Let me give you two examples of organized crime why "the people" or in this case like myself but also my wife I wouldn't say love them but also not hate/fear them.

One example was a trip to Osaka I ended up with my wife in a place called Geko Kaman. Pure by accident we were walking in a small quiet street and we saw "steak house" so we went there, second floor a tiny restaurant maybe 4 meters width and about 10 meters deep with a long hotplate and roughly 8 chefs behind them and on the other side Japanese older men dressed rather fashionably, hair died and girls I think by the day. We just sat down and didn't think to much of it but in retrospect they weren't the regular business people. But they did speak some English, one of the girls a Japanese/Brasilian was very pleasant to talk with. It was one of the best dinners we had with steak, foie gras, lobster and dom perignon as for the bill it was also something special. That said, the local gentlemen very nice guys nothing to worry about.

Now another example and this one comes quite close while living in China and dealing with Mexicans I also got to know several cartel members. Now again, very civilized guys walking around in a suit or properly dressed but knowing their business it can't be legal. But again they are nice guys as long as we have no overlaps in business.

Speaking of organized crime, I am from the construction field and unfortunately it's a sector known for bribing and other forms of illegal business. It's regular in the news, it's nation wide, it's a cartel only we don't resort to violence. It's certainly organized crime yet nobody thinks anything of that.