Redux: Africa's Pablo Escobar: Ibrahim Akasha

When Mako Nishimura, the yakuza’s only female member, fell in love with a rival gangster, it would send her on a long and painful path from drug and sex trafficking, to painkiller addiction and finally a role helping ex-yakuza go straight. Her journey would mirror the downfall of ...  Show more

On this week's Stash House: A fugitive Dutch cocaine kingpin dodges capture off the coast of West Africa. An Irish gang boss trades gangland warfare for electoral politics. Mexican officials accused of working for the Sinaloa Cartel surrender to U.S. authorities. A violent mafia ...  Show more

**Winner of the Peabody Award 2026** A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail tha ...  Show more

A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank ...  Show more

Lincoln County in southeastern New Mexico Territory grows into a hotbed of corruption and murder. Men named Murphy, Dolan and Brady align themselves against others called Tunstall, McSween and Chisum. An outlaw gang kills and steals at will, and it’s about to add a new man to its ...  Show more

A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. 

The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts ...