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The Hachahatak Connexion, also simply known as the Akshish, "the Root", is an organized crime syndicate originating in the region of Eunos and Ekab and has an heavy presence all around the Kayamuca Sea, especially in Belfras, the Mutul, and Ayeli. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organisational structure and code of conduct. It originated as an association of terrorist groups and militant organizations fighting or promoting the idea of a independent Hachahatak State in southern Belfras. After a few decades of violence, it devolved into a loose association of criminal groups with the core activities of racketeering, the arbitration of disputes between criminals, and drug traficking and other acts of smuggling.
History
After 1916
Following the devastation caused by the repression of the ill-fated Hachawaya, many Hachahatak migrated to the Mutul or other countries. New districts appeared in the Yajawil of Ekab filled with these refugees, who kept contact with their relatives that had remained on the other side of the Nor-Oxi Strait.
The first published account of what became known as "The Root" dates to the year 1930, during the Belfro-Mutulese War of 1928. A journalist reported that a number of Hachahatak-majority districts had become home of relatively large associations of criminals offering protection services against both the authorities and rival gangs. Post-war, they gradually progressed from small neighborhood operations to citywide and eventually state-wide organizations.
Shikoba Hushima was a Hachahatak independentist who had fled with his family to the Mutul after the defeat of Hachawaya. He returned to Belfras in 1936 under a false name and, alongside a few other relatives and allies, created the Silent Hand. The Silent Hand was a group that conducted a large number of terrorist attacks in Belfras, boasting that they fought for the "resurection of Hachawaya". They used extortions, kidnapping, and drug trafficking, as their main sources of revenues, and also smuggled weapons and explosives into Belfras to perform attacks on police officers and bank robberies. Most members of the Silent Hand ended up captured or killed, and it was disbanded. But a number of smaller organizations, either splinter cells or copycats, continued the fight for an independent Hachawaya.
The main strength of these groups, all claiming to be part of a larger association known as "The Root", was their connexion with other Hachahatak communities in the Mutul. This gave them a greater access to drugs such as opium, cannabis, and coca leaves. The money obtained from drug trafficking allowed them to become the criminal lords of large networks of extortions, legal and illegal enterprises in Eunos paying a protection fee to "The Root".
Structure
Organization
The Root is a loose collection of around one hundred organised groups, called Iskas or "Clan". Each Iska generally has a claim over a territory, usually a town, a village, or a neighborhood, but it is not always the case. There's an estimated worldwide 10,000 members of the Akshish.
Most of the Iskas operate in Eunos and Ekab. They are concentrated in the poor neighborhoods of the two States, which serve as their strongholds. In Ekab, the Sanctuary of Hunaphu and Xbalanque in Tupak has long been the meeting place of the "Imoklasha".
The Root recruits members on the criterion of blood relationships resulting in an extraordinary cohesion within the family clan that presents a major obstacle to investigation. Sons of Imoklasha are expected to follow in their fathers' footsteps, and go through a grooming process in their youth to become an Alia Aholitopa, an "Honor Child". Other reasons might attract a young man to seek membership, and non-kin have also been admitted, but being recognized as an Hachahatak is always necessary. Marriages help cement relations within each Iska and to expand membership.
At the bottom of the chain of command are the Tushka chitokaka, "Honored Soldiers", who are expected to perform tasks with blind obedience until they are promoted to the next level of Minko, or Captain. Separated from the standard hierarchy but still linked to the Clan are the Nanpisa and then the Hopaii, or "Prophet". These two ranks exact names depend on the country and the religion of the Clan, as a Prophet might be called an "Evangelist" in Belfras, but they play an important role in the structure of the Iskas. It's to them that an up-and-coming gangster has to swear their dedication to a life of crime, either to the Bible or by performing a Blood-Letting to K'inich Ajaw, once again depending on their religion. A Pinki is the second-highest level of command in a Iska and report directly to the Boss, the Jiopaii (Warchief).
Power structure
After the disparition of the Silent Hand and other militias, the power apparatus of the single families were the sole ruling bodies within the Connexion. A superordinate body would only re-appear in the 1990s, as the result of negotiationso to end inter-family violences that had become all too common because of competing smuggling networks, or "clanic alliances".
While Belfrasians Iskas remain horizontal in nature, working with networks of alliances, agreements, and marriages rather than with a strict pyramidal structure, their Mutuleses counterparts show a greater level of structuration with stable mechanisms for coordination and dispute settlement centered around the cult to K'inich Ajaw and the Hero Twins. Contacts and meetings among bosses are frequent, generally in holy grounds, sanctuary, and temples which are refuges from both antagonists clans and law enforcement. At least since the 50s, the chiefs of the Roots are said to meet annualy at the Tupak Sanctuary of the Twins gods. The assembly exercises weak supervisory powers over the activities of all groups. Every boss gathered "must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc." Each year, a new Holitopa Aiapesa is elected. The Aiapesa is tasked with performing rituals to K'inich Ajaw, the patron deity of the Mutulese Root, settle inter-clanic disputes, grant authorizations to new Clans to operate, and collect a small percentage of illicit proceeds from all the Clans that participate to the Tupak Reunion. This money serve for the rituals to K'inich Ajaw the Holitopa Aiapesa has to perform and might also be redistributed into charitative works or to renovate or maintain temples and sanctuaries.
Activities
According to the Belfrasian Federal Security Agency, the economic activities of the Hachahatak Connexion include drugs and Weapons smuggling. Further activities include skimming money off large public work construction projects, Money laundering, and traditional crimes such as usury and extortion. Drug trafficking remain the most profitable activity, representing around 60% of the total business volume of the Root.
Worldwide presence
The Root has had a remarkable ability to establish branches abroad, mainly through migration: The familial bond has not only worked as a shield to protect secrets and enhance security, but also helped to maintain identity in the territory of origin and reproduce it in territories where the family has migrated. It is now believed to have expanded beyond the "Belfro-Mutulese" axis, with Iskas having established branches in other Kayamucan states such as Tikal and Ayeli, but also in Ochran.
Belfras
Mutul
The Divine Kingdom has been accused of being a "refuge" for Hachahatak gangs. Historically, the Mutul had supported the Silent Hand and other terrorist groups operating in Belfras, before turning against them with the arrival of the Orientalists in power. Relations between provincial and local authorities with various Iskas have been denounced numerous time and, even if they have led to well mediatized arrests on some occasions, the Divine Throne response has always been to minimze the influence of the Hachahatak diaspora over criminal and local public affairs.
Belfrasians authorities have regularly published documents which denounce the Mutul has not only turning a blind eye to the Hachahatak Connexion, but even to favour it, encouraging the drug trades toward Belfras and even Belisaria, turning the Divine Kingdom into an important plateform for Morphine trafficking and a cannabis producer. Local auhtorities have also gladly accepted investments from the Hachahatak communities, especially in religious buildings dedicated to sung gods such as K'inich Ajaw, Xbalanque, and the Night Sun.