How Russian Mobsters Masterminded a Crazy, Fake Cricket League for Betting Riches: Sean's in the Field!
This May, on assignment for _Sports Illustrated_, Sean visited Molipur, a tiny village in Gujarat, India, to dive into what seemed like a funny caper: villagers establishing a fake cricket league to f...
10 Okt 202352min
The Secret Rise of Female Narcos in Latin American Cartels with Deborah Bonello
Deborah Bonello is a Mexico City-based reporter who's distilled years of reporting on some of the most dangerous women on earth into her new book "Narcas: The Secret Rise of Women in Latin America's C...
3 Okt 20231h 3min
Ex-Con Mercenaries, Wagner, Prigozhin, and the Russian Mafiosos Fighting in Ukraine with Joshua Yaffa
The Russian mercenary/state aligned outfit Wagner emerged from the early days of the war in Ukraine, led by an ex-con turned hot dog salesman turned Putin lapdog. In no time, they were operating in th...
26 Sep 202347min
The Chechen Mafia Strikes Back: War Profiteering, School Sieges and a Turncoat Named Kadyrov
The Soviet Union is toast, Chechnya is at war and Grozny, its embattled capital, is being bombed to dust. Gangs of Chechen criminals are getting rich off the bloodshed, capitalizing on gun- and drug-r...
19 Sep 202353min
Becoming the Chechen Mafia: Ancient Outlaws, Soviet Scabs and a British KGB Plot
In this episode we track the concept of the Chechen Mafia—not an easy thing to define—from ancient invasions and the creation of the "Abrek", or "outlaw-exile," through Soviet repression, Stalin's dep...
12 Sep 202350min
The Camorra Clans of Naples: Italy's Most Violent Criminal Organizarion
The origins of Naples' feared criminal clans known as the Camorra go back hundreds of years to the days of rural banditry and villa owners with private armies that lived by a code. Now, having access ...
5 Sep 202346min
The Maltese Mobsters who Ruled London's Empire of Vice
The Messina family came from Sicily, then Malta and North Africa, before settling in 1930s London—whose underworld was about to be supercharged by wartime blackouts and love-lorn American G.I.s. They ...
29 Aug 202350min
Los Zetas: The Brutal Cartel Formed By Mexican Commandos
Mexican Cartels have always had a penchant for violence, but the brutal tactics of Los Zetas plunged Mexico into never before seen levels of bloodshed. Originally formed by only a few dozen special fo...
22 Aug 202344min
