Today the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s clan-based Mafia, is one of the world’s richest and most powerful drug trafficking organizations, worth an estimated $55 billion. But it wasn’t always like that. From the 1960s, as European politics went mad, the group glommed onto a new fad taking Italy by storm: kidnapping. And it got them the capital to get into property, ... Show More
Jul 8
The Shaman-Gangsters Who Built Indonesia
For centuries, brigands, gangsters and street toughs ruled the island of Java so thoroughly that they were woven into local myths. But in the 20th century, when the world bounded towards war, mob bosses in Jakarta spotted a chance to turn underworld kudos into an independent nati ... Show More
1h 7m
Jun 24
Cocaine, Camorra, Call Girls: Maradona's Downfall
In 1987, Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona was on top of the world. He’d just handed his nation a World Cup, and his club side Napoli its first league title in over 60 years. But Maradona’s hard-partying lifestyle and underworld friends would soon take their toll - and before ... Show More
1h 9m
Nov 2024
Always Cheat & Always Win: Episode 419
Roderick McLean said it was important to 'always cheat: always win'. A larger than life character, McLean, known as 'Popeye', was sent to prisom when police and customs officers captured a gang of eight drug smugglers off the Caithness coast. During the raid customs officer Alast ... Show More
28m 29s
Dec 2024
Murder Inc. | The Secret Muscle of the New York Mafia
In the 1930s and 40s, an unassuming candy shop in Brownsville, Brooklyn, doubled as the headquarters for Murder Inc., the Mafia's secretive enforcement arm. Led by ruthless figures like Louis “Lepke” Buchalter and Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia, this group of killers carried out h ... Show More
35m 22s
Mar 2021
The Beatles (Pt. 2): Kamikaze Assassins, Acid Smuggling, Suicide, Kidnapping, and the Breakup the Greatest Band of All Time
At the height of their world-changing and culture-defining popularity, the Beatles faced death threats in foreign countries, an unfair tax rate in their own country that forced them to stash heaps of undeclared cash in brown paper bags, and the sudden suicide of their manager. Bu ... Show More
44m 52s
Jan 2025
Minnesota Man Caught in Blind Mule Drug Trafficking Scam
Rodney Baldus, a retired truck driver from Minnesota, believes he is the recipient of a large inheritance belonging to his late wife. The inheritance is in Italy, but he is told he must first fly to Africa to sign papers before going on to Italy. Since his travel expenses are all ... Show More
48m 50s
Apr 23
EP122: Korean Cannibal Clan
Join our Patreon family for exclusive access to BTS, bonus episodes, a private group chat, first dibs on ticket and merch sales, and more! www.Patreon.com/PsychopediaPod The Chijon Family was a nightmarishly savage South Korean gang that blazed a brief but blood-soaked trail of t ... Show More
1h 11m