世界十大通缉犯

Nathan Vardi 04.25.08

The whole world is the playground of today\'s criminal masterminds. The worst thieves and thugs have found the dark side of globalization, exploiting the same technologies that make the Earth seem small and ripe for legitimate international commerce and trade. They have unleashed an unprecedented crime wave that is truly borderless.

Less hierarchical, and operating as elusive networks, today\'s criminal gangs are able to nimbly take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. They hack, steal, smuggle, launder and kill on a global scale, working with different partners and evading various law enforcement units and agencies. The most troubling convergence: the merging of international criminal activity with violent terrorism.

No surprise then that Osama Bin Laden tops Forbes.com\'s first-ever list of the world\'s 10 most wanted fugitives. The most wanted man in the world is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, perhaps in the Waziristan region. U.S. President George W. Bush has said Bin Laden is wanted dead or alive. But for six years, Bin Laden has been able to evade the largest manhunt in international history by sticking to the unruly tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Others on the list may not be as familiar. Among them: Joaquin Guzman. Mexico\'s most powerful drug trafficker, Guzman has taken over the narcotics racket once dominated by Colombians like Pablo Escobar. Guzman, known as el Chapo, or shorty, heads the Sinaloa Cartel, specializing in importing cocaine from Colombia, and smuggling it into the U.S., often through elaborate tunnels. Ruthless and determined, Guzman has lorded over a bloody power struggle in Mexico over transport corridors to the U.S. that have left thousands dead.

Others on the list include Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, the face of the modern Russian mob; Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, India\'s most wanted man, who heads D-Company, an organized crime group based in Mumbai; Félicien Kabuga, arguably the driving force behind the Rwanda genocides; and Matteo Messina Denaro, the Italian mafia\'s playboy, with a taste for Porches and Rolex watches.

Various law enforcement agencies have their own most wanted lists that usually focus on crimes that took place in their local or national jurisdictions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation\'s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, created in 1950, is the most famous of its kind. But given the current state of globalized crime, an international most wanted list makes more sense now than ever.

Forbes.com consulted with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and around the world to identify these 10. With the exception of Osama Bin Laden, there is little consensus over who should be included on a list that is ultimately subjective in nature. But we tried to come up with basic ground rules.

Everyone on the list has been criminally indicted or charged, some in national jurisdictions and some by international tribunals. They all are accused of a long history of committing serious crimes and are considered a dangerous menace to the world. Each of the members on the list also represent a type of criminal problem that legal institutions are grappling with in diverse jurisdictions.

\"What they all have in common is that whether their crimes have occurred principally at the national or international level, their crimes have been so significant that they should be pursued globally,\" said Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble after taking a look at the Forbes.com list. \"With regard to the world\'s most wanted criminals, it is always easy to see the tremendous local impact that their crimes have had.\"

Indeed, most of the Forbes.com top 10 most wanted fugitives in the world have been criminally indicted in U.S. courts and are wanted by the U.S. government, which has expended serious resources investigating and chasing them. Forbes will periodically review the list to determine whether a replacement is warranted and will scratch off those fugitives who are put out of action.

1. Osama Bin Laden

The most wanted man in the world is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, perhaps in the Waziristan region. U.S. President George W. Bush has said Bin Laden is wanted dead or alive. But for six years, Bin Laden has been able to evade the largest manhunt in international history by sticking to the unruly tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, is the world\'s biggest terrorist. He has been indicted in federal court in New York for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people. Bin Laden has also been charged for conspiring to kill Americans outside the U.S. He has claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. that killed 3,000 people, including both Americans and foreign nationals. The State Department has put a $25 million reward on his head. The Saudi-born Bin Laden is probably 51 years old.

2. Joaquin Guzman

Mexico\'s most powerful drug trafficker has taken over the drug racket once dominated by Colombians like Pablo Escobar. Guzman, known as el Chapo, or shorty, heads the Sinaloa Cartel, specializing in importing cocaine from Colombia and smuggling it into the U.S., often through elaborate tunnels. Ruthless and determined, Guzman has lorded over a bloody power struggle in Mexico over transport corridors to the U.S. that have left thousands dead.

After the Mexican courts ruled he could be extradited to the U.S. in 2001, Guzman escaped from prison in a laundry truck. Since then he has evaded close encounters with the Mexican military. The U.S. government has indicted Guzman and placed a $5 million bounty on this fugitive.

3. Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov

Originally from Uzbekistan, Tokhtakhounov is the face of the modern Russian mob, especially since Semion Mogilevich was detained earlier this year. Tokhtakhounov is known as \"Taiwanchik\" for his Asian features. The U.S. government calls him a \"major figure in international Eurasian Organized Crime\" who has been involved in \"drug distribution, illegal arms sales and trafficking in stolen vehicles.\"

He is suspected of fixing everything from beauty pageants to Olympic events in Utah. In 2002, the U.S. government indicted him for bribing Olympic figure skating judges to favor the French team, robbing Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of gold medals in the pairs competition. The U.S. tried to get him after he was arrested in Italy, but the Italians eventually freed Tokhtakhounov, who has since disappeared and is probably in Russia.

4. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar

India\'s most wanted man heads D-Company, an organized crime group based in Mumbai. This son of a policeman reputedly oversees a criminal empire involved in all sorts of international activity, including drug trafficking, counterfeiting, weapons smuggling and murder. Ibrahim is suspected of having organized the 1993 Bombay Blasts that killed 257 people and wounded 713.

He is believed to have associated with Al Qaeda. The U.S. has declared him a global terrorist and the United Nations has attempted to freeze his assets. Though the Pakistani government denies it, the 52-year-old Ibrahim is probably in Pakistan. He is believed to have close links to Pakistan\'s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and travels on passports from India, Yemen, Pakistan. There are rumors that he has had plastic surgery to alter his appearance.

5. Matteo Messina Denaro

The world\'s most famous organized crime network remains powerful and arguably its most formidable fugitive member is Denaro, who is also known as \"Diabolic.\" The Italian mafia\'s playboy, Denaro is known for living a fast lifestyle, driving Porches and fancying Rolex watches. He is believed to be taking over the mafia\'s operations in the fallout surrounding the capture of long time Cosa Nostra leaders, most notably Bernardo Provenzano, who Italian authorities finally grabbed in 2006. Denaro played an important role in a Cosa Nostra campaign in 1993 involving deadly bomb attacks to force the government to stop its mafia crackdown.

6. Felicien Kabuga

The most wanted man in Africa is accused of being the driving force behind one of the worst genocides in human history. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is seeking Kabuga for \"serious offences under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, crimes against humanity and genocide,\" in connection with the massacre of over 800,000 Rwanda men woman and children in 100 days of terror in 1994.

The rich businessman is accused of bankrolling the Hutu militias that committed the murders. Kabuga\'s radio station propagated extremist Hutu ideology and incited violence against the Tutsi population of Rwanda. He also provided weapons, uniforms and transportation that assisted the militias and made massive purchases of machetes and hoes that were used as weapons. Kabuga fled Rwanda and is believed to be elsewhere in Africa, possibly Kenya.

7. Pedro Antonio Marin

Known as Manuel Marulanda, Marin is the long-time leader of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionaria Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist group set up in the 1960s in the spirit of Fidel Castro. Marin is now accused of venturing into the drug business and other criminal activity, like conducting for-ransom kidnappings. The U.S. government, which designated FARC a terrorist group, says they control most of Colombia\'s cocaine production and supply more than half the world\'s cocaine. The U.S. government has put a $5 million bounty on his head.

8. Omid Tahvili

Tahvili is the kingpin of a Persian organized crime family in Canada connected to various Triads and other global criminal groups. Known as Nino, Tahvili walked out the door of a maximum security prison in British Columbia in November after bribing a guard with the promise of $50,000. He was awaiting sentencing after being convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault. Tahvili, 37, had tortured a relative of someone he suspected stole $500,000 of his drug money. The U.S. government wants him for his alleged operation of a fraudulent telemarketing business that scammed $3 million from elderly American victims. The scamsters told victims they would win a lottery if they would pay a bogus advance fee. Tahvili is believed to have connections throughout Europe and the Middle East, and remains an international operator.

9. Joseph Kony

The head of the Lord\'s Resistance Army, a guerrilla group trying to establish a theocratic government in Uganda using brutal means. Under Kony, the LRA has displaced 2 million people and created the highest child abduction rate in the world. Kony has directed the abduction of 60,000, including 30,000 children, forcing them to fight in his campaign of murder, rape, mutilation and sexual slavery. He reputedly forces children to murder their own parents as part of their initiation into his group. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for his arrest, indicting Kony on 33 charges, including crimes against humanity and war crimes.

10. James \"Whitey\" Bulger

Leader of the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish American crime family based in Boston that controlled illicit drug trade and extortion rackets in South Boston. Bulger has shown how hard it can be to capture a criminal. The FBI has pursued Bulger for more than a decade for Bulger\'s alleged roles in numerous murders. His wealth is estimated between $30 million and $50 million and he has associated with major criminal enterprises throughout North America and Europe, including the Irish Republican Army. The 78-year-old is using the wealth and contacts he developed through his criminal operations to stay out of the reach of law enforcement and is believed to be on the run with his longtime girlfriend. The FBI has a $1 million price tag on him, but by concealing his appearance and using false identities, Bulger has evaded the substantial effort to bring him to justice. There are indications that he recently traveled to Sicily.