Interesting list. There will be some nitpicking over this, let me tell ya.

And ranking John DiFronzo with the 15 most powerful crime bosses in the world ? Come on.

I think they have used wikipedia as a reference here for difronzo and also it is questionable that the adams family is still active or even that powerful still. And can you really rank bellomo with the most powerful crime bosses in the world? maybe america.

They also missed out dawood ibrahim who runs d company, he's a pretty obvious choice for the list. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/ind...o=feeds-newsxml

The list is pretty much nonsense in terms of his rankings. If were talking about Mafia how come Dom Cefalu isn't on the list while DiFronzo is?

Paul "Paulie Stripes" DiMarco.

I dont know how italian american mafia is ranked in this since that chart of the ten top mafias in the world placed the five families as number ten...

Domenico Condello the number 5 on the list,there are so little info about him online.Can anyone tell me more about this guy ?

This list is a joke.

DiFronzo?

The Juarez Cartel almost went extinct after its war with the Sinaloa Cartel, with half leaving to join the Sinaloa Cartel. Vicente Carrillo Fuentes and the Juarez Cartel are still in business, but have no where near the power or influence as the Sinaloa Cartel or Zetas. Recent reports on Mexico indicate that the Zetas control the most territory.

Just my opinion, but I would have ranked Guzman #1 and Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano #2. I don't know a lot about the European OC gangs, but it seems to me the Mexican Cartels are the most violent and powerful OC gangs operating right now.

It just shows that such lists are not to be taken too seriously.

It all comes down to territory and where you are. In Europe, among the most violent and powerful are for example the Italians. The Mexicans don't mean much over here. Sure, they do business with the European syndicates, and sure they can send a hit team down here, but in the end, they are guests.

Same can be said vice versa. And in the end, it's all a pointless pissing contest.

No one from the US should be on that list. No one.

Well they are all violent,powerful and ready to kill if they need to.

seems like with these rankings they were trying to go with a more diversified list rather than an accurate one. imo this list should be dominated by drug cartel and ndragheta bosses with a few russians thrown in for good measure.

How Guzman isn't number 1 is beyond me. Forbes has him listed as a billionaire and one of the richest men in the world. He engages in political corruption and has a huge organization. Not to mention he has been able to keep himself out of jail.

Matteo Mesina Denaro is billionaire too,very powerful and deep in political corruption.Seminon Moglievich even more,u should read some wikileaks reports.

I think in a sense we are comparing apples to oranges. Denaro is diversified in his criminal interests while Guzman is strictly into narcotics trafficking.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration now believes that Joaquìn Guzmàn, the notorious Mexican outlaw known as El Chapo, or shorty, has become the biggest drug lord ever.

“Chapo has a vast criminal enterprise and he has become the leading drug trafficker of all time,” says a senior U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official

“With Chapo, he not only has the importation of cocaine, but marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine, and he is exporting them not only to the U.S. but to Asia and Europe.”

Guzmàn protects himself by bribing top Mexican officials and using generous donations to win the battle for the hearts and minds of the people who live in areas in which he operates. Musicians in Mexico sing folk songs about him.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/...drug-lord-ever/

i think that its a misconception to think that the cartels are strictly into narcotics. while that is without question thier #1 moneymaker by far, people dont realize that they are very much into human trafficing/prostitution as well as shakedown/protection rackets in mexico as well as america. im not saying they are nearly as diversified as the mafia but they are far from the one trick pony they are so often portrayed as.

^^^very very true

dom cefalu has money like that

Agreed. That said, we will know more years from now. As of now we don't know the true scope of all of their activities. We have some examples but it seems like in time the right person flips and more info comes out. At least with American LCN and Italian groups. Not so sure about the cartels. They don't have too many examples of people flipping.

probably they didn put guzman first coz hes fighting a very ruthless batlle with both zetas other cartels and goverment that probably make him less powerful tham messina denaro or that russian that maybe have firmly in command their areas and they are as billionaire as guzman

Nah. i wouldn't put too much stock into them doing any real research for them to know that. This list was probably compiled just for the sake of it and for filling up some space on their site. Its probably a compilation of other lists just with a few of their own choices added in.

of course this kind of lists are just gossip like some media articles too

You got that right - very few from the Cartels have flipped. The only that comes to mind is Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, former leader of the Gulf Cartel.

There have been press reports that Edgar Valdez Villarreal ("La Barbie" from the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel Cartel) flipped after his capture in a video tapped confession, but the last I heard was his lawyer claimed it was made under duress and that all statements are denied.

mexico doesnt need people flipping its not like italy and usa where there are witness programs if mexican police wants to know something just kniddap and torture some cartel members and eventually killed them

I agree that the Mexican authorities don't follow the same probable cause requirements as their US counterparts, but if it were that simple the country wouldn't have the problem that it has. Anytime organized crime is that deeply rooted the only way to remove it is with cooperators.

i remember a few yrs back the cartels found out one of their guys was cooperating with the mexican police and the dea, the cartel kidnapped his family including his kids and killed all of them, beheaded them, then dumped their bodies in the middle of a busy street and then proceeded to set the bodies on fire

talk about sending a msg that is super brutal

yes of course mexico should adopt a witness programs or use wiretaps at least to show the goverment is a bit stronger than cartels italy adopted these laws when mafia violent became too high and although they dont solve the problems they reduce mafia violence by far
anyway in morth mexico theres an endemic violence not linked to drug cartels only its not like italy that the level of violence follows mafia foots

i am pretty sure mexico has such programs already in place, the problem is that the cartels bribe police and govt soldiers with ease given the vast amount of profits they are making from their activities.Case in point: Los Zetas, former Mexican special forces who decided to work as hitmen for the cartels and then branched out on their own, according to the US govt they are the "most technologically advanced, sophisticated, and dangerous cartel operating in Mexico."