contact through middlemen, disposable telephone numbers, dead drops, and other difficult to trace means. The Exchange makes heavy use of technology to secure their lines of communication, and rumor has it they back it up with telepaths and sorcerers to deter the more exotic means that someone may try and use to discover their secrets. Candidates and clients are thoroughly screened before being accepted.

The DEO has expended considerable resources over the years trying to trace or infiltrate the Exchange, but so far with minimal results and an unfortunately high body count in agents and informants.

T.H.U.G.

While the Exchange is a placement agency for specialized metahuman criminals, the Cartel subsidiary T.H.U.G. (Techs, Henchmen, Underlings and Goons) is more like a temp agency for criminals with the kind of basic trade skills that any criminal organization or would-be-world-conqueror could need. Where do you get that army of technicians to help assemble your doomsday weapon? How will you find enough low-level toughs to fill out your legion of identically-garbed soldiers? A good right-hand-man can be hard to find, so where do you look for one? Call T.H.U.G. for all your criminal hiring needs.

As the name implies, T.H.U.G. can provide a super villain or criminal organization with the kind of individuals with the technical training needed to help run and maintain high technology equipment, capable managers who can keep things running smoothly, plenty of trained workers to handle day-to-day operations, and the sort of muscle that make excellent guards and soldiers when security and/or violence is the order of the day. T.H.U.G. carefully vets all of the candidates it provides and matches them to the needs of each client. They have a well-earned reputation of being able to quickly staff up a complete support organization that would be the envy of any world conqueror.

T.R.A.D.E.

T.R.A.D.E. (Technical Research And Development Enterprises) began life as Quality Engineering Services (QES), a division of Hamilton Industries set up by Myles Hamilton who had gained control of the company by killing his family and framing his older brother Raymond for the crime (Ray would eventually become the hero Manhunter). On the surface QES was an unassuming electronics company, but in reality the company had been set up to reverse engineer the advanced technology frequently used by super heroes and villains.

Initially QES attempted to decipher the technology by relying on news reports and other footage of it in action, but when this proved too difficult the company started sending out operatives who would scour the sites of battles involving hi-tech heroes and villains to salvage any technology that was left behind. Whenever possible the results of the reverse engineering were funneled into new patents controlled by QES; when it was not possible the company still sought means to profit from it by selling derivative technology on the grey and black markets.

When even this proved to be providing too few samples and little data to work with, T.R.A.D.E. was born. A secret division within QES, T.R.A.D.E. equipped its operatives with special suits of powered armor reverse engineered from that used by the original Enforcer and sent those operatives out to actively acquire the technology they sought. These operatives would target and attack designated heroes and villains chosen based on T.R.A.D.E.'s assessment of the apparent value of their technology, the aim being to steal or otherwise acquire that technology by force.

After several failures due to underestimating the power of their targets, T.R.A.D.E. was able to upgrade their operatives' equipment using the technology acquired from their few successes. As they racked up more successes and began to expand the organization also began to attract a lot of attention, not just from those they had stolen the technology from but also from those individuals' allies and from law enforcement agencies.

The breakup of a weapons smuggling operation by the heroes Tarantula and Arachnia (on their first case together) left behind some clues that led to T.R.A.D.E., clues that were pursued by Tarantula's teammate Manhunter. Manhunter followed the trail back to QES and Hamilton Industries and his brother (though Myles believed his brother to be dead and was not aware he was in reality the hero Manhunter).

Though QES was exposed and Myles Hamilton forced to flee from the authorities, most of T.R.A.D.E.'s operations remained intact. The Crime Cartel made Hamilton an offer and T.R.A.D.E. became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cartel. Myles has now taken a direct role in the management and leadership of T.R.A.D.E. under the alias of The Armorer.

T.R.A.D.E. still continues under its original mandate to acquire, reverse engineer, and exploit advanced technology by any means necessary. As part of the Crime Cartel family of companies, T.R.A.D.E.'s research division has greatly expanded and the company has begun to branch into more exotic forms of super science in a quest for greater profits.

FABRICATORS, INC.

The main industry of Fabricators, Inc. is the manufacture and sale of high-tech weapons and equipment to a clientele ranging from super villains and criminal organizations to mercenaries and governments. In addition to the manufacture and sales aspects Fabricators, Inc. also offers comprehensive warranty and repair services on the items they sell. While they initially had a large R&D section, Fabricators, Inc. now relies primarily on their sister organization T.R.A.D.E. for new technologies that they can exploit for mass production and sale.

Fabricators, Inc. has facilities and offices all across the globe, many lying behind legitimate front companies. The head office is located in the Byrne Building in Superior City and it is from here that senior management provides guidance and direction to the sixty-thousand employees and agents of Fabricators, Inc. located around the world. Those employed by Fabricators, Inc. are thoroughly screened for security purposes, but they are also well rewarded with competitive pay and extensive benefits.

The company stands behind its work and offers 100% guarantees on the equipment it sells. Fabricators, Inc. works hard to make sure they follow through on any agreement; and with the power of the Crime Cartel behind them, woe to any customer who thinks they can get away with ripping them off.

The SCHOOL of CRIME

With campuses located in major cities across the United States and now in Europe, the School of Crime provides a wide range of educational opportunities for the student looking to embark on a life of crime, or hardened veterans looking to upgrade or diversify their existing skillset. As its name would imply the School offers courses and programs in traditional areas like lock picking and safecracking, forgery (documents and works of art), and surveying a target.

Beyond this the School also offers more traditional programs, albeit with a criminal bent. Engineering courses are available for those who want to learn to build their own hi-tech weapons, while the Science faculty has produced more than its share of qualified Mad Scientists. The Computer Science program includes extensive courses on hacking and computer crime, and the Accounting program teaches students how to cook the books and launder money like a professional.

Aside from the traditional educational opportunities, the School has "boot camp" programs offering physical fitness, martial arts courses, and training in a variety of weapons from handguns to explosives; ideal for less scholastically inclined students who still want to pursue an underworld career.

The School of Crime also provides a steady supply of candidates to its sister subsidiary T.H.U.G.

UNLIMITED POWER

Sometimes you can’t count on an accident with chemicals or bombardment by cosmic rays to give you powers. For those times there is Unlimited Power. Recent breakthroughs in the understanding of the Metagene have given Unlimited Power’s super scientists the means to give nearly anyone super powers, for the right price. Unlimited Power doctors and scientists use detailed psychological and genetic analysis to determine the most like manifestation of any metahuman powers in a client and devise the stimuli to activate the Metagene in the subject.

For those who do not naturally possess the Metagene, or want more specific abilities, or those with crippling injuries or similar physical limitations, the scientists at Unlimited Power are also experts in cybernetics. New limbs with superhuman strength and speed, replacement eyes with enhanced senses, built-in weapons and equipment, or having your brain transplanted into a fully robotic body are all possibilities with Ultimate Power.

Unlimited Power scientists were responsible for giving powers to the Demolition Squad and to the hero Desperado. The criminal Tele-Fist's cybernetics are also a product of Unlimited Power.

SANCTUARY

When you are a super villain, where do you go when you need to rest, relax, recover, or just lay low until the heat from your last caper dies down? Sanctuary has the answer. Sanctuary operates a series of resorts, spas, clubs and hospitals located in the United States and abroad that cater to the criminal community. They key aspect of all the Sanctuary facilities is discretion and privacy; they provide a location where the client can enjoy the services and amenities without fear of a raid from law enforcement or a sudden attack by their super hero nemesis.

Sanctuary-operated facilities include:

The price can be high for Sanctuary’s services, but the results are always worth it.

UNTERBANK

Operating from behind fronts of legitimate banks and financial institutions the Unterbank offers financial services to the criminal underworld. The Unterbank stands ready to offer loans and financing for a villain’s latest scheme, and untraceable money laundering to help deal with the rewards for a scheme. The Unterbank will also accept stolen goods as collateral on financing, or can provide auction services to help convert those purloined works of art into cold, hard cash. The Unterbank also offers more traditional banking services like savings and investment opportunities and advice for criminals wondering how to make their ill-gotten gains work for them.

It was the Unterbank that provided the financing to the Silver Path that allowed that group to set up its crime bounty program in Superior City.

UNDERWORLD MEDIA

Underworld Media is a print, broadcast and online multimedia corporation. UM publishes The Underworld Star, a national newspaper catering to villains with news, advice, and a classified ad section. On the broadcast front the company runs several pirate radio and television stations accessible with the correct decoding equipment. These stations run programming primarily for information purposes including news geared towards their villainous audience as well as educational content created by the School of Crime and a variety of other informative programs like profiles and biographies of heroes and villains, super-crime through history, and some light entertainment. Underworld Television is looking at branching out into Reality TV programming in the near future. The corporation maintains a heavy presence on the Dark Web with content mirroring that in their other media but also maintains blogging and social media sites, a search engine, and an online auction house. There are rumours that Underworld Media is working with T.R.A.D.E. to develop a completely separate global computer network, an Ünternet for super-criminals that would exist alongside the real Internet.

ENEMY AWARDS

A recent development established in partnership between Underworld Media and The Exchange, the Enemy Awards are a roughly annual contest where super villains are encouraged to commit crimes that match the criteria for the awards categories. Winning an Enemy Award trophy comes with a cash reward as well as the career boost such a victory can give to the winner’s reputation. The Awards are typically spread out over several weeks or even months across multiple locations and apparently not all categories are contested each time. Whenever possible the competitions are broadcast either live or recorded on Underworld Media stations.

Details on the Enemy Awards are scarce, and the existence of the Awards only came to light during the most recent competitions. In this case it was the competition for "Best Theme Group" which was held in Superior City. During the competition the contestants attempted to commit the most impressive crime in the city; with Deathwish, Thrasher and the Backbeat, the Masters of Speed, and the Swordsmen all vying for the top prize as were lesser known and newer groups like the Rainbow Warriors, a new incarnation of the Forces of Nature, and Legacy (in their debut). The crime wave that resulted from the contest caught the attention local hero teams the Enforcers of Justice and the New Adventurers and the heroes were able to trace one of the live feeds to the Awards broadcast center, disrupting the Awards program and capturing several of the technicians running the show.

Warp Zone | DC Heroes | Villains | Crime Cartel