Samed Vezirzade is an organized crime leader. He was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1954, to a prominent local family. He received a degree in petrochemical engineering from the University of Moscow in 1973. He then returned to Azerbaijan where he initially worked in the exploration division of Azerneftegaz. During the reforms of the mid-80's, Vezirzade used his family connections to advance himself to a position of considerable power within the local petroleum industry. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he became one of the handfuls of men who control all oil production within Azerbaijan, he is a leader of the so-called Oil Mafia.