Ixo Syndicate

The Ixo Syndicate is a smuggling ring and transport cartel which has gained effective control of a large number of mining colonies, local logistics infrastructure, and interstellar shipping lines in the Illyria Unaffiliated Zone. The syndicate is based on the planet Pan, where it has subsumed most organs of local government, and specializes in evading import controls on Illyrian bluegem. Although it has become a symbol of the governmental dysfunction that plagues the IUZ, its decentralized organization and cunning local leadership have allowed it to largely escape attempts at cleaning up the notoriously corrupt bluegem industry of the newly established mining worlds.

The Syndicate emerged from a successful smuggling ring of the same name in 2497, and in 2506 acquired its first stake in a major certified shipping line. By 2513 the Syndicate had begun expanding its operations to include direct control of mining operations, and 2520 began directly interfering in the political affairs of Pan. The Syndicate’s present stature as the dominant force on Pan and a major player in the nearby minor mining colonies was cemented by 2536, and its operations have continued to expand in the years since.

Governance

The Ixo Syndicate has limited central leadership, largely concentrated in its headquarters on Pan. This central office handles the legal considerations and political influence campaigns which have allowed the Syndicate to so effectively subvert local regulation, in addition to providing high-level directives to the major operations controlled by the Syndicate. Most Syndicate activity is controlled by lower-level local bosses who source goods for shipment, coordinate transport, and operate the infrastructure which move goods to market. Competition within the syndicate is fierce, and is one of the major obstacles to the Syndicate’s ongoing expansion and operation efficiency.