The Orion Syndicate is a criminal organization operated by Orions. An organization steeped in mystery, it was an important political power in the twenty-second and twenty-third centuries; by the twenty-fourth century it had obtained a similar reputation to Earth's Mafia and the organization no longer consisted solely of Orions but of species from many other worlds. The long list of criminal activities credited to the Orion Syndicate include the kidnapping and selling of Starfleet crew members, assassinations, protection rackets, smuggling, and piracy.