The Underworld Podcast

The "Mafia Shqiptare" was forged during communism, exploded into life during a nationwide pyramid scheme, and unleashed a wave of drugs and violence across Europe from the late 90s. We dive into its most notorious bosses - and how gangs including the 'Hellbanianz' have taken over the UK's lucrative drug scene. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The "Maxi Trial" pitted two fearless Palermo prosecutors and turncoat "Pentiti" against the Cosa Nostra, its thuggish leader Toto Riina, and a whole host of corrupt cops, politicians and businessmen. But when the judge handed down 344 guilty verdicts, the real chaos was just beginning. We dive into an era of Italian Mafia history-car bombs, daily hits, heroin billions-that looked more like war than organized crime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early one morning this past June, 6 fully kitted out SWAT teams in Dubai fanned out across multiple luxury buildings. They were targeting a vast criminal conspiracy that had scammed hundreds of millions of dollars through pretty simply cyber trickery. From Brooklyn Blood sets using cryptocurrency to facilitate their credit card scams to the Nigerian fraud king Hushpuppi getting busted with 40 million dollars in cash, we have some fun talking scammers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Car bombs, shoulder-fired missiles, grenades and hits across 5 continents; the Israeli mafias that rose up in the 90's and fought each other for control of gambling and drug rackets for the following decades are among the most sophisticated in the world. At one point, they controlled 80% of the world's global ecstasy trade and partnered with street gangs in Los Angeles to distribute. The Alperons, Abergils, Rosensteins, and Abutbuls had no problem going after judges, politicians and cops. And when they weren't busy killing each other over bottle recycling rackets in Israel, they established global networks of drugs and gambling across Europe, Asia, and America. Danny is joined by Israeli crime reporter Ben Hartman in this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last few years, Sean's been on the ground covering the Philippines' brutal drug war amongst the dealers, addicts, and killer cops. Rodrigo Duterte, the architect of the Philippines' blood-soaked drug war, has shot men dead with uzis and fed them to crocodiles. How did he become the country's top man? We take a ride on Manila's gruesome 'Night Shift,' and tell the tale of a showdown between a killer cop and infamous gang down south, to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

( note: we weren't able to record in the studio so audio is off a bit) The murder capital of the United States isn't Chicago, Baltimore or Detroit - it's St. Louis, Missouri, which for each of the last **SEVEN** years in a row had has the highest murder rate in the United States. The city just finished 2020 with a record breaking murder rate of 87 per 100,000 people, making it the deadliest city in the world not in Mexico or Brazil. A city of only 300,000 people, it had twice as many murders as London, population 9 million. This is the story of how St Louis became the murder capital of America; guns, gangs, drugs, poor policing, population loss, disappearing industry, concentrated poverty, and a history of systemically racist policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny is out this week, and Sean is joined by comedian Sami Shah. He came from nowhere to become the murderous king of Melbourne's 'underbelly.' But how did Carl Williams, a "shelf stacker - and not a good one," lead the Australian city's long established Calabrian and Irish mafias into its biggest-ever war? And how did cops, and an informant named 'Lawyer X,' stoke the flames? Sean is joined by writer and comedian Sami Shah to explore the Melbourne Gangland Killings. Patreon.com/TheUnderworldPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1990's, a new group of criminals started making their presence known on the streets of New York City: the Albanian mafia. Soon, they earned a reputation that even scared the Italian mafias that had dominated the city for decades. Muscling in on Gambino and Lucchese rackets, they pulled guns on made men and people began referring to the Rudaj Organization, better known as The Corporation, as the 6th family. This is the story of how Albanian organized crime groups came to New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The biggest drug cartel in the world isn't Mexican, or Colombian. It's Asian. Buried deep in the Burmese jungle are networks of cutting edge meth labs, guarded by rebels and run by kingpins so powerful they make El Chapo look like a corner boy. In 2019, Underworld cohost Sean Williams went looking for one of the billion dollar meth labs spending months on the Mekong, in lawless casinos and hunting a drug industry bigger than any other on earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years MS-13 has become one of the most feared street gangs in the world, thanks to face tattoos and machetes. Underworld host and producer Danny Gold first went to El Salvador to report on the gang and their rivals 18th Street in 2015 and has since returned numerous times. In this episode he breaks down the origins of the gang and what it's like to go behind the scenes with them (and 18th street). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices