Black Axe and The International Cult Confraternities of Nigeria

The Yakuza Part 1: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Feared Mafia: Is there an organized crime group more iconic than Japan's Yakuza? In part one of two episodes on the group-or web of groups-we plunge into their ancient history, traditions, and how the Second World War made gangs of thieves into multi-billionaire.. by The Underworld Podcast

33 min listen

How Albania's Mafias Took Over Europe (and more): The "Mafia Shqiptare" was forged during communism, exploded into life during a nationwide pyramid scheme, and unleashed a wave of drugs and violence across Europe from the late 90s. We dive into its most notorious bosses - and how... by The Underworld Podcast

54 min listen

Black Axe and The International Cult Confraternities of Nigeria: They began as freedom-fighting pirates, swashbuckling for African rights. But over the decades Nigeria's confraternities descended into vicious cults. Among them one group has spread across the entire world, and Law Enforcement is only... by The Underworld Podcast

43 min listen

The Dangerous Crime Clans of Berlin: Berlin is Europe's party capital. But since the 1980's, another kind of club has taken over the city - and not always quietly. Lebanese-Kurdish "problematic families" have taken hold, and one Tony Soprano-like leader stands... by The Underworld Podcast

46 min listen

The Brutal Human Trafficking Syndicates of Southeast Asia: Hundreds of millions of dollars have been made by a vicious network of organized crime figures throughout Southeast Asia by preying on what the United Nations has called "the most persecuted people in the world," the stateless and... by The Underworld Podcast

57 min listen

Arkan's Tigers and the new Serbian Mafia: Arkan started off a bankrobber and a hitman before becoming the leader of a vicious paramilitary group that committed war crimes. He grew rich off the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the wars that followed, becoming a new iteration of... by The Underworld Podcast

47 min listen

The Merchant of Death: Arms Dealer Viktor Bout: They called him "The Merchant of Death" - the world's most dangerous man. But was gun-runner Viktor Bout actually the arms trade's fall guy? From Angola to Zaire and everywhere in between, Bout's black-market weapons... by The Underworld Podcast

47 min listen

BONUS PATREON MADE FREE: Nigeria's Cults and Revolution with Omoyele Sowore: Building off our Nigerian Cults episode: Omoyele Sowore was attacked by the cults as a student leader, saw them morph into political power, and tried to take them down. Now the New Jersey resident - a journalist, activist and 2019 presidential... by The Underworld Podcast

44 min listen

Part 1 - The Russian Mafia Comes to Brooklyn: The Russian Mafia has been an object of fascination for decades in America, but it only really emerged in the 1980's after mostly Jewish immigrants were allowed to leave the Soviet Union and settled in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brighton... by The Underworld Podcast

44 min listen

Dawood Ibrahim, India’s D Company, and the Mumbai Attacks: Few names strike fear into the hearts of Indians quite like Dawood Ibrahim. From a Mumbai slum he built his 'D Company' into the country's biggest mafia. Then he did something truly shocking. by The Underworld Podcast

52 min listen

MS-13 Behind the Scenes in El Salvador: In recent years MS-13 has become one of the most feared street gangs in the world, thanks to face tattoos and machetes. Underworld host and producer Danny Gold first went to El Salvador to report on the gang and their rivals 18th Street... by The Underworld Podcast

56 min listen

The Cuban Mob: Billion Dollar Rackets, the CIA, Lucchese Mafia Firebomb Wars, Miami Cocaine Trafficking and Fidel Castro: Jose Miguel Battle's Cuban Mafia known as The Corporation ran a billion dollar numbers racket with brutal enforcers for three decades, growing so powerful that they went to war with the Luccheses, firebombing each other's spots... by The Underworld Podcast

63 min listen

On the Hunt for Burma's Billion Dollar Meth Labs: The biggest drug cartel in the world isn't Mexican, or Colombian. It's Asian. Buried deep in the Burmese jungle are networks of cutting edge meth labs, guarded by rebels and run by kingpins so powerful they make El Chapo look like... by The Underworld Podcast

45 min listen

The Drug Lords and Killer Cops of the Philippines: Over the last few years, Sean's been on the ground covering the Philippines' brutal drug war amongst the dealers, addicts, and killer cops. Rodrigo Duterte, the architect of the Philippines' blood-soaked drug war, has shot men... by The Underworld Podcast

49 min listen

Sicily's Brutal Wars and Mafia Super Trial: The "Maxi Trial" pitted two fearless Palermo prosecutors and turncoat "Pentiti" against the Cosa Nostra, its thuggish leader Toto Riina, and a whole host of corrupt cops, politicians and businessmen. But when the judge handed... by The Underworld Podcast

44 min listen

The White Boston Townie Who Became A Chinese Triad Boss: Chinatowns in the United States have never been short on organized crime syndicates, from the early days of secret society tongs to the Triads. In Boston, it was the Sky Dragon who ruled over the gambling, prostitution and drug markets.... by The Underworld Podcast

64 min listen

Ireland's Deadly Gang War: The Hutch Kinahan Feud: Tyson Fury, large amounts of cocaine, public executions at press conferences, and Estonian hitmen - Ireland's war between the Hutchs and the Kinahans, one of the biggest drug trafficking cartels in Europe, has it all. From the bloody... by The Underworld Podcast

64 min listen

The Yakuza Part 2: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Feared Mafia: In part two of our Yakuza deep dive, we plot their post-war rise from hustlers to corporate raiders - and a smack back down to earth. There are wars, kamikaze assassinations, CIA stings and the growth of the Yamaguchi-gumi, a mob so powerful... by The Underworld Podcast

38 min listen

Trailer: Welcome to the Underworld Podcast, a weekly series where journalists Danny Gold and Sean Williams take you into the secret world of transnational organized crime with all the associated warlords, mobsters and scammers from Brooklyn to... by The Underworld Podcast

4 min listen

Rasta City vs The Muslims: Trinidad's Gang Wars and Abu Bakr's Attempted Coup: In 1990, the tiny Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago saw the only attempted Islamic militant overthrow of a government in the Western Hemisphere. The coup led by Abu Bakr and his Jamaat Al Muslimeem followers failed, but many on the... by The Underworld Podcast

53 min listen

Melbourne's Gangland Killings: The Smiling Assassin Carl Williams w/ guest Sami Shah: Danny is out this week, and Sean is joined by comedian Sami Shah. He came from nowhere to become the murderous king of Melbourne's 'underbelly.' But how did Carl Williams, a "shelf stacker - and not a good one," lead... by The Underworld Podcast

64 min listen

The Albanian Bronx Crew that took on the Italian Mafia: In the 1990's, a new group of criminals started making their presence known on the streets of New York City: the Albanian mafia. Soon, they earned a reputation that even scared the Italian mafias that had dominated the city for decades.... by The Underworld Podcast

54 min listen

Part 2 - The Russian Mafia Comes to Brooklyn: In part 2 of our episode on the Russian Mafia coming to Brooklyn, we are joined by journalist Michael Weiss to continue our story of how mostly Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union set up shop in Brighton Beach and formed the 'Russian... by The Underworld Podcast

50 min listen

FREE BONUS PATREON EPISODE: COLOMBIAN CARTELS WITH TOBY MUSE: Decided to make this free, it's the first of our many bonus episodes up on the patreon, where we'll focus on interviewing experts, journalists, and well-connected individuals. Toby Muse is a journalist who has covered the drug war... by The Underworld Podcast

58 min listen

Brazil's Red Command Rules the Favelas: In the late 1970's when a military dictatorship ruled Brazil, revolutionaries and hardcore criminals formed a collective in a brutal maximum security island prison, giving birth to Brazil's first super gang, the Red Command. Though... by The Underworld Podcast

50 min listen

The Car Bomb Wars of the Israeli Mafias: Car bombs, shoulder-fired missiles, grenades and hits across 5 continents; the Israeli mafias that rose up in the 90's and fought each other for control of gambling and drug rackets for the following decades are among the most sophisticated... by The Underworld Podcast

84 min listen

The Brutal Russian Mafia Wars of Tolyatti, Russia's Detroit: In the 1980s, as the Soviet empire crumbled, organized criminals eyed up the sprawling VAZ automobile plant in the city of Tolyatti, “Russia’s Detroit.” When it collapsed all hell broke loose. Old-school “thimble kings” battled it out with... by The Underworld Podcast

48 min listen

The Russian Mafia's NHL Extortion Play: When the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 80's and early 90's, both gangsters and hockey players headed to America (and Canada!) for new opportunities, making use of the skills they had developed back home. It didn't take... by The Underworld Podcast

46 min listen

The Rise and Recent Capture of Colombia's Most Brutal Narco, Otoniel, w/ Toby Muse: Out there in the jungle, something evil and powerful grows. This is the story of Dairo Antonio Usaga, better known as Otoniel, Colombia’s most wanted drug trafficker for a decade. A communist guerrilla turned right wing death squad leader... by The Underworld Podcast

67 min listen

Bitcoin Blood Gangs and The Greatest Scammer of All Time: Early one morning this past June, 6 fully kitted out SWAT teams in Dubai fanned out across multiple luxury buildings. They were targeting a vast criminal conspiracy that had scammed hundreds of millions of dollars through pretty simply... by The Underworld Podcast

43 min listen

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Black Axe and The International Cult Confraternities of Nigeria

Black Axe and The International Cult Confraternities of Nigeria

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