The Underworld Podcast

The Fall & Rise of Pakistan’s Escobar

In our final episode on the rise and fall and rise of the Pablo Escobar of Pakistan, he negotiates his own surrender to the DEA, maneuvers his way into the U.S. while dod

How an Albanian Mobster Derailed MAGA Island

In Albania's turbulent Nineties, the small, seaside town of Vlore became a gangster’s paradise, playing host to hundreds of crooks ferrying drugs, weapons and people into

The Biggest Unknown Drug Dealer in US History

He might just be the biggest US drug smuggler you’ve never heard of. 1.3 billion in product moved. 16 different aliases. Bank accounts in 10 countries. A phantom, and a l

Shafted: How Cartels are Killing for Rare-Earths

Bolivia's Cerro Rico has been spewing out tons of silver for centuries. It was the economic bellows of the Spanish Revolution, whose lust for the precious metal came at t

The Heroin Warlord of Pakistan: Armed Tribesman, the CIA, & a Smuggling Empire

5000 armed tribesman at his beck and a call. A mountain compound in a lawless territory. A seat in Pakistan’s parliament bought and paid for. And a heroin and hash empire

Russian Mercenaries African Drug Empire, Israel’s Sushi Mob war & the murdered Assassin: Stash House

On this episode of Stashhouse: Wagner's leftover mercenaries are running a tramadol empire in the heart of Africa, while in Monaco a bomb takes out a Ukrainian tycoon, th

El Mayo Behind Bars: Cartel War, Conspiracy and Narcopolitics

Earlier this month, Sinaloa Cartel mastermind Ismael Zambada García, aka El Mayo, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in growing one of the world’s biggest crimi

Empire of Blood: The Fall of the Godfather of Crime and the Green Gang

When his Green Gang goons killed thousands of leftists in 1927’s Shanghai Massacre, Du Yuesheng was welcomed into the political scene of China’s nationalist leader Chiang

China’s Mob King Prepares for War

By the mid-1920s, Green Gang Boss Du Yuesheng had conquered almost all before him — including his own underworld mentor Huang Jinrong. Shanghai’s opium scene, torn open b

Brazil’s Pablo Escobar: The Ghost

They call him Brazil's Pablo Escobar. Sérgio de Carvalho was an elite Brazilian police major who became one of the most wanted drug traffickers on Earth, accused of flyin

The Last Don: The Godfather Who Turned Rat

In 1992, the New York Mafia is falling apart. The Gambinos are in chaos, the Colombos are at war, the Genoveses are hiding behind Chin Gigante’s bathrobe act, and the Bon

The Rise of China’s Biggest Mob Boss EVER

Born into a peasant family on the outskirts of Shanghai, Du Yuesheng grew up an inveterate gambler and opium addict. But as he forged alliances in the growing metropolis’

Chinatown’s Gangster Prince: Shrimp Boy

Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow possesses one of the best mob nicknames out there. The San Francisco Chinatown gangster went from teenage immigrant hooligan from the streets of

Redux: Africa's Pablo Escobar: Ibrahim Akasha

Ibrahim Akasha was the kingpin of East Africa’s heroin highway, setting up a massive tracking empire that stretched from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran to Kenya, South Af

Sex, Drugs and Shinto: How the Yakuza’s Only Woman Found Redemption

When Mako Nishimura, the yakuza’s only female member, fell in love with a rival gangster, it would send her on a long and painful path from drug and sex trafficking, to p

Italy Clan Wars, Irish Gangster Politicians & Cartel Nigerian Breaking Bad: Stash House!

On this week's Stash House: A fugitive Dutch cocaine kingpin dodges capture off the coast of West Africa. An Irish gang boss trades gangland warfare for electoral politic

The Rise and Fall of The Yakuza Devil's Child

Mako Nishimura graduated from high school delinquent to kamikaze biker gang, street tough and, eventually, a fully made member of a yakuza syndicate - the first (or perha

The Cartel Del Noreste's Kingdom of Terror w/ Andrew Glazer

Nuevo Laredo is one of the most feared cartel cities in Mexico, a place where disappearances, gun battles, and corruption became part of daily life as the Cartel del Nore

140 Banks! The Craziest Robbery Crew You've Never Heard Of!

Meet the Stopwatch Gang: three polite Canadian crooks turned bank robbery into a precision sport, hitting over 140 banks across North America and walking away with $15 mi

The Uncatchable Outlaw: Greece’s Helicopter-Riding Robin Hood

Vassilis Paleokostas, and his big brother Nikos, grew up shoeless in a Greek mountain village. When the boys moved to a city, they discovered a talent for robbery — and h