Mickey once said of himself, quote, “I was a pretty fair replica of the devil.” He also killed a bunch of people, and got away with it. A street hustler since he was 6, Cohen gained a rep as a hard-fighting professional boxer despite his short stature, and a rep as a wild-haired stick up kid that never backed down from a gunfight or a robbery.
But when he go ... Show More
Mar 17
The Iraqi-Aussie Gangster Lighting up Melbourne: Kaz Hamad
Melbourne has been gripped by a new wave of underworld gang wars, this time fueled by the booming billion dollar black-market tobacco trade. Firebombings, drive-by shootings, and extortion targeting shops across the city have roiled the city as middle eastern syndicates and biker ... Show More
1h 6m
Mar 10
The Narco Fugitive who Took Over an African Country
When a 2023 club brawl ended in a Freetown, Sierra Leone parking lot shooting, cops and reporters pointed the finger at “Omar Shariff,” a portly Turkish millionaire who’d spent much of the past six months throwing cash about at the city’s casinos and top-end restaurants. But Shar ... Show More
53m 22s
Mar 3
El Mencho Dead! And Mexico Explodes
We told you his life story in our 2022 episode, and now we're back with the sequel. El Mencho rose from poverty to build the CJNG into Mexico’s most violent and influential cartel, trafficking fent, meth and coke across the hemisphere. After years on the run with a huge U.S. boun ... Show More
1h 12m
Feb 2025
Episode #222 - What's True About Al Capone? (Part I)
The life of the gangster Al Capone could be understood as a violent expression of the American Dream. A poor kid from Brooklyn, born to immigrant parents, used his wits, fists, and a certain ruthless determination to build an empire. The underworld figure has been the fodder for ... Show More
1h 13m
Oct 2024
Introducing: The Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley
<p>On May 4, 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley was found fatally shot in a car on a dark North Hollywood street. The prime suspect was her husband, famed actor Robert Blake. But Bonny, a longtime con artist, had plenty of enemies. She left behind a trail of men she’d scammed, and she had a ... Show More
2m 22s