World on Drugs with Steve Furey

*ep starts around 23 mins

Poland under the communist regime was a weird place where a line between underworld and law enforcement wasn’t really existing. People were illegally “dealing dollars” like drugs on the streets. The economic situation was so dire that smuggling from the West became a new normal. Many sought opportunities in stealing foreign cars what turned groups of friends into real, organized gangs. All of it under a blind eye of the government and police. It’s not surprising, though, because Ministry of Interior was heavily involved in crime as well. Polish Intelligence Agency was funding its own operations by forcing Polish petty criminals living in the West to do robberies and heists and smuggle stolen goods to Poland. And these goods often were stolen again, and again by administration, officers and even well-known politicians. Those stories help to better understand what came next, in 90s, during one of the craziest and fastest world's economic transformations from communism to capitalism. “Wild West” of Europe, with its own Yuma.

no guests this week, solo dolo yall!

* starts at min 16

this is the first ep we have a guest telling ME whats going on with the story. A nice change :)

Known for running one of the largest black market grow operations in U.S. history, the Cornbread Mafia has become a mythic crew within cannabis culture and the legacy of prohibition. early homegrown pot farmers were a ragtag collection of hippies, Vietnam vets, criminals, stoners, and businessmen; they got the “mafia” moniker due to their outlaw spirit rather than Italian tradition. They were a rebel syndicate, of sorts, and referred to marijuana as “cornbread” to throw off authorities. This is their story.

with guest Jim Higdon (@jimhigdon). Jim wrote the literal book on the Corn Bread Mafia (available on amazon) and now runs a cbd company called @cornbreadhemp (on IG) and cornbreadhemp.com. So if you wanna take a literally chill pill, and listen to this banger, head on over to Cornbreadhemp.com and get you some CBD BABY!

*ep starts at 30 mins

This is the story of Naser Kelmendi and the Albanian Mob. Because of Yugoslavia , Albania has had more than enough opportunity to stick its toes into the field of organized crime, and the local mob has done that in more ways than one. Capitalizing on tumultuous grounds, in the last 30 years Albania and the mobs within have shifted from being grunts for larger, well-established mobs to front-manning one of the largest organized crime syndicates in Western Europe and acting as mules for around 80% of the heroin trafficked throughout the area. Naser Kelmendi epitomizes what these mobs can produce. Before his sentencing in 2018 he was the head of the largest heroin smuggling operation in Western Europe, and he and his three sons are known for buying 10 cars a year, owning more real estate than a family can manage, and loan sharking with interest rates over 10% per month. As he’s currently sitting pretty in jail, we feel safe enough saying that the Kelmendi clan is one of the most dangerous crime families in the world today.

Our Guest today is Kiry Shabazz (NBC, The Tonight Show, & Comedy Central) @Kirybazz

Research done by Grey Livingston

https://www.ibtimes.com/tip-iceberg-french-police-arrest-albanian-heroin-traffickers-balkan-criminal-gangs-847331

https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/1539-us-blacklists-balkan-businessman-naser-kelmendi

https://www.occrp.org/index.php/en/ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/1501-naser-kelmendi-admits-illegal-construction

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/06/15/baker-to-visit-albania-yugoslavia-next-week-after-berlin-conference/9d084c82-d142-4553-9422-9a75fecd3366/

https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/kosovo-beruechtigter-mafiaboss-naser-keljmendi-festgenommen-a-898363.html

https://peoplepill.com/people/naser-kelmendi

https://archive.ph/20130802223351/http://hetq.am/eng/news/26483/

https://web.archive.org/web/20120723061543/http://mafiatoday.com/other-mafia-orgs/albania-pm-world-bank-panel-linked-to-mafia/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CCB-6524

https://www.rferl.org/a/balkan-kingpin-kelmendi-arrest-kosovo/24978048.html

https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/503-naser-kelmendi-from-kosovo-inmate-to-sarajevo-businessman

* episode starts at min 30 min.

From war lords, to drug kingpins, Cartels, criminals, gangs, serial killers, and ever day psychos, World on Drugs with Steve Furey deep dives into subjects and people other wont. We analyze it through the lens of comedy, to try and see how and why these people/event went down the wrong road. So come join me, Steve Furey and my funny friends to learn about some of the people who stay in the shadows.

From Last Comic Standing, Hbo Max, and JFL Francisco Ramos @framoscomedy and Researcher Patryk Grazewicz

Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) was created in early 90s by a small group of envy-seeking prisoners who were disturbed by massacre of their friends in Canrandiru prison. One step at time, they were slowly building one of the biggest and most sophisticated prison empires in the world. Directed by a charismatic, ambitious leader and influenced by left-wing politics and ideas, they achieved corporation-level type of management with its own independent departments, laws, unions and courts. They are able to co-ordinate actions not only inside one prison, but all over the country and beyond. In the cells, and on the streets. Their business contacts stretch as far as Mozambique and Lebanon. Their power and influence grew so big that PCC had even influenced presidential election results and conducted spectacular, military-type operations abroad. And there is no end in sight, officials are feeling hopeless and desperate as PCC’s membership surges. On one hand violence, terrorism and drugs. On the other hand guaranteed social security, sophisticated heists and political activism.

List of sources:
https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Breaking-Out.pdf?x91208

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10714839.2017.1373963

http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/99eng/merits/Brazil11.291.htm

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/04/carandiru-and-scandal-brazil-s-medieval-prison-system/

https://cco.ndu.edu/Portals/96/Documents/prism/prism8_1/190306_PRISM8_1_Coutinho.pdf?ver=2019-03-05-152801-577

https://www.france24.com/en/20131017-brazil-world-cup-terror-gang-prisons-mobile-phones-maximum-security-sao-paulo

https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/reports-of-the-pccs-demise-are-greatly-exaggerated/

https://www.americasquarterly.org/fulltextarticle/can-anyone-stop-brazils-pcc/

https://www.scielo.br/j/ea/a/QmzfNj4SHMNNfNKnXW5RkGB/?lang=en&format=pdf

https://cco.ndu.edu/Portals/96/Documents/prism/prism8_1/190306_PRISM8_1_Coutinho.pdf?ver=2019-03-05-152801-577

https://theconversation.com/a-bank-heist-in-paraguays-wild-wild-west-reveals-the-dark-underbelly-of-free-trade-77125

* episode starts at min 17min.

 From war lords, to drug kingpins, Cartels, criminals, gangs, serial killers, and ever day psychos, World on Drugs with Steve Furey deep dives into subjects and people other wont. We analyze it through the lens of comedy, to try and see how and why these people/event went down the wrong road. So come join me, Steve Furey and my funny friends to learn about some of the people who stay in the shadows. 

From Netflix, The Winner of NBC's Stand Up for Diversity Jr Deguzman (@Jrdguz) Researcher Dr. Joe Hoffswell (@drhoffswell) 

I’ll be talking about Bahala Na Gang, a Filipino street gang that emerged immediately after World War 2 as hardened criminals were released back into society. They are the anything goes gang and like fighting, drinking, and killing competitors and police. I’ll talk about their early history, their expansion into America, and finish by talking about what has been going on with them the past few years as they have been strictly targeted by law enforcement and military in the Philippines.

Source Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahala_Na_Gang#cite_note-1

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-12-mn-162-story.html

https://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-03-01-1965/Ashburn.pdf

https://www.digest.ph/decisions/people-vs-narciso

https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1968/may1968/gr_l-24484_1968.html

https://www.pilotonline.com/news/crime/article_4b049454-4135-5dd0-9157-66054b5b33d3.html

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=haGkHhglJJoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA129&dq=bahala+na+gang&ots=uVH5GEp8DX&sig=AUekiImySOlrXrSVXEckysSKV4c#v=onepage&q=hilf&f=false

https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment#Ethnic-Based%20Gangs

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/philippines-prison-run-ruthless-gang-7395587

https://www-jstor-org.libsrv.wku.edu/stable/pdf/2754276.pdf

* episode starts at min 26. From war lords, to drug kingpins, Cartels, criminals, gangs, serial killers, and ever day psychos, World on Drugs with Steve Furey deep dives into subjects and people other wont. We analyze it through the lens of comedy, to try and see how and why these people/event went down the wrong road. So come join me, Steve Furey and my funny friends to learn about some of the people who stay in the shadows. Guest is Malik Bazille (@MalikBazillem Fighter & the Kid Pod, Cutting Weigth Pod) Researcher Dr. Joe Hoffswell (@drhoffswell) A two part banger looking at the 18th Street Gang coming your way! Part 1 I’ll be talking about how they started, the dude who made it, their rules and regulations, what makes them different, and the things they’ve been doing in the good ole US of A! Part 2 will focus on how they became a transnational terrorist threat (according to the Trump administration) and their activities across Central America. A lot of it will be out of El Salvador because they have a boatload of power there! Sources (Reagan Latin America Policies) https://tnsr.org/roundtable/policy-roundtable-reagan-and-latin-america/ Information on 18th street markings and colors http://www.ncgangcops.org/18th_Street.html Ortiz Jr., J.A. (2012) Are the Mara Salvatrucha and 18th street gangs a threat to our national security. (MA Thesis) Indiana State University Retrieved from http://scholars.indstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10484/4766/Ortiz%2C%20Jose.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y Insight Crime overview of 18th Street in El Salvador https://insightcrime.org/el-salvador-organized-crime-news/barrio-18-profile-2/ Stoll, D. (2013). Homies and hermanos: Gods and gangs in Central America. Social Forces. Retrieved from https://sites.middlebury.edu/dstoll/files/2018/06/Review-WardBrenneman-Gangs-copy.pdf Congressional Report on MS-13 and 18th Street https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/118413/2007-11-02_Gangs_Threat.pdf van der Borgh, C. (2016) The truce between the mara Salvatrucha and 18thstreet gang in El Salvador. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wim-Savenije/publication/309397890_The_Truce_between_the_Mara_Salvatrucha_and_18th_Street_Gang_In_El_Salvador_From_Opportunity_to_Failure/links/580e402908aef766ef10e248/The-Truce-between-the-Mara-Salvatrucha-and-18th-Street-Gang-In-El-Salvador-From-Opportunity-to-Failure.pdf

* episode starts at min 30*.

From war lords, to drug kingpins, Cartels, criminals, gangs, serial killers, and ever day psychos, World on Drugs with Steve Furey deep dives into subjects and people other wont. We analyze it through the lens of comedy, to try and see how and why these people/event went down the wrong road. So come join me, Steve Furey and my funny friends to learn about some of the people who stay in the shadows.

Guest is Ari Mannis (@arimannis, Unlicensed Therapy Podcast)

This is the story of Zhenli Ye Gon, a Chinese-born Mexican who holds the record for the largest seizure of drug cash in the world. A businessman with a penchant for losing money in Vegas ($125 million by some records), Ye Gon imported over 80 tons of methamphetamine precursor chemicals behind the facade of pharmaceutical company UNIMED before his operation earned him a search warrant, that yielded over $200 million in hundred dollar bills. Some say the cash comes from illegal campaign funds, some say he’s got ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, either way since his arrest in 2007 nobody has been convicted of any crime, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Researcher Gray Livingston

Sources:

http://research.ridgway.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ZhenliYeGonGroupPROFILEFINAL.pdf

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/28/AR2008102801364.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/gon-affidavit.pdf

https://www.efe.com/efe/english/world/mexico-to-auction-zhenli-ye-gon-criminal-s-mansion-worth-5-million/50000262-4032985

https://joebidenbio.com/zhenli-ye-gon/

https://roanoke.com/news/virginia/years-after-a-207-million-cash-seizure-in-mexico-the-case-lands-in-roanoke/article_4f260d97-c093-563d-8149-9059a081f655.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37699634

https://web.archive.org/web/20110521170437/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/4992830.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhenli_Ye_Gon