Crime World

A €500 million cocaine haul on the Waterford Cork coast involving army rangers, customs, Gardai, the Naval Service and Air Corps.The Kinahan cartel and Iranian links to Hezbollah form key parts of the investigation.But what does the hidden haul on the mothership MV Matthew really tell us about the cocaine industry and what people are willing to do to transport it?Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about high drama in Irish waters and those who have come a cropper before.

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Veteran criminal Dean Russell says he is no longer involved in anything more than community work and that he’s now an innocent man.But this week the Criminal Assets Bureau are putting his house up for sale with a euro 300k price tag after he handed them the keys following an 11 year battle against a proceeds of crime case.So who will buy the four bed semi detached which auctioneers say is a bargain.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about Russell and what the courts say is his deep and prolonged history with criminality.

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**This episode was first published in January 2023**He was the notorious Cosa Nostra boss who lived in hiding for 30 years and who was responsible for terrorist atrocities against Italy. Matteo Messina Denaro was amongst a group of violent mafia bosses who hit back at Italian magistrates, their families and body guards with lethal bomb attacks during the early 1990s when the brave judges took on the notorious criminal organisation.For decades, he was hunted to no avail, but this month he was dramatically arrested in Palermo as he made his way to a cancer clinic.So who is Denaro and what is the significance of his arrest for the people of Sicily and southern Italy?Nicola Tallant chats with Dr Anna Sergi, a Professor of criminology and organised crime at the University of Essex, the author of a number of books about the mob, including her latest 'Chasing the Mafia'.She describes Denaro's background, his violent life, his incredible capture and the secrets he may take to his grave.

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Rival gangs in Limerick’s lethal underworld feud dealt with a ‘Board of Governors’ of criminal businessman to launder their cash and make deals.Nicola speaks with journalist Eamon Dillon about the massive secret Garda investigation into the city’s gangland network which has laid bare how - in the underworld - when it comes to money - rivalry doesn’t matter.

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An arson attack on an innocent family home, two sworn enemies locked in a bitter feud and fears that tensions will escalate.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the fire in a Clondalkin house in Dublin linked to the 10 year row between gangland hot head Nellie Walsh and jailed Kinahan lieutenant Peadar Keating.

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She is the glamorous wife of caged Sinaloa Cartel boss Joachim El Chapo Guzman and the mother of their two kids and she has just been freed from jail to start her new life without him. Emma Coronel Aispuro sat loyally by his side as her husband was jailed in the US and condemned to a supermax prison for the rest of his life for a litany of violent drug crime and trafficking and a horrendous murder count.So what will the 31 year old do now she is all alone in Los Angeles after serving two years for helping El Chapo distribute billions of dollars worth of drugs in America? Should she have served a longer sentence or was she just a headline for US authorities in their war on drugs?Nicola speaks to journalist and author Douglas Century whose best selling book Hunting El Chapo traces the life of the most famous narco in the world.He tells me about the former beauty queen and how she will now have to cash in on her famous name if she wants the luxury lifestyle she once had.

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Superstar Russell Brand is the latest celebrity to be hit with claims of sex assault by victims which would have once devastated his career.But what is the likely outcome for the star from the sensational claims by four women who say he assaulted and raped them?Has the media landscape of 2023 changed enough for Brand to survive being cancelled or will he lose his status as an outspoken comedian who is followed by millions?Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the scandal which has deep implications for Brand and those who employed him.

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An infamous financial adviser is found to have shared an office with Daniel Kinahan in Dubai where he claimed to have become a money guru for the young and ambitious.But was Norwegian native Thomas Stray, famous in Denmark for his boom and bust lifestyle, really unaware of who he was hot desking with at the Boulevard Plaza really or would a simple google search have alerted him to the background of Ireland’s most wanted?Nicola is joined by Niall Donald to chat about the curious connections between Stray and Kinahan and the cryptocurrency they discussed in the run up to the US sanctions.

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Nicola is joined by columnist and sports writer Roy Curtis.

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An estimated €188B in dirty money washes around the European economy every year - that’s according to a new EU report on the finances of organised crime.Nicola talks to journalist Eamon Dillon about dirty money and what the criminals are doing with it.

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