logo
episode-header-image
Jul 22
1h 1m

Australia's Gangster King of Sin: Abe Sa...

The Underworld Podcast
About this episode
Abe Saffron rose from wartime wheeler-dealing to become the king of Sydney’s underworld, a man whose appetite for sex, money and scandal was unmatched by any other Aussie gangster in the swinging Sixties. Saffron paid everybody off, brought Sinatra to Sydney, and hosted Sinatra. He was, in the words of one reporter, “Mr Sin”. But as Saffron’s empire of vice ... Show More
Up next
Oct 7
The OG Mexican Narco: Pablo Acosta
Pablo Acosta ruled Mexico's drug trade from a dusty border town, turning Ojinaga into a narco-empire that funneled billions in cocaine, weed and heroin into America during the 1980s. Known as the Fox of Ojinaga, he was a ruthless trafficker who taught the narco-world that it was ... Show More
1h 9m
Sep 30
Cambodia’s Untouchable Gangster-in-Chief
Hun To, the nephew of Cambodia’s former PM, is also the ruler of a criminal empire stretching from illegal logging and Triad-run casinos, to corrupt Chinese investment and — ALLEGEDLY — people and heroin trafficking.Sean met Nathan Southern and Lindsey Kennedy at a Saigon studio ... Show More
1h 11m
Sep 23
London’s Corrupt Cops & Gangland Killers: the Epping Forest Slayings
When a London couple were found dead in a lover’s lane, in 1987, evidence pointed quickly at some of the city’s most notorious gangland figures — both established and upcoming. But despite informants and wiretaps the trail ran cold.Then another body showed up. Then another. Befor ... Show More
51m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
33. Tilly Devine - Underworld Queen
Lucy Worsley investigates the career of one of Sydney’s most notorious gangsters, Tilly Devine. Draped in furs and encrusted in jewels, she’s the madam of one of the most lucrative brothel networks the city’s ever seen. What brings Tilly from south London to Sydney? How does she ... Show More
28m 38s
Jan 2025
The Death of Ned Doheny
Ned Doheny, the only heir to one of the world's richest oil baron was found shot to death next to his childhood friend and secretary Hugh Plunkett in 1929. Investigators at the time ruled it a murder-suicide. But to this day, the crime is a source of rumor and speculation. Was it ... Show More
52m 48s
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
Listen Now - Hollywood & Crime: The Cotton Club Murder
On June 10th, 1983, the decomposing body of a well-dressed man was found in a desolate canyon near Los Angeles. John Doe #94 would soon be identified as missing variety show producer Roy Radin. He'd last been seen after meeting with a mysterious woman in a gold dress. Her name wa ... Show More
4m 30s
Aug 2023
The Velvet Underground: Heroin, S&M, and the Attempted Assassination of Andy Warhol
The Velvet Underground put a spike in the status quo. They sang candidly about heroin, speed, and S&M. Their members included drug dealers and junkies. Their stage show was so perverted that it offended even the most liberal of peacenik hippies. Their benefactor and so-called man ... Show More
37m 10s
Dec 2024
Listen Now - Hollywood & Crime: The Cotton Club Murder
On June 10th, 1983, the decomposing body of a well-dressed man was found in a desolate canyon near Los Angeles. John Doe #94 would soon be identified as missing variety show producer Roy Radin. He'd last been seen after meeting with a mysterious woman in a gold dress. Her name wa ... Show More
4m 31s
Sep 18
Casefile Presents: Suing Diddy
For the past three years, Jack Laurence has gone behind the bars of America’s toughest prisons, hearing the stories of robbery, arson, murder, and everything in between. He thought he’d heard it all… until he met one prisoner with a story unlike any other. A man who wasn’t just f ... Show More
2m 33s
Aug 28
Tudor True Crime: Europe's Most Murderous Dynasty
The rich and powerful Guise family was one of the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in sixteenth-century France. They whipped up religious bigotry, overthrowing the king. They ruled Scotland for nearly 20 years through Mary Queen of Scots, plotting to invade England and overthrow ... Show More
39m 10s
Apr 2025
History's Worst F*ckboys: Casanova
Can you imagine being SO smooth-talking and seductive your surname becomes an actual noun in the dictionary to describe someone who has a reputation for being an expert at in the sack? Well today we’re going to be talking about a man who was just that…Giacamo Casanova. But is his ... Show More
28m 41s