The Professionals

The Professionals are a crime syndicate featured in Grand Theft Auto Online.

Overview
As their name implies, they are a professional group of criminals that deal in drug trafficking and arms smuggling. They operate all throughout San Andreas. The Professionals appear in several missions, Gang Attacks and Biker Contracts.

The Professionals appear to be a drug-distribution network, dealing with various other gangs such as the Ballas, the Vagos, and The Lost MC. The Professionals seem to be affiliated with the Federal Investigation Bureau as well. They are in control of many different fronts, including the Mile High Club construction site, as seen in a Gang Attack.

The Professionals also seem to be providing courier and bodyguard services for a variety of valuable employers, thus making them potential competitors of Merryweather Security Consulting. Gerald describes them as "professional-type dudes" in text messages. Lester, in one text message debriefing a mission, describes them as an "ex-military unit." Judging from dialogue during shootouts, they are apparently ex-United States Marines, sometimes shouting "I'm a fucking marine!", or "Semper fi!", the motto of the Marine Corps, though this might be an oversight as well since they share their quotes with the military. This makes them even more similar to Merryweather, as Merryweather operatives are former servicemen as well. The Professionals also serve as muggers when randomly selected by the game's code.

The Professionals dress in suits, sports coats, collared fabric bomber jackets or collared leather bomber jackets with business attire, and are multi-racial, with white, black, and Hispanic members. Some wear black leather gloves, adding even more to their look of stereotypical hitmen. Sometimes, they may be seen wearing black, gray or white ballistic face masks, as well as bandana masks and ski masks. The Professionals always drive all-black or all-gray vehicles, ranging from sedans, like the Fugitives to Grangers. In some Online missions, they can be seen using Vapid Speedo's for transporting cargo and sometimes pursue the player on Bati 801's.

Influences

 * The gang takes its name from The Professionals, a British detective drama from the '70s and '80s.
 * The gang's name could also be a reference to the 1966 movie, also named The Professionals.
 * They also bear resemblance to the main group of antagonists in the movie Lethal Weapon, called Shadow Company. Like the Professionals, they are ex-military operatives involved in the drug trade.

Mission Appearances
Cracked
 * GTA Online
 * A Boat in the Bay
 * Artificial Scarcity
 * Blow Up III
 * Coveted
 * Death Metal
 * Dish the Dirt
 * Four Trailers
 * Gassed Up
 * Handle with Care
 * Hard Labor
 * High Priority Case
 * Landing Gear
 * Landing Strip
 * Last Chopper Outta LS
 * Mixed Up With Coke
 * Quarry Quarry
 * Rooftop Rumble
 * Sinking Feeling
 * Stick Up the Stickup Crew
 * The Los Santos Connection
 * Trash Talk
 * Factory Closure
 * Heists
 * Series A Funding
 * Pacific Standard - Hack
 * Biker Contracts

Trivia

 * In Grand Theft Auto Online, if the player defeats them in five Gang Attacks within one session, they will put a bounty on his/her head. A man, presumably their leader, who goes by the name of, "The Boss", will send a threatening message prior to placing the hit - "You won't even see them coming".
 * In Capture Creator, the player can choose The Professionals as the "actors" in their custom jobs.
 * Their masks are unattainable and may only be seen during Cracked, Muggings and when in the Capture Creator. However, the masks disappear when the Capture is published.
 * Despite being enemies of the GTA Online Protagonist, they can be hired as security for their Weapon Traffiking in the DLC GTA Online: Gunrunning