All Blog Posts (418)

By David Amoruso

Australian outlaw motorcycle groups have been making headline after headline these past few months. Shootings and beatings have been shaking up the sunny cities of the land down under as bikers are fighting amongst each other over territory and new members. And now, it seems, a Mexican drug cartel has joined the…

More about the war in Montreal can be read here.

By Steven Ralph

In part 4 of his series on organized crime in Australia, Steven Ralph details the bloody war fought between members of the same ‘Ndrangheta cell in Melbourne in the 1960s. A fight for control over rackets, and revenge.

“Muratore family;

I do rite this letter in English as I want your kids to read your roten old man…

By Thom L. Jones

Early morning Thursday, Christmas Eve, 1992.

A maroon, four door, Mercury Topaz slows to a halt at traffic lights in Ozone Park, a suburb in Queens, New York.

The driver is a slim, dark-haired, dark skinned Italian-American. The passenger, his wife, is a diminutive, chubby, doe-eyed woman. She is thirty-one, three years older than her husband. They…

By David Amoruso

A year before his death, mobster-turned-snitch-turned-celebrity Henry Hill almost blew off an appearance on a radio show because of a comment I made about him. The whole incident gives some nice insight into the ego of a glorified street hustler and the power of fame.

After becoming a celebrity when his book “…

Crime Beat: Issues, Controversies and Personalities from the dark side on Artist First World Radio Network is pleased to announce its forthcoming schedule for October 18, 2012, through January 3, 2013. Topics covered include the John F. Kennedy Assassination, Marilyn Monroe, Vinnie The Chin Gigante, the New York mafia and more.

Here is the…

By David Amoruso

The world of books and authors is a peaceful place far removed from the mean streets where drug dealers sell their product and murder their rivals. But with more and more gangsters getting into the writing business things are heating up. Old beefs, new disputes, and the age-old underworld question: Whose word is law?

Organized crime is booming…

By David Amoruso

Loose lips sink ships… and mafia families. For over a decade Joseph Ligambi has been credited with returning the dysfunctional Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra family to old world values of secrecy and efficiency. After he replaced Joseph Merlino as boss the juicy news and street gossip dried up. Until now.…

In a very short time Crime Beat Radio has become a huge hit on the world wide web. Run by Ron Chepesiuk and William Hryb the show covers the shady world of crime. Its topics range from the Italian Mafia to mob wives to serial killers to crimes committed by states and governments and Chepesiuk and Hryb invite the best and most knowledgeable guests to shine…

Griselda Blanco, nicknamed "The Cocaine Godmother", was gunned down by an assassin in Medellin, Colombia, on Monday. The Miami Herald reports that: “According to Colombian press reports, two gunmen on motorcycles pulled up to Blanco as she walked out of a butcher shop in Medellin, her hometown. One man pumped two bullets into her head, according to El…

An award-winning television production company is searching for individuals who are willing to share their stories in an exciting new real-life series that profiles families who have surprising or outrageous histories. We’re looking for passionate individuals who have compelling true-life stories about their families. If you’ve been to hell and back for…

By Thom L. Jones

In 1960, Joe and Jack Taliercio opened a restaurant in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. They had worked as chefs in some of the finest restaurants in Europe and in Manhattan, and working as a family, determined to create a historic food locale. They leased premises at 102-11 Queens Boulevard, and began serving food a la Neapolitan style to a rapidly growing and…

By David Amoruso

These last few weeks the news of the death of three mobsters hit the airwaves. All three men died of natural causes. Though they were all members of the Mafia, their stories not only show the different path mobsters take, but also how much La Cosa Nostra influenced various businesses and areas in the United States.

Let’s start with…

Crime Beat: Issues, Controversies and Personalities from the Darkside on Artist First World Radio Network is pleased to announce its forthcoming schedule for August 9, 2012, through October 11, 2012. Topics covered include The Chicago Outfit, Whitey Bulger, rape in the U.S. military, corruption on Wall Street, hunting an elusive serial killer, and more.…

By David Amoruso

Bikers like to flex their muscles and keep police on their toes. In the past few years there have been many rumors about biker wars that were about to flare up. So far, luckily, none of those rumors came true. In Germany, however, bikers are adding more gasoline on a smoldering fire that, authorities fear, might turn into a deadly blaze enveloping the city…

By Clarence Walker

Pablo Escobar is the world's notorious drug lord. Once glorified as Robin Hood by many who loved him and vilified by the law as a mass murderer and drug dealer, Escobar defined an era like no other gangster on the planet. He ran the cocaine trade in Bogota Colombia like a "Fortune 500" company, bringing in "millions of dollars"…

The July 2012 issue of Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement focuses on the underworld history of America’s “Brew City,” Milwaukee.

This month's issue features:

• Vito Guardalabene and the Early Milwaukee Mafia, 1903-1921 by Joshua R. Henze

• Milwaukee-Area Mafia Membership Chart by Bill…

By David Amoruso

All these stories about murders, drugs, wars, evil men and women take a toll on a person. That is why the kind folks behind Gangsters Inc. are taking a two week vacation in the sun for some much needed R&R.

With temperatures in the United States, Mexico, Italy, and Russia going through the roof we expect many of the people we write…

By David Amoruso

Organized crime groups the world over have learned many lessons throughout their long and bloody history. Lessons that, in some cases, led to rules to live by. But in the criminal world rules are made to be broken. So despite the fact that the Sicilian Mafia was decimated after it had decided to take on the Italian government and…

By Peter Lance

I was first introduced to Murder Incorporated, by Nicholas Pileggi, the extraordinary journalist, author and screenwriter responsible for two of the most iconic works in the literature of organized crime: Wiseguy, which he adapted into the film Goodfellas and Casino which he also brought to the screen with Martin Scorsese. Along with Mario…