Kingpins

Moving from North Carolina to New York City, Frank Lucas engaged in petty crime and pool hustling before he began smuggling drugs using coffins of dead American servicemen in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He cut out the middleman and bought heroin directly from the source.  Sponsors! Parcast - Rate, review, and subscribe to our new podcast Hostage! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This vicious leader had very little regard for human life as if it stood in the way of his business. Pablo Acosta Villarreal commanded a 500 person operation on both sides of the border before his downfall and death in 1987.  Sponsors! Parcast - Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to our new podcast Hostage! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He repaired schools, paid medical bills for the poor and elderly, in exchange for one thing: control. The whole town protected him. But who was the man that brought him down? Sponsors! Parcast - Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to our new podcast Hostage! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early years of the Mexican drug world, there were no cartels - there were only kingpins. The border region was a lawless desert governed by bloody shootouts, crooked cops, and folk-hero bandits. And to rule an old-fashioned frontier, it takes an old-fashioned outlaw.  Parcast - Subscribe to our new show Hostage! Head to Parcast.com/Hostage now so you don’t miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Violence. Corruption. Decadence. Kingpins and Queenpins live heightened lives. This new podcast tells their unbelievable stories. Kingpins tracks the rise and fall of the notorious, presenting bizarre and captivating tales from the underworld. Along the way, the hosts profile the insane people, skewed relationships, and pressure-cooker environments behind organized crime. What's it really like to live like a Kingpin? Tune in to Kingpins every Friday. Kingpins is part of the Parcast Network and is a Cutler Media Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices