Amado Carrillo Fuentes , arguably Mexico’s biggest drug trafficker, was known as El Señor de Los Cielos (Lord of the Skies) and he pioneered the use of jumbo jets for the mass distribution of illicit drugs into the U.S. He seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. He died in July 1997 in a Mexican hospital after undergoing extensive plastic surgery to change his appearance. In his final days Carrillo was being tracked by Mexican and U.S. authorities. He is regarded as one of the wealthiest criminals in history, with an esti - mated net-worth of U.S. $25 billion. Raymond Chow Kwok-cheung known as the Shrimp Man , is a Chinese gangster that dominated crime in the Chi - natown of San Francisco. Chow's first conviction was in 1978, for robbery in Chinatown, San Francisco. Chow received an 11-year sentence,of which he served 7 years and 4 months. He was released in 1985. In 1986, Chow was charged with 28 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, mayhem, and illegal possession of a firearm. He served three years in prison and was released in 1989. In 1992 Chow was arrested for racketeering, later separated into two separate trials. The first was for illegal gun sales and the second was for prostitution, drugs and money laundering. Convicted in 1995, Chow was sentenced to 24 years. When Peter Chong was captured, Chow became an informant, turned informer on his old boss, testifying against him in exchange for a reduced sen - tence. He was released from prison in 2003. In 1996, Chow was tried again for racketeering, but the indictment was dismissed. Khun Sa also known as Chang Chi-fu was a Burmese War Lord and perhaps history’s biggest heroin dealer who operated out of Southeast Asia. He was a Shan warlord, born in Hpa Hpeung village, Burma. He was also dubbed the "Opium King" due to his opium trading in the Golden Triangle. As a War Lord he commanded the Shan United Army and the Mong Tai Army . He made offers to the Australian and U.S. DEA for them to buy his entire heroin crop but both governments refused. He was indicted by the U.S. authorities but the Burmese officials refused to extradite him, and he lived the rest of his life in the Rangoon area living of his significant investments. All three kingpins have impacted crime on an international level.

A native of Thunder Bay, Canada, and based in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Ron Chepesiuk is an optioned screenwriter, award-winning author, documentary producer and director, publisher ( www.strategicmediabooks.com ), and radio host( www.artistfirst.comcrime- beat.htm ). He has published thirty-five books and more than 4,000 articles that have appeared in 350 plus magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and USA Today . He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar to Bangladesh and Indonesia, a consultant to the History Channel’s Gangland TV series and a former instructor in UCLA's Extension Journalism program. Three of his books have been optioned for movies. His documentary on the Frank Matthews story has been licensed for viewing by the Discovery Channel . Ron’s scripts have placed in the finals of the Philadelphia International Film Festival, the Charleston International Film Festival and the Harlem International Film Festival. He has appeared as an expert interviewee on several crime shows airing on History, Biography, Discovery, ID, Starz and other cable channels.