Bar Lume - the organized crime podcast Bar Lume

Last year, 11-year-old Firdaous became the first innocent victim of organized crime in Antwerp, Belgium, Europe's second largest drug port. Today, the city is grappling with drug-related violence often carried out by minors, multinational criminal networks and extensive money laundering involving the diamond, gold and luxury industries. Years of repression at local level have failed to solve the problem. What can civil society do about it? Interview with Belgian activist Sarah Vantorre, VP of BASTA - Belgian Antimafia Steps Towards Awareness.

Environmental crime is the fourth largest criminal activity in the world after drug trafficking, human trafficking and counterfeiting. What is it about? Which countries are involved? And what makes it so profitable for organized crime? We discuss these and other questions with Valentina Beomonte Zobel, Policy Officer at the European Commission combating this phenomenon between Europe and Southeast Asia. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this interview do not represent the views of the European Commission.

A historic trial is underway in the Netherlands: boss Ridouan Taghi and 16 of his affiliates stay accused of murder, drug trafficking, money laundering and even torture. Their crimes have covered the pages of newspapers around the world.

In this episode, you’ll learn about the most powerful drug lord in the Netherlands and his organization: the Mocro Mafia.

In this episode, we take a look at illicit art trafficking, an international issue that is linked to different causes and has serious consequences on cultural heritage. Countries are affected in different ways, individuals, criminal organizations and terrorist groups involved may have different reasons to join networks and the international community has developed international tools to fight this phenomenon.

Sweden has a reputation as a safe and developed country, a stable democracy and a champion of gender and social equality. Yet a closer look at life in Sweden’s cities gives a quite different picture. In this episode you’ll learn about Sweden’s growing gang problem and its links to structural inequality in the country.

Have you ever wondered which tattoos you should very NOT make on yourself because of the risk to be associated to a mafia clan? In today's episode, we'll go through the main symbols used by criminals on their skin, their meaning and the history of tattoing art in the criminal world.