The World's 5 Most Wanted Criminals

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.

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.

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.

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

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-Afghanista n 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.