Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: organized crime

organized crime stories: 38 news summaries

1 - 20 of 38 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

Triad Trial Exposes
Chinese Corruption

Tycoons, party officials snared in Chongqing crackdown

Nov 4, 09 2:12 AM CST
(Newser) - A mass trial of Chinese gangsters in Chongqing has exposed a vast network of corruption amid the mega-city's police and Communist Party officials. Thousands of suspects, including dozens of high-ranking officials and top businessmen, have been arrested in an effort to crack down on the city's triads. Six have already... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • organized crime • corruption • Chinese Communist party • Chongqing

FBI Let Blacklisted Russian Tycoon Visit US

Organized crime suspect bypasses visa refusal

Oct 30, 09 1:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Russian billionaire barred from the US for years because authorities suspected him of involvement in organized crime was allowed into the country twice this year under a secret deal with the FBI. Despite the objections of other government agencies, metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska was allowed to bypass the visa... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • FBI • organized crime • Vladimir Putin • Oleg Deripaska • Russian oligarchs

Victoria Gotti Spills Mob Secrets in Tell-All Book

Author describes ritual that 'made' Junior

Sep 25, 09 11:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Victoria Gotti insists she doesn’t condone crime. But in her new tell-all book, The Family of Mine, Mafia don John Gotti's daughter compares mobsters to Robin Hood and his merry men, claims they’re better than corrupt politicians, and says she sees no difference between paying into a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organized crime • mob • Mafia • book • La Cosa Nostra • John Gotti • book deal • Victoria Gotti

(Newser) - Mexican drug cartels have evolved into mafia empires, charging protection fees to businesses and providing social services and jobs where government cannot, the AP reports. Behind it lurks the threat of violence or kidnapping, which drug lords carry out with near impunity. "Today, the traffickers have big companies, education,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • organized crime • kidnapping • drug trafficking • extortion • Mafia • drug cartels

(Newser) - Thieves stole a sketchbook containing 33 Pablo Picasso drawings from the Picasso Museum in Paris, the Daily Mail reports. The security system was somehow disabled and there was no sign of forced entry. The theft occurred sometime last night or early today and resembles the 2007 robbery of the home... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organized crime • police • France • robbery • Paris • Pablo Picasso • art heist • Picasso Museum

Kung Fu Sect May Have
Killed Carradine: Lawyer 

Actor 'very interested' in exposing underworld

Jun 7, 09 6:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - A secret kung fu sect may have killed actor David Carradine for uncovering its secrets, his family's lawyer says. "If there was some foul play, that that may be the first area where" authorities "should look," Hollywood lawyer Mark Geragos said on Larry King Live. He... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • organized crime • kung fu • martial arts • martial arts movies • Kill Bill • David Carradine • Kung Fu

Prisoners Run
Crime Ops Via
PlayStation

Console used to pass messages, charge cell phones: UK watchdog

May 13, 09 8:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Organized criminals use PlayStation and interactive games to pass on orders while behind bars, says a British agency monitoring 5,000 global crime lords. The masterminds also charge illegally kept cell phones through the gaming console. A prison spokesman refuted the charge, saying that only older versions of such devices—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • prison • crime • organized crime • video game console • prisoners • PlayStation • Jay-ZTV

ANALYSIS

Economic Crisis Triggers Global Crime Wave

Crisis gives globalized crime gangs opportunity to flourish

Apr 7, 09 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - The global economic crisis has been a massive stimulus package for violent crime worldwide, Michael Klare writes in Salon. Crime syndicates are finding it easy to recruit from the growing ranks of the unemployed and desperate, the professor writes, and their increasing power is weakening the governments of "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • crime • organized crime • piracy • global economy • drug traffickers

Chicago Mob Snitch Gets
12 Years for 14 Murders

Victims outraged

Mar 27, 09 10:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Former Chicago mob hit man Nicholas Calabrese was sentenced to 12 years in prison yesterday, enraging family members of victims who wanted him jailed for life, the Tribune reports. Calabrese admitted to whacking 14 people, but his testimony in the so-called “Family Secrets” trial put away three top mob... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Chicago • organized crime • mob • Mafia • Family Secrets • Frank Calabrese Sr. • sentence • Nicholas Calabrese • Howard Stern Grid

 In Credit Crisis, 
 Italians Turn to Mafia 

Uncle Tony will be happy to lend you this money you need for a very reasonable APR

Mar 16, 09 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - In Italy, there’s one industry profiting from the credit freeze: Organized crime. Thanks to its unparalleled liquidity, the mafia has become the lender of choice for many small Italian businesses, NPR reports. An estimated 180,000 have turned to so-called “stranglers,” or loan sharks, who charge annual... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organized crime • Italy • recession • Mafia • credit crisis

 In Japan, Sun Sets 
 on Yakuza Mob Scene 

Japan's criminal gangs are losing their semi-legitimate status

Feb 28, 09 5:24 AM CST
(Newser) - The role of the yakuza in Japanese society has always been hard for Westerners to understand. Since the 1950s the mafia-like organization has been tolerated by government and the public, trusted to run gambling and prostitution rackets with a modicum of respect for social order. But as a tough economy... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • Japan • organized crime • Yakuza • gangs • protection • cybercrime • gangsters

Snitch: Gotti Had Neighbor Dissolved in Acid

Gotti allegedly had neighbor killed as revenge for running over son

Jan 8, 09 10:21 AM CST
(Newser) - A mob informant says the body of John Gotti's neighbor was dissolved in a barrel of acid after he was shot on the crime kingpin's orders, the New York Daily News reports. John Favara disappeared after accidentally killing Gotti's 12-year-old son in a 1980 traffic accident. Police believe he was... More »

MORE ABOUT:
New York City • organized crime • murder • Mafia • John Gotti • gangsters • acid

Nigerian Gangsters Wage Turf War on Mob in Southern Italy

Turf battles erupt as newcomers seek foothold in lawless southern Italy

Jan 7, 09 9:13 AM CST
(Newser) - African immigrants are being caught in the crossfire as Nigerian gangsters battle the Italian mob for control of southern Italy's drug and prostitution rackets, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Camorra once treated African criminals as useful subordinates, but vicious turf wars have erupted as the newcomers seek a bigger... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organized crime • Italy • Naples • Mafia • gangsters • Camorra

Mexican Beauty Queen Busted With Drug Mobsters

Miss Hispanic America found traveling with cartel's Mr. Big in gun-filled truck

Dec 24, 08 3:17 AM CST
(Newser) - Miss Hispanic America 2008 will be finishing this year in jail after cops busted her traveling with seven alleged drug cartel mobsters, the Houston Chronicle reports. Laura Zuniga, from the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, was stopped at a military checkpoint near Guadalajara in a truck full of guns, ammunition and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • organized crime • drug trafficking • beauty queen • drug cartel • drug traffickers

 12 Headless Crimefighters
 Found Near Acapulco 

Remains believed to be retribution for earlier shootout

Dec 22, 08 2:59 AM CST
(Newser) - Mexican police have found 12 headless bodies an hour away from Acapulco in the capital of Guerrero, a popular destination for Americans on holiday. The dead apparently included soldiers and a high-ranking police officer, reports the Los Angeles Times. Nine heads were bundled in plastic bags and dumped at a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mexico • organized crime • murder • Mexican drug war • decapitation • drug cartel • remains

Top Kidnap Negotiator
Kidnapped in Mexico

Officials believe brazen kidnapping a show of force by Mexican crime gang

Dec 16, 08 6:11 AM CST
(Newser) - Masked gunmen have seized a top kidnapping negotiator in Mexico, Reuters reports. Cuban-American Felix Batista, who helped secure the release of dozens of kidnap victims in Colombia, was grabbed outside a restaurant in the northern Mexican city of Saltillo. Authorities suspect the abduction of Batista, who was in the country... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Latin America • Mexico • organized crime • kidnapping • kidnapper

 Cybercrime Getting Organized 

Hackers, identity thieves working more like mafia; profits increasing

Jul 16, 08 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - There’s serious money to be made in cybercrime, and its perpetrators are beginning to reflect that fact, Ars Technica reports. Lone hackers have been replaced with hierarchical organizations that divide the criminal risks inherent in stealing and reselling (usually financial) information. The cybercrime "firms" are growing steadily as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organized crime • hacker • Mafia • credit card • savings account • cybercrime • hacking

Gold Stash May Solve $51M British Heist

Detectives aim to link secret bullion with long, bloody case

Jun 8, 08 8:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - After a long, bloody trail, British investigators may be close to cracking the case of six robbers who lifted $51 million in gold from a London warehouse 25 years ago. Last week, while tracking proceeds from organized crime, Scotland Yard detectives uncovered six suitcases packed with $15 million worth of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
London • organized crime • robbery • gold • Heathrow Airport

'Super' Mafia Witness Gunned Down in Naples

Slain informant was helping cops bust garbage gangs

Jun 3, 08 2:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - The boss of a garbage disposal firm with Mafia links who had turned informant was gunned down in a bar near Naples yesterday, the Guardian reports. The murdered man had been helping police target gangs that control waste disposal in the city, currently gripped by a garbage crisis. He had... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organized crime • Italy • garbage • Naples • Mafia • Silvio Berlusconi • witness

4 Japanese Gangsters Get UCLA Liver Transplants

FBI helped one crime boss with his visa

May 30, 08 4:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Four Yakuza gangsters, including one of Japan's most powerful crime bosses, had liver transplants at UCLA Medical Center between 2000 and 2004, the Los Angeles Times reports. Organs were particularly scarce in those years, with over 100 people on the waiting list dying each year. There is no indication that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Japan • organ transplants • organized crime • Yakuza • UCLA Medical Center • liver transplants • gangsters

1 - 20 of 38 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


from our news partners