Underworld exposes the secret world of transnational criminal networks that have flourished since there were banks to bust, drugs to smuggle, and scams to run. Journalists Danny Gold and Sean Williams bring their experience reporting on dangerous people and organizations to take listeners on a global tour of mobsters, warlords and crooks - from Brooklyn to Beijing, from the streets to the boardrooms - and everywhere in between. Underworld is a show about heroes, villains, and the barely visible mafias that affect all our lives, whether we know it or not.
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
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
Sep 15 52 min
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
Sep 8 1 h 05 min
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
Sep 1 1 h 11 min
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
Aug 25 44 min
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
Aug 18 1 h 02 min
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
Aug 11 1 h 05 min
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
Aug 4 1 h 07 min
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
Jul 28 47 min
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
Jul 21 52 min
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
Jul 14 48 min
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
Jul 7 55 min
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’
Jun 30 54 min
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
Jun 23 1 h 11 min
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
Jun 16 59 min
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
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
Jun 2 1 h 05 min
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
May 26 1 h 02 min
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
May 19 1 h 00 min
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
May 12 1 h 06 min
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
May 5 1 h 03 min
Chart trend
Position in the Documentary chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#44#87JunJulAugSep
#22
all-time peak
183
days in the top 50 since Nov 2024
Chart positions
Where The Underworld Podcast ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 21, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
Lots of great information. Unfortunately the host speeds through every thing he says and all the great info gets lost in his nonstop rapid fire delivery.
Slow down my friend. You have great stuff to say. Take your time!
ahpower · Feb 2026
I tried this podcast a few times in the past because I find the subject matter interesting. I kept leaving because the presentation felt a little lacking and unprofessional. But this last time I tried it they seem to have pulled it together more. A little less banter and off track discussion and also some really great guest interviews. Keep it up.
Idiza · May 2025
I live in Papua New Guinea so wanted to see how these guys dealt with the topic. Most overseas reporters blotch it up and make it too exotic or sensational. These guys got it pretty much correct — sadly, given how bad they described the situation. They pretty accurately got the back stories correct and were able to describe events without over sensationalising them.
The only thing I question is about guns coming from America. I’ve never heard that before. Most people say the guns come from Australia (in exchange from “New Guinea gold”— marijuana) or Indonesia (in exchange for actual gold).
I think I can trust their stories on other places to be well researched and accurate.
Bilas Peles · Apr 2025
One of my favorite pods! Interesting topics and storytelling, but I love the back and forth between the hosts. Keep it coming!
Swms16 · Feb 2025
I’m really interested in the topics this show tackles, but it’s impossible to actually follow what the story is. Constant digressions, no wrangling of interviewees to stay on topic, and every interesting takeaway is dragged out to the point of being bland or no longer relevant. Plus the intros are so long and disjointed, I can’t tell where the story even starts. There’s no conclusions or gain had.
CatalystBurple · Oct 2025
On a recent episode, these clowns were joking about the war in Ukraine, and then literally begging for Russian blood money in the form of advertising dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch. This is disgusting. The murder, abduction and rape of thousands of women and children is not humorous fodder for your stupid f—ing podcast! Unsubscribed and unfollowed.
Zloduska · Jul 2025
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