Random Most Brutal Mob Bosses In Recent History (12 items)

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  (#1) Carlos Tiberio Ramirez Bit Off A Man's Ears And Boiled Him In Acid

  The fearsome El Salvadoran street gang known as MS-13 originated in the Los Angeles area after a civil war forced many El Salvadorans to emigrate to the US. Many of these gang members were eventually deported back to Central America, allowing the gang to recruit members in its home country. MS-13 is estimated to have at least 30,000 members worldwide and 8,000 members in the United States. Although its members operate autonomous gangs in many major American cities, leadership and direction of MS-13 originates in El Salvador.

  Although the specific hierarchy of the gang is shadowy and deliberately obscured, one undisputed high ranking member of MS-13 is Carlos Tiberio Ramirez, a tattooed individual who personally tortures rivals and malcontents. Ramirez once bit off the ears of a victim and then personally boiled him in acid.
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  (#2) Miguel Treviño Morales

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  In the brutal criminal underworld in Mexico, the most horrifically violent tactics are employed by Los Zetas. This cartel came from the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo, near Laredo, TX. The Zetas have been known to attack both other criminal cartel members and civilians on a massive scale.

  After assuming control of the group in 2010, Miguel Treviño Morales orchestrated attacks that killed hundreds of people, including the 2011 San Fernando massacre and the 2011 Monterrey casino attack. The Zetas also publicly beheaded victims and displayed their bodies in prominent urban locations. Treviño Morales's personal favorite method of execution was known as "El Guiso" or "The Stew," in which a victim was forced into a 55-gallon drum, doused with gasoline, and set aflame.

  Treviño Morales was hunted down and captured in 2013 by the Mexican military and the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, who promised to crack down on groups like the Zetas. Treviño Morales's brother Omar was arrested in 2015, and the Zetas have essentially been reduced to a splinter organization operating on a much smaller scale than in their heyday.
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  (#3) Matteo Messina Denaro

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  Matteo Messina Denaro is a fugitive La Cosa Nostra murderer who is considered Italy's most wanted gangster. A member of the Sicilian Mafia syndicate that dominates western Sicily, Denaro went into hiding after orchestrating a vicious bombing campaign that killed government law enforcement officials. He even detonated a bomb near Florence's Uffizi gallery which destroyed paintings by Italian masters. Suspected in over 50 murders, Denaro was also part of a plot to kidnap the 11-year-old son of an informer in an attempt to halt testimony. The child was eventually murdered by strangulation.

  Many of Denaro's associates, including his sister, have been arrested, and much of his property and cash has been confiscated. Denaro, however, remains on the run, most likely holed up somewhere in his native town of Castelvetrano, Sicily. He is probably protected by an armed group of loyal soldiers, insuring that any attempt to arrest him will be violently resisted.
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  (#4) Ismael Zambada García

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  Following the apprehension of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in 2016, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García assumed leadership of the fearsome Sinaloa crime cartel, the world's largest criminal entity. Unlike El Chapo and other cartel bosses who have been killed or imprisoned, Zambada is much more discreet and keeps a very low profile. Nevertheless, he has accumulated billions and involved his family in infiltrating legitimate businesses throughout Mexico. He is also directly responsible for supervising the massive export of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States.

  The Sinaloa cartel maintained power through the drug wars that have plagued Mexico since 2007, a conflict that has cost an estimated 100,000 lives.
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  (#5) Peter Ojeda Runs The Mexican Mafia From Behind Bars

  The Mexican Mafia, or "La Eme," is a powerful force on both the streets of southern California and in the state's prison system. Its name is the result of its members' ethnic identity; the group did not originate in Mexico. Connected to the original founders of the syndicate, Peter Ojeda has managed to run the Orange County territory for over four decades – despite being behind bars in a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania since 2006.

  Nicknamed "Sana" (Spanish for "Fury"), Ojeda maintains control of Orange County and orchestrates violence, extortion, and narcotics trafficking. Ojeda's influence is considered so dangerous and pervasive that he was given an additional 15-year sentence in 2016, only months before his potential release.
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  (#6) Kenichi Shinoda

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  While organized crime in Japan is internationally known as the Yakuza, this is merely a blanket designation for the individual groups that make up the world's wealthiest criminal entity. The most prominent Japanese organized crime group is known as the Yamaguchi-gumi, a syndicate that once included as many as 23,000 members.

  The head of this group is Kenichi Shinoda, a ruthless individual who has expanded the base and power of the Yamaguchi-gumi, despite serving a six-year jail sentence that concluded in 2011. A 2015 shooting and subsequent bludgeoning death of a high ranking Yamaguchi-gumi boss is believed to be connected to Shinoda, who has apparently stirred up conflict within his own organization.
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  (#7) Liborio Bellomo

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  The New York Italian Mafia, the nation's most powerful arm of the American La Cosa Nostra, was greatly weakened in the 1990s. But more recently, a federal focus on terrorism has opened the door for a resurgence of this persistent criminal entity.

  The oldest and most powerful of the five New York Mafia crime families has always been the "Genovese" clan, now said to be lead by Liborio "Big Barney" Bellomo. With 200 soldiers and a close-knit organization, Bellomo has fulfilled the promise of former Mafia boss, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who designated the younger man as his heir apparent as early as 1990. Bellomo made his name with such exploits as shooting and dumping a drug dealing turncoat into a LaGuardia Airport car trunk in 1991. Bellomo also proved to be a stand-up guy when he took a 12-year prison sentence from 1996 to 2008.
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  (#8) Francesco Schiavone

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  One of the most powerful criminal elements of the Italian Mafia is the Camorra, a group that operates in the vicinity of Naples. At the end of the 20th century, the crime family that dominated this area was known as the Casalesi clan. This syndicate is believed to have murdered as many as 1,000 victims and amassed billions of dollars in profits after penetrating every legitimate business entity between Naples and Salerno, especially waste disposal and construction. Political bribery, protection rackets, and distribution of essential products were all routinely handled by this entity. The Casalesi were even reputed to have built the Neapolitan area prison where some of their members resided.

  The head of the Casalesi, Francesco Schiavone, was nicknamed "Sandokan" after a fictional Italian pirate of the same name. He is believed to have amassed a personal fortune of close to $50 billion before his arrest and prosecution, which resulted in lengthy prison sentences for him and many other Casalesi members in 2008. The Casalesi were the impetus for the book and 2008 film Gomorrah.
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  (#9) Javier Calle Serna Ran A Group Of Hitmen-Turned-Drug Traffickers

  With the apprehension and breakup of Colombia's fearsome Cali cartel in the 1990s, new criminal gangs emerged to fill the South American cocaine trafficking void. The two most prominent Colombian criminal entities to emerge were Los Rastrojos and Norte del Valle, and these two groups were believed to work closely together under the supervision of two brothers, Javier and Luis Calle Serna.

  Los Rastrojos was made up of former paramilitary hitmen, and it achieved its greatest influence in 2008, when Javier Calle Serna orchestrated the assassination of Wilber Varela, a prominent leader of the Norte del Valle cartel. Unfortunately for the leadership of Los Rastrojos, this put the them on the radar of international law enforcement, especially in the US. The eventual arrest of Los Rastrojos leadership, including both Calle Serna brothers, initially decimated the organization. But the subsequent light prison sentences negotiated by members of this group underlines the difficulty in prosecuting Colombian drug cartels. 
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  (#10) Ernesto Fazzalari Was The Head Of Italy's Most Powerful Syndicate

  The most powerful of all of the Italian criminal syndicates is the 'Ndrangheta, which originated in the Calabria region. Its power emanates from the group's control of European narcotics trafficking, and an ability to migrate globally to countries as diverse as Australia and Germany.

  This explains why the 2016 arrest of the syndicate's boss, Ernesto Fazzalari, was both stunning and unprecedented. Fazzalari, a fugitive for 20 years and Italy's second most wanted man, was arrested in remote Taurionova, Italy. He was found on his own home turf, with only his girlfriend and no bodyguard. Although this and other arrests have removed some of the organization's top leaders, 'Ndrangheta continues to use its cocaine profits to finance both legitimate and illegitimate interests.
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  (#11) Semion Mogilevich

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  Semion Mogilevich is considered the "Boss of Bosses" of the Bratva or The Brotherhood, better known as the Russian Mafia. He is currently under indictment in the US for charges concerning massive white collar schemes to defraud investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

  Although Mogilevich participates in the typical criminal enterprises that characterize the Russian mob, including contract killing, prostitution, and extortion, he is also known to be a sophisticated financial racketeer with an expertise in front companies and money laundering. This ability has earned him the nickname "Brainy Don."

  Until 2015, Mogilevich appeared on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list but was bumped when it was determined that he was living in Moscow, Russia, which would prevent his extradition. 
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  (#12) Terry Adams Ran The UK's Notorious Clerkenwell Syndicate

  Terry Adams once ran Britain's notorious Clerkenwell crime syndicate, known as "The Adams Family" or "The A-Team." This operation reached its peak around 2000, when it was associated with over 25 murders and connected to narcotics trafficking, gold heists, securities fraud, and extortion.

  Adams and his brother Patrick have been successfully prosecuted, and both have served time in jail since the mid-2000s. A third brother, Tommy, believed to be responsible for the financial dealings of the gang, fled to Spain. Adams is under court order to pay more than £700,000 in back taxes and is believed to have concealed millions of ill-gotten gains in secret bank accounts.

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