2021 in organized crime

In 2021, a number of events took place in organized crime.

Events

• April 10 – The Venezuelan Armed Forces announce the arrest of an unspecified number of Sinaloa Cartel members amidst clashes with FARC dissidents in the state of Apure.^[1]
• May 31 – Corleonesi Mafia hitman Giovanni Brusca is released from prison after serving his 25-year sentence. He was convicted for his role in the Capaci bombing, which killed anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone alongside four other people. His release is condemned by the leaders of the ruling Italian Democratic Party and the right-wing Lega Nord.^[2]
• September 14 – A Mexican court sentences Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, a former leader of the Juárez drug cartel, to 28 years in prison on the charges of organized crime and drug trafficking.^[3]
• October 23 – Colombian police arrest Dario Antonio Úsuga (alias "Otoniel"), a leader of the Clan del Golfo drug cartel, in the town of Necoclí. Úsuga had been listed by authorities as one of the country's most-wanted drug traffickers.^[4]
• November 16 – The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense announces that Rosalinda González Valencia, the wife of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera "El Mencho" Cervantes, is re-arrested. González was previously detained in 2018 for allegedly running the finances of the cartel, but was released on bail.^[5]
• December 1 – Armed cartel members break into a prison in Tula, Hidalgo using vehicles, detonating several car bombs. Nine inmates are freed, including a local drug lord. Two law enforcement officers are injured.^[6]

Arts and literature

• The Many Saints of Newark
• Lansky
• Furioza
• Ferry

Deaths

• February 25 – Peter Gotti, 81, American mobster (Gambino crime family).^[7]
• June 27 – Dominick Montiglio, 73, American mob associate (Gambino crime family).^[8]
• July 7 – Giovanni Tegano, 81, Italian mobster, head of De Stefano 'ndrina.^[9]
• August 21 – Anthony Scotto, 87, American mobster (Gambino crime family).^[10]
• September 24 – Jitender Mann Gogi, 38, Indian mobster.^[11]
• October 1 – Frank LoCascio, 89, American mobster (Gambino crime family).^[12]

See also

• Timeline of the Mexican Drug War
• List of years in organized crime

References

1. "Venezuela detains Sinaloa cartel members in clash near Colombia". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
2. "Giovanni Brusca, Italian mafia boss, freed after 25 years in jail". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
3. "Mexican ex-cartel boss jailed for 28 years". RFI. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
4. "Colombia's most-wanted drug lord 'Otoniel' captured". www.channelnewsasia.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
5. "Mexico's most wanted: Wife of cartel boss 'El Mencho' held". 16 November 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
6. Agren, David (1 December 2021). "Gangsters use vehicles to ram into Mexico prison and free nine inmates". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
7. "Gambino crime family's elder Gotti, Peter, dies in prison". NBC News. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
8. Service, Noblin Funeral. "Obituary for Dominick Anthony Montiglio | Noblin Funeral Service". Obituary for Dominick Anthony Montiglio | Noblin Funeral Service. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
9. Redazione (7 July 2021). "'Ndrangheta, morto il boss Giovanni Tegano". CityNow (in Italian). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
10. Stout, David (23 August 2021). "Anthony M. Scotto, Former Union Power on the Docks, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
11. "Jitender Maan Gogi: India gangster shot dead in Delhi court". 24 September 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
12. Reports, Advance/SILive com Staff (6 October 2021). "Frank LoCascio, former Gambino underboss, is dead at 89; hoped 'Sammy the Bull' could get him freed". silive. Retrieved 7 October 2025.