Deadly Intentions

How did the Israeli Mafia build an international ecstasy empire, and what happened when two of its most notorious crime bosses went to war?

In Episode 13 of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete explore the rise of Israeli organized crime, from its early criminal rackets to the massive drug-trafficking networks that reached the United States.

Pete shares firsthand stories from the 1990s Los Angeles rave scene, including the underground ecstasy trade, his encounters with major traffickers, and the connections he witnessed between organized crime figures.

The conversation follows the rise of Itzhak Abergil and Ze'ev Rosenstein, two powerful figures whose rivalry escalated into assassination attempts, a deadly bombing in Tel Aviv, and international criminal investigations.

Along the way, Bubba and Pete examine the Russian mob, European drug suppliers, American nightlife, federal racketeering prosecutions, and the extraordinary reach of these criminal organizations.

It's a story of enormous money, international power struggles, betrayal, and the violent consequences of a criminal empire that stretched across continents.

Deadly Intentions with Bubba and Pete. Real stories, notorious criminals, and the darker side of organized crime.

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Netflix brought Lizzie Borden back into the spotlight with Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. But how much of what viewers are watching actually happened?

In this episode of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete Rossini put Hollywood's version of one of America's most infamous murder cases up against the historical record.

Bubba watched Netflix's dramatization. Pete deliberately didn't. Instead, he dug into court records, contemporary newspaper reports, and historical accounts to reconstruct what really happened in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892.

And the differences are staggering.

From Lizzie's actual age and privileged lifestyle to her alleged relationship with the family maid, the mysterious events inside the Borden home, and the evidence presented at trial, Bubba discovers just how differently Netflix tells the story.

Pete also examines the brutal murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, the investigation that followed, the controversial courtroom decisions, and how Lizzie ultimately walked away acquitted.

Was Lizzie Borden a misunderstood woman, a victim of circumstance, or someone who got away with murder?

More than 130 years later, the debate continues.

This is the Lizzie Borden story beyond the Netflix dramatization.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel didn’t appear out of nowhere.

In this episode of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete trace CJNG from its roots inside the Sinaloa network through the Valencia family, Los Cuinis, El Mencho and the rise of one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations.

They break down how control of key Pacific ports created enormous leverage, how international supply chains and synthetic drugs reshaped the cartel economy, how political protection and military-style force helped CJNG expand, and why removing a single kingpin rarely dismantles the larger network.

The episode also covers the $25 million reward connected to Juan Carlos Valencia, Operation Jalisco, U.S. distribution networks, money laundering, underground labs and the structure that allowed CJNG to grow from a regional faction into a global operation.

Joshua Schulte was a highly trusted CIA systems engineer with access to some of the agency’s most sensitive cyber weapons. Then roughly 34 terabytes of classified material ended up with WikiLeaks.

In this episode of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete break down the extraordinary Vault 7 case, from Schulte’s rise inside an elite CIA hacking unit to the workplace conflicts, security failures, and alleged theft that exposed thousands of documents detailing some of America’s most closely guarded cyber capabilities.

They follow the investigation that closed in on Schulte, the criminal cases that followed, his battles with the federal government from behind bars, and the road that ultimately led to a 40-year prison sentence.

This is the story of Joshua Schulte, WikiLeaks, Vault 7, and what the CIA described as the largest data breach in its history.

Mexico’s modern cartel era didn’t emerge from one organization. It grew out of a fractured system of competing networks, alliances, regional operators and hundreds of separate criminal organizations.

In this episode of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete trace what happened after the old Guadalajara structure broke apart and Mexico’s modern cartel system began to take shape.

They follow the rise and evolution of Sinaloa, Tijuana, Juárez, the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, including the geographic disadvantages Sinaloa initially faced, the air-bridge operation that helped keep the network alive, massive aircraft moving loads into Mexico, tunnels beneath the border, expanding U.S. distribution hubs and the increasingly sophisticated logistics behind the trade.

Pete also examines how alliances, political relationships, law-enforcement connections and competition for territory shaped the modern system, and how the collapse of centralized control helped produce an increasingly fragmented landscape.

The story ultimately leads toward the next major evolution in Mexico’s cartel history: the rise of Jalisco New Generation.

Deadly Intentions explores organized crime, criminal networks, trafficking operations and the systems that allow them to grow.

The modern Mexican cartel system didn’t begin with El Chapo, Pablo Escobar or even the Guadalajara Cartel. Its roots stretch back centuries.

In this episode of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete trace the evolution of the North American drug trade from the early relationship between China and Mexico through the Manila Galleons, opium, Chinese migration, the Civil War, morphine, Prohibition and organized crime.

The story moves through Sinaloa’s rise as a major production center, Bugsy Siegel and the American underworld, Mexico’s La Plaza system, Operation Condor and the emergence of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and the Guadalajara network.

Then cocaine transforms the business. Colombia, Pablo Escobar, the United States and Mexico become connected through an increasingly sophisticated trafficking system. The murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena, Iran-Contra and the political forces surrounding the trade help push the story toward a turning point.

By 1989, the Guadalajara network is breaking apart and regional organizations including Sinaloa, Tijuana, Juárez and the Gulf begin emerging as independent powers.

This is the history behind the birth of the modern cartel era.

If you listened to our previous episode examining the Sinaloa Cartel and the network that became bigger than El Chapo, this episode goes back to the origins of the system that came before it.

Richard Ramirez turned 1980s Los Angeles into a city gripped by fear. His attacks appeared chaotic, his victims followed no predictable pattern, and for months investigators struggled to understand who the man eventually known as the Night Stalker would target next. The episode itself frames that panic immediately, describing Ramirez as “running wild” and Los Angeles as fundamentally changed by what happened. 

In this episode of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete go back to the beginning, examining Ramirez’s abusive childhood, the disturbing influence of his cousin Miguel, his descent into drugs and crime, and the path that eventually brought him to California. 

From there, they follow the Night Stalker case through the attacks that terrified Southern California, the evidence that began connecting the crimes, the mistakes that complicated the investigation, and the breakthroughs that finally gave police the identity they had been chasing.

It’s the full story of Richard Ramirez, the terror he created, the hunt that finally closed in around him, and the case that made the Night Stalker one of the most infamous names in American true crime.

In the second half of Bubba and Pete’s Iran deep dive, the story shifts from how America got here to what may have gone wrong.

Pete breaks down the fallout from the U.S.-China trade fight, China’s control over critical rare earths, pressure on the bond market and why he believes Washington badly miscalculated the leverage China already possessed.

From there, the conversation moves through Russia, Venezuela and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, global oil supplies, America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Houthis and the second major shipping chokepoint, before ending with an unexpected piece of the puzzle: Mexico’s silver supply and why it suddenly matters in the larger economic fight with China.

This is Part 2 of the Iran deep dive.

The war with Iran may be happening on the battlefield, but Pete argues the real story is much bigger: oil, sovereign debt, the U.S. dollar and the struggle for global financial power.

In Part 1 of this Deadly Intentions deep dive, Bubba and Pete go back through the economic and geopolitical history that led to the current conflict. They break down why the Strait of Hormuz matters to the American economy, how U.S. sovereign debt became a potential vulnerability, and how the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency became intertwined with oil and American power.

From Bretton Woods and the end of the gold standard to the petrodollar, SWIFT sanctions, BRICS, China’s CIPS system, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela, Panama and the battle to build alternatives to the dollar, Pete lays out the larger system he believes connects what otherwise look like separate events.

Bubba approaches it from the perspective most listeners will have: How did all of this connect, why has the conflict lasted far longer than expected, and what could it mean for Americans if the economic system underneath U.S. power begins to change?

This is Part 1. Part 2 continues the story from where this episode leaves off.

Most Americans hear “the cartel” and picture one massive criminal organization ruled by a single kingpin. The reality is far more complicated.

In this episode of Deadly Intentions, Bubba and Pete break down the structure of Mexico’s cartel system using the Sinaloa Cartel as the central example. Pete explains why the idea of one unified “cartel” is misleading, how Sinaloa became so closely associated with El Chapo, and how multiple organizations, factions and power centers operated beneath the name Americans came to recognize. 

They trace the evolution of the drug trade from the Colombian cartels of the 1980s into the Mexican trafficking networks that followed, including how enforcement efforts changed routes, markets and the economics of the narcotics business. Pete also explains how dramatically cocaine trafficking expanded during the war-on-drugs era, describing a rise from roughly four tons per month in 1982 to 80 tons per month by 1997. 

And one of the biggest revelations is that the Sinaloa organization Americans traditionally thought of as one cartel fractured during a 2024 internal conflict, leaving separate factions that are still often grouped together under the familiar Sinaloa name. 

El Chapo became the face of Sinaloa. This episode examines just how much bigger the network really was.