FT News Briefing Hot Money: The New Narcos
Dec 26, 2023
A lavish wedding at the Burj Al Arab reveals hidden ties to an international cocaine cartel. The podcast dives into the gritty intersection of organized crime and legitimate business, highlighting the Dubai super cartel's grip on Europe’s drug scene. A seasoned crime reporter shares his experiences in Amsterdam, balancing beauty with underlying criminality. The mysterious murder of Ali Matamid unfolds, unraveling a thread of mistaken identities and organized crime. Dark connections between murder brokers and state-sponsored assassinations reveal unsettling global implications.
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Dubai Wedding Summit
- A 2017 Dubai wedding served as a discreet international crime summit.
- Attendees included businessmen involved in art theft, assassinations, and a multi-billion dollar cocaine empire.
Crime as Business
- Modern organized crime groups operate like multinational corporations.
- They have complex logistics, employees, and investments, making their vast financial activities hard to track.
Almere Murder
- Paul Vux investigated the murder of Ali Matamid, an electrician in Almere.
- The case seemed unusual due to the single headshot and lack of clear motive, unlike typical gang-related crimes.