Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
  • 4.7 (19)
  • TRUE CRIME
  • MONTHLY
Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Winner of the 'Best Deep Dive Podcast' at the 2024 Publishers Podcast Awards, shortlisted three times for 'Best Investigative Podcast' and once for 'Best Video Podcast'. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime brings you stories and investigations from the global criminal underworld. The topics covered by Deep Dive are far ranging, one episode could be looking at a hybrid paramilitary organized criminal cartel; the next could be the dismantling of an encrypted communications network; or the use of complex corporate structures to hide illicit activity; or the role organized crime has in the recycling industry. This podcast series demonstrates the wide ranging investigations and research carried out by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

  1. Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia - Louis Ferrante - Underworlds with Mark Shaw

    23 SEPT

    Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia - Louis Ferrante - Underworlds with Mark Shaw

    The History of the American Mafia: How the Mob Built Its Empire in the US, with Former Gambino Crime Family Associate, Louis Ferrante. In this episode, Mark sits down with former Mob associate Louis Ferrante to discuss his book, Borgata: The Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia. The history of the American Mafia, known as La Cosa Nostra or simply "The Mob," is well known. Prohibition in the United States during the Roaring Twenties saw the rise of characters who have since been mythologized in Hollywood: Charles "Lucky" Luciano and his close confidant Meyer Lansky, Al "Scarface" Capone, Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein, Dutch Schultz, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, and Salvatore Maranzano. What makes Borgata different is that it was written by someone who lived "The Life," providing a unique perspective. Lou discusses the formation of The Commission, an underworld ruling council that controlled the Five Families of New York (now known as the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, and Colombo), The Outfit in Chicago, and the Philadelphia Mafia. Lou talks about the rules, the use of violence, and how the US government looked to tackle the growing power of organized crime, spearheaded by the likes of prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey. We also hear about Lou's own life in La Cosa Nostra and how he and his crew committed some of the most successful heists in US history, which ultimately landed him in prison. In prison, he began to read everything he could get his hands on, including history, philosophy, and the great classics of literature. He never turned on his former associates, but when he left prison, he also left "The Life." Now he speaks about his experiences with the Mob and has become a successful author (Unlocked: A Journey from Prison to Proust), including his new a huge three-part history of the American Mafia. In this episode, Mark and Lou discuss the first book, Borgata: The Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia. ==================================================== Louis Ferrante's book 'Borgata: The Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia' is available here: https://a.co/d/cDcxOQ2 Audible version: https://a.co/d/2VHu3Ht ==================================================== 📱 Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA 🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/ 🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM 🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS: 🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ 🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI =================================================== FOLLOW US X - @gitoc LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime IG - @gi_toc ===================================================

    1h 16m
  2. TRAILER: Underworlds with Mark Shaw - Underworlds with Mark Shaw

    16 SEPT

    TRAILER: Underworlds with Mark Shaw - Underworlds with Mark Shaw

    Welcome to Underworlds with Mark Shaw. Organized Crime is everywhere, hidden in plain sight. The stories from this world have been mythologised by Hollywood. But the reality can be even stranger and more exciting than fiction. From the golden age of the American mafia (La Cosa Nostra), to the modern-day cocaine empires, and from the shadowy links between organized crime and terrorism, to the twilight of the Yakuza. In this series Mark Shaw, the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime delves into non-fiction books about organized crime and the illicit economy with the authors themselves. He asks questions about their background and investigations, but also the challenges associated in writing about this murky world.

    2 min
  3. Mohamed Amra and the gangs of Marseille

    24 JUL

    Mohamed Amra and the gangs of Marseille

    In May 2024, a prison van was attacked at a highway toll in Normandy, France. In dramatic footage shared on social media, a black SUV, driving the wrong direction, rammed into the prison van just as it went through the barriers. Then gunmen, dressed head-to-toe in black and armed with Kalashnikov rifles got out and started shooting at the van, killing two prison officers. They opened the van and freed the prisoner, a man named Mohamed Amra, aka "The Fly", who escaped with the gunmen. There is now an Interpol Red Notice out for Amra. The attack took place in broad daylight and sheds light on the dramatic increase in gang violence over the last few years in France. Mohamed Amra had connections to the city that has been at the forefront of this violence, Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast. Speaker(s): Iris Oustinoff Leroux, YPN Coordinator and Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime Links: (GI article) France in the crossfire: Prisoner escapes in Normandy amid rise in organized crime (GI Paper) Smoke on the horizon: Trends in arms trafficking from the conflict in Ukraine (GI Article) The Western Balkans is still the criminals’ choice for weapons. Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Global Organized Crime Index Senate Report FAIT au nom de la commission d’enquête (1) sur l’impact du narcotrafic en France et les mesures à prendre pour y remédier, Additional...

    36 min

  4. 21 MAY

    The Long Tail: Cross-Channel Migrant Smuggling (France to the UK)

    On the 1st May 2024, 711 migrants successfully crossed the Channel between France and the UK in small boats. This year is so far on track to see the highest number of crossings on record. This highly industrialised illicit industry estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of Euros, has seen the coast of northern France demarcated between competing gangs from a specific region of the Middle East, and who have a long history of smuggling. They control the entire length of the route, from beginning to end - targeting prospective migrants through social media, offering package deals, and advice on how to speak to authorities on arrival. Some migrants even use their own knowledge of the trip to become smugglers themselves. In this episode we take a look at the criminal groups behind the small boat crossings; how organised the logistics are; how much money they make and where it goes; and finally what this could mean for the future of other illicit economies in Western Europe. Speaker(s): Tuesday Reitano, Deputy Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, author of the book Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Saviour. Author of the report Small Boats, Big Business: The Industrialization of Cross-Channel Migrant Smuggling. Julien Goudichaud, documentary filmmaker who has been reporting on people smugglers who operate in Calais. Afshin Ismaeli, a journalist and war photographer from Norway. Links: (GI Paper) Small Boats, Big Business: The Industrialization of Cross-Channel Migrant Smuggling - available in English & French (Book) Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Saviour (GI Paper) The Human Conveyor Belt: Trends in human trafficking and smuggling in post-revolution Libya (GI Analysis) An increasing number of Albanians are crossing the English Channel from France using small boats (GI Analysis) Western Balkan criminal groups are important players in the Netherlands Additional...

    55 min
  5. LockBit: Is this the end?

    26 MAR

    LockBit: Is this the end?

    LockBit, the world's largest ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) provider suffered a very public takedown by an international law enforcement task force, Operation Cronos. The ransomware behemoth quickly relaunched just days later. But in a world where trust is key, might the reputational damage be too great? This is the story of the rise of LockBit, its relationship with other infamous cybercriminal groups, its uneasy relationship with some affiliates, its curious leader LockBitsupp, the public takedown and the relaunch, and what this means for the future of ransomware-as-a-service. Speaker(s): Koryak Uzan, Co-founder & Managing Director of PRODAFT Links: GITOC - The Rise and Fall of the Conti ransomware group PRODAFT - LockBit: Behind the Lines of the Notorious RaaS PRODAFT - The Demise of LOCKBIT: Disrupting the Most Prominent Ransomware Gang by Utilizing Upstream Threat...

    35 min
  6. Russia, War & Organized Crime

    4 MAR

    Russia, War & Organized Crime

    Russian organized crime has a mythology attached to it - the brutal tattooed men of the Vory v Zakone. But those days are long in the past, rapid globalisation saw a new type of organized criminal take the reins in the Russian underworld, spreading their influence as criminal facilitators across the world. But the war in Ukraine has changed that. It's changed the relationship between organized crime and the Russian state, the status quo within the established criminal order, the potential vacuum left by those criminals who fight and die in the conflict, the establishment of Russian criminal groups outside of the country, the flows of illicit goods themselves have evolved, and then Ukraine, once so critical to those illicit flows, is currently lost. Such is the uncertainty surrounding organized crime that there have been rumblings about a possible return to a dark period in Russian history, known as the 'Wild 90s' - a period of anarchy that is etched into the Russian psyche. Speaker(s): Mark Galeotti, the Executive Director of Mayak Intelligence, honorary professor at University College London, member of the GI Network. Author of ‘The Vory: Russia’s Super Mafia' and the GI-TOC paper: Time of Troubles: The Russian underworld since the Ukraine invasion Links: (GI Paper) Rebellion as racket: Crime and the Donbas conflict 2014-2022 (GI Paper) Evolving drug trends in wartime Ukraine (GI Analysis) The devil’s not-so-new psychoactive substance: Alpha-PVP, a highly addictive synthetic drug, is experiencing growing demand in Ukraine. (GI Paper) Crossroads: Kazakhstan's changing illicit drug economy (GI Paper) Port in a storm: Organized crime in Odesa since the Russian invasion (Podcast) “Death Can Wait”: Drugs on the Frontline in Ukraine Research Links: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/23/russian-artist-fined-for-extremist-toy-doll-with-prison-tattoos-a82852 https://tass.ru/obschestvo/9218777 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/08/17/russia-outlaws-childrens-criminal-underground-movement-a71178 a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/sep/18/decoding-russian-criminal-tattoos-in-pictures" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    46 min
  7. Monitoring: What is going on in Ecuador?

    5 FEB

    Monitoring: What is going on in Ecuador?

    At the start of the year masked gunman burst into a television studio in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The cameras were live and the entire event was broadcast. The video shows gang members shouting at staff, pushing them to the ground, threatening them with guns and explosives. These pictures subsequently travelled around the world. But this event was just one in a series to hit Ecuador in a short space of time. Car bombs, kidnappings, murder, prison riots, prominent prisoner escapes, and another national state of emergency. Criminal violence has washed over the country as competing gangs like Los Choneros and Los Lobos battle in prisons and on the streets over control of the lucrative cocaine trafficking business. Foreign organized criminal actors like the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartels, the Albanian Mafia, FARC dissident groups from Colombia, and others, are all active in Ecuador, a country described as a "cocaine superhighway". In the space of just five or so years, Ecuador has gone from one of the safest countries in Latin America to a country with one of the highest murder rates. In this episode we are going to talk about how this happened. Speaker(s): Felipe Botero Escobar, the Head of Andean Programmes at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime GI-TOC: (Paper) Organized crime declares war: The road to chaos in Ecuador (Blog) Fernando Villavicencio - Assassination Witness Project The Global Organized Crime Index - Ecuador Country Profile (Paper) Transnational Tentacles: Global Hotspots of Balkan Organized Crime (Podcast episode) The Index - Ecuador (Paper) The cocaine pipeline to Europe Additional...

    28 min
  8. Monitoring: Ovidio Guzmán and the Kingpin Strategy

    04/12/2023

    Monitoring: Ovidio Guzmán and the Kingpin Strategy

    'The King is dead, long live the King!' In September 2023, Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, stood in a courtroom as a series of charges were laid out, including his alleged role as a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. There is a long list of cartel and organized crime leaders over the past few decades who have been targeted through what become known as the 'Kingpin Strategy'. The strategy aims to weaken, destabilise, and destroy criminal groups through a variety of methods, but is not without critics. In this episode of Deep Dive: Monitoring, we look at the arrest of Ovidio, the history and impact of the Kingpin Strategy, how organized crime responds to a prominent criminal leader being removed, the so-called "Narco-Culture" that surrounds criminal actors, and the impact it has on the communities bearing the greatest impact of these criminal groups. Speaker: Siria Gastelum Felix, the Director of Resilience, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - Link GITOC: OC Index - Mexico OC Index - Colombia Clan del Golfo: The fall of 'Otoniel' - How Colombia's biggest drug lord was taken down. Mexico’s war with itself? ¿La guerra de México consigo mismo? Additional Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmlj7cFHlsA https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/criminal-prosecution-drug-traffickers-under-continuing-criminal https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-66853111 https://insightcrime.org/colombia-organized-crime-news/oficina-de-envigado-profile/ https://insightcrime.org/colombia-organized-crime-news/auc-profile/ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-66784678 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/20/colombias-coca-crops-grew-to-historic-levels-last-year-un https://museum.dea.gov/video-archive/kingpin-strategy-did-it-work https://justiceinmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OCVM-21.pdf https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=CO&most_recent_value_desc=true a...

    21 min
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4.7
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19 Ratings

About

Winner of the 'Best Deep Dive Podcast' at the 2024 Publishers Podcast Awards, shortlisted three times for 'Best Investigative Podcast' and once for 'Best Video Podcast'. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime brings you stories and investigations from the global criminal underworld. The topics covered by Deep Dive are far ranging, one episode could be looking at a hybrid paramilitary organized criminal cartel; the next could be the dismantling of an encrypted communications network; or the use of complex corporate structures to hide illicit activity; or the role organized crime has in the recycling industry. This podcast series demonstrates the wide ranging investigations and research carried out by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Information

  • Creator
    Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2024
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
  • Show Website
    Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

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