Underworlds with Mark Shaw is returning for another season. Mark sits down with authors to discuss their investigations into the murky world of organized crime. In season two, we hear about a range of stories such as money laundering and cryptocurrency; the 'Ndrangheta's expansion from Calabria, Italy to other countries of Europe. Also the story of a leading South African police officer, who was tasked with investigating the Italian mafia in South Africa by Nelson Mandela. A fascinating story ab...
Jun 21, 2025•2 min
The History of the American Mafia: How the Mob Built Its Empire in the US, with Former Gambino Crime Family Associate, Louis Ferrante. In this episode, Mark sits down with former Mob associate Louis Ferrante to discuss his book, Borgata: The Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia. The history of the American Mafia, known as La Cosa Nostra or simply "The Mob," is well known. Prohibition in the United States during the Roaring Twenties saw the rise of characters who have since been mythol...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Welcome to Underworlds with Mark Shaw. Organized Crime is everywhere, hidden in plain sight. The stories from this world have been mythologised by Hollywood. But the reality can be even stranger and more exciting than fiction. From the golden age of the American mafia (La Cosa Nostra), to the modern-day cocaine empires, and from the shadowy links between organized crime and terrorism, to the twilight of the Yakuza. In this series Mark Shaw, the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnati...
Sep 16, 2024•2 min
It's been a while since our previous episode of The Impact. But in that time the Global Initiative has continued to track the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on organized crime around the world. As the rest of the world shut down, the adaptability and agility of criminal networks has been clear to see – they have found new routes for illegal commodities, from drugs to people. In this special episode Jack introduces Lindy Mtongana and her interview with the Director of the Global Initia...
Jun 21, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Brazil is a vast country of some 211 million people. A nation full of energy but also plagued by crime; powerful criminal networks like the PCC and Red Commando battle over international and domestic drug trafficking routes. Then there is illegal logging, gold mining, land invasion, human trafficking, high levels of violence, highly militarised law enforcement and a huge corruption scandal that rocked the Brazilian political class. And now COVID-19 has struck and Brazil has the second highest nu...
Aug 08, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In this bonus episode of The Impact: Coronavirus and Organized Crime, Jack sits down with author and former NPR foreign correspondent, Sarah Chayes . In this extended version of the interview which was part of the COVID and Corruption episode, Sarah talks about her experience of studying corruption around the world and how kleptocratic networks capture state institutions, even in the United States. Sarah Chayes is the author of Thieves of State and the upcoming book On Corruption in America ....
Jul 27, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 13
A different sounding episode as Jack sits down with a collection of organized crime experts to discuss what we have seen over the past few months and what might happen next. Guests: Tuesday Reitano , Deputy Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Nirmal Ghosh , US Bureau Chief for The Straits Times and member of the GI Network of experts Joyce Kimani, the Observatory Coordinator for East and Horn of Africa at the GI Guillermo Vazquez , Senior Analyst at the GI Lye...
Jul 02, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 12
This Pandemic is causing huge economic impacts. The World Bank has forecast a contraction of 5.3% in global GDP in 2020 – that is the deepest global recession in decades leaving lasting scars on the lives of people living all over the world. And this could manifest itself in many ways - a rush to push government policy through to help combat the immediate effects of COVID means that the usual stringent checks may be ignored. And organized criminal networks are positioning themselves to capture s...
Jun 24, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 11
It’s clear that throughout the recorded history of humanity, corruption has been present – and in a modern context Transparency International define corruption as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. In this time of unprecedented economic recession due to the COVID health crisis, organized corruption networks, are in a perfect position to bleed the system and organized criminal groups will be in line to slice off their share. When huge economic stimuli are injected into the system, i...
Jun 19, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 10
We explore the illegal wildlife trade and it's apparent role in the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The huge socio-economic consequences on the communities where this trade takes place, not to mention the threat to biodiversity, environmental sustainability, the brutality suffered by the animals themselves. The illegal wildlife trade is complex and far reaching – it’s estimated to be worth between seven and 23 billion US dollars, making it one of the most lucrative forms of transnational organis...
Jun 02, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 9
For over three decades Afghanistan has been the most dominant and largest producer of opium poppy and the production of heroin. From Afghanistan, heroin travels North and South – the northern route takes the heroin through Central Asia and into Russia. The Southern route takes the heroin into Pakistan – From there, like a spider, it spreads in all directions. But how is COVID-19 impacting it? A Shallow Flood: the Diffusion of Heroin in Eastern and Southern Africa Guests: Vanda Felbab-Brown , the...
May 22, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In Part 2 - Our journey follows the cocaine out of South America and across the Atlantic into Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, which that has been dubbed “a narco-state” by the UN and US. Then onto the the second largest Cocaine market, Europe. Where we’ll talk about the 'Ndrangheta Mafia group from Calabria in Southern Italy, who purportedly control 80% of the cocaine trade on the continent. Then we'll cross the Adriatic into the Balkan region of Europe where criminal groups distribute cocaine in ...
May 13, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 7
