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Since the release of the first list the richest people world in 1982, Forbes magazine includes drug lords and gangsters there - since organized crime is part of the world economy, these incomes must be counted. For example, according to The Guardian, the Calabrian mafia 'Ndrangheta in 2013 enriched itself more than Deutsche Bank and McDonald's combined - by € 53 billion.
Below are the odious figures of the underworld who made millions and billions - Pablo Escobar, Shorty, Al Capone, Tony Salerno and others.
John Gotti
New York Gambino boss John Gotti has received two nicknames from the press. "Teflon Don" - for being invulnerable to justice for a long time. As well as “Don-dandy” for expensive custom-made suits (Brioni for $2,000 and hand-painted silk scarves for $400), elaborate hair, black Mercedes 450 SL and lavish parties.
Growing up in the South Bronx, Gotti joined the Gambino family in the 1950s, one of the powerful gambling, extortion, loansharking and drug syndicates. The US government suspected that on the way to the post of head of the Gambino, Gotti eliminated his predecessor Paul Castellano in 1985. The FBI agent who worked on the Gotti case said that "he was the first don for the media, he never tried to hide that he was a superboss." And his wide lifestyle and external gloss has always provided food for articles in the tabloids.
According to the New York Times, Gotti received between $10 million and $12 million annually, while the Gambino clan earned more than $500 million a year in the 1980s. Justice got to Gotti only in 1992, 10 years later he died in prison.
Shinobu Tsukasa
Shinobu Tsukasa, 74, leads a yakuza clan called the Yamaguchi-gumi. Fortune has listed the Yamaguchi-gumi as one of the five most powerful mafia groups in the world, with an annual profit of $6.6 billion. The Yamaguchi was founded in the port city of Kobe over 100 years ago and has 23,400 members. Most of the income comes from the sale of drugs, as well as gambling and extortion.
Shinobu Tsukasa is the sixth leader of the clan in history. In the 1970s he was sentenced to 13 years for murder samurai sword. In 2005, he was jailed for 6 years for possession firearms. In 2015, there was a split in the yamaguchi-gumi. According to the Tokyo Reporter, most of the group remained with Tsukasa, and 3,000 members formed a new clan led by Kunio Inoue.
Michael Franzese
In Fortune's "50 Most Powerful Mafia Bosses" list, Michael Franzese was ranked 18th. Franzese, nicknamed "Don Yuppie", is the son of a bank robber who formed a cartel that was engaged in the release of films of category B, illegal sale of gasoline, car repair and sale scams, and fraudulent loans.
In a week, Michael Franzese received from $ 1 to $ 2 million in income. In 1985, the US government charged him with fraud, stripped him of $4.8 million of assets, and ordered him to pay $10 million for the illegal sale of gasoline through shell companies. After eight years in prison and a $15 million payment, Franzez moved to California and decided to capitalize on his criminal past. He has written two books, the autobiography Blood Covenant and the business advice book I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse, as well as sold the rights to a miniseries about his life to CBS. Now the former mobster lives in a $2.7 million home, drives a Porsche, gives interviews to Vanity Fair and lectures at universities.
Anthony Salerno
In 1986, Fortune magazine published a list of "The 50 Most Powerful Mafia Bosses". The editor-in-chief explained the appearance of the material by the fact that "organized crime is a powerful economic factor." Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno also made the list. The Genovese clan, led by a gangster (300 people), was engaged in racketeering and drugs in New York. According to The New York Times, the clan's influence extended as far as Cleveland, Nevada, and Miami, with interests in construction, loansharking, and casinos. Since the 1960s, the clan has earned $50 million a year. Between 1981 and 1985, Salerno imposed a 2% mob tax in New York on all contractors pouring concrete on buildings worth more than $2 million. Salerno's real net worth may have been $1 billion.
In 1988, the gangster was sentenced to 70 years for racketeering and hiding illegal income of $10 million a year (only $40,000 a year was indicated in the declaration). Four years later, at the age of 80, he died in prison.
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar
The income of India's most wanted criminal is estimated by Business Insider at $ 6.7 billion. Forbes included Kaskar in the lists of the most influential people in the world in 2009, 2010 and 2011 (50, 63 and 57, respectively). His crime syndicate D-Company is accused of terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 1993 and 2008, in addition, he was involved in the smuggling of drugs and weapons. The US government believes that Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. According to one version, Kaskar is hiding in Pakistan.
Al Capone
Capone is the most famous American gangster. A character named Al Capone appears in 77 mafia films.
At the time of his death in 1947, his fortune was estimated at $ 1.3 billion. Capone acted in various criminal areas - bootlegging, racketeering, murder. In 1929, the US government declared him "Enemy No. 1". The prosecutor's office repeatedly sentenced Capone to prison, but a few months later he was released. As a result, in 1931, Capone was convicted only for tax evasion - for 11 years. He was supposed to spend most of his term in Alcatraz.
In 1939, Capone came out, but his health was undermined - he suffered from syphilis and dementia.
In 2012, Forbes conducted an analysis of Capone's former property. The Chicago four-bedroom house he bought with his first earnings was valued at $450,000, and the Miami Beach mansion where he died in 1947 was valued at $9.95 million.
Griselda Blanco
The Colombian Griselda Blanco was called the "Godmother of cocaine" by the Western press. Blanco was one of the key figures in the Miami cocaine trade in the 1970s and 1980s. Even in the male drug business, she had a reputation for being a ruthless businessman. According to Business Insider, her fortune was approaching $2 billion, however, she was far from Exobar's income.
Three times a widow, whose spouses were rumored to have died at her hands, she named one of her sons Michael Corleone. According to The Guardian, its distribution network was making tens of millions of dollars and moving around 1,500 kilos of cocaine per month. Before being arrested in 1985 in California, The Godmother was on the list of the most dangerous drug dealers along with Escobar and the Ochoa brothers. She was charged with 40 to 200 murders in Florida, but the woman managed to avoid the death penalty due to a technical error in court: the officer who testified against her was discredited because he had a sex conversation on the phone with a secretary in the accuser's office, the Guardian wrote. Blanco was imprisoned in federal prison, deported to Colombia in 2004, where 8 years later she was shot by an assassin on a motorcycle.
Khun Sa
Khun Sa, the “Opium King,” was estimated by Business Insider to be worth $5 billion. Born Chang Shifu, the son of a Chinese man and a Shan woman, changed his name to Khun Sa, meaning “Prosperous Prince,” in the 1960s. During these years, he led the Burmese army, engaged in the cultivation of opium in the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia, which included 20,000 men. In the 1970s and 80s, the Sa army controlled the Thai-Burmese border and was responsible for 45% of the pure heroin entering the United States, for which the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) called him "the best in the business" (data from The Economist).
The US government placed a $2 million bounty on the head of the Opium King. By the 1990s, the DEA was able to destroy Sa's trade chain, and he moved to Yangon and retired. Currently, opium production in the Golden Triangle has fallen to 5% of the world figure (in 1975 it was 70%).
There are different versions about whether the drug lord saved billions before his death in 2007 - from "lived in luxury", but "satisfied with a modest pension."
Morris Dalitz
Moritz (Mo) Dalitz belonged to such legendary gangsters as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel. During the era of Prohibition, he was engaged in bootlegging, later - gambling and real estate. In 1982, Dalitz was on the first list richest Forbes along with artist Yoko Ono, actor Bob Hope and mafia accountant Meyer Lansky. Dalitz's fortune was estimated at $110 million, but how much he actually earned remains a question.
Dalitz received a significant share of his wealth from the first casinos in Las Vegas. In 1949, he co-founded the Desert Inn casino and the Stardust Hotel. In the 1950s, he took part in the emergence of the Paradise Development Company, which built a university and a convention center in Las Vegas. In the 1960s, he invested in the $100 million La Costa Resort complex near San Diego, after which he sued Penthouse magazine for $640 million, which wrote that the construction was financed by the mafia. Unlike many colleagues in the criminal past, Dalitz lived to an old age, in last years did charity work.
Rafael Caro Quintero and Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Before the star of the drug lord "Shorty" rose in Mexico, two names thundered there - Rafael Caro Quintero (pictured) and Carrillo Fuentes. The head of the Guadalajara cartel, Rafael Quintero, owned marijuana plantations called Rancho Bufalo. During a 1984 police raid on the ranch, about 6,000 tons of marijuana were seized, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, cost Quintero between $3.2 billion and $8 billion. The Guadalajara cartel earned $5 billion a year. There were rumors in the Mexican press that Quintero followed Escobar in offering to pay off Mexico's external debt in exchange for his freedom. The drug lord was sentenced to 40 years in a Mexican prison in 1989, but was released 28 years later.
The second Mexican drug lord is Carrillo Fuentes, head of the Juarez cartel. The Washington Post estimated his fortune at $25 billion. It is believed that wealth allowed him to avoid justice for many years. Fuentes earned the nickname "Lord of the Skies" for his extensive fleet (22 aircraft) to transport cocaine to the United States. Fuentes died in 1997 during plastic surgery by changing appearance.
Pablo Escobar
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar became the first criminal to appear on the Forbes 100 International Billionaires list in 1987 with a net worth of $3 billion. He only dropped out after his death in 1993. From 1981 to 1986, the Medellin cartel led by Escobar had a revenue of $ 7 billion, the drug lord took 40% for himself. The cartel received its main wealth from cocaine smuggling in the United States (about 15 tons daily), in the late 1980s it owned 80% of the entire cocaine market in the world. According to Business Insider, Escobar earned $420 million a week, according to other sources, his fortune totaled more than $30 billion.
Each year, the king of cocaine lost about $2.1 billion (10% of revenue) as the money was randomly stored in warehouses and abandoned farms, it was destroyed by mold and rodents. Every month, he spent $2,500 on rubber bands that held bills together. Once Escobar burned $ 2 million to warm his daughter: the family then hid in the mountains, and there was nothing to kindle a fire from. In 1984, the cartel offered to pay off Colombia's national debt in exchange for immunity. The DEA placed a $11 million bounty on Escobar's head. In 1991, the drug lord made a deal with the Colombian government to build his own prison, La Catedral (with a football field and guards chosen by him), to which the authorities could not approach closer than 5 km.
The life of a drug lord was so bright that in 2015 Netflix released the series Narcos dedicated to him.
Brothers Ochoa and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha
In 1987, along with Escobar, the co-founders of the Medellin cartel, Jorge Luis Ochoa-Vasquez (with an income of $ 2 billion) with brothers Juan David and Fabio, who received 30% of the cartel's revenue, were on the Forbes list of the richest. The Ochoa brothers remained on the Forbes list for another 6 years until they surrendered to the authorities.
The drug lord Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, who lived at the same time, worked both with the Medellin cartel and independently (for example, transporting cocaine disguised as flower supplies to the USA from Bogota) was also a billionaire. In 1988, Forbes estimated his fortune at $1.3 billion. Gacha stayed on the list for two years until he was shot dead by Colombian police.
Joaquin Guzman Loera
In 2009, the Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzmán Loera, nicknamed "Shorty", was included in the Forbes list of the richest people on the planet with a fortune of $ 1 billion. In 2012 and 2013, he ranked 63rd and 67th among the most influential people in the world. Strategic Forecasting Inc. and even estimated his wealth at $ 12 billion. The Sinaloa cartel under the leadership of Loer was responsible for 25% of illegal drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States and received $ 3 billion in proceeds. The New York Times, citing data from the Drug Enforcement Administration, writes that the cartel sold more cocaine than Escobar at the height of his career.
"Shorty" started his business in the early 1990s, transporting cocaine, including in chili cans (in 1993, the Mexican authorities confiscated such a 7-ton cargo). He was declared "Mexico's most wanted man" with a $7 million bounty: $5 million from the United States and another $2 million from Mexico. He was first arrested in 1993, but he escaped from prison in 2001. The last time Mexican intelligence agencies captured Loera in Sinaloa was in January 2016. Vanity killed the drug lord. He was going to make a biopic about himself and was casting. In addition, actor Sean Penn flew to "Shorty" to meet for an interview. It is believed that the authorities were able to track the movements of the criminal, including thanks to this.
We invite you to look at a selection of the faces of the most famous leaders of criminal groups around the world, because it is these people who say that it is better to never meet them live in your life. Although all these crime bosses look very different, they were all doing about the same thing.
One of the bosses of the Mara 18 organized crime group, Marlon Martinez, is on trial in Guatemala, where he is accused of murder. March 30, 2011
"Mara 18" is the largest Latin American gang Los Angeles. She appeared in the 1960s among immigrants from Mexico and still maintains ties with the drug cartels of this country. The group consists of up to 90 thousand people operating in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
One of the bosses of the Italian organized crime group "Ndrangheta" Sebastiano Pelle after his arrest on November 9, 2011.
"Ndrangheta" was formed in the poorest province of Italy, Calabria. It is considered one of the most successful Italian organized crime groups. According to some reports, the 'Ndrangheta's income is up to three percent of the country's GDP.
One of the leaders of the Marseille mafia, 75-year-old Jacques Imbert, after being released from prison on April 8, 2005.
Imber was a member of the Three Ducks gang, which was especially influential in the 1950s and 60s. In 1977, an assassination attempt was made on him, which formed the basis of the film 22 Bullets: Immortal.
The alleged leader of the Slavic criminal gangs in Moscow, Alexei Petrov, nicknamed Lenya Sly. September 19, 2011
According to unofficial sources, Petrov was elected leader of the Slavic groups in Moscow in 2009 after the assassination of Vyacheslav Ivankov, also known as Yaponchik.
One of the alleged leaders of the Tambov organized crime group, Yuri Salikov, is being taken to court in the Spanish city of Palma de Mallorca. June 14, 2008
The Tambov organized criminal group appeared in St. Petersburg in the late 1980s and in the next decade actually controlled the criminal life of the city. Its creator is believed to be businessman Vladimir Barsukov (Kumarin), who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for extortion.
One of the alleged leaders of the Tambov organized crime group, Gennady Petrov, is being taken to court in the Spanish city of Palma de Mallorca. June 14, 2008
Petrov, as well as several other Russian citizens, were detained by the Spanish authorities during Operation Troika. They are considered the organizers of the operation to launder the criminal money of the Tambov organized criminal group. Petrov calls himself a businessman. He has lived in Spain since the early 1990s. In 2012, Petrov left for Russia and refused to return to Spain.
Bonanno family boss from New York Vincent Basiano, nicknamed "Handsome Vinnie."
The Bonanno family is one of five Italian-American mafia families that control the New York underworld. The remaining families are the Gambino, Genovese, Colombo and Lucchese clans. Basiano has been serving a life sentence for murder since 2011.
Gigante was the boss of the Genovese clan from 1981 until his death in 2005. In the early 1990s, he was considered the most powerful gangster in America. To avoid trial, Gigante feigned insanity and often walked around New York in a dressing gown and slippers, muttering something inarticulate under his breath. In 1997, he was nevertheless sentenced to 12 years in prison and died in custody.
Retired yakuza boss Shinji Ishihara talks about his criminal past to reporters. April 5, 2006
Ishihara served in one of the largest gangster syndicates in the world, the Yamaguchi-gumi, which has several tens of thousands of members. The headquarters of the group is located in the city of Kobe. Unlike many other organized crime groups, members of the yakuza are allowed to "retire", as Ishihara did after serving his next term.
The funeral of the leader of the Taiwanese group "Bamboo Union" Chen Chili, nicknamed the Duck King in Taipei. October 18, 2007
The Bamboo Union, or Zhulyangbang in Chinese, is Taiwan's largest organized crime group. It belongs to the triads, as Chinese criminal gangs or secret societies are called. The Bamboo Union maintains close ties with the nationalists from the Kuomintang party and shares their political platform.
The leader of the Hong Kong branch of the 14K group in Macau, Wan Quokkoy, nicknamed Broken Tooth, is taken to court on November 23, 1999
14K is considered the largest triad in Hong Kong and in the world. It has about 20,000 members and is also active in Europe and North America. 14K controls heroin and opium shipments from Southeast Asia. The group is known for a clear management hierarchy and cruelty.
The grave of Aslan Usoyan, better known as Ded Khasan, at the Khovansky cemetery in Moscow. January 20, 2013
Usoyan is believed to have led ethnic Caucasian criminal groups operating in Russia. At the same time, it is known about the conflicts of his clan with other gangs led by people from the Transcaucasus. Usoyan was shot dead in Moscow by an unknown sniper on January 16, 2013.
The leader of the Taiwanese triad was forced to flee his native island when the authorities decided to limit the influence of criminal gangs. Chen Chili moved to Cambodia and even became a government adviser. He lived in a huge villa in the suburbs of Phnom Penh, where large stocks weapons.
"Influential member" of the Sicilian "Cosa Nostra", arrested in Spain. February 19, 2010
"Cosa Nostra" is one of the most famous groups of the Italian mafia. She appeared in late XIX century and is considered the inventor of racketeering. Cosa Nostra does not have a rigid structure. The grouping consists of numerous clans that control their territory.
Abroad, Kalashov is often called a representative of the Russian mafia, although sometimes a Georgian criminal authority. He began his criminal activities in the Soviet Union. He is considered a supporter of the late leader of the Caucasian clans Aslan Usoyan. Since 2010, Kalashov has been serving a prison sentence in Spain, which has already agreed to extradite him to Georgia, where he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
One of the leaders of the Italian group "Ndrangheta" Pasquale Condello after his arrest. February 19, 2008
Condello was on the run for about twenty years. All this time he lived in his hometown of Reggio di Calabria. During his criminal career, he managed to earn at least $ 57 million. In any case, the property owned by him is valued at such an amount. Condello is accused of murdering the head of Italy's national railway company.
Sinaloa drug cartel member Juan Miguel Allier Beltrán at a press conference at police headquarters in Tijuana. January 20, 2011
US intelligence agencies consider Sinaloa the most powerful drug cartel in the world. It comes from the state of the same name on the Pacific coast of Mexico. During the 1990s - 2000s, Sinaloa supplied more than 200 tons of cocaine to the United States. The cartel also produces significant amounts of opiates and marijuana.
Salvatore Miceli, who was in charge of the international drug trade in the Sicilian mafia, at the Caracas airport before being extradited to Italy. June 30, 2009
Miceli was considered in the "Cosa Nostra" a kind of foreign minister. He was responsible for the supply to Europe of cocaine, heroin and other drugs produced in other regions of the world, primarily in Latin America.
One of the leaders of the Tijuana Cartel, Gilberto Iguera Guerrero, in Mexico City before being extradited to the United States. January 20, 2007
The Tijuana drug cartel from the Mexican state of Baja California is the third largest drug trafficker in the United States. He is the principal competitor of the Sinaloa cartel. In the mid-2000s, a significant number of Tijuana leaders were arrested and extradited to US authorities.
Joseph "Giuseppe" Bonanno is the founder of the New York crime family of the same name. 1960s
Bonanno is considered one of the main prototypes of Vito Corleone, the protagonist of the crime saga The Godfather. Bonanno has never been behind bars for a long time in his turbulent career. He died in 2002 at the age of 97 in Tucson, Arizona from heart failure.
The leader of the Corleone clan from the Sicilian city of the same name, Gaetano Riina, after his arrest in Palermo on July 1, 2011
The Corleone clan, which gave the name to the character of the famous film trilogy, has long been the main family of Cosa Nostra. Its leaders bear the title of "boss of bosses". The town of Corleone with a population of 12 thousand people is located in the hills south of Palermo at an altitude of about 600 meters above sea level.
The leader of the Mara Salvatrucha branch of the Mara Salvatrucha organized crime group in the Salvadoran city of Quezaltepeque, nicknamed El Diabolico, and the leaders of the local branch of the Mara 18 organized crime group announce a truce in the prison of the same city. January 31, 2013
The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is one of the most violent Latin American gangs. It was formed in Los Angeles among Salvadoran emigrants who fled from civil war, operates in California and Central America and, according to various sources, has from 50 to 80 thousand fighters. hallmark members of the "Mara Salvatrucha" are numerous tattoos, often covering the entire body.
Police escort Indian crime lord Rajendra Nikalje alias "Little Rajan" (Chhota Rajan) to the Bangkok Criminal Court after an assassination attempt. September 28, 2000.
Rajendra Nikalje was originally a member of crime boss Dawood Ibrahim's group, which is called D-Company in the media. The gang operated in Mumbai, but then spread its influence throughout South Asia. After a fight with his boss, Nikalje collaborated with the Indian intelligence services to weaken Ibrahim in exchange for information about assassination attempts. The gangs of Ibrahim and Nikalje, like other Indian criminals, launder money by investing it in the production of films in Bollywood.
Former leader of the Tijuana drug cartel, Benjamin Arellano Felix.
Felix was arrested in March 2002 in Mexico and extradited to the United States. In April 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for extortion and money laundering. After serving his term, he is supposed to be returned to Mexico, where he is threatened with another 22 years in prison.
Abu Salem initially worked with the Mumbai group D-Company, but then began to act independently. He is accused of numerous murders and participation in terrorist attacks. In 2007, Portugal extradited Abu Salem to India. Subsequently, Lisbon revised this decision, but Delhi refused to return Abu Salem to Europe. He has not yet been sentenced.
Coluccio belongs to an influential mafia clan. His brother Giuseppe was one of the leaders of the 'Ndrangheta in Toronto, Canada, and was involved in the supply of cocaine to Europe. Salvatore was wanted for four years. He was found in a bunker equipped with an electric generator and supplied with significant supplies of water and food for autonomous living.
Ivankov until his death in 2009 was considered the leader of the Slavic criminal groups in Moscow. In 1997, he was convicted in the United States for extortion, and after serving his sentence in 2005, he returned to Russia. In July 2009, he was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt and died a few months later from complications caused by the wound.
One of the leaders of the Tijuana drug cartel, Eduardo Arellano Felix, is in custody in Mexico City. October 26, 2008
After the arrest of the three Arellano Felix brothers, that is, Eduardo, Javier and Benjamin, as well as the death in a shootout with the Ramon police, the cartel was headed by the youngest of the Luis brothers, nicknamed the Engineer. For help in his capture, the Mexican authorities promise to pay 2.5 million dollars.
In 1991, Gravano became the highest-ranking member of the mafia, who broke the vow of silence "omertu" and cooperated with the authorities. Based on his testimony, Gambino clan boss John Gotti was sentenced to life in prison. In 1995, Gravano, who moved to Arizona, opted out of the witness protection program. He published an autobiography and then went into the drug business, for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He has been serving a term since 2002.
Former Bonanno family boss Joseph Massino.
Massino became the first boss of five New York families to make a deal with the investigation. In 2004, he was sentenced to death based on the testimony of his comrades, including his deputy, Salvatore Vitale. In 2011, Massino, in order to earn the right to life, in turn, became a witness in the case of his successor Vincent Basiano.
The boss of the largest yakuza syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, Kenichi Shinoda, after serving a six-year prison sentence for illegal possession of a pistol. April 9, 2011
The synod bears the title of kumicho, or supreme " godfather”, the largest grouping of the Japanese mafia. He is the sixth boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi since it was founded in 1915. The Synod is characterized by an outwardly democratic leadership style. In particular, he prefers to travel by public transport rather than a chauffeur-driven limousine.
9 Albanian MafiaAlbania is made up of numerous criminal gangs. Their rules have remained unchanged since the 15th century ... The Albanian mafia is involved in the trade in white slaves, alcohol and tobacco, controls prostitution, car theft and racketeering. She began her "activities" in the 80s of the last century. Widely represented in the US and UK. Distinctive feature is the brutality used in acts of revenge.
8. Serbian mafia 
The Serbian mafia has found its place in the ranks of the leaders, as it operates in dozens of countries around the world and is associated with drug smuggling, contract killings, racketeering, robberies, control of rates and gambling houses. Interpol lists about 350 Serbian citizens, who are often employees and leaders of the largest drug cartels in the world. Serbian gangsters are also known for intellectual heists, which often play out Hollywood scenarios, as well as quick and clean executions. Currently there are about 30-40 groups working in Serbia
7 Israeli Mafia 
These guys work in the field of banditry in many countries, the main occupation is drug trafficking and prostitution. Times have changed, and if earlier they were once looked at with reverence because of their ability to protect, today they are ruthless killers who do not think long before pulling the trigger. The Russian-Israeli mafia has gained a foothold in political system The United States is so good that even the vaunted American army cannot knock them out of there.
6. Mexican mafia 
The Mexican mafia is a powerful criminal structure in the United States, rooted in the prison world. It originated in the 50s, was positioned as the protection of Mexicans in US prisons from other criminals and prison guards. The main activities are extortion and drug trafficking. They are prone to quick reprisals against those who are objectionable and who do not pay them the tax they themselves have established.
5. Japanese yakuza 
The Japanese mafia proudly traces its lineage to impoverished samurai nobles, or ronin as they were called in Japan. The heirs of noble fathers with many children, who sometimes had nothing but a sword, they inherited only the right to wear a sword and even comb their hair like a samurai: shave their forehead and crown, long hair from the back of the head, braid into a tight pigtail and stick on the bluish scalp. Although the Japanese mafia is known throughout the world, in Everyday life it is difficult to spot it at once in the local cities. Meanwhile, the Japanese mafia has one hundred and ten thousand people, while the noisy and violent American - only twenty thousand. Considering that the US population is about twice that of the Japanese, it is not difficult to calculate that for every Japanese there are eleven times more professional rapists, robbers and murderers than an American. Areas of activity: racketeering, distribution of prohibited pornography from Europe and America, prostitution and illegal emigration.
4. Chinese triads 
That rapidly growing China is rapidly becoming a leader global development are spoken all over the world today. But there are also negative aspects of this process. As China's leading position in the global economy strengthens, Chinese organized crime will rapidly expand its presence in transnational criminal relations. "Triads" have already staged a "third world war" for their competitors! "Riding" the migration processes, the mafia structures of China and the Chinese mafia in other countries have taken a leading position in organizing human trafficking and establishing flows of illegal migration. The Europol report (June 2006) noted that Chinese mafia groups were named leaders in human trafficking in countries European Union. The Chinese "triads" have supplanted the home-grown mafia in Japan - the yakuza: the Chinese account for about half of all crimes committed by foreigners.
3 Colombian drug cartels 
The Colombian mafia is one of the world's largest suppliers of cocaine. All the efforts of the state authorities are still in vain, as the business of the bandits is more than successful. The Colombian drug mafia has existed since the mid-60s of the last century. The Medellin and Cali cartels quickly became the world's leading producers of cocaine.
2. Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra 
Members of the Sicilian mafia (left to right), Salvatore Lo Bue, Salvatore Lo Cicero, Gaetano Lo Presti, Giuseppe Scaduto, Antonino Spera, Gregorio Agrigento, Luigi Caravello, Mariano Troia, Giovanni Adelfio and Francesco Bonomo Sicily was constantly robbed not only by Algerian pirates, but also by detachments of French mercenaries who served the northern Italian dukes and princes. The organized armed struggle of the islanders against the French began in 1282 under the slogan "Morete alla Francia, Italia anela" ("Die, France - breathe, Italy"); from the first letters of the call, the Sicilians made up a battle cry: "Mafia!". Soon, self-defense units turned into units of professional fighters, who began to take tribute from the peasants for protection from external enemies. In the 19th century the mafia, which became a single system, even tried to separate the island from Italy and offered an alliance to Giuseppe Garibaldi, but the troops of the Principality of Piedmont defeated her. At the end of the XIX century. thousands of Sicilians, fleeing poverty and clan wars, moved to America. Cosa Nostra (“Our Cause”), a network of Sicilian “families” that controlled casinos, smuggling, prostitution, illicit trafficking in alcohol, tobacco and weapons, and also engaged in racketeering, arose in large US cities. All the "consorteries" of Sicily constitute a "venerable community" headed by Capo di tutti Capi, head of all chapters. Important figures in the structure of the mafia are also picciotti di ficatu (assassins), stopalieri (bodyguards), gabellotti (judges) and consiglieri (advisors).
1. Russian mafia 
The Russian mafia has 500,000 people. Her godfathers control 70% of the Russian economy, as well as prostitution in Macau and China, drug trafficking in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, money laundering in Cyprus, Israel, Belgium and England, car theft, nuclear trafficking and prostitution in Germany. With the disappearance of the Iron Curtain, the expansion of Russian crime has ceased to be controlled and directed, as it was before the collapse of the USSR. The first wave of "export" of crime from the territory, then still the USSR, took place in the early 70s, when Soviet Jews were allowed to leave for Israel. This wave was incomparable with the second - when, with the collapse of the USSR, " iron curtain". Then the world, indeed, estimated the size of Russian crime, which he called the "Russian mafia." Russian criminal communities sometimes expressed very specific interests in different countries peace. So, in December 1993, the Western press first mentioned that groups were “shaking” Russian hockey players playing in foreign clubs, the so-called “legionnaires”. The mass of materials on this subject in the press in subsequent years indicated that the "sports racket" had acquired a truly industrial scale. According to some reports, now the Russian criminal community operates in 50 countries around the world. According to the American professor Louise Shelley, since 1991 the ROP has exported 150 billion dollars from the Russian Federation. According to other sources - 50 billion dollars, but also a lot.
Intelligence, cunning, and sober calculation - that's what helped these bandits stay afloat. Oh yes, we almost forgot: they were also helped by composure, cruelty, and the desire for blood.
1. Al Capone (1899 - 1947)
The legend of the underworld of those times and the most famous mafia boss in history. He was a prominent representative of criminal America. His fields of activity were:
- bootlegging (illegal trade in alcohol during Prohibition in the United States);
- prostitution;
- gambling business.
Known as the organizer of the most cruel and significant day in the history of the criminal world - the Massacre on Valentine's Day (then seven influential gangsters from the Irish gang of Bugs Moran were shot dead, including right hand boss).
Al Capone was the first among all the gangsters to launder money through a huge network of laundries, the prices of which were very low. Capone was the first to introduce the concept of “racketeering” and successfully dealt with it, laying the foundation for a new vector of mafia activity.
The nickname "Scarface" Alfonso received at the age of 19, when he worked in a billiard club. He then protested the violent felon Frank Galluccio and insulted his wife. After that, a fight and stabbing took place between the bandits. Result: Capone received a famous scar on his left cheek. By right, Al was the most influential and terrifying person on everyone, including the government, which was able to put him in jail just for not paying taxes.
Find out about Capone's most notorious crimes in the following video:
2. Lucky Luciano (1897 - 1962)
Originally from Sicily, Lucky became in America, in fact, the founder of the underworld. His real name is Charles. Lucky (in translation means “Lucky”), they began to call him after the bandit was taken to a deserted highway, tortured, beaten, cut, burned his face with cigarettes, and he remained alive after that.
The people who tortured him turned out to be Maranzano gangsters. They wanted to know the location of the drug cache. But Charles did not give up. After unsuccessful torture, they left the bloodied body without any signs of life by the road, thinking that Luciano was dead. There, after 8 hours, the poor fellow was picked up by a patrol car. Luciano received 60 stitches and survived.
After this incident, the nickname "Lucky" remained with him forever. Lucky organized the "Big Seven" - a group of bootleggers, whom he gave protection from the authorities. He became the boss of Cosa Nostra, which controlled all areas of activity in the criminal world.
Source: wikipedia.org
3. Pablo Escobar (1949 - 1993)
The most cruel and daring Colombian drug lord. He entered the history of the XX century as the most cruel criminal and the head of the largest drug cartel. He established the supply of cocaine to different parts of the world, mainly to the United States, on a grandiose scale, up to transportation by planes in tens of kilograms. He, as the head of the Medellin cocaine cartel, is credited with the murders of more than 200 judges and prosecutors, more than 1,000 policemen and journalists, presidential candidates, ministers, and prosecutors general. Escobar's net worth in 1989 was over $15 billion.
Source: wikipedia.org
4. John Gotti (1940 - 2002)
John Gotti was a famous figure, he was loved by the press, he was always dressed to the nines. Numerous accusations from New York law enforcement have always failed, Gotti avoided punishment for a long time. For this, the press nicknamed him "Teflon John". He received the nickname "Elegant Don" when he began to dress only in fashionable and stylish suits with expensive ties.
John Gotti has been the head of the Gambino family since 1985. During his "reign" this group was one of the most influential.
Source: wikipedia.org
5. Carlo Gambino (1902 - 1976)
It was Gambino who became the founder of the above-mentioned and one of the most influential families in criminal America. After taking control of a number of highly profitable areas, including illegal bootlegging, a state port and an airport, the Gambino family became the most powerful of the five families.
Carlo forbade his people from selling drugs, considering this type of business dangerous and attracting public attention. At its peak, the Gambino family consisted of more than 40 groups and teams, and controlled New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Miami and Los Angeles.
Source: wikipedia.org
6. Meir Lansky (1902 - 1983)
Meir was born in Belarus, the city of Grodno. native of Russian Empire became the most influential person in the United States and one of the country's leaders in crime. He is the founder of the "National Crime Syndicate" and one of the progenitors gambling business in the states. He was also the biggest bootlegger.
Source: wikipedia.org
7. Joseph Bonanno (1905 - 2002)
Patriarch of the Bonanno family and one of the richest mobsters in history. The history of the reign of Joseph, who was called “Banana Joe”, has 30 years. At the end of this term, Bonanno voluntarily retired and lived in his personal huge mansion. Joe organized a crime family that is still active in the United States.
Beautiful heads of personal secretary assistants contain megabytes useful information: from the names of business partners to the number of spoons of sugar in coffee for the boss and the dosage of his pills. A little effort - and the secretary turns ... into the wife of her boss.
Wday. ru found out for his readers some of the "tricks" of resourceful secretaries.
Bill Gates and Melinda French
The founder of Microsoft, billionaire Bill Gates, recalling the events of almost thirty years ago, said in an interview: “Surprisingly, Melinda made me want to marry her. This is very strange, because it is absolutely contrary to my rationalistic considerations about marriage.
Photo by Getty Images
That's it, no more, no less! Bill first met Melinda in 1987 at a press briefing in New York. She is 8 years younger than Bill. By that time, Melinda had already worked for the company for some time. Their wedding took place on January 1, 1994. It took Melinda 7 years for her boss to "want" to walk down the aisle with her. The couple now has three children. It is a pity that Melinda rarely gives interviews and does not attend social events. We bet that her "1000 and 1 Ways to Put the Idea of a Wedding in the Boss's Head" manual would double the family's capital. But the lady does not share her secrets. She leads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with a capital of more than $30 billion, and funds numerous projects related to computerization and healthcare.
Franz Beckenbauer, President of FC Bayern, and Heidi Burmester
According to evil tongues, the romance of the "Kaiser of German football" Franz Beckenbauer and secretary Heidi Burmester did not happen sober. It all started at a Christmas party in 2001. Franz later admitted that he was tipsy and allowed himself too much. And after a while, Heidi announced that she was expecting a baby.
Photo by Getty Images
After some thought, Beckenbauer left his second wife Sibylla, with whom he lived for 12 years, and went over to his secretary. But the couple officially legalized their relationship only in 2006, at the height of the qualifying games for the World Cup, on the eve of the match between Sweden and Germany. As you can see, the decision of 60-year-old Franz and 39-year-old Heidi was not spontaneous. By that time, the couple had already had two children - a son and a daughter. The wedding ceremony took place in the Austrian Alps in the presence of only the closest relatives and friends. So, the "recipe" from Heidi - live bait fishing!
Luciano Pavarotti and Nicoletta Mantovani
The third wife of the great Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti worked as his secretary and assistant. The girl was beautiful, slim and 34 years younger than her boss. They say she conquered the 68-year-old millionaire with the ability to cook pasta! Like it or not, but, they say, she blabbed about the “recipe for seduction” ex-wife legendary tenor. Once in an interview, she recklessly stated: they say, Luciano is “spaghetti, spaghetti and love!”
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Looks like Nicoletta took it on board! Luciano and Nicoletta got married in 2003. Soon the couple had a daughter, Alichi. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last long. In 2006, Pavarotti was diagnosed with a malignant tumor of the pancreas. The operation to remove it was carried out in New York. But a few months later, in September 2007, Pavarotti died in his home in the arms of his beloved. Nicoletta received 25% of Pavarotti's fortune. Four years after the death of the great singer, the young widow admitted that a man had appeared in her life. Filippo helped Nicoletta manage the affairs of the Pavarotti Foundation. It's a little more difficult than boiling pasta.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox and Marta Sahagun
After his divorce from his first wife, Mexican politician and entrepreneur Vincente Fox took a vow of celibacy. At least he promised not to marry until he became president!
Photo by Getty Images
Said - done! In 2000, Fox won the presidential race. And exactly one year after the victory in the elections, on July 2, 2001, the wedding of Vincente and Martha Sahagun took place. Marta worked as the head of the press center. It was then that the “cowboy with a Harvard education” drew attention to the temperamental Mexican woman.
“In general, it surprises me how she has enough time for everything: to work in the political and public field and at the same time lead household- cook, help children do their homework, keep abreast of all their affairs. She is a very energetic and courageous person, ”Fox shared in an interview with the Russian press. Formally, Dona Marta left public office after marriage. However, as evil tongues claimed, the first lady had much more influence on her husband than the Mexicans can imagine. So, the recipe from Martha - do everything and be irreplaceable!
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Keith Garvey
Jimmy Wales is a typical electronic age genius. Shy amateur computer games, inquisitive excellent student. He founded the most successful portal in the history of the Internet. And, as he admitted, he did it for fun.
Photo by Legion-Media
Effortlessly, the project brought its "father" millions. Jimmy has been living in the UK since 2011. As his third girlfriend, he chose the press secretary. True, not his secretary! Kate Garvey once worked as an assistant to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Jimmy and Kate got married on October 6, 2006. The wedding ceremony of 46-year-old Jimmy and 40-year-old Kate took place in London's Wesley Church. It was Kate's first marriage and Jimmy's third. By the time of the celebration, the couple already had a daughter. Among celebrities, model Lily Cole and singer Simpli Red came to congratulate the young. Well, we can say that Kate ran a brilliant PR campaign in her favor!
11th head of the Russian Ministry of Finance Alexei Kudrin and Irina Tintyakova
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin is also married to a "foreign" secretary. Before meeting her future husband, Irina Tintyakova, a journalist by education, worked as a secretary for Andrei Trapeznikov, Anatoly Chubais's press officer.
Photo by Getty Images
At the time of meeting, Irina was 26 years old, Alexei was 13 years older. The novel lasted almost two years. After the news of the pregnancy, the couple decided to legalize the relationship. It was then that Kudrin filed for divorce from his first wife. After marriage, Irina took up charity work. She heads the Northern Crown Foundation, which helps orphanages and boarding schools. Irina loves Jewelry and expensive clothes. In 2001, she almost started investing in the production of artificial sapphires. But then in 2002 she switched to the fashion world: the wife of the Minister of Finance became the holder of a part of the shares of Valentin Yudashkin Group. It seems that Irina knows how to make a millionaire out of her husband. "Just something" - to marry the Minister of Finance.
Head of the Just Russia faction Sergei Mironov and Olga Radievskaya
65-year-old politician Sergei Mironov is married for the fourth time. His wife, journalist Olga Radievskaya, is 31 years younger. Their acquaintance took place when Olga worked on a small St. Petersburg TV channel "VOT" ("Your Public Television").
