Although it is often believed that crime does not pay, a number of wealthy gangsters demonstrate that this is not the case. While only a select few are sentenced to death or imprisonment, a select few are fortunate enough to spend their money.
During the Prohibition era of the twentieth century, a small number of criminals earned millions selling whiskey and narcotics. In the 1970s, heroin became the drug of choice for many criminals.
Today, the richest criminals generate a significant portion of their income by importing cocaine from other nations such as Colombia and passing it via Mexico and the United States.
Forbes has conferred with law enforcement authorities in the U.S. and throughout the globe to determine the most-wanted fugitives in the world.
Everyone on the list has been criminally indicted or charged, some in national courts and others by international tribunals. They are all accused of a lengthy history of committing significant crimes and are considered a global threat.
When you look at the wealth of the criminals on this list, you may wonder who on Earth said that. Everyone knows that every nation has its fair share of criminals and drug traffickers.
South America, it is possible, should take the lead in this classification.
While it is difficult to determine the precise amount of money possessed by these criminal masterminds, the following is a list of the top ten wealthiest gangsters in history:
Table of Contents
10. José Figueroa Agosto
Source – Alchetron
As a drug Lord, Agosto has advanced to higher levels of authority after assassinating a chauffeur who was suspected of stealing cocaine destined to be carried.
In the end, the drug kingpin from Puerto Rico was found guilty and sentenced to 200 years in prison. Unfortunately, he was successful in forging a release order and was able to escape from jail.
When it was at its apex, his organization controlled almost 90 percent of the narcotics transported into Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic.
His net worth is reported to be in the neighborhood of $100 million. He is still surviving and has been released from prison after completing a ten-year prison term.
Anyone who tells you that crime does not pay is incorrect. So incredibly, egregiously incorrect. It is being caught, on the other hand, that is not profitable.
After all, if you take a look at some of the wealthiest criminals in history, it becomes evident that crime may be quite lucrative, at least for a short period of time.
All figures are in US $ unless otherwise stated. People can’t get enough crime, whether it’s on Dateline or in the form of murder porn on the ID network.
As a source of fascination and a window into the dark depths of human nature, criminals of all stripes captivate us, horrify us, and cause us to constantly doubt our own morality and values.
We look at these men and women who live in the shadows, on the other side of the law, with not just a morbid fascination, but also a sense of awe for what they have accomplished.
They are unquestionably us, but they have decided to disregard the laws and customs of ordinary people, so contributing to the definition of our society by acting in opposition to it.
9. YaganathanPillay
Source-iol
Teddy Mafia, as he is affectionately known, is suspected by some to be a narcotics trafficker and dealer. He is from the city of Chatsworth in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Teddy Mafia was apprehended in April 2020 in possession of illegal guns and ammo. Even though Teddy Mafia’s net worth is unclear, goods like money, gold, and silver valued at more than R1 million were discovered with him when he was arrested.
The previously unknown tale of Phil Hartman’s son Teddy Mafia was shot and killed on the 4th of January, 2021, despite the fact that he had never been convicted of any narcotics offenses.
He was laid to rest in a diamond-encrusted casket costing R300,000, which was purchased just for the occasion. An enraged crowd decapitated and burned to death the two people who were believed to be responsible for his killing, along with their bodies.
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8. Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno
Source-Pin on Mafia
Fat Tony, as he was affectionately called as a consequence of his massive stature, is considered to be one of the most powerful mafia bosses in the history of the city of New York.
He was the matriarch of the Ivy League criminal family and its leader. Loan sharking, racket protection, and gambling were among the activities that he engaged in early in his life that helped him to accumulate considerable riches.
Anthony Fat Tony Salerno had a net worth of around $1 billion at the time of his death.
Fat Tony was placed number one on Fortune Magazine’s list of the 50 most powerful mafia figures in the world. During the trial, the judge sentenced him to 70 years imprisonment for his part in racketeering.
At the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Missouri, USA, he died due to a stroke that occurred in 1992.
7. SemionMogilevich
Source – Wikipedia
His net worth has been estimated to be $10 billion dollars.
A Russian-Jewish organized crime figure who has been dubbed the “boss of bosses” by organizations in the European Union and the United States, referring to him as the “boss of bosses” of the Russian Mafia’s global network of associates.
Mogilevich is widely acknowledged to be the mastermind behind a vast criminal enterprise, and the FBI refers to him as “the most dangerous gangster on the globe.
” Weapons selling, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking, and contract killings on a worldwide scale are all attributed to him, according to the FBI.
In addition to ‘Don Semyon,’ Mogilevich is known by the nicknames ‘The Brainy Don,’ and ‘The Brainy Don’ (given his business intuition).
According to US diplomatic connections, he has authority over RosUkrEnergo, an entity that has been closely linked with the Russia–Ukraine gas disputes and is a close partner of Raiffeisen Bank.
He presently lives unreservedly in Moscow with his wife and three children.
6. Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Source-All That’s Interesting
At the time of his death, he was estimated to be worth approximately $25 billion (approximately $40 billion according to current appraisals).
After assassinating his supervisor Rafael Aguilar Guajardo, a Mexican drug lord was able to maintain control of the Juárez Cartel.
Amado Carrillo was dubbed ‘The Lord of the Skies‘ because of the vast fleet of aircraft he used to transport narcotics throughout the globe.
His involvement in money laundering via Colombia in order to finance this armada was also well-known. In July 1997, he died away in a Mexican facility after undergoing a general plastic surgical surgery in order to alter his look.
Carrillo was closely monitored by experts from Mexico and the United States throughout his last days.
5. Griselda Blanco
Source-Britannica
She had a net worth of $2 billion at the height of her success. Different titles were given to her, including ‘La Madrina,’ ‘Queen of Narco-Trafficking,’ ‘Cocaine Godmother,’ and “Black Widow,” among others.
Griselda Blanco was a Colombian drug lord who worked for the Medelln Cartel and was a pioneer in the Miami cocaine drug exchange and the underground drug trade from the 1980s to the mid-2000s.
It has been determined that she was responsible for up to 2,000 murders while transporting cocaine from Colombia to New York, southern California, and Miami, according to the report.
She was 69 years old when she was shot and killed on the 3rd of September, 2012.
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4. Frank Lucas
He estimated that he had a net worth of $52 million, which was buried in the Cayman Islands. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw him working as a drug dealer in Harlem, where he lived until the mid-1970s.
The Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia was well-known for eliminating go-betweens in the drug transaction and for acquiring heroin directly from its source in the Golden Triangle region.
Lucas proudly displayed that he was transporting heroin across the last burial grounds of deceased American military soldiers.
His Southeast Asian companion, on the other hand, rejects this claim. Lucas was indicted for narcotics trafficking in 1976 and sentenced to 70 years in prison as a result.
His sentence was reduced to five years in prison when he agreed to testify against himself. In 1984, he was charged for a similar act and sentenced to seven years in prison; he died in 2019 after serving his sentence.
3. Al Capone
Starting today, the estimated net value of his kingdom would be $1.3 billion, according to current estimates. Al Capone, well known by the alias ‘Scarface,’ was an American criminal and financial expert who lived during the prohibition era.
During Prohibition, they gained notoriety as the head and co-founder of the Chicago Outfit, which was a criminal organization.
His seven-year reign as a crime leader came to an end when he was sentenced to prison at the age of 33.
Several aspects of Capone’s business contributed to his wealth by 1929, including illegal whiskey sales of $60 million, betting foundations of $25 million, a bad habit of $10 million, and other rackets totaling another $10 million.
It provides proof that Capone was employing more than 600 criminals to protect his company from competing organizations.
2. Dawood Ibrahim
Source-India News – India TV
Forbes estimates that he was worth around $6.7 billion in 2015, according to the publication. A psychological terrorist, a drug dealer, and a mafia are all sought by Indian authorities, with a reward of $25 million on the line.
He is originally from Dongri, a neighborhood in Mumbai.
He has lately said that he is a resident of Karachi. Pakistan, on the other hand, denied it and went on to become the leader of the unethical partner D-Company, which he created in Mumbai during the 1970s.
Pakistan has just documented Dawood Ibrahim’s whereabouts in Karachi, a first in thirty years, and has compelled the criminal to make financial concessions to the government.
He is sought in connection with killings and acts of terrorism, including targeted killings, extortion, drug peddling, and a variety of other crimes.
His designation as a global fear monger was first given to him by India and the United States in 2003. A reward of $25 million was placed on his head as a result of his acceptance of responsibility for the 1993 Bombay bombings.
In 2011, the FBI and Forbes ranked him as the third most wanted fugitive in the world on their list of “The World’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives.”
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1. Pablo Escobar
The Colombian drug lord and narco-terrorist, who was the founder and single leader of the Medellin Cartel, had a total net worth of $30 billion at the time of his death, which is similar to the current market value of $59 billion.
Escobar is known as ‘The King of Cocaine,’ and he is the richest criminal in history. While this was going on, his drug gang was consuming the cocaine trade in the United States throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
It is still unclear what Escobar’s family background was like; although many people in Colombia decry his acts as abhorrent, he was considered something like a “Robin Hood” figure by others.
While his family was grieving over his death, he made countless greetings to the impoverished. A memorial ceremony for him was attended by more than 25,000 people.
In addition, his private residence, Hacienda Nápoles, has been transformed into an amusement park for the public.
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