organized crime

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Someone Just Pulled a Bloody Godfather Stunt in Sicily

Severed horse's head found on businessman's property near Palermo, an apparent Mafia warning

(Newser) - It's one of the most famous scenes in moviemaking history, and it just played out in real life on the Italian island of Sicily. The Guardian reports that a severed horse's head was found on the property of a local contractor, located in Altofonte near Palermo, placed on...

Italian Women Go After the Mob, Get the Godfather Treatment

In nation's Puglia, power structure of Sacra Corona Unita is being challenged by female judges, journos

(Newser) - It was a scene straight out of The Godfather. On the night of Feb. 1, a bloody goat head with a butcher's knife through it was left on the doorstep of Judge Maria Francesca Mariano's home in southern Italy, with a note beside it reading, "Like this....

NYC Shoemaker Admits Shop Was a Mafia Front

'Sal the Shoemaker' pleads guilty to running illegal gambling operation

(Newser) - A former shoemaker has pleaded guilty to allegations that he ran an illegal gambling operation for the Mafia out of his shop in Brooklyn. Salvatore Rubino, also known as "Sal the Shoemaker," admitted in court to running card games and operating illegal gambling machines inside his former shoe...

Chinese Mafias' New US Goldmine: Gift Cards
Chinese Mafias' New US
Goldmine: Gift Cards
longform
Apr 14, 2024 5:45 AM CDT

Chinese Mafias' New US Goldmine: Gift Cards

ProPublica: 'Card draining' is a thing, and the feds have established a task force

(Newser) - It's not your typical story about organized crime— ProPublica reports that Chinese mafia groups are ripping off American consumers and stores through mundane gift cards. And for the first time, the Department of Homeland Security has launched a task force to fight what's known as "card draining....

FBI Searches Farms for 'Gambino Graveyard'

Investigators return to sites searched after November arrests

(Newser) - Investigators from the FBI, the NYPD, and New York state police have returned to farms in New York state in what is believed to be a search for victims of the Gambino crime family. NBC New York reports that the sites were first searched for a suspected "Gambino graveyard"...

Greek Mafia Boss Gunned Down
Greek Mafia Boss
Gunned Down
Jan 16, 2024 4:09 PM CST

Greek Mafia Boss Gunned Down

Vangelis Zambounis' killers fired more than 90 shots

(Newser) - Greek organized crime boss Vangelis Zambounis survived an attempt to kill him in 2018 when a would-be assassin's Kalashnikov jammed. He wasn't so lucky early Sunday morning, when he was killed by a hail of more than 90 bullets from a better-functioning Kalashnikov. The 44-year-old was gunned down...

Verdict in Mobster Trial Took Almost 2 Hours to Read

Italian court finds 207 members, associates of 'Ndrangheta crime group guilty

(Newser) - After a trial that was huge in length and significance as well as sheer size, more than 200 people connected to Italy's 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate were found guilty on Monday and sentenced to a total of more than 2,200 years in prison. Some 207 people were found...

Goodfellas Mobster Dies at 86
Goodfellas Mobster Dies at 86
obituary
Oct 23, 2023 1:03 PM CDT

Goodfellas Mobster Dies at 86

Vincent Asaro was accused of helping to plan the real-life 1978 Lufthansa heist

(Newser) - In a memorable scene in Goodfellas, "Layla" plays as the bodies of numerous mobsters killed to cover up the 1978 Lufthansa heist are shown. But Vincent Asaro, long known for sticking to the Mafia's "code of silence," was not among them. Asaro, a close associate of...

Just Months After Capture, the 'Last Godfather' Dies
Mob Boss 'Took
With Him His Secrets'
OBITUARY
Sep 25, 2023 7:31 AM CDT

Mob Boss 'Took With Him His Secrets'

Sicilian 'last Godfather' Matteo Messina Denaro, 61, dies just months after his capture

(Newser) - An infamous Italian mob boss who was captured in January after 30 years on the run has died. Officials tell Reuters that 61-year-old Matteo Messina Denaro, known as the "last godfather," has succumbed to colon cancer, after falling into a coma on Friday from which he never emerged....

Police Spot Mob Fugitive Among Soccer Fans

Italian suspect is picked up in Corfu after celebrating hometown team's title

(Newser) - Hometown passion for this year's soccer champions from Naples has betrayed the hideout of a longtime crime fugitive from Italy, who was captured while riding a motor scooter on a Greek island, Italian police said Saturday. Naples-based Carabinieri paramilitary police said the man, who was on Italy's list...

Cops: Pizza-Maker in France Wasn't What He Seemed

Mob suspect Edgardo Greco, tied to Italy's 'ndrangheta, found after 16 years on the run

(Newser) - Police in southeastern France have arrested a convicted murderer linked to Italy's most powerful organized-crime group, the 'ndrangheta, after he eluded authorities for 16 years, Interpol and Italian police said on Thursday. Italy's ANSA news agency reported that the 63-year-old had been working for the past three...

He Trolled Greta Thunberg. Days Later, an Arrest
He Trolled
Greta Thunberg.
Days Later,
an Arrest
UPDATED
Dec 30, 2022 12:28 PM CST

He Trolled Greta Thunberg. Days Later, an Arrest

Influencer Andrew Tate, brother in custody in Romania on rape, human trafficking charges

(Newser) - This story has been updated to clarify how the pizza boxes came into play. Earlier this week, climate change activist Greta Thunberg got into it online with Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer, TikTok star, and controversial influencer who, until recently, had been kicked off most social media platforms. Now, a...

In Ecuador, a 'Declaration of Open War'

Murders of 5 police officers on Tuesday attributed to criminal gangs

(Newser) - Five police officers were killed in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil on Tuesday, including two shot dead in their patrol car, in what some say is evidence of "criminal rule," per the Guardian . Officials described nine attacks in the city in apparent response to the transfer of hundreds...

The Hit That Killed Mobster Was Ordered by His Own Son

Anthony Zottola was found guilty, as was the man who actually fired the shots

(Newser) - Update: The son of a mobster was on Wednesday convicted of ordering the hit that killed his own father. Anthony Zottola, the 44-year-old son of Bonanno crime family associate Sylvester Zottola, was found guilty of conspiracy, murder-for-hire, the murder of his father, and the attempted murder of his older brother,...

Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Shot Dead on Honeymoon

Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci was killed in Colombia hours after pregnancy announcement

(Newser) - A Paraguayan prosecutor known for fighting against organized crime was shot dead Tuesday while vacationing in Colombia on his honeymoon, hours after his wife posted a pregnancy announcement. "The best wedding gift ... the approaching life that is a testimony to the sweetest love," read the caption of the...

Feds Announce Huge Case Against Mexican Mafia

21 of 31 suspects were already in prison

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors announced a sweeping racketeering case Wednesday aimed at dismantling the leadership of the Mexican Mafia that controlled street gangs in part of southern California. The indictment unsealed in US District Court against three members of the group and 28 associates includes allegations of two murders, six attempted killings,...

Japan Sentences Yakuza Mobster to Death

Sentence for Kudo-kai kingpin Nomura Satoru is the first of its kind

(Newser) - The head of one of Japan's most violent organized crime groups has been sentenced to death by hanging. Nomura Satoru, leader of a Yakuza crime syndicate based in the southern city of Fukuoka, was convicted of ordering four attacks, one of which killed the former chief of a fishing...

2 Swedish Rappers Jailed After Gang Trial

Top soccer player was also among 26 convicted

(Newser) - After one of the biggest gang-related trials Sweden has ever seen, two rappers and a former member of the country's national soccer team were among 26 people to receive prison sentences Wednesday. Chart-topping rapper Yasin Mahmoud, who was named Artist of the Year earlier this year at an event...

It's a 'Criminal Takedown Like We Have Never Seen'

More than 800 arrested around the world, thanks to FBI's encrypted messaging app

(Newser) - The app was lauded by criminals around the world, who promoted it "for its absolute reliability," says Jannine van den Berg, chief constable of the Central Unit of the Dutch police, per the Washington Post . "But nothing was further from the truth." The encrypted messaging app,...

Alleged Mobster Covered His Face on YouTube Videos, Forgot His Tattoos

Tats were visible on cooking show of alleged 'Ndrangheta gangster from Italy, hiding in DR

(Newser) - Come for the pasta making, stay for the arrest. Since 2014, Marc Feren Claude Biart, a purported member of Italy's infamous 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, has been on the run from authorities in his home country after allegedly taking part in a Dutch cocaine trafficking operation. The BBC reports...

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