Lords of the Mafia

Examines the biggest and most powerful organized crime syndicate since the Cosa Nostra, the Russian Mafiya, which inherited much of what was formerly KGB turf after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Chinese Triads are are quickly earning a reputation as one of the fiercest and most brutal organised crime gangs in the world. This episode explores the growth of various Triad crime syndicates situated in China, which also operate in Hong Kong, Vancouver, throughout China and also the United States of America. Particular focus is on To Luen-Shun, who is the godfather of the Sun Ye On triad.

Examines the Mexican Mafia, and how they primarily operate from within prisons throughout the Southwestern states of North America and in Mexico under names like the Tijuana and Juarez cartels. Details verious rackets, in particular drug trafficing in both Mexico, aswell as the United States of America.

Examines the influence of over 700 Japanese Yakuza gangs, and the soldiers known as 'boryokudan' (violent ones) who are a part of them. The primary focus is on Yoshinori Watanabe, who is the “boss of bosses” of the Yamaguchi-gumi. These organised crime syndicates in Japan are a major menace all over the Pacific rim, and this episode details their extreme ruthlessness and strict codes of violence.

Examines the long-time Mafia mob boss of New Orleans Carlos Marcelo, and his possible linking to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The episode examines evidence that he had a hand in the plan to eliminate him. It also gives a brief history organized crime in New Orleans.

Explores both Neopolitan and Sicilian Cosa Nostra borgata's, and their mob ties to American organized crime, aswell as infiltration of Italian business and government. The episode details American Mafiosi re-establishing ties to their ancestral homeland, and therefore rediscovering old partners in crime; creating new ventures such as drug trafficking from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Examines the Latin American drug cartels and primarily focuses on Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, who was the onetime boss of the Cali, a Colombian cartel. He has expanded manufacturing and smuggling operations of cocaine, and also continued a Colombian tradition of bribing, and or killing government officials. Orejuela became a major player in a North American smuggling operation following the death of Medillin chief Pablo Escobar in 1993. He is said to personally bring in more than $4 billion a year.

Focuses primarily on one of New York's five families, the Lucchese borgata, an Italian-American crime dynasty. It begins with the emergence of the Lucchese crime family in the 1920s with the founding boss Gaetano “Three Fingers Brown” Lucchese. It details how they made their mark in the garment industry, and declined in the '70s and '80s, and then virtually disintegrating in the 1990s under the leadership of Anthony “Gas Pipe” Casso.

Examines Jamaican "posses", and other Caribbean gangs that are making names for themselves in cities such as London and New York. Details their primary rackets such as smuggling drugs and weapons, piracy and operating huge money-laundering operations.

Examines urban gangs and takes a detailed look at the specifics that shaped these modern American street gangs into what they are today. The episode has a particular emphasis on the notorious Crips gang, which actually started as a community-based police force and then went on to became one of the largest and most violent of America's inner-city gangs.

Examines various Vietnamese groups of criminals, which are predominantly made up of refugees from Vietnam. Explores the history of such groups and their nature; they are famous for quickly resorting to violence and specialize in home-invasion robberies and computer theft. Also details all-female Vietnamese gangs.

Examines the rise of organized crime in Western Europe due to the unification of the European economy. Major industrial nations such as France, Germany and Great Britain are experiencing a significant increase in Mafia activities such as drug trafficking and computer crimes.

Examines the the spread of organized criminal syndicates that have sprung up in every corner of the planet and looks at ways mobsters from different countries are dealing with each other, and also how they threaten to control and enslave businesses, governments, and populations in dozens of countries.