True Organized Crime

Former Chicago police officer and Outfit associate Fred Pascente is the man who links Tony Spilotro, one of Chicago's most notorious mob figures, to William Hanhardt, chief of detectives in the Chicago Police Department. Pascente and Spilotro grew up together on Chicago's Near West Side, and as young toughs they were rousted and shaken down by Hanhardt.

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was a devoted family man and a psychopathic killer; a terrible enemy, yet a wonderful friend. While donating millions to the poor, he bombed and tortured his enemies - some had their eyeballs removed with hot spoons. Through ruthless cunning and America's insatiable appetite for cocaine, he became a multi-billionaire, who lived in a $100-million house with its own zoo.

In "The Five Families of New York," Mafia Library presents a gripping account of the ascension and decline of New York's foremost crime syndicates, from the legendary Lucky Luciano to the notorious Paul Castellano and John Gotti, and beyond. Through vivid storytelling, the book chronicles the relentless assault waged against these five families over two decades, a campaign that stands as the most successful law enforcement effort of the last century.

In a brief life that led to a violent end, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (1906-1947) rose from desperate poverty to ill-gotten riches, from an early-20th-century family of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side to a kingdom of his own making in Las Vegas. In this captivating portrait, author Michael Shnayerson sets out not to absolve Bugsy Siegel but rather to understand him in all his complexity.

From its inception, Atlantic City has always been a town dedicated to the fast buck, and this wide-reachinghistory offers a riveting account of its past 100 year, from the city's heyday as a Prohibition-era mecca of lawlessness to its rebirth as a legitimate casino resort in the modern era.

Chicago was the worldwide leader in gangster wars and bootlegging in the 1920s, as Al Capone set the stage for his tremendous success and popularity. When he was safely away in prison, the Chicago Outfit expanded into more rackets involving gambling and loan sharking, making bosses like Paul “The Waiter” Ricca and Tony “Joe Batters” Accardo rich beyond even Capone’s wildest dreams.

Death stalks America's wildlands. Indiscriminate destroyers of people, wildlife, and the environment, cartel marijuana growers will do anything to supply the black-market demand for weed. HIDDEN WAR, 2nd Edition, exposes this threat, give you a rare, inside glimpse into the operations of specially trained tactical teams with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife to infiltrate and take down these groups.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE The astonishing true story of “one of the most startling police corruption scandals in a generation” (The New York Times), from the Pulitzer Prize–nominated reporter who exposed a gang of criminal cops and their yearslong plunder of an American city NOW...

"Johnny Boy" Gotti burst onto the national scene after a double murder catapulted him to the top of the Gambino family, the largest and most feared Mafia family in the USA. Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci reveal the man behind the headlines.

From mob wife with blood on her hands to straight-arrow breadwinner for her four kids, a tale of transformation and empowerment from a woman whose life in organized crime makes Carmella Soprano look like June Cleaver.

This is my account of life as a hitman from someone who has been doing it for years. Hitmen commit heinous crimes virtually every day of the week and, in most instances, we don't even realise. I've been a killer for hire for more than 20 years now, but life as a fulltime professional assassin has never been easy. There have been close calls, failed attempts and a lot of looking over my shoulder. And now, I've decided to come clean and seek atonement for my life as a murderer and one of the most covertly dangerous men alive.

Frank Sheeran, known as the Irishman, waited his entire life to tell his story, or at least his version of his story. The world knew him as a union official, a longtime member of the Teamsters Union; he was a member of Jimmy Hoffa's inner circle at the top of the national union. As an old man suffering from cancer, Frank Sheeran shared his story with his attorney. He told him of the things that were already known, but he shared much, much more. This book explores Sheeran's confessions as a lifelong criminal with ties to some of the biggest crimes of the 20th century.

Michael Corleone Blanco, after more than fifteen years of research, writing, and reconstructing each of the stories of his life, his family, and his mother, Griselda Blanco, unveils not only truths but also presents a profound reflection on how drug trafficking, wars, and corruption claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people. Being part of the Blanco family was an arduous journey for each of them. However, Michael Corleone Blanco managed to transform his life. Now, he shares his own story and that of his mother, Griselda Blanco, with the hope that such a tale will never be repeated.

Three years after undercover agent Robert Mazur infiltrated Pablo Escobar’s Medellín drug cartel, he reemerged, a half-million-dollar bounty still on his head, with a new identity for a risky new sting. He was now Robert Baldasare, money launderer and president of an international trade finance company. Deployed to Panama, Mazur worked, traveled, partied, and washed millions with Central America’s criminal elite. Partnered with a young superstar DEA task force agent, Mazur slipped effortlessly into Colombia’s notorious Cali drug cartel.

Koh Tao, a small island in the Gulf of Thailand, surrounded by pristine beaches, swathed in sunshine, and a mecca for tourists, divers, and backpackers. But “Turtle Island” has its dark side. In 2014, Koh Tao was the site of the brutal double murders of two British backpackers, but theirs weren’t the only suspicious backpacker deaths.

Havana Nocturne takes listeners back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Thanks to strong ties with the island's brutal dictator, President Batista, the mob soon owned the biggest luxury hotels and casinos and launched an unprecedented tourist boom. But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others.

The Great Bookie Robbery takes listeners inside one of Australia's most fascinating criminal cases, revealing how ordinary people planned and executed an extraordinary crime. David Stone's exhaustive research and compelling narrative style bring to life the gang members, their victims, and the detectives who hunted them, creating a page-turning account of ambition, ingenuity, and inevitable betrayal.

The New England Mafia was a hugely powerful organization that survived by using violence to ruthlessly crush anyone that threatened it, or its lucrative gambling, loansharking, bootlegging, and other enterprises. From information based on newly declassified documents and the use of underworld sources, Boston Mob spans the gutters and alleyways of East Boston, Providence, and Charlestown to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C., and Boston's Beacon Hill. Its players include governors and mayors, and the Mafia Commission of New York City.

Durante décadas, el discurso oficial presentó a los cárteles mexicanos como los grandes villanos del narcotráfico. Pero hoy, la crisis del fentanilo obliga a mirar hacia el interior de Estados Unidos. En una contundente declaración recogida por el autor, un agente de la de a admitió que en su país operan cárteles formados por estadounidenses: pandillas, clubes de motociclistas y redes del crimen organizado que ya no solo compran y venden drogas, sino que dominan rutas, controlan territorios y lavan miles de dólares con la complicidad de los bancos.

Joseph Leslie 'Squizzy' Taylor was many things to many people: a kind and caring husband, father and stepfather, a reliable son and brother, a generous and considerate neighbour and patron. He was also a criminal willing to consider any type of crime, provided it supported his lifestyle and his ego. Squizzy graduated from teenage pickpocket to adult murderer, from organizing smash-and-grab raids on jewellers to corrupting juries and suborning witnesses.