organized crime

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How Chinese Gangs Made $1B From Scam Texts

Criminals use stolen credit cards to make fraudulent purchases, pocketing the profits

(Newser) - Criminal gangs based in China have raked in more than $1 billion over the past three years by bombarding Americans with scam text messages, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The messages, often posing as overdue toll or postal fee notices, aim to trick recipients into handing over credit-card...

After Ecuador Travelers Vanish, Cops Find a Horrifying Scene

8 bodies discovered in Buena Fe shortly after deadly attack on soccer game in Guayaquil

(Newser) - A pair of violent attacks in Ecuador has left 14 people dead, some showing signs of torture, and 17 wounded. The first incident took place late Sunday in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, where gunmen opened fire on a neighborhood soccer game, per CBS News . Police say the attack, attributed...

Ex-UFC Fighter Survived First Murder Attempt, but Not Second

Suman Mokhtarian is gunned down in Australia

(Newser) - A former UFC fighter was shot dead in Australia on Wednesday—20 months after surviving a previous attempt on his life. Police say 33-year-old Suman Mokhtarian was killed in what they called a "targeted attack" in Riverstone, a suburb of Sydney, reports CBS News . Mokhtarian had been out...

'Operation Kill Switch' Unearths $10M Home Depot Theft Ring

Police in Southern California say it's the biggest theft ring tied to the retailer

(Newser) - Authorities in Southern California have arrested 14 people in connection with what officials describe as the largest organized theft ring ever to target Home Depot. The suspects are accused of pulling off about 600 thefts at 71 Home Depot stores across multiple counties, leading to more than $10 million...

Mobsters Stole $83M in Amazon Cargo: DOJ

Armenian Organized Crime group allegedly had associates sign up as Amazon truck drivers

(Newser) - Amazon might want to be a bit more careful about screening its drivers. US authorities have arrested 13 individuals believed to be members or affiliates of Armenian organized-crime syndicates, accused of attempted murder, kidnapping, fraud, and stealing more than $83 million in goods from the retail giant. The individuals were...

France Is Building High-Security Prison in Former Penal Colony

Facility deep in Amazon jungle aims to isolate crime bosses from outside world, disrupt drug networks

(Newser) - Deep in the Amazon jungle, France plans to open a $450 million high-security prison to isolate drug lords and radical Islamists—turning a notorious former penal colony into a fortress for modern criminals. French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday announced the plan to build the high-security prison...

Gunmen Kill Mexican Mayoral Candidate, Her Daughter

'No position is worth dying for,' says an official in Veracruz

(Newser) - A mayoral candidate from Mexico's ruling Morena party was fatally shot in Veracruz state on Sunday, becoming the second local candidate killed in the region ahead of the June 1 elections. Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez was leading a campaign caravan in Texistepec, southwest of the oil port Coatzacoalcos,...

Report: Trump Administration Squeezes Romania on Tates

Per FT , US wants travel restrictions lifted on siblings held for sex misconduct, trafficking, other crimes

(Newser) - Andrew and Tristan Tate are being detained in Romania on human trafficking, sexual misconduct, money laundering, and organized crime charges, but the US government now wants the influencers to have a little more freedom in how they move about. Per the Financial Times , the Trump administration is putting the squeeze...

Organized Crime Groups Are Targeting Pro Athletes' Homes

FBI issues warning to sports teams

(Newser) - Following a string of high-profile burglaries at the homes of professional athletes, the FBI has issued a warning stating that these homes are indeed being targeted by organized theft groups. The homes of NFL players including Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce , and Joe Burrow have been burglarized, as have the homes...

Sicilian Businessman Sent a Severed Horse's Head
Someone Just Pulled a Bloody
Godfather Stunt in Sicily
in case you missed it
Nov 24, 2024 3:50 PM CST

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...

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