Fair enough, it is not right to compare the
Baron to
Jabba the Hut, but you cannot say he wasn't a
crime lord. The Baron was a
psycopathic maniac in the least. He caused such problems as the near death of
Leto Atreides and hence the near fall of
House Atreides, plus the
assasination of many House leaders (
major and
minor) which he disliked, and he is also responsible for the
torture and near
extinction of the
natives of
Dune (or
Arrakiss), the
Fremen.
On top of that, House Harkonnen has never done a fair and honest trade since being under the rule of Vladimir. They imbezelled spice from the Emperor while they had the mining rights to Dune, they stole from other Houses and they always rigged financial or market tradings so that House Harkonnen came out with massive gains and the other House/s involved had massive losses. Not to mention the endless poverty and polluted estates with far too high taxes and a harsh feudal law kept on Geidi Prime.
So in no way can you say that Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is not a Crime Lord.