Alphonse Gabriel Capone was an American gangster during the Prohibition as co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. His 7 year reign ended when he was 33. 'Scarface' reveled in attention.
Capone indulged in custom suits, cigars, gourmet food and drink and prostitutes. He was known for his gaundy jewelry.
His responses about his mob business were: "I'm just a businessman, giving the people what they want." "All I do is satisfy a public demand."
The bootlegging operation of Bugs Moran posed a challenge to Capone. Moran and Capone led a turf war with each other that cost dozens of lives.
Newspapers dubbed him Public Enemy No. 1.
On February 14, 1929, in an event which has become known as the Saint Valentine's Day massacre, 7 members of Moran's gang were gunned down on Capone orders.
The Saint Valentine's Day massacre damaged Chicago's and Capone's image, leading citizens to demand action.
Capone was prosecuted in 1931 for tax evasion. Mobsters led lavish lifestyles yet never paid taxes, and thus could be convicted of tax evasion without requiring evidence to get testimony.
Al Capone released from jail Chicago 1939.
He was convicted and sentenced to 11 years. Capone showed signs of syphilitic dementia early in his sentence. When Capone was released in 1939 after 8 years he had the mind of a child.
Al Capone died on January 25, 1947 of cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke.
Granddaughters of Al Capone auctioned off his gear.
A Colt .45 was the star and made $860k. Capone's .38 Colt pistol went for $200k. A pocketknife with the monogram AL in diamonds made $75k.
A platinum and diamond pocket watch made $190k.
174 items brought $3m in 2021.
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Pablo Escobar, the Narcos King
Colombia's most feared drug lord, Pablo Escobar died 31 years ago at age 44. Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1, 1949 – December 2, 1993) was a Colombian drug lord. The Medellín cartel leader was one of the wealthiest men in the world at the height of his power. His cartel was smuggling tons of cocaine a day, worth hundreds of millions, into America.
In the early 1970s Escobar was a thief and bodyguard. He made $100k from the kidnapping and ransoming a Medellín executive before entering the drug trade with Alvaro Prieto. In 1975 Escobar started his own cocaine operation. He flew a plane himself, between Colombia and Panama, to smuggle loads into the US.
When he later bought 15 new and bigger airplanes (including a Learjet) and 6 helicopters, he decommissioned the plane and hung it above the gate to his ranch.
Corruption and intimidation characterized Escobar's operations. His policy in dealing with authority was referred to as "plata o plomo," (literally silver or lead, colloquially take money or die).
Colombia quickly became the world’s murder capital. Escobar was responsible for the deaths of about 4,000 people, including three Colombian presidential candidates, an attorney general, an estimated 200 judges and 1,000 police. In 1989, he bombed a Colombian plane and Bogota's DAS building, killing 159 and injuring 1,000 others.
In 1989, Forbes estimated Escobar to be the seventh-richest man in the world with a personal wealth of US$25 billion while his Medellín cartel controlled 80% of the global cocaine market.
In 1992 US Delta Force, Navy SEALs and Centra Spike joined an all-out manhunt for Escobar. They trained and advised a special Colombian police task force, known as the Search Bloc. The war against Escobar ended on December 2, 1993.
Using radio triangulation technology provided by the US, a Colombian electronic surveillance team found him hiding in a middle-class barrio in Medellín. A firefight with Escobar and his bodyguard ensued. The two fugitives attempted to escape by running across the roofs of adjoining houses to reach a back street, but both were shot and killed.
Pablo Escobar’s once-opulent Colombian vacation home was demolished. The 20-room mansion, complete with a private runway for Escobar’s planes, was one of the main tourist draws at a theme park that now covers much of the drug dealer’s former estate of Hacienda Napoles.
Theme park managers demolished the semi-ruined mansion before it collapsed.
A growing herd of hippos, the offspring of 4 bought in the 1980s for Escobar’s zoo, still roam the area. There’s also a former bullring.
Things are back to grim for Pablo Escobar's hippos. The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca set a 3 month deadline for the Ministry of Environment to issue "a regulation that contemplates measures for the eradication of the species." The judge spelled it out. "Controlled hunting" means the hippos will be shot to end their problematic presence in Colombia.
Colombia said there were 169 hippos in the country, especially in the Magdalena River basin, and that if nothing is done there could be 1,000 by 2035. The plan's first phase was to be sterilization of 40 hippos per year. Each sterilization costs about $10k USD and entails risks for all involved. The plan was a failure.
Colombian officials contacted authorities in Mexico, India and the Philippines to deport 60 hippos. That deal was to cost $3.5 million but fell through. The final solution involves creating a protocol for euthanasia. "Sacrifice (culling) remains on the table," said David Echeverri, head of the Cornare state environmental agency. There is no political will for a cull of the beloved tourist attractions.
After Colombia added Escobar's cocaine hippos to a list of 'introduced, invasive species,' experts say killing them may be the only viable option. Attempts to sterilize the animals is going poorly, is expensive, and is extremely difficult with something which can weigh as much as 1.8 tons. Studies suggest they could quadruple their population every 10 years if left unchecked.
At his apex in the 90s Pablo Escobar was one of the richest men in the world. With income peaking at more than $30b, the kingpin spent lavishly on his estates. The excesses of Hacienda Nápoles included a zoo stocked with exotic animals from around the world.
24 of the hippos were given a chemical that makes them infertile in 2022. The 'cocaine hippos' were sterilized after worries grew over their environmental impact.
Hippos have a lifespan of 50 years and spend most of their day under water in groups. They are notorious for being territorial and are extremely dangerous.
Escobar brought four hippos to his estate before he was shot dead in 1993. They multiplied. Relocation is not simple. Hippos are up to 3,000 pounds, and are one of the most aggressive animals on the planet.
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Amado Carrillo Fuentes - Lord of the Skies
The son of José Cruz Carrillo Fuentes and nephew of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, known as 'El Señor de Los Cielos' has been killed outside of Culiacán. The body of Carrillo Jacobo was found inside a warehouse, with his body having multiple gunshot wounds. Carillo Jacobo's father, José Cruz Carrillo Fuentes, died in a similar way to his son but 16 years previously. Amado Carrillo Fuentes was one of Mexico's most prominent drug lords after taking over as leader of the Juárez Cartel in 1970.
A grisly wake in a government building in Mexico City on July 8, 1997 was the first glimpse of a man whose name many knew but few uttered. Amado Carrillo Fuentes, one the most powerful kingpins in Mexican history was dead and his rotting corpse was on public display.
Amado Carillo Fuentes 'Lord of the Skies' was boss of Ciudad Juárez cartel. He was one of the world's most powerful drug lords through the 80s and 90s. He took control of the Juárez cartel after killing his boss, Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Fuentes was famous for his extreme ruthlessness. In 1997 he checked into a hospital under a false name to have plastic surgery to alter his appearance.
He died as a result of the botched operation, which included liposuction. Authorities released gruesome photos of his body to counter rumors he was still alive. But the battered state of the body meant he was unrecognizable, which fueled more rumors. Surgeons who performed the operation were killed months later. Their bodies, which showed signs of torture, were stuffed into oil drums filled with concrete. Fuentes former mansion had a surveillance room for security guards.
Amado Carrillo Fuentes's home was part of Mexico's National Lottery in Sept 2021.
A gun owned by Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Julio César Carrillo
Gunmen killed a son of Amado Carrillo Fuentes in 2020. Julio César Carrillo was found shot to death at a house in Novolato. After the death of the elder Carrillo Fuentes, his brothers and sons continued operating the Juárez drug cartel, based in Ciudad Juárez. For years it was locked in a turf war with the rival Sinaloa cartel. Juárez cartel's armed enforcement wing, 'La Linea,' split off and began operating on its own.
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John Gotti the Teflon Don
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family. Gotti rose quickly in the Gambino ranks, becoming one of the crime family's biggest earners. He was made at the age of 24.
Gotti was a protege of Gambino underboss Aniello Dellacroce.
After an FBI indictment of members of Gotti's crew for selling drugs, Gotti knew for a certain fact he and his brother would be killed by Paul Castellano.
Gotti organized the murder of Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter.
This left Gotti as the boss of the most powerful crime family in America, which made hundreds of millions a year from construction, hijacking, loan sharking, gambling, extortion and other criminal activities. Gotti survived numerous legal cases unscathed. Witnesses developed cases of what the press called "I forgotti", and with every acquittal it added to his reputation.
The American media dubbed Gotti 'The Teflon Don' due to the failure of any charges to stick. On Dec 11, 1990, FBI agents and cops raided the Ravenite Social Club, arresting Gotti, Sammy Gravano and Frank Locascio.
Gotti was charged with five murders (Castellano and Bilotti, Robert DiBernardo, Liborio Milito and Louis Dibono), conspiracy to murder Gaetano "Corky" Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion.
Sammy Gravano turned rat. On April 2, 1992, Gotti was found guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to life without parole.
Sammy Gravano
In 1998 Gotti was diagnosed with throat cancer. The condition returned in 2000. Gotti died on June 10, 2002 at the age of 61. The former boss's 7,000-square-foot mansion fell into disrepair.
The home is located in Old Westbury, New York, and hasn’t been occupied since 2016 when it was raided by federal agents.
Last photo of John Gotti
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Maurice 'Mom' Boucher
Born in Causapscal, Quebec, Maurice Boucher was raised in poverty in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough of inner-city Montreal. He dropped out of school in grade 9. In April 1973, at age 19, he committed his first crime. There would be no going back. In 1975, Boucher was described as an ambitious man who wanted to get rich without working. He was cold-blooded and regarded violence as normal. Around 1982, Boucher was a member of a white supremacist MC named the SS who were based in Pointe-aux-Trembles. A fellow member of the SS was Salvatore Cazzetta. They became prime candidates to join the Hells Angels when the club expanded into Canada. Another member was Normand 'Biff' Hamel who followed Boucher into the Hells Angels. He was Boucher's right hand right up until he was murdered in 2000.
In March 1985, the Sorel (Montreal South) chapter accused the Laval (Montreal North) chapter of being drug addicts and thieves.
5 Laval members were ambushed and murdered. Months later divers found their decomposing bodies wrapped in sleeping bags and tied to weights at the bottom of the St. Lawrence. It became known as the Lennoxville massacre. Cazzetta found the ambush an unforgivable breach of biker code, and instead of joining the Quebec Hells Angels, formed the Rock Machine. Yves 'Apache' Trudeau, the Angels' leading killer, turned rat and sent 39 HA and associates to prison. Réjean Lessard was convicted of first-degree murder for ordering the Lennoxville massacre.
On 1 May 1987, Boucher became a 'full patch' member of the Hells Angels, three days after he killed Martin Huneault, a leader of a rival gang, the Death Riders. The Death Riders became a Hells Angels puppet club, and the HA controlled all of the drug trade in Laval. Maurice Boucher quickly rose to upper management.
Boucher wasn't afraid to fight anyone. He was both feared and respected. Boucher had the nickname 'Mom' because of his exact attention to detail. By the early 1990s, he was one of the most powerful bikers in Quebec, and one of the richest as he was involved in many illegal enterprises. In 1992 Boucher founded the Rockers Motor Club, a Hells Angels' puppet club in Montreal that was responsible for most of the murders committed in the Quebec biker war.
In 1994, following the arrest of Salvatore Cazzetta on cocaine charges, Boucher, then president of the Montreal chapter, moved against the Rock Machine and other independent drug dealers. By July 1994, the Quebec biker war was underway. In 1995, Boucher founded the Hells Angels Nomads. With the exception of the Sherbrooke chapter, all Hells Angels chapters in Canada were required to buy their cocaine from the Nomads. Boucher's bodyguard was Haitian immigrant Gregory 'Picasso' Woolley, the best assassin working for the HA. Woolley was ultimately made the president of the Rockers by Boucher. He was the first black to head an OMG in Canada.
Boucher ordered the murders of Quebec prison guards Diane Lavigne and Pierre Rondeau in 1997. Both had been chosen at random. Boucher was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder for the killings. He was acquited and became a celebrity in Quebec. Boucher turned on his former allies as his iron fisted control expanded to include all of Quebec. In October 2000, a Montreal appeals judge declared that the trial of Boucher was marred by intimidation of the jury. Boucher would be retried for the murders of Lavigne and Rondeau. It was the beginning of the end. On 28 March 2001, Boucher learned from his jail cell of Operation Springtime, which saw the arrest of 142 bikers including 80 of the 106 Hells Angels in Quebec. Boucher was found guilty of one count of attempted murder and two counts of first-degree murder on 5 May 2002. He would never be a free man again.
Boucher suffered what he considered the ultimate betrayal in 2014: he was expelled from the HAMC after a unanimous vote taken by all Hells Angels of Quebec. Boucher was expelled from the club for a simple reason: he was no longer useful to the group and never would be. A not insignificant cut of drug profits ended for Boucher and his family. Boucher never forgave his brothers for their betrayal. After refusing to be treated for his throat cancer, he was transferred from the Special Handling Unit to a palliative care one. Boucher died at age 69 on July 10, 2022 in a federal penitentiary in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines.
Boucher's Nomads chapter was dealt a fatal blow in March 2001 when all of its members, except David Carroll, were nailed.
Michel Rose (sentenced to 22 years), Donald 'Pup' Stockford (20 years), Gilles 'Trooper' Mathieu (20 years), Richard 'Dick' Mayrand (22 years), Denis Houle (20 years), David 'Wolf' Carroll (0).
From left to right bottom: Walter 'Nurget' Stadnick (20 years), René Charlébois (20 years), Normand Robitaille (21 years), Maurice 'Mom' Boucher (life)
Julio César Carrillo
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