It’s no wonder that criminal activity may pay far more than any lawful work. Despite many countries taking significant solutions to eliminate illegal activity, but we live in an environment where it continues to grow. Many individuals enter the criminal community because it offers numerous advantages. Human trafficking, drug smuggling, arms trafficking, and various other businesses bring in a lot of money for these individuals. Many of history’s most infamous offenders have amassed vast fortunes but are still experiencing imprisonment. There are individuals worldwide who have acquired enough wealth from the criminal world to create their own armies. As you can guess, in this list, we will talk about the top 10 richest criminal in the world.
Here below is the list of all time’s richest criminals in the world.
Top 10 Richest Criminals in the World
10. Frank Lucas
Frank Lucas was a drug smuggler from the United States who operated in Harlem in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lucas was born in the United States on September 9, 1930. He was famous for bypassing middlemen in the drug trade and purchasing drugs directly from his source in Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle. As portrayed in the feature film American Gangster, which fictionalized elements of his life; Lucas boasted that he imported drugs using the coffins of deceased American service members.
In his lifetime, Lucas estimated to have sold one million dollars worth of heroin a day. And to have a net worth of over $52 million, in addition to a vast supply of liquid assets, including heroin. He passed away in New Jersey on May 30, 2019, at the age of 88.
9. Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone, also known as Scarface, was an American gangster and merchant; Who rose to prominence as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Gang during the Prohibition period. At the age of 33, his seven-year reign as a drug lord came to an end when he was sentenced to jail. Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in January 1899. Al Capone died on January 25, 1947, at the age of 47, after having a stroke and going into cardiac arrest. At the time of his death, Al Capone’s net worth was around $100 million.
8. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr
Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr was a well-known businessman, investor, and legislator in the United States. Kennedy was born in East Boston, Massachusetts, to the political background. As a financial exchange and commodities trader, he amassed a vast wealth, which he subsequently re-invested in real estate and a variety of company sectors throughout the United States.
Joseph Kennedy is the one who earned a fortune selling alcoholic beverages. By selling drinks to the country’s banned zones, he amassed a fortune of $400 million. Despite the fact that alcohol was prohibited at the moment, he was able to make a lot of money by putting in a lot of work and resources.
7. Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera commonly known as El Chapo because of his 5 ft height. El Chapo is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Sinaloa Cartel is actually an international crime syndicate. El Chapo is widely regarded as the world’s most powerful drug trafficker. Guzmán was born and raised in Sinaloa, in a poor agricultural family. During his early adulthood, he became involved in the narcotics trade by assisting his father in possessing marijuana for local dealers.
By the late 1970s, Guzmán collaborated with Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, one of the country’s most powerful drug lords. He assisted Salazar in plotting cocaine trafficking paths across Sinaloa and into the United States. In the mid-1980s, he oversaw logistics for Miguel Angel Félix Gallardo, one of the country’s most powerful drug lords. But after Gallardo’s capture in 1988, Guzmán formed his own Cartel. He used to produce cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Guzman had a net worth of $1 Billion.
6. Griselda Blanco
Griselda Blanco Restrepo, yet another woman amongst richest criminals. Best know as “The Black Widow” worldwide. Well, I’m not talking about Scarlett Johansson. Jokes apart, she was a Medelln Cartel Colombian drug kingpin and a leader of the Miami cocaine drug trade and crime in the early 2000s. She was responsible for close to 2,000 murders, during smuggling drugs from Colombia to New York, Miami, and California.
On September 3, 2012, she was shot and killed at the age of 69. Blanco was one of the world’s wealthiest and most dangerous women, as well as the world’s most successful drug lord. She is the world’s first female billionaire convict, running her multibillion-dollar cocaine dealing enterprise with an iron hand and becoming one of history’s most dangerous people. She has an estimated net worth of $2 billion.
5. Dawood Ibrahim
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is an Indian underworld king & drug lord who has eluded capture. He was born on December 26, 1955, in Dongri, India. Dawood Ibrahim runs the Indian organized crime syndicate calls; The D-Company, which was founded in Mumbai in the 1970s. Dawood is wanted for terrorism, murder, extortion, deliberate killings, narcotics dealing, and a slew of other offenses.
In 2003, India and the United States named him as a global terrorist. Also put a US$25 million bounty on his head for his alleged involvement in the 1993 Bombay bombings. The FBI and Forbes called him number three on their list of “The World’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives” in 2011. Ibrahim controls 75% of the world’s heroin trafficking. However, he is involved in a number of other businesses, including; Diamonds, gold, and real estate. With an estimated net worth $6.7 billion, he is also among the richest criminals in the world.
4. Leona Helmsley
Leona Mindy Roberts Helmsley was a convicted criminal and a successful American businesswoman. Her flamboyant attitude and notoriety for tyranny gave her the title “Queen of Mean”. Helmsley was founded guilty on August 30 of one count of conspiring to defraud the US; Three charges of tax avoidance; Three counts of filing fraudulent personal tax returns; Sixteen counts of aiding with the filing of false corporate and partnership tax returns, and ten counts of postal theft. Leona Helmsley will be known forever for making one of the most disrespectful comments ever made. “We don’t pay taxes, only the little people pay taxes”. She had a net worth of $8 billion.
3. Semion Mogilevich
Semion is a Russian organized crime boss. He soon established a well-organized crime enterprise in the style of a typical American mafia family. Well known as the “boss of bosses” of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world by European Union and US agencies. Also considered the “most dangerous mobster in the world” by the FBI. Arms trafficking, contract killings, kidnapping, drug smuggling, and prostitution on a global scale have all been charged against him by the FBI. With an estimated net worth of $10 billion, he is 3rd among richest criminals. Semion currently lives freely in Moscow and has three children.
2. Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Amado Carrillo Fuentes was a Mexican drug lord. He took over the Juárez Cartel after his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo was assassinated. Fuentes also known as “El Senor de Los Cielos”. Which means The Lord of the skies. Now you might ask why he goes by this name, right? Because he used to transport drugs through the large fleet of jets. He was also famous for using Colombia to launder money in order to fund this fleet.
His fortune as a member of the Mexican Cartel is about $25 billion. He is the second among richest criminals of all time. He was very well-known at the moment, and he appears to be well-known with any post on illegal activity. Surprisingly, he had plastic surgery, so that the police will not be able to pursue him at any point. His bodyguards, on the other hand, assassinated him as he was having his face changed.
1. Pablo Escober
Probably the most well-known drug lord in the present century is Pablo Escobar. Pablo Escobar is unrivaled in his profession. The “King of Cocaine” amassed a fortune that made him the wealthiest criminal in history. And also one of the wealthiest individuals on the planet. For several years, he had a near-monopoly over the drug trade in the United States. His empire is unrivaled in literature, and when read aloud, it almost seems made up.
Every month, his organization brought in 70 to 80 tonnes of cocaine into the United States. Accounting for 80 percent of the country’s sum, as well as hundreds of tonnes into countries in every region except Antarctica. He made $420 million a week as a result of this. Pablo’s wealth gave him a lot of leverage. So he could bribe politicians or get them murdered if they refused to accept his bribes. Escobar ranked the 7th wealthiest man in the world by Forbes Magazine, with a net worth of $30 billion. Following his breakout from a Colombian jail in 1993, Escobar was executed by Colombian forces with US assistance.
Conclusion.
Nobody would argue that crime can provide a lot of wealth to a convict, but the consequences are very devastating. The majority of the criminals listed above are still completing their terms in prison. Although some have already died. Since the crime sector is worth billions of dollars, it attracts a large number of individuals from all around the planet. There are a variety of explanations that individuals want to work in the criminal justice system. Lack of education, homelessness, social pressure, and a desire to be wealthy are some of the most prominent factors. Only education has the ability to change people’s minds, which is why it is so essential. Criminals amass enormous money, but the end result is death or imprisonment.
DISCLAIMER: Please make sure that I don’t have any intentions to push you through the crime world. This list “richest criminals in the world” is just for entertainment purposes only.