What links the Italian mafia, the DEA, and Hezbollah?

In this episode, Mark sits down with investigative journalist Miles Johnson, to discuss his book ‘Chasing Shadows: A True Story of the Mafia, Drugs and Terrorism’.

Miles discovered a DEA investigation into a money laundering network in Europe, which branched out to reveal the truly global nature of organized crime, and how it intersects with the world of terrorism.

Miles’ book reads like a cinematic thriller, a story about the globalization of organized crime. There are three central characters from three different institutions – the ‘Ndrangheta, the Italian mafia from Calabria; the terrorist organization, Hezbollah; and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the US.

Although the characters never meet, their stories intertwine and reveal how geopolitics shapes organized crime.

Before writing this book, Miles spent a number of years as a foreign correspondent in Italy, and reveals the hundreds if not thousands of documents and legal transcripts he went through to build this fascinating story.

In this episode, Mark talks to Miles about his book ‘Chasing Shadows: A True Story of the Mafia, Drugs and Terrorism’

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Miles Johnson's book ‘Chasing Shadows: A True Story of the Mafia, Drugs and Terrorism’ is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/bDUHTaa

Audible version: https://amzn.eu/d/3FhI2aq

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Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

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📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

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FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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How did the Kinahan organized crime group rise to the top of cocaine trafficking in Europe?

In this episode, Mark sits down with investigative journalist and author Nicola Tallant to discuss her book ‘Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland's Drug Lords’.

At the end of the 90s, Ireland was booming, the ‘Celtic Tiger’ had risen. People had more money to spend on leisure activities, and on drugs.

In steps a man from a comfortable middle-class background in Ireland, the well-educated and well-mannered, Christopher Kinahan Snr, who alongside his two sons Daniel Kinahan and Christopher Jnr, created the Kinahan Cartel.

Along with the cocaine came money, extreme violence and assassinations. The most famous of these was the Hutch-Kinahan feud, which saw criminal groups fighting one another across Europe.

Eventually, the Kinahan Cartel would join with criminal organizations from across Europe to create what Europol called the ‘European Super Cartel’, controlling the distribution of cocaine across the continent.

In 2022, the Kinahan Cartel, alongside its leading members, were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged links to a money laundering network run by Hezbollah.

Nicola Tallant has been reporting and investigating organized crime in Ireland for three decades. She has written several books about the topic and has a successful podcast called ‘Crime World’.

In this episode, Mark talks to Nicola about her new book ‘Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland's Drug Lords’.

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📖 Nicola Tallant's book ‘Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland's Drug Lords’ is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/aoS98Lf

🎧 Audible version: https://amzn.eu/d/gYM6fdh

📺 Nicola also has a podcast called 'Crime World' and its available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UC8MalTYHvpmBKt5y365hDmQ

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Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

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📱 YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

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FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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Are these the twilight years of the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia?

In this episode, Mark sits down with investigative journalist and author Jake Adelstein to discuss his book ‘The Last Yakuza: A Life in the Japanese Underworld’.

The Yakuza have been part of the fabric of Japanese society for decades, they have inspired films and fanzines, invested in social network websites, provided humanitarian assistance, extorted people, meddled in politics, killed one another and politicians, as well as brought down governments. They are famed for their elaborate tattoos and chopping off pinkie fingers as a form of apology.

We hear about the unique relationship between the Yakuza and law enforcement, where once upon a time a raid on a Yakuza office was done by appointment. But that changed after a faction of the largest group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, called Kodo-kai, challenged the authority of police, which spelled the beginning of the end of the Yakuza.

Jake has been reporting on the Yakuza for decades, his first book ‘Tokyo Vice’ was adapted into an HBO series in 2022. He discusses about how to report on organized crime and how to manage relationships with Yakuza members.

In this episode, Mark talks to Jake about his book ‘The Last Yakuza: A Life in the Japanese Underworld’.

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Jake Adelstein’s book ‘The Last Yakuza: A Life in the Japanese Underworld’ is available here: https://a.co/d/2k2V0MR

Audible version: https://a.co/d/cKHMZZ2

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Underworlds with Mark Shaw Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0ss7EEqXOflp3d-lZw4LfIe

====================================================

📱 Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@UCP-lqJdhM-9iDKkswuVcXZA

🌎 VISIT US! Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - https://globalinitiative.net/

🎧Audio version: https://link.chtbl.com/7c27X1CM

🎧WHY NOT TRY OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

🎧Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0spSX0QUq7j0NmIZOqyDTZQ

🎧The Index - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXSX1Xu1kM0uc_4CftGl8PrwHA3IK5WeI

===================================================

FOLLOW US

X - @gitoc

LinkedIn - @Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

IG - @gi_toc

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