Crime World Long Read: How Rathkeale's 'Dead Zoo Gang' stole millions in illegal rhino horns
The 'Dead Zoo' is the name the famous Dublin ‘wits’ came up with for the Natural History Museum in the capital.The quirky Victorian-era institution is packed with stuffed exotic animals from around the world – a moose, a hippo, a giraffe, a rhinoceros and a lot more. The 'Dead Zoo Gang' is the name the Sunday World gave the Irish criminals who started buying or stealing rhino horns all over the world. From the Rockies in Denver, Colorado, to auction rooms in Sydney, Australia, the gang spent more than a decade supplying the illegal trade in rhino horns. With buyers in China and Vietnam willing to spend €20,000 and more per kilo, the Irish mob found a way to go big-game hunting without using guns. This is the story, written by Eamon Dillon, of the 'Dead Zoo Gang' and one of the world’s most bizarre crime sprees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
26 Apr 202248min
Episode 98: How the Kinahan Cartel broke into the U.S. Boxing scene
THE American government has KO’d the Kinahan Cartel with a raft of sanctions that have caused chaos for the mob.But when did the name Kinahan start coming on the radar in the United States and was it the mob's brazen move into top-end boxing that sealed their fate?As Tyson Fury prepares to step into the ring at Wembley Stadium to defend his WBC heavyweight title amid a storm of controversy, Nicola Tallant chats with Jake Donovan, senior writer of BoxingScene.com.He describes how Daniel Kinahan managed to gain a foothold at the very top of U.S. boxing while American law enforcement sought to bring down his family mafia. We discuss the delay the sport and its watchdogs to protect itself from organised crime and we consider the millions of dollars that washes around promoters, managers and even crime bosses each time a punch is thrown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
23 Apr 202246min
Episode 97: Christy Kinahan Snr - The Cartel 'Godfather' who hid in plain sight
A week after U.S. sanctions were levelled at the Kinahan mafia an incredible fallout continues, as many run for cover and deny relationships with the top tier.But at the heart of the countless stories and headlines about the Kinahan Organised Crime Group has been an insight into the man at the very top of the tree.While the concentration has been on his son Daniel and his links to boxing, the 'Dapper Don', Christy Kinahan Snr, has been moonlighting as an aviation broker and running a string of social media accounts featuring his musings about the world.Nicola Tallant chats with Sunday World Deputy Editor Niall Donald about the ultimate 'Godfather of Crime' and the two faces he shows to the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
21 Apr 202244min
Episode 96: How sadistic killer Graham Dwyer is one step closer to freedom
He is an evil and sadistic killer who lured his vulnerable victim into a dark world of BDSM and then murdered her as part of his ultimate sexual fantasy.Killer Graham Dwyer is just about the last convict anyone would like to see freed on a legal technicality after he was found guilty of the almost-perfect murder of Elaine O’Hara in 2015.But it seemed he got one step closer to that freedom when a European Court of Justice ruled that some evidence used in his trial was attained in breach of EU laws.Nicola Tallant talks with Barrister Ronan Lupton about the meaning of the legal battle that has seen Europe’s top court rule that Ireland was wrong in the way it accessed some of Dwyer's phone records.He discusses Dwyer’s attempts to have his conviction for murder overturned, the meaning of the European judgement and why ordinary civilians should be concerned about the issues at the heart of his case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
19 Apr 202240min
Episode 95: My ordinary 'Old Man' - the UK super-criminal
AS a child Jason Wilson thought he had a regular dad, but by the time he was a teenager his 'Old Man' was well on the way to becoming one of the UK’s most wanted criminals.From his beginnings as a successful businessman, Tony Shipley, who later changed his name to Tony Spencer, had a driving ambition to become rich and to beat the system to get there. But during his career robbing banks, counterfeiting cash and eventually becoming a prolific drug smuggler, the big one always evaded him.In his new book, ‘The Old Man and Me’, Jason details an incredible journey into the underworld of the Netherlands and Spain, where his father sourced drugs, mixed with some of the biggest names in organised crime and finally came a cropper of his own success.Jason tells Nicola Tallant the incredible story of his father and their relationship, which endured long stints in prison, selfish ambition and a miraculous assassination attempt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
16 Apr 20221h 14min
Episode 94: How the world's law enforcement plotted the downfall of the Kinahan Cartel
The antics of Daniel Kinahan and his insistence that he is an innocent boxing promoter wrongly accused of involvement in organised crime spectacularly backfired this week.In an extraordinary conference in Dublin, the Kinahan mob were sanctioned just like Russian Oligarchs as the forces of law from the US, Europe and the UK stood together to declare Christy Kinahan Snr and his two sons as enemies of the State.In a series of speeches, border officers, police chiefs and our own Commissioners laid bare the Kinahans' journey from the streets of Dublin to the very top of a trans-global network dealing in drugs, guns and murder while laundering €1 billion profits in business interests across the world.Nicola Tallant chats with Sunday World Deputy Editor, Niall Donald, about the most incredible day in Irish criminal history – one which will cement the role the Kinahans have played in changing the face of crime fighting for good. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
13 Apr 202236min
Episode 93: The gangland murder of James Whelan and the 'Mr Flashy' feud
The murder of drug dealer James Whelan in Dublin marks the start of what gardai fear will be a long-running and murderous feud between two factions of what was once one gang.The intricacies of the fallout between the mob boss known as 'Mr Flashy' and his former lieutenant are all too familiar to many who have watched other gangland wars play out in the past.Irish Independent crime correspondent Ken Foy joins Nicola Tallant to talk about the criminal mentor who groomed the young guns who now in turn run their own violent gangs, the significance of the murder of such a key player like Whelan and the fears of the reprisals to come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
12 Apr 202231min
Episode 92: The Russian Oligarchs who have bought up the streets of London
I’m in Knightsbridge outside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the epitome of London style and wealth, but I’m not here for oysters and champagne.Instead, I’m on a mission to walk the streets and the neighbourhoods of Belgravia and Chelsea, where the Russian Oligarchs with links to the Kremlin have snapped up a staggering £1.5 billion in property.Steven Millar is our guide - a lawyer by day, he has written a series of books about London’s Hidden Walks - and today he is taking Crime World listeners on the ultimate property porn tour.In a special episode, we take a deep dive into the world of the Oligarchs and we look at their dirty money and what they are doing with it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
9 Apr 202229min
