Welcome to the Mafia’s Web podcast – a two-year investigation into how the world’s biggest criminal organisation controls Australia’s drug trade and has infiltrated legitimate businesses.
Episode one explains how the mafia morphed into a multinational drugs business that targets Australia using the profits of kidnappings. And Anna Sergi, a researcher at the UK’s Essex University, explains how she grew up in a small village in Italy with a mafia boss who is now on trial.
Former Australian Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg reveals the secret meeting that almost derailed Australia’s most notorious mafia murder – the killing of anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay – in episode two.
The dangers of working undercover are examined in episode three with former cop Colin McLaren talking through his frightening two years inside the Australian mafia.
The cost of Australia’s love of party drugs is examined in episode four, as author Keith Moor unpicks how the world’s biggest ecstasy bust happened on Melbourne’s docks.
Listen to a preview of The Mafia’s Web here:
The coronavirus has crippled the world’s economy, but it has been a fertile ground for the mafia to take over struggling businesses under the guise of being a white knight. Queen’s University academic Antonio Nicaso takes listeners in episode five through how the deadly criminal gangs are finding new fronts to launder money.
READ, LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW:
‘Vendetta’: Aussie murder sparks war of the Mafia dons
Ep 1: Living with Evil: Aussie cocaine price doubles as accused mafia boss exposed
Ep 2: Blood at the Pub:‘You’ve got me’: How mafia don got caught
Ep 3: The Undercover Cop: ‘I got pure cocaine in rock form, truckload of cannabis’
Ep 4: The Agony and the Ecstasy: Tomato Tin crims’ ecstasy mistake
Ep 5: Poison Chalice: Mafia crims exploit JobKeeper
Ep 6: Fed to the Pigs: Mother’s brutal mob murder
Ep 7: Dad Trained me to Murder: Luigi Bonaventura’s warning to Australia
Ep 8: Flash cars, fast cash: How AN0M sting unmasked new mafia bosses
Episode six reviews the trial of 355 mafia bosses currently facting charges in Italy and some of the horrific crimes, including feeding single mothers to pigs. Some politicians and police also caught in the net, in a special courtroom in Calabria.
But what is it like inside the mafia? Episode seven provides the unique perspective of Luigi Bonaventura. The former Mafioso has turned police informant. He spoke to the podcast from a secret location as he fears for his life. He reveals how he was trained to kill and what needs to be done to stop the mafia.
The Australian Federal Police’s Acting Assistant Commissioner Todd Hunter explains how the mafia still remains a dangerous element in society in episode eight. His comments follow Operation Ironside, which has been called the sting of the century.
That investigation, which monitored millions of messages shared by criminals across the world on the AN0M app, revealed that the mafia was alive and thriving in Australia
And it reveals how the mafia has deep roots in legitimate businesses, even being able to claim JobKeeper during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mapped: Where the mafia have been in NSW
The mafia infiltrated Australia decades ago, bringing its organised crime network to places all over Sydney and Greater NSW. See where they have spread.
Mapped: Where the mafia has been in Victoria
The mafia infiltrated Australia decades ago, bringing its organised crime network to places all over Victoria. See where its members have spread.