Explore the events, institutions and human consequences behind crime history. Stories that put power, evidence and society in perspective.
In the lawless years after the Soviet collapse, Vyacheslav Yermolov—known as Slon, or “the Elephant”—built a feared criminal organization in Ryazan. Its rise…
The rise and fall of Maxim Lasowski’s criminal network reveals how violence, stolen oil, former officers and state connections shaped Moscow’s lawless 1990s.
How the Kinahan family allegedly evolved from Dublin-based criminal activity into a transnational network spanning drug trafficking, money laundering, violence, and international finance.
La Catedral was presented as the prison that ended Pablo Escobar’s war with the Colombian state. In reality, its unusual terms gave him…
In post-Soviet Russia, a disciplined criminal network turned fear into an industry. The rise, reign and collapse of the Wolves of Tver reveals…
A Russian retail magnate built a vast commercial-property empire, only to face an alleged corporate takeover that culminated in murder and years of…
Four traffic police officers were shot dead at a Moscow-area checkpoint in 1997, yet investigators found no sign of a firefight. The case…
Sergei “Silvester” Timofeyev was supposedly killed by a car bomb in Moscow in 1994. The surviving evidence, missing money, and unusual movements surrounding…
Timoha rose from a young criminal figure to the highest rank of Russia’s underworld, balancing a reputation for justice against rival clans, violent…
In war-torn Chechnya, false checkpoints and armed clans turned highways into corridors of fear. This is how kidnapping evolved into an organized criminal…
Historical accounts can include disputed reports and unresolved proceedings. An allegation is not a conviction, and an older article may not reflect later developments.
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