logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
45m 41s

America's Most Dangerous Prison Gang: Th...

The Underworld Podcast
About this episode
What started as a small gang of white prisoners in a California state prison in the 1960's is now one of, if not the most powerful prison gang across America, with tens of thousands of soldiers across federal and state lines. Though they're alleged to only have approximately 150 full-fledged members, the Aryan Brotherhood has found ways to dominate prison ec ... Show More
Up next
Nov 18
Cattle Rustlers to Cocaine Kings: Los Cachiros
When feds convicted Honduran cocaine kingpin Juan Matta Ballesteros in 1990, authorities hoped it would spell an end to the Central American nation’s growing reputation as a narco state — a status that had caused havoc across the region. Those hopes were dashed almost immedia ... Show More
1h 2m
Nov 11
The Tijuana Cartel's Bloody Rise and Fall
When the godfather Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo got busted in '89, he divvied up his empire from a prison cell and handed the coveted Tijuana plaza to the Arellano Felix Brothers, who transformed it into one of the most violent drug organizations in Mexico. At their peak, the brot ... Show More
1h 1m
Nov 4
The Cartel Puppetmaster: Juan Matta Ballestero
Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros began life as a pickpocket in his hometown of Tegucigalpa, before heading out on the perilous border roads of Latin America as an emerald smuggler. Soon he was making friends in high places, scoring deals on consignments of cocaine - and connecting co ... Show More
1h 1m
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
Orisanmi Burton, "Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt" (U California Press, 2023)
Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt (University of California Press, 2023) boldly and compellingly argues that prisons are a domain of hidden warfare within US borders. With this book, Orisanmi Burton explores what he terms the Long A ... Show More
52m 53s
Apr 2025
The Assassination of Malcolm X Pt. 1
Malcolm X’s radical ideas about racial justice won him many followers, and spawned just as many enemies. When Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, three men were promptly arrested. But for decades, questions have lingered about whether the right men went to prison, and more import ... Show More
41m 15s
Sep 2020
Con Artists Bites: Prison Escapes
In addition to new episodes of Con Artists each week, you’ll now also hear Crime Bites every Friday. Each Crime Bites episode gives you a deeper, yet brief look into true-crime topics covered at Parcast. Today we’re discussing prison escapes. How common are prison escapes, and wh ... Show More
19m 20s
Dec 2020
LA County Sheriff’s Gangs Pt. 5: The East LA Banditos
In East LA, a group of deputies named the Banditos stand accused of running the sheriff’s substation like a gang, institutionalizing a culture of fear and retaliation. And while they’re intimidating civilians and colleagues alike, they may be protected by the very top of the depa ... Show More
42m 51s
Nov 2023
Dosvedanya
On February 18, 2001, Robert Hanssen’s career as an FBI agent came to an end. His next tour of duty would be served in the federal penal system as inmate #48551-083. Supermax, the notorious Colorado prison housing terrorists and drug lords, would become his home for two decades. ... Show More
56m 11s
Apr 2025
The Assassination of Malcolm X Pt. 2
After Malcolm X was assassinated, three men were arrested. Despite holes in the investigation and the prosecution’s case, all three went to prison. In the years that followed, people close to Malcolm insisted there was more to the story. But then, decades later, after new informa ... Show More
37m 10s
Nov 2019
BILLY THE KID Ep. 2 | "Crooks, Killers and Thieves"
Lincoln County in southeastern New Mexico Territory grows into a hotbed of corruption and murder. Men named Murphy, Dolan and Brady align themselves against others called Tunstall, McSween and Chisum. An outlaw gang kills and steals at will, and it’s about to add a new man to its ... Show More
34m 21s
Sep 4
Charles Bronson: Britain’s Most Dangerous Prisoner | #415
<p>What do you do with a prisoner so unhinged that he’s been kicked out of 120 prisons to date? How have Britain’s most secure facilities dealt with a man who could explode in a frenzy of brutal violence and destruction at any moment? What happens to a man who spends more than 25 ... Show More
1h 28m
Dec 2019
BILLY THE KID Ep. 5 | "Regulators"
In the wake of John Tunstall's murder, a group of his loyal fighters form a posse called the Regulators to bring his killers to justice. Within days, they murder three men. Then they target Sheriff Brady in the streets of Lincoln. The killing reaches its peak with an unexpected s ... Show More
34m 36s
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