All Blog Posts Tagged 'Corruption' (76)

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

The ghost of Pablo Escobar continues to haunt his former associates. In newly declassified cables from the State Department, Álvaro Uribe, former Colombian president and one of the nation’s most powerful political figures, was frequently accused of having close ties to drug lords such as…

By David Amoruso

It’s hard to become a new person. If you’ve spent years of your life trafficking drugs, committing kidnappings, robberies, and brutal murders all the while surrounded by like-minded men then changing yourself isn’t just hard, it becomes impossible.

Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez (photo above), a man…

By David Amoruso

At 6’4” Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran literally was a towering figure. But to those who knew him in the American underworld, he was even taller. A fearsome force who had honed his deadly skills as a combat-hardened rifleman during the Second World War fighting the Nazis. Back home, he became a Mafia hitman,…

By David Amoruso

Cops swear to uphold the law and serve and protect the citizens of their nation. That’s why corruption hits society much harder than other crimes. In the…

By David Amoruso

A secret pact between the Sicilian Mafia and the Italian State has resulted in the conviction of eight men, including Mafia bosses and police and government officials, among them a close political associate of Silvio Berlusconi. The pact was made in the 1990s to bring a halt to Cosa Nostra’s bloody war…

By David Amoruso

He had disappeared in 2016. Like so many of his colleagues, Calabrian Mafia boss Giuseppe “Peppe” Pelle chose to live the life of a fugitive rather than spend it behind bars. From his hideaway in the Calabrian mountains he oversaw a large network which controlled regional politics.

The mountainous…

By David Amoruso

Every underworld has its first major crime boss. That man – or woman – who ascends to the top of the heap and controls organized crime in the city. For Hamilton, Ontario, that man was Rocco Perri. During the years of Prohibition, he became known as the “King of the Bootleggers.”

Born in…

By David Amoruso

The War on Drugs is a complex ordeal with a far-reaching and profound impact on society. While citizens buckle under the weight of drug crimes and addiction, politicians hijacked the theme to project a tough-on-crime image to the public while doing little to solve the problems.

Last week,…

By David Amoruso

Organized crime in New Jersey goes way back and features some of the most colorful characters and powerhouses one can imagine. Gangsters Inc. sat down with mob author Scott Deitche, who details this rich and violent history in his new book Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New…

By David Amoruso

A criminal mastermind. The man behind the scenes. Mob kingpin. Arnold Rothstein can be described in many ways. Known on the streets as “The Big Bankroll,” he financed countless major criminal schemes and enterprises as he rose to prominence in New York’s gangland. But at heart, he was a gambler. Through…

By David Amoruso

The power of the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s Mafia, seems to have no limits. Authorities in Italy have arrested around 170 people, including two mayors, in Italy and Germany in a largescale operation aimed at the Farao-Marincola ‘Ndrangheta clan. Assets worth over €50 million euros were also seized. “We have…

By David Amoruso

“Few things threaten our society more than public servants who betray their oath for personal gain” - Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI's Baltimore Division

In society a select group of people is tasked with serving and protecting the public. Throughout history an ever-fluctuating…

By David Amoruso

Ronald Fino’s life sounds like a mix of The Godfather and James Bond. As the son of a Mafia capo, Fino ultimately decided the mob was not for him. Instead, he became an undercover operative for the FBI and CIA, traveling the world and cleaning up crime and corruption wherever he went. His…

By David Amoruso

Organized crime syndicates are increasingly getting involved in sports corruption. Fixing a match means a guaranteed lucrative payout by betting on the correct outcome. Criminals operating in this multi-billion-dollar field use different modi operandi and adopt very complex structures, therefore the only successful…

By David Amoruso

The year is 1957. A 28-year-old inmate by the name of James Bulger is serving a 20-year prison sentence for armed robbery. That’s a long time to spend in a tiny cell. A doctor proposes the young Bostonian participate in a drug experiment to earn an early release. He accepts.

Why wouldn’t he? Dr. Carl Pfeiffer seems…

By Thom L. Jones

The media called them raggazzi di una stagione ‘straordinaria: “The boys of an extraordinary season.”

Beppe Montana and Calogero Zucchetto and Pippo Giordano and Roberto Antiochia and Natale Mondo and Ninni Cassarà and the rest of the Squadra Mobile, the Flying Squad. They knew what they had to do and lived their lives doing…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Five men have admitted being part of a network responsible for laundering at least £16 million pounds stolen by international cyber criminals, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency. Four pleaded guilty in June, while the fifth pleaded guilty yesterday.

Iurie Mereacre, a 37-year-old …

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

A former Melrose Park Police Detective was sentenced last week to 11 years in federal prison for dealing narcotics stolen from the police evidence room. 44-year-old Gregory Salvi pleaded guilty earlier this year to attempted possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, and carrying a firearm during a…

By Neil G. Clark

The following is an exclusive book excerpt from Neil Clark’s Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront, which was released this month and is available at stores everywhere. The book chronicles Irish mob boss Eddie McGrath’s rise to power as a racketeer on the Manhattan waterfront, offering readers a rogue’s…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Russell Tim Shen and two others pleaded guilty to their roles in a marijuana distribution conspiracy on Monday. 69-year-old Shen and 39-year-old Andre Jorge Hernandez admitted to one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute…