About ten years ago, the whole country learned about the Krasnodar organized crime group "Tsapkovskie," which was involved in murders, banditry, and racketeering. Unfortunately, similar cases had occurred before. A vivid example is the story of the Old Believers' organized crime group in the Ural city of Kyshtym.

This story began in 1824 when the head of an influential merchant family and a major gold miner, Grigory Zotov, met with Alexander I in Yekaterinburg. They discussed issues of faith and industrial development for an hour and a half and seemed to find common ground. However, the mining master Khlobystin submitted a complaint to the emperor about the terrible working conditions, beatings, and even murders of disobedient workers. The emperor ordered an investigation.

A large investigative commission arrived in Kyshtym, where Zotov's main factories were located. During the inspections, horrifying facts were uncovered: workers were forced to work without days off from early morning until late at night, peasants from neighboring villages were forcibly brought to the mines, and even women, the elderly, and children were involved in gold extraction. Those who disagreed were brutally beaten, locked in basements, and starved. Medical assistance was absent, while the cemetery was regularly filled with new corpses.

Why did the local authorities not pay attention to this? The fact is that the Old Believers' gang bribed officials and law enforcement. The commission even discovered a "common fund" that helped silence particularly persistent inspectors. The leader of the group, Zotov, was arrested, although he was kept under house arrest. The bribed officials also suffered.

This story led to significant changes in the mining department: the position of the head of the mining factories of the Ural Ridge was introduced, which reported directly to the Minister of Finance. Additionally, the state reclaimed the gold stolen by Zotov, amounting to nearly 2 million rubles.