Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime
Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Overview
Episodes

Details

Winner of the 'Best Deep Dive Podcast' at the 2024 Publishers Podcast Awards, shortlisted three times for 'Best Investigative Podcast' and once for 'Best Video Podcast'. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime brings you stories and investigations from the global criminal underworld. The topics covered by Deep Dive are far ranging, one episode could be looking at a hybrid paramilitary organized criminal cartel; the next could be the dismantling of an encrypted communications network; or the use of complex corporate structures to hide illicit activity; or the role organized crime has in the recycling industry. This podcast series demonstrates the wide ranging investigations and research carried out by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Recent Episodes

Drugs, Dead Drops and the Battle Over Russian Darknet Markets
JAN 14, 2025
Drugs, Dead Drops and the Battle Over Russian Darknet Markets

If you were to walk around a Russian city, you might not realise it but hundreds of small packages of drugs, could be just below the surface, buried in the ground, or maybe attached to the back of a nearby drainpipe with magnets, or hidden inside a hole in a wall. These little "treasures" have been ordered online from a vendor operating on a darknet platform and then hidden by couriers known as 'Kladmen' all over the place waiting to be collected - this is the "dead drop" method.

The darknet markets servicing Russia have revolutionized the illicit drug markets in the country, which has seen an explosion in the consumption of synthetic drugs like methadone, mephedrone or Alpha-PVP. The vendors run a network of chemists, wholesalers, and Kladmen. Sportsman, hired thugs, roam around looking for Seagulls (people who steal dead drops) and punishing Kladmen on behalf of vendors, before uploading the punishments to social media as a warning to others.

For many years, Hydra, the largest DNM the world has ever known, defeated all competition and reigned supreme, handling over $5 billion dollars of cryptocurrency during its lifespan. But in 2022, it was taken down and like the mythical beast it was named after, new heads sprouted in its place - OMG!OMG!, Mega, Kraken, Blacksprut - all vying for position, competing for market share and creating the most audacious public marketing stunts and highly produced online videos.

The DNMs, with connections to the precursor markets of China and India, operate on TOR, have pushed synthetic drugs into all corners of Russia, democratizing the production process, with how-to guides and readily available lab equipment, and even created an apprenticeship scheme for prospective Kladmen, with a guaranteed job at the end.

The whole process is highly anonymised from production to transportation, and from purchase to delivery through the dead drop method. We have seen darknet markets affecting the drug appetites of an entire nation and beyond.

Speaker(s):

Max Daly, Journalist who specialises in drugs and organized crime. He is an Orwell Prize winner, co-authored of the book Narcomania and the co-author of the GITOC paper 'Breaking Klad: Russia’s Dead Drop Drug Revolution'.

Patrick Shortis, Senior Blockchain Intelligence Analyst working on the illicit drugs program at TRM Labs and co-author of the GI’s paper ‘Breaking Klad: Russia’s Dead Drop Drug Revolution’.

Links:

Breaking Klad: Russia’s Dead Drop Drug Revolution

Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

(Podcast) “Death Can Wait”: Drugs on the Frontline in Ukraine

Additional Links:

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0701

https://meph.lenta.ru/articles/1-popularity

https://lenta.ru/news/2024/11/27/borby-s-rasprostraneniem-narkotikov/

https://lenta.ru/news/2024/11/27/milonov-predlozhil-proverit-vseh-rossiyan-na-narkotiki/

https://lenta.ru/news/2024/11/28/v-gosdume-vyskazalis-ob-epidemii-mefedrona-v-rossii/

https://argumenti.ru/society/2023/06/838979

https://www.tiktok.com/@brem100/video/7242272283954253058?lang=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWTmaRvpViw

https://www.tiktok.com/@moriarti.dark/video/7271777133335153926

https://sevastopol.su/news/v-krymu-proshel-sud-nad-blogershey-yuley-finess

https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/02/07/when-a-college-student-challenged-russia-s-top-censorship-activist-at-her-q-a-event-she-responded-by-threatening-him-with-prosecution

https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/12/20/mother-russia-en

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Obukhovets,+Leningrad+Oblast,+Russia,+187047/@59.4806054,31.2688815,13z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x46bdb94966834f73:0xbfe5e983110f840f!8m2!3d59.4952008!4d31.2902649!16s%2Fg%2F1pzpdbhfc?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5899910

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Brilliant_green

https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Vory-Russias-Super-Mafia/dp/B07CS7BZ89/ref=sr_1_1?nsdOptOutParam=true&sr=8-1

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/cyber-vault/2019-12-13/silk-road-investigation-dea-secret-service-agents-involvement-online-black-market-site

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-dea-agent-sentenced-extortion-money-laundering-and-obstruction-related-silk-road

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2013/11/08/meet-the-silk-road-employee-that-the-dread-pirate-roberts-allegedly-tried-to-murder/

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/administrator-silk-road-website-and-drug-vendor-plead-guilty-drug-conspiracy

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/04/silk-road-ross-ulbricht-drugs-murder

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2436643

https://t.me/IrinaVolk_MVD/826

https://t.me/skgovby/8901 /

https://lenta.ru/articles/2022/03/24/sportiki/

https://darknark.lenta.ru/article/part3-broken-lives

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/24/russia-moves-to-allow-criminal-defendants-to-fight-in-ukraine-a86456

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/10/01/russias-army-plans-to-enlist-20k-criminal-defendants-for-ukraine-war-istories-a86534

https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/8eed35/pdf/

https://severpost.ru/read/180945/

https://socradar.io/beyond-hacktivism-deanon-club-killnet-and-the-russian-dark-web-market-wars/

https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/hostile-takeover-kraken-hacks-rival-dark-market-solaris-a-20986

https://therecord.media/pro-kremlin-hackers-target-latvias-parliament-after-declaring-russia-a-sponsor-of-terrorism

https://www.thetimes.com/world/article/pro-kremlin-hackers-killnet-hit-latvia-with-biggest-cyberattack-in-its-history-2jvmp8hk7

https://www.bitdefender.com/en-gb/blog/hotforsecurity/pro-russian-killnet-group-hits-us-airline-websites-with-ddos-attack

https://www.darkreading.com/cloud-security/killnet-ddos-attack-royal-family-website

https://dzen.ru/b/Y-5DIbb7bh7QW5SR

https://m.vk.com/wall-66678575_81399673?lang=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvlY2tn8Sh0

https://www.youtube.com/@Jessica_Ocean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_592OyIvV5U

https://lenta.ru/news/2024/12/02/organizatoram-torgovavshey-po-vsey-rossii-narkoimperii-vynesli-prigovor/

https://therecord.media/hyrda-darknet-drug-marketplace-kingpin-sentenced-life-russia

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/12/02/russia-sentences-alleged-founder-of-hydra-darknet-site-to-life-in-prison-a87198

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-61002904

https://flashpoint.io/resources/research/flashpoint-and-chainalysis-investigate-hydra-where-cryptocurrency-cybercrime-goes-dark/

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1490906/dl

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-investigation-leads-shutdown-largest-online-darknet-marketplace

https://www.darkowl.com/blog-content/russians-on-the-darknet-part-ii-marketplaces-amp-forums/

https://socradar.io/under-the-spotlight-ramp-forum/

https://tass.ru/proisshestviya/4572560

https://darknark.lenta.ru/article/part1-the-war

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/us-charges-three-men-with-creating-and-running-first-ever-mirai-botnet/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/dyn-confirms-mirai-botnet-involved-in-distributed-denial-of-service-attack/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/03/cyberattack-internet-liberia-ddos-hack-botnet

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/failed-mirai-botnet-campaign-takes-900000-germans-offline/

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/iot-stats

https://spectrum.ieee.org/mirai-botnet

https://www.radware.com/security/ddos-knowledge-center/ddospedia/mirai/

https://www.ntv.ru/novosti/1760880/

https://66.ru/news/society/250870/

https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/deep-dive-podcast/

https://finance.rambler.ru/markets/48548669-mif-o-russkoy-gidre-chem-zakonchilas-istoriya-krupneyshey-ploschadki-po-prodazhe-narkotikov-i-konchilas-li/

https://tass.com/society/866067

https://www.wired.com/2014/11/operation-onymous-dark-web-arrests/

https://www.wired.com/2014/12/interview-darkside-russias-favorite-dark-web-drug-lord/

https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/how-darknet-markets-fought-for-users-in-wake-of-hydra-collapse-2022/

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75 MIN
Colombia & Total Peace: Part 2: Buenaventura – “The Pact for Life”
NOV 27, 2024
Colombia & Total Peace: Part 2: Buenaventura – “The Pact for Life”

Buenaventura – “The Pact for Life”

Buenaventura has long been an important node in international illicit markets, particularly cocaine trafficking due to its port. Gangs, paramilitaries and organized criminal networks have all looked to gain a foothold here. The resulting violence has meant the city has seen many murders, and even more disappearances, with terrifying tales emanating from the so-called 'Casa de pique’ (Chop Shops).

In September 2022, two gangs in Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast of Colombia, signed a truce to end the bloodshed that had gripped the city for two years - called 'The Pact for Life', which was mediated by the Bishop of Buenaventura.

Los Shottas and Los Espartanos (the Spartans) had been locked in a vicious battle ever since they had both broken away from the La Local gang, carving up the city between them.

The administration of President Gustavo Petro, saw the truce as an opportunity to negotiate with these two gangs under the Total Peace policy, which looks to reduce violence in communities across Colombia.

There has been a reduction in homicides, but this stat hides the fact that other crimes have increased - extortion, disappearances, control of movement, and the "justice" (fines, beatings or murder) meted out on the population by the gangs.

Speaker(s):

Mariana Botero Restrepo, former GITOC Analyst and Researcher in the Observatory of the Andean Region.

Felipe Botero Escobar, Head of Andean Regional Office, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Juanita Durán-Vélez, Lawyer, Crime and Justice Lab, Colombia.

Links:

Andean Regional Office, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Podcast & Article - Clan del Golfo: The fall of 'Otoniel': How Colombia's biggest drug lord was taken down.

The base research (Negotiating with Criminal Groups: Colombia´s Total Peace Policy) for this episode was initially developed and supported by Serious Organized Crime and Anticorruption Evidence research program.

Additional Links:

https://www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/paz-y-memoria/petro-y-paz-urbana-bandas-de-buenaventura-extienden-la-tregua-hasta-febrero-del-2025/

https://colombiasupport.net/2021/04/filing-a-complaint-is-like-a-tombstone-it-means-your-death-bishop-of-buenaventura/

https://www.agenciapi.co/noticia/justicia/capturan-alias-cholo-lider-de-los-shottas-en-operativo-en-buenaventura

https://www.google.com/search?q=Carlos+Javier+Erazo+G%C3%B3mez&oq=Carlos+Javier+Erazo+G%C3%B3mez&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRg7MgYIAhAuGEDSAQc1NTVqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2024/05/19/capturado-alias-cholo-viche-presunto-cabecilla-de-los-espartanos-en-buenaventura/

https://www.eltiempo.com/unidad-investigativa/el-nuevo-agente-encubierto-que-le-prometio-a-ministro-desmantelar-red-corrupta-en-la-policia-en-la-que-menciona-a-poderosos-politicos-3389661

https://colombiaone.com/2024/08/03/colombia-smuggler-spain/

https://www.elespectador.com/judicial/alias-pitufo-zar-del-contrabando-sera-enviado-desde-espana-hacia-colombia/

https://elhomenoticias.com/justicia/poderoso-agente-encubierto-de-polfa-que-se-atornillo-en-la-policia-de-la-mano-de-un-ministro-pese-a-graves-informes/

https://www.bluradio.com/nacion/policias-sobornaron-con-900-millones-para-que-ingresara-contrabando-de-el-bendecido-rg10

https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2024/08/30/la-millonada-que-recibieron-las-autoridades-por-permitir-el-ingreso-de-contrabando-de-el-bendecido/

https://www.las2orillas.co/un-filipino-y-los-daneses-de-maersk-controlan-los-2-puertos-mas-grandes-de-buenaventura/

https://ppulegal.com/en/ppu-legal/ppu-advises-on-port-aguadulce-expansion-financing/

https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/ill-never-be-ready-for-this-port-locals-say-of-colombias-proposed-project/

https://mascolombia.com/es-fundamental-dragar-el-canal-de-acceso-al-puerto-de-buenaventura-asonav/

https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2023/04/09/los-desaparecidos-de-isla-calavera-fuente-de-vida-y-muerte-de-las-mujeres-buscadoras-de-buenaventura/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Isla+P%C3%A1jaros/@3.8754086,-77.0848323,4399m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x8e37246bc0519301:0xe8c19fa6cd4835cf!8m2!3d3.8708333!4d-77.075!16s%2Fg%2F11clyt5gp1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/conflicto/paz-total-buenaventura-pacto-entre-shotas-y-espartanos-no-hay-muertos-pero-persiste-delincuencia/

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250341/this-colombian-bishop-in-a-drug-trafficking-zone-receives-death-threats

https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2024/03/23/capturaron-a-alias-chucky-cabecilla-de-los-espartanos-dejaba-una-bala-como-amenaza-para-que-pagaran-extorsiones/

https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/dispatches-field-visit-buenaventura

https://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/prensa/Paginas/Avanza-la-paz-urbana-Se-renuevan-compromisos-del-Pacto-por-la-Vida-en-Buenaventura.aspx

https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/el-miedo-y-la-zozobra-siguen-condicionando-la-vida-de-miles-de-personas-en-colombia-enero-junio-de-2023

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252199/gang-violence-prevents-evening-masses-in-colombian-city

https://insightcrime.org/colombia-organized-crime-news/the-shottas/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/narcos-necromancy-turf-wars-black-magic-colombia/

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/12/15/latin-american-drug-cartels-instagram-facebook-tiktok-social-media-crime/?utm_campaign=clipping_institucional_dia_a_dia&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Z1pQBhrFh/?hl=en

https://www.qhubocali.com/asi-paso/cayo-alias-optra-uno-de-los-mas-buscados-del-valle/

https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/the-murder-of-temistocles-machado-human-rights-defenders-in-colombia-are-still-under-threat/

https://ocindex.net/country/colombia

https://igarape.org.br/en/drug-cartels-are-all-over-instagram-facebook-and-tiktok/

https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/03/20/crisis-buenaventura/disappearances-dismemberment-and-displacement-colombias-main

https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2014/03/140320_colombia_buenaventura_desapariciones_desplazados_aw

https://www.elespanol.com/reportajes/grandes-historias/20160909/154235506_0.html

https://www.elespectador.com/actualidad/buenaventura-desmembrada-article-526131/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-07-mn-41027-story.html

https://www.elespectador.com/judicial/historia-de-una-casa-de-pique-article-521746/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/12/colombia-violence-torture-gangs-buenaventura

https://www.univalle.edu.co/lo-que-pasa-en-la-u/buenaventura-a-la-luz-de-colombia

https://insightcrime.org/colombia-organized-crime-news/rastrojos-profile/

https://insightcrime.org/colombia-organized-crime-news/auc-profile/

https://insightcrime.org/es/noticias-crimen-organizado-colombia/los-shottas/

https://www.semana.com/mejor-colombia/articulo/asi-se-convirtio-buenaventura-en-el-segundo-puerto-mas-eficiente-de-america-latina/202458/

https://www.theworldfolio.com/news/cauca-valley-francis/105/

https://colombiareports.com/agc-gulf-clan/

http://www.indepaz.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Proceso_de_paz_con_las_Autodefensas.pdf

https://www.pares.com.co/post/shottas-y-espartanos-avanzan-en-sus-intenciones-de-paz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD90rc5fq_0

https://www.ncregister.com/blog/colombian-bishop-uses-holy-water-to-drive-out-the-devil

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/10/bishop-take-skies-exorcise-colombian-city-helicopter-buenaventura

Disclaimer: SOC ACE is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policy.

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45 MIN
Colombia & Total Peace: Part 1 - "The ELN - The Easy Win"
OCT 28, 2024
Colombia & Total Peace: Part 1 - "The ELN - The Easy Win"

Colombia is a country that has been racked by conflict for around 60 years - multiple armed groups and organized crime have waged war against each other and the state.

In 2016, after nearly seven years of negotiations, the FARC demobilized, creating a power vacuum that other groups, such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), Clan del Golfo, and FARC dissidents, quickly filled. Despite the FARC's exit, violence persisted, with cocaine production and illegal mining continuing unabated, leaving many communities under the control of criminal organizations.

In 2022, the President of Colombia Gustavo Petro brought forward new legislation, known as 'Total Peace'. This ambitious and wide ranging policy looks to negotiate with all criminal groups, whether they are politically minded, like the FARC were or organized crime. Why? To help reduce violence, in particularly homicides, but also to try a new approach to end these long-running conflicts.

One of the key players in these negotiations was the ELN, the oldest guerrilla group in the world. The Petro administration expressed optimism, claiming a peace agreement could be reached within three months of taking office. However, over two years later, those talks have stalled and ultimately collapsed, raising questions about the future of peace efforts in Colombia.

Speaker(s):

Juanita Durán-Vélez, Lawyer, Crime and Justice Lab, Colombia.

Kyle Johnson, Researcher & Academic Director of the Conflict Responses Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia

Felipe Botero Escobar, Head of Andean Regional Office, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Links:

Andean Regional Office, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Podcast & Article - Clan del Golfo: The fall of 'Otoniel': How Colombia's biggest drug lord was taken down.

The base research (Negotiating with Criminal Groups: Colombia´s Total Peace Policy) for this episode was initially developed and supported by Serious Organized Crime and Anticorruption Evidence research program.

Additional Links:

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-recognizes-dissident-eln-faction-independent-organization-2024-05-08/

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombias-illegal-armed-groups-grew-2023-secret-security-report-2024-05-07/

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/colombia-peace/

https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-colombia-farc-killings-20180605-story.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1265909/former-farc-members-killed-colombia/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcT51WTFlUM

https://www.abcolombia.org.uk/eln-peace-talks-timeline/

https://www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/guerra-entre-el-eln-y-las-disidencias-de-las-farc-en-arauca-MD16408859

https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-06-11/in-colombias-saravena-theres-no-theft-just-murder.html

https://insightcrime.org/news/insight-crime-2022-homicide-round-up/

https://insightcrime.org/news/is-the-ex-farc-mafia-betting-all-its-chips-on-the-colombian-venezuelan-border/

https://insightcrime.org/investigations/inviting-war-into-venezuela/

https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:8960/FARCdissidentColombia_FINAL.pdf

https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-59863553

https://www.elespectador.com/judicial/el-contratista-del-eln-article-838805/

https://insightcrime.org/news/eln-receiving-payments-companies-colombia/

https://newsradio.com.co/2019/02/investigan-si-el-eln-se-financio-con-recursos-publicos-del-departamento-de-arauca/

https://www.pulzo.com/nacion/financiacion-eln-arauca-PP640382

https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/el-contratista-del-eln-articulo-838805

https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/delitos/facundo-castillo-detalles-del-caso-por-el-que-fue-capturado-por-fiscalia-626787

https://colombiareports.com/colombia-arrests-governor-on-corruption-terrorism-support-charges/

https://www.cgfm.mil.co/en/multimedia/noticias/army-and-prosecutors-office-carried-out-confiscation-right-domain-assets-ex

https://www.infobae.com/en/2022/04/21/they-impose-an-insurance-measure-on-the-former-governor-of-arauca-due-to-irregularities-with-the-pae/

https://www.eltiempo.com/unidad-investigativa/luis-diaz-un-vendedor-de-divisas-de-maicao-detras-del-secuestro-del-padre-del-jugador-825082

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-eln-guerrillas-free-kidnapped-father-liverpool-soccer-star-diaz-source-2023-11-09/

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/least-40-colombias-eln-rebels-seen-rejecting-peace-deal-security-sources-2023-09-22/

https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/conflicto-y-narcotrafico/entrevista-a-pablo-beltran-del-eln-desde-cuba-sobre-regreso-a-colombia-317422

https://www.financecolombia.com/insight-crime-report-eln-has-beaten-ivan-duque-now-colombias-largest-criminal-threat/

https://verdadabierta.com/se-reanuda-formalmente-la-guerra-contra-el-eln/

https://x.com/JuanManSantos/status/1167053956255748097

https://colombiareports.com/police-identify-and-hunt-guerrilla-responsible-for-pablitos-escape/

https://colombiareports.com/arauca-prison-director-suspected-of-assisting-eln-leaders-escape/

https://colombiareports.com/eln-guerrilla-escapes-from-jail/

https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-6307429

https://www.fides.org/en/news/72782-AMERICA_COLOMBIA_The_testimony_of_Monsignor_Jaramillo_prophet_and_martyr_of_peace_is_always_alive_and_current

https://colombiareports.com/pablito-eln/

https://insightcrime.org/colombia-organized-crime-news/eln-profile/

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/worlds-oldest-guerrilla-force-revives-war-on-oil/

https://web.archive.org/web/20090302075901/http:/www.cyemh.org/resource/camilo.htm

https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberation-theology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU30QVJl8ac

https://thecitypaperbogota.com/news/petro-on-arauca-bombing-eln-practically-closes-peace-process-with-blood/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37W-nrGMB5U&t=18s

https://i0.wp.com/efe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/rss-efe3d9924349b8c7efe16223eebbb9025ada2404bf0w.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombias-petro-says-eln-attack-practically-ends-peace-talks-2024-09-18/

https://llanera.com/dos-soldados-asesinados-por-el-eln-en-tame-arauca/26595

https://www.laopinion.co/sucesos/atacaron-unidad-militar-en-tame-arauca-reportan-dos-soldados-asesinados

https://insightcrime.org/news/eln-attack-destroys-chances-peace-strengthening-guerrilla-group/

https://x.com/OscuraColombia/status/1828154886862610855

https://maps.app.goo.gl/rUBZJfYcLSFYNGr47

https://thecitypaperbogota.com/news/colombian-army-confirms-eln-behind-oil-pipeline-attack-in-arauca/

https://www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/crisis-combustible-ataque-oleoducto-cano-limon-covenas-en-arauca-DN25286995

Disclaimer: SOC ACE is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policy.

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59 MIN
Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia - Louis Ferrante - Underworlds with Mark Shaw
SEP 23, 2024
Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia - Louis Ferrante - Underworlds with Mark Shaw

The History of the American Mafia: How the Mob Built Its Empire in the US, with Former Gambino Crime Family Associate, Louis Ferrante.

In this episode, Mark sits down with former Mob associate Louis Ferrante to discuss his book, Borgata: The Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia.

The history of the American Mafia, known as La Cosa Nostra or simply "The Mob," is well known. Prohibition in the United States during the Roaring Twenties saw the rise of characters who have since been mythologized in Hollywood: Charles "Lucky" Luciano and his close confidant Meyer Lansky, Al "Scarface" Capone, Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein, Dutch Schultz, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, and Salvatore Maranzano.

What makes Borgata different is that it was written by someone who lived "The Life," providing a unique perspective. Lou discusses the formation of The Commission, an underworld ruling council that controlled the Five Families of New York (now known as the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, and Colombo), The Outfit in Chicago, and the Philadelphia Mafia.

Lou talks about the rules, the use of violence, and how the US government looked to tackle the growing power of organized crime, spearheaded by the likes of prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey.

We also hear about Lou's own life in La Cosa Nostra and how he and his crew committed some of the most successful heists in US history, which ultimately landed him in prison.

In prison, he began to read everything he could get his hands on, including history, philosophy, and the great classics of literature. He never turned on his former associates, but when he left prison, he also left "The Life." Now he speaks about his experiences with the Mob and has become a successful author (Unlocked: A Journey from Prison to Proust), including his new a huge three-part history of the American Mafia.

In this episode, Mark and Lou discuss the first book, Borgata: The Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia.

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Louis Ferrante's book 'Borgata: The Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia' is available here: https://a.co/d/cDcxOQ2

Audible version: https://a.co/d/2VHu3Ht

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76 MIN