
Tadeušas "Gibon" Vasilevskis (1965-) was a Lithuanian gangster who became one of the most feared criminals in Vilnius during the 1980s and 1990s. He was formerly a boxer (becoming a Soviet boxing champion at the age of 16) before becoming a criminal; he was nicknamed Gibon ("Gibbon") because of his large build, extraordinarily long arms, and expressive face. He was thrice arrested for theft before becoming a member of the "Vilnius Brigade" of the Russian Mafia, and he extorted entrepreneurs. In 1991, he was arrested amid a schism within his organization, and, with the Dissolution of the Soviet Union and the rapid decline of organized crime in Lithuania, Vasilevskis and several fellow mobsters retired, and Gibon returned to sports; from 2012 to 2015, however, he was imprisoned for selling cocaine. He also collected Soviet memorabilia such as communist posters and flags, as he and his wife saw the Soviet era as the "most amazing times".