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PODCAST

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Twice winner of the "Best Deep Dive Podcast" at the Publishers Podcast Awards, shortlisted four times for "Best Investigative Podcast" and once for "Best Video Podcast". The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime brings you stories and investigations from the global criminal underworld. The topics covered by Deep Dive are far ranging, one episode could be looking at a hybrid paramilitary organized criminal cartel; the next could be the dismantling of an encrypted communications

true crime news commentary

All Episodes

01:00:36

Dethroning BigBoss: The Fall of Archetyp

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2025/09/29

Inspired by the ethos ofSilk Roadand the lifespans ofAgoraandDream Market, a new player emerged from the shadows of Tor in2020:Archetyp. Built on promises ofsecurity,usability, and “ethical” standards, the marketplace steadily grew while rivals rose and fell. By2025it served≈ 600 000 users,≈ 3 000 vendors, and had moved≈ €250 millionin illicit transactions.We trace the founder—known as“Yoshi”(BigBossChefOfArchetyp)—and his obsessive focus on operational security. Archetyp requiredMonero‑only

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44:43

Living Together: The Gangs of Haiti - Part 3: "Wake...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2025/05/14

Part 3 - "Wake Up! The Bandits Are Coming!"At the end of March this year, officers from the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) responded to a request for assistance when an armoured Haitian National Police vehicle became stuck in a ditch near Pont-Sondé in Artibonite. The ditch was believed to have been dug by a local gang.As the MSS officers arrived to help, they were ambushed by armed men, allegedly from the Gran Grif gang. During the firefight, three armoured vehicles were

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56:03

Living Together: The Gangs of Haiti - Part 2:...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2025/04/30

Part 2 - 'Fighting Back'In 2022, a video emerged of an alleged senior gang member, Zo Pwason, who had been caught by an armed group of Haitian citizens, led by Commissioner Jean-Ernest Muscadin. Zo Pwason was allegedly a senior member of the 5 Segond gang. He was executed by the armed group.Muscadin declared that “As long as I am government commissioner, the city of Miragoâne will remain a cemetery for bandits”.In this episode we look at those citizens that have fought back against the growing power

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01:06:28

Living Together: The Gangs of Haiti - Part 1: The...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2025/04/22

Part 1 - "The Death of a President"In July 2021, the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated as he slept at home by a band of mercenaries. His murder sparked a wave of violent protests and a period of unprecedented crisis in the small Caribbean nation that the country has still yet to address nearly four years later.For a long time, violent gangs were used by politicians to win elections, harass political opponents and stamp out opposition. But the political vacuum and ensuing chaos

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01:15:16

Drugs, Dead Drops and the Battle Over Russian Darknet...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2025/01/14

If you were to walk around a Russian city, you might not realise it but hundreds of small packages of drugs, could be just below the surface, buried in the ground, or maybe attached to the back of a nearby drainpipe with magnets, or hidden inside a hole in a wall. These little "treasures" have been ordered online from a vendor operating on a darknet platform and then hidden by couriers known as 'Kladmen' all over the place waiting to be collected - this is the "dead drop" method.The darknet markets

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45:23

Colombia & Total Peace: Part 2: Buenaventura – “The...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2024/11/27

Buenaventura – “The Pact for Life”Buenaventura has long been an important node in international illicit markets, particularly cocaine trafficking due to its port. Gangs, paramilitaries and organized criminal networks have all looked to gain a foothold here. The resulting violence has meant the city has seen many murders, and even more disappearances, with terrifying tales emanating from the so-called 'Casa de pique’ (Chop Shops).In September 2022, two gangs in Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast of

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59:04

Colombia & Total Peace: Part 1 - "The ELN - The Easy...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2024/10/28

Colombia is a country that has been racked by conflict for around 60 years - multiple armed groups and organized crime have waged war against each other and the state.In 2016, after nearly seven years of negotiations, the FARC demobilized, creating a power vacuum that other groups, such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), Clan del Golfo, and FARC dissidents, quickly filled. Despite the FARC's exit, violence persisted, with cocaine production and illegal mining continuing unabated, leaving many

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36:01

Mohamed Amra and the gangs of Marseille

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2024/07/24

In May 2024, a prison van was attacked at a highway toll in Normandy, France. In dramatic footage shared on social media, a black SUV, driving the wrong direction, rammed into the prison van just as it went through the barriers. Then gunmen, dressed head-to-toe in black and armed with Kalashnikov rifles got out and started shooting at the van, killing two prison officers.They opened the van and freed the prisoner, a man named Mohamed Amra, aka "The Fly", who escaped with the gunmen. There is now an

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54:41

The Long Tail: Cross-Channel Migrant Smuggling...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2024/05/21

On the 1st May 2024, 711 migrants successfully crossed the Channel between France and the UK in small boats. This year is so far on track to see the highest number of crossings on record.This highly industrialised illicit industry estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of Euros, has seen the coast of northern France demarcated between competing gangs from a specific region of the Middle East, and who have a long history of smuggling. They control the entire length of the route, from beginning to

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34:36

LockBit: Is this the end?

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2024/03/26

LockBit, the world's largest ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) provider suffered a very public takedown by an international law enforcement task force, Operation Cronos.The ransomware behemoth quickly relaunched just days later. But in a world where trust is key, might the reputational damage be too great?This is the story of the rise of LockBit, its relationship with other infamous cybercriminal groups, its uneasy relationship with some affiliates, its curious leader LockBitsupp, the public takedown

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46:02

Russia, War & Organized Crime

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2024/03/04

Russian organized crime has a mythology attached to it - the brutal tattooed men of the Vory v Zakone. But those days are long in the past, rapid globalisation saw a new type of organized criminal take the reins in the Russian underworld, spreading their influence as criminal facilitators across the world. But the war in Ukraine has changed that. It's changed the relationship between organized crime and the Russian state, the status quo within the established criminal order, the potential vacuum

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28:15

What is going on in Ecuador?

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2024/02/05

At the start of the year masked gunman burst into a television studio in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The cameras were live and the entire event was broadcast. The video shows gang members shouting at staff, pushing them to the ground, threatening them with guns and explosives. These pictures subsequently travelled around the world.But this event was just one in a series to hit Ecuador in a short space of time. Car bombs, kidnappings, murder, prison riots, prominent prisoner escapes, and another national

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20:48

Monitoring: Ovidio Guzmán and the Kingpin Strategy

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/12/04

'The King is dead, long live the King!'In September 2023, Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, stood in a courtroom as a series of charges were laid out, including his alleged role as a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.There is a long list of cartel and organized crime leaders over the past few decades who have been targeted through what become known as the 'Kingpin Strategy'. The strategy aims to weaken, destabilise, and destroy criminal groups through a variety of methods, but is

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41:05

Illicit Financial Flows in the Western Balkans

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/11/14

“If you can do it without consequences, then you should do it”.What are illicit Financial Flows, or IFFs? And why do they matter? Every illicit market, from drug trafficking, people smuggling, the illegal wildlife trade, arms trafficking etc. all are connected to IFFs. IFFs are about the movement of money across borders that is illegal in some way.The money could be from a criminal act, like corruption or its money associated with the illicit markets above. Perhaps, it could be legitimately earned

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12:02

Monitoring: A Month of Drug Seizures

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/10/17

In September 2023, there were four large cocaine seizures in and around the Atlantic Ocean - off the coast of Ireland, West Africa, Brazil, and Cape Verde. The flows of cocaine that traverse the Atlantic travel mainly by sea, from the huge bulk carriers to small fishing vessels or sailing boats. Much of this illicit drug ends in the cocaine markets of Europe.In this episode of Deep Dive: Monitoring, we briefly take a look at the seizures, what they mean for cocaine markets and the organized criminal

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40:31

“They don’t ******* withdraw it” - Scam Call Centres...

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/10/02

Scam call centres are a blight on the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to have any dealings with them. They come to you with promises of a short cut to wealth, to fix a non-existent issue with your computer, claiming to be from a charity, threatening you with arrest for unpaid taxes.There are 70 million of these phone calls worldwide every day and they generate billions of dollars each year. Organized crime is very much a part of this industry from Mexico to India and from the Philippines to

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43:53

Colombia: In the face of crime and violence

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/08/02

For over half a century armed groups in Colombia have battled one another and the state across the country. The FARC, ELN, AUC, AGC, and the infamous drug cartels, have committed untold atrocities on everyday Colombians. These groups use violence to control the local population and to assert territorial control over illicit drug production and trafficking routes.This episode is about the people who live in those areas, those that have suffered at the hands of armed groups and organized crime, and

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01:18:54

The Rise and Fall of the Conti Ransomware Group

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/06/27

For around two years the Conti ransomware group rampaged across the internet. They attacked hospitals, educational institutions, businesses, governments, and many more, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in ransomware payments. Business was booming for the cybercriminals. At least it was until the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Conti leadership quickly pledged their loyalty to Russia and then everything began to fall apart.This is the story

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41:03

“Death Can Wait”: Drugs on the Frontline in Ukraine

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/05/22

Throughout history soldiers have used drugs, sometimes to fight better or to stay alert, or perhaps to help cope with the extreme psychological situation and trauma they are faced with. The current conflict in Ukraine is no different. Concerns around this led to the Ukrainian parliament passing a new law that authorizes random drug and alcohol tests on soldiers. Organized crime is nothing if not adaptable, even in this most extreme environment. The soldiers fighting to protect their homeland

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42:23

P2 - The Murder of Ahmed Divela

Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime ·

2023/05/03

Part 2: "The truth will triumph".The description of Ahmed's murder showed that the killers were professionals, trained in the use of firearms. But despite the crowds that witnessed the killing, no one has ever been prosecuted for the crime.Since the assassination of Ahmed, press freedom in Ghana has suffered. He is one of a number that have been attacked, harassed and arrested over the last few years, sparking fears for the future of press freedom in the country.Much of the violence has been

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47 results

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