James and Quintarius Shorter "773"Gang members have been tied to at least three homicides  

The seven men indicted this week on drug and racketeering charges are part of a violent gang that called itself "773" after the address on Thigpen Road in Gadsden County where they grew up, investigators said.New details on the gang surfaced Thursday during a news conference at the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office. Also, state officials announced a new initiative to crack down on gang activity.The gang members have been tied to at least three homicides, said Lt. Jim Corder. Also, investigators believe the gang was bringing up kilos of cocaine from South Florida each month. At one point, the gang controlled all the street-level drug trade in Sawdust, a rural community of about 500 to 700 residents seven miles outside Quincy.
And the gang is involved in drag racing in the county, but it has been difficult for law enforcement to catch them in the act."It happens very quickly, (and) it happens at undisclosed locations," he said.The Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement seized cash and several accessorized vehicles with a total value of about $200,000 with the help of the U.S. Marshal Service, Florida Capitol Police and the State Attorney's Office.Five of the gang members were arrested this week. Another two are at-large and wanted. The seven are ringleaders and the original members of the gang, Corder said.The men were indicted last month in Orange County by a statewide grand jury on charges of criminal racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, authorities announced Wednesday. Those arrested are Terrance Shorter, 28; Quintarius Shorter, 25; Gabriel James, 26; Aaron Thomas, 29; and Daltonica Shorter, 33. Chief Judge Kathleen Kroll of West Palm Beach set bail at $1.5 million each. The men will be transported on an undisclosed date to Orange County, where they will be tried, Corder said.James and Quintarius Shorter are also facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the 2001 shooting death of Travis Sentel Green, 21. The gang also is suspected of being behind the 2004 shooting death of Melvin Lamar Northern, 24.Investigators are still looking for suspected gang member Ladipo "Chad" Bethea, who's wanted on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of a Huntsville, Ala., man. The man was shot Jan. 13 after an illegal street race in Birmingham. Investigators haven't identified the other wanted gang member.The indictments were the result of a three-year probe that began when investigators decided to take a closer look at cold-case murders in Gadsden County, said FDLE Special Agent Supervisor Chris Hirst.Now, deputies are working with school officials to keep young people from joining the gang. "Wannabes" as young as 13 are being initiated, which usually means they're beaten for several minutes and then required to commit a crime, from a home-invasion robbery to battery.FDLE will be forming a Gang and Habitual Offender Strike Team to combat gang-related crime, which isn't limited to Gadsden County."Gangs are on the rise all across the area," Hirst said. "There are other gangs similar to this one that have been operating for some time."

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Armed robbers picked the wrong target when they raided an Australian bar where a biker gang was holding a meeting  

Armed robbers picked the wrong target when they raided an Australian bar where a biker gang was holding a meeting.Machete wielding masked bandits burst into the Regents Park Sporting Club in Sydney and ordered people at the bar to lie on the floor.But the robbers failed to notice 50 members of the Southern Cross Cruiser Club enjoying a drink in the next room, reports the Sydney Morning Herald."Fifty of us jumped out of our seats and raced out to the main bar," said club president Jerry 'Jester' van Cornewal.Biker club founder Noel 'Bear' Mannix added the robbers appeared to be regretting the heist as soon as they saw the bikers.
"It was very hard to see the expression on their faces because of the balaclavas, but I imagine it was something along lines of 'Oh s***, what have we done here?' ," he said.One of the robbers charged through a locked glass door, leapt off a 16ft balcony and ran through a bowling green to escape.The other ran through an exit behind the bar but members of the gang ran around the back and caught up with him.
"He came out the door wielding what I thought was a tyre lever, but was actually a samurai sword. I raced in and tackled him to the ground, footy-style, onto the concrete," Mr van Cornewal said.They tied up the man and waited for police to arrive. Police soon also located the second robber nearby. A 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old were charged with attempted robbery.

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Savage street brawl erupted between two gangs in Midland  

A man was hospitalised with stab wounds after a savage street brawl erupted between two gangs in Midland last night.During the vicious brawl, feuding gangsters launched homemade petrol bombs and ripped tiles ripped off roofs which they then used as makeshift weapons.Residents of the cul de sac on Wellaton Road, where the fight took place, said the brawl had been brewing since 4pm. Reinforcements of one gang began arriving at a house apparently in preparation for the attack, which flared about 7pm.One resident who did not wish to be named, said the house was a regular trouble spot. Other residents spoke of long term concerns including being heckled and of constant traffic they said was related to drug dealing.“There are cars going in and out all the time,” said one man who did not want to be identified. “It’s like Melbourne Cup day most days.”One man believed to be in his early twenties was last night in Swan Districts Hospital in a stable condition with head wounds.

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Villenas-Reyes and Shane Rosser Cedartown drug gang  

Five defendants were convicted today by a jury in federal district court of criminal charges that include racketeering, murder, attempted murder, assault, methamphetamine trafficking, and numerous related firearms offenses. The jury convicted the defendants after six weeks of trial and two days of deliberations. The five defendants were the leaders of a racketeering enterprise that originally included 30 defendants in the first indictment.United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of today's verdict, "The truly violent character of this drug gang, which operated out of the small town of Cedartown, Georgia, is demonstrated by the fact that the racketeering convictions are based on several violent crimes, including five murders, attempted murder, and kidnapping, as well as drug trafficking. The five murders for which defendants Villenas-Reyes and Shane Rosser were convicted were 50% of the total number of murders that occurred in Floyd and Polk counties in 2003." Nahmias added, "The use of federal racketeering and drug statutes to attack the leadership of an organization is important, especially with an organization such as this that operated across local and state jurisdictional lines. Indeed, this prosecution resulted from the excellent combined investigative efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies."FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Greg Jones said, "Getting inside of these violence-driven gangs is a very difficult challenge for law enforcement agencies when conducting such investigations. The skills and expertise of the agents and officers brought together from the many varied agencies involved was the key to the successful outcome of this investigation. The FBI remains committed to working with its law enforcement partners in the aggressive investigation and prosecution of these types of criminal organizations.""The guilty verdict has made it clear that those involved in criminal activity and responsible for terrorizing communities will be brought to justice," said Kenneth Smith, Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Atlanta. "ICE and its federal, state, and local counterparts will continue working together to dismantle organized crime rings that threaten public safety."GBI Director Vernon Keenan said, "The GBI's priority is addressing the violent crime problem in smaller communities across Georgia, and we are pleased with the GBI's role in the successful investigation and prosecution of those involved in this methamphetamine trafficking gang. The cooperation among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in this effort was outstanding and was paramount to the successful conclusion of this case."

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Steve L. Willock,TPP Bloods accused of committing five murders in the past 2 1/2 years  

The gang called itself the TPP Bloods, the TTP standing for Tree Top Pirus- a reference to a group of streets in Compton, Calif., named after trees. But the organization, federal prosecutors said, originated in Maryland, not California, and in less than 10 years it became one of the most violent in the state.
A sweeping indictment against 28 alleged TTP Bloods members- 23 men and five women- was unsealed Monday in federal court in Baltimore. Prosecutors charged 26 of them with racketeering conspiracy under a law designed to go after organized crime.
They're accused of committing five murders in the past 2 1/2 years, along with crimes including robberies, kidnappings, drug trafficking and threatening and intimidating witnesses.
"This is an organization that is alleged to have had a hierarchy, a structure, leadership, goals and rules that govern the conduct of the gang members," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, adding that the racketeering charges allow prosecutors to hold gang members responsible for all the gang's activities.
Steve L. Willock, 28, is accused of leading the gang, which originally formed in 1999 in the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown. According to court documents, Willock was sentenced to eight years in 1999 for dealing drugs and, after his release in 2003, was caught dealing again and sentenced to 18 years.
For most of the gang's existence, Willock directed its activities from prison, communicating with members largely through the mail, the indictment shows. He also wrote a letter to a TTP leader in Compton that said, in part, "We have about 3-4 territories in Baltimore, Md (BodyMore) and we have blocks in different counties in Md, also territories in the Eastern Shore." Another alleged member, Ronnie Thomas, 33, is featured prominently in the infamous "Stop Snitching" DVD under his street name, Skinny Suge. The crude video became emblematic of Baltimore's culture of witness intimidation. According to the indictment, Thomas called another gang member, Kevin Gary, 26, of Baltimore, on Feb. 14 and discussed retaliating against a store owner who refused to sell the sequel, "Stop Snitching 2."
Eight alleged TTP Bloods members _ Gary; Thomas; Sean Frazier, 24, of Baltimore; Orlando Gilyard, 21, of Baltimore County; Diane Kline, 30, of Hagerstown; Sherry Brockington, 23, of Baltimore; Emmanuel Fitzgerald, 33, of Baltimore; and Keon Williams, 26, of Baltimore- were arrested Monday morning during raids by more than 100 law enforcement officers. Representatives of the federal public defender's office said the office was not yet representing any of those eight defendants.
Fourteen defendants named in the indictment were already in custody for other crimes, while six remain at large. The gang's female members called themselves the "Tree Top Pirettes," and Rosenstein said women played an unusually prominent role in the conspiracy. Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy, however, said her office was seeing an increase in the number of women involved in drug dealing and gun crime. "It's a lifestyle, and there are a lot of things going on with women when it comes to criminal enterprise," Jessamy said. "The stronger gangs get ... you're going to be seeing gang activity across the board by females."
One of the alleged female members, Michelle L. Hebron, 23, is awaiting trial on murder charges for the fatal shooting of David L. Moore in Hagerstown last October. She's also accused in the indictment of shooting a TTP member whom she believed was cooperating with police. Eric A. Reed, Hebron's public defender in the murder case, said he was preparing for trial on the state charges and had not seen the federal indictment. Another defendant, Shonn Eubanks, 35, was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday in Baltimore Circuit Court on drug dealing charges. His attorney, Jerry Tarud, said he expected prosecutors would not pursue the case so that federal authorities could try his client. He said he did not know whether he would continue to represent Eubanks. Each of the 21 defendants charged with drug trafficking conspiracy faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, and each of the 26 charged with racketeering conspiracy faces a maximum of 20 years.

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Ndrangheta hitmen bloody power struggle in the 'Ndrangheta's heartland  

It was 'Ndrangheta hitmen who, three years ago, carried out the country's most notorious recent political assassination of regional parliamentarian, Francesco Fortugno.It was 'Ndrangheta hitmen who, three years ago, carried out the country's most notorious recent political assassination of regional parliamentarian, Francesco Fortugno.
The report said the 'Ndrangheta was spreading 'in the same way as al-Qaeda, with an analogous, tentacular structure, without a strategic leadership, but characterised by a kind of organic intelligence [and] the vitality of cancer'.While the attention of politicians and the media has remained fixed on Sicily's Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta has crept silently into much of the rest of Italy. And following emigration by the inhabitants of Italy's poorest region, it has spread to other parts of the world, as far as Australia.The authors of last week's report highlighted the crime syndicate's remarkable ability to replicate itself globally, like a fast-food chain: 'It offers... in different places an identical, recognisable and reliable "brand" and criminal "product".'Today the 'Ndrangheta's main source of wealth is its involvement in the transatlantic cocaine trade, in which it invested at a time when the Sicilian Mafia monopolised heroin trafficking. Much of its rise, and Cosa Nostra's recent decline, can be explained by the subsequent switch in the relative popularity of the two narcotics.Though euphoric politicians compared Condello's arrest to that of Bernardo Provenzano, the Sicilian Mafia's 'capo di tutti capi', who was seized in 2006, there is a key difference.

The 'Ndrangheta may be hierarchical, but it does not have a controlling body nor individual. It is one reason it has proved so resistant to attack from outside.The 'Ndrangheta's cells, or locali, are independent yet akin, using similar quasi-religious rituals and ranks. Its uniformity does not preclude conflict. The syndicate has been rent by two wars that have split more blood even than those of Cosa Nostra. Condello was a major player in both.
'They both had their faces covered,' said an eyewitness who saw the killing of Antonio Macri. 'Before they left, one of them, who saw Macri was still breathing, got out of the car and put two more bursts of sub-machine gun fire into his chest and head.'It was 20 January, 1975. The elderly Macri, from Siderno on the east coast of Calabria, was the leading figure of an older generation of 'Ndrangheta bosses who had tried to stop the crime syndicate drifting into kidnapping and drug-running. According to a mobster who turned state's evidence, Condello was one of his 'executioners'. The murder unleashed a battle for the 'Ndrangheta's soul that cost some 300 lives.By the time of the second mob war, which cost 600 lives in the six years to 1991, Condello was a godfather in his own right. Police and prosecutors will now watch anxiously to see whether the removal of 'The Supremo' sparks another bloody power struggle in the 'Ndrangheta's heartland.

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David Francis Giles East End Hells Angels had moved into the B.C. Interior city of Kelowna, calling themselves the K-Town Crew,  


test case is the trial of a senior member of the East End Hells Angels.If the trial judge rules the chapter is a criminal organization when a verdict is rendered March 27, it will be devastating for the Hells Angels in B.C, said RCMP Insp. Gary Shinkaruk, head of the outlaw motorcycle gang squad."It would be devastating locally, nationally and internationally," he said. "It would be an embarrassment for them."He said the East End Hells Angels are "extremely worried. They're realizing the law is evolving."The trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie, has heard months of evidence regarding David Francis Giles of the East End Hells Angels chapter and two co-accused.She must now decide whether the trio were acting in a "joint venture," as alleged by the Crown, with regard to nine kilograms of cocaine seized in Kelowna, B.C. in 2005.MacKenzie said this week the Crown needs to prove that the accused were acting in concert in possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and that the accused were committing a crime in association with a criminal organization - the East End Hells Angels.The trial is a B.C. test case of Canada's relatively new anti-gang law, which is being applied - for the first time in B.C. - against the Hells Angels. A ruling against the biker gang would likely result in police targeting the other Hells Angels chapters in B.C. - Vancouver, Haney, White Rock, Mission and Nanaimo.So there is more at stake at this trial than the guilt or innocence of Giles, 58, and alleged Hells Angels associates David Roger Revell, 43, and Richard Andrew Rempel, 24. Revell and Rempel are also accused of cocaine trafficking.During the 10-month trial, which ended Wednesday, the Crown alleged the East End Hells Angels had moved into the B.C. Interior city of Kelowna, calling themselves the K-Town Crew, and were planning to establish a new chapter to take over the lucrative illegal drug trade in the Okanagan.The trial heard of a massive $10-million police investigation in which the RCMP offered a Vancouver man $1 million to infiltrate the East End Hells Angels.The man, who now is in hiding under a new name, testified at Giles' trial and is expected later to testify at a number of pending trials.Most of Giles' trial was conducted under a sweeping ban on publication imposed by the judge to protect the rights of other Hells Angels facing trials.

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O-DUB and Georgia Deadly Boys and the Colur Tyme Tattooz & Things a black market bazaar for local gangs  


Operation Augusta Ink turned out to be the second-largest storefront weapon seizure in the history of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. At last count, 105 men, women and juveniles have been arrested on drug, theft and firearm charges stemming from Colur Tyme Tattooz & Things, the Tobacco Road parlor that served as a black market bazaar for local gangs. In the spring of 2006, investigators approached a tattoo artist nicknamed Lil' John, whose real name is being withheld by authorities to protect his identity, about providing information about gang members. Police knew Lil' John was running an illegal tattoo parlor out of his home and had made a name for himself by tattooing members of south Augusta gangs such as O-DUB and Georgia Deadly Boys. Officers saw Lil' John as a way into the world of Augusta's gangs and offered him money and protection in return for his help. Police had been watching the gang problem grow in Augusta for years and reached a point where they felt the need to be more proactive, according to Lt. Scott Peebles. Within a month, members of the department, including Lt. Peebles, Maj. Ken Autry and Capt. Jack Francisco, started looking for a rental property and those willing to go undercover to staff it. From the beginning, only a handful of people knew Colur Tyme peddled more than just tattoos and Phillie blunt cigars.
"They were told you don't talk about this with anyone because not only will you be fired, but we can, we will, prosecute you," Lt. Peebles said. "That's how serious we took it, and I think that's how serious they took it."
Soon, they set about creating two operations: one a legitimate tattoo parlor with the motto "We buy things others won't," the other a system of networks within local gangs that enabled them to buy those "things," namely stolen guns and drugs.
Augusta Ink began with Lil' John giving tattoos and forwarding his criminal contacts to Chris, a large, bearded officer who would not give his last name. Chris' task was legitimizing the business. He paid the bills and handled the day-to-day operation of the shop while negotiating drug and weapon sales. It was Investigator Brown, who went by the nickname "Yardie," short for Yardbird, who acted as the tough guy. With eight years of service in the U.S. Army Special Operations and an early life on the streets of Queens, coupled with a sawed-off shotgun, Investigator Brown instilled a sense of fear and respect into everyone who entered the shop.
"(They thought) that I was crazy -- that some of the ATF guys were crazy," he said. "You know, he (Chris) was always quiet, so they thought he was crazy. They just wouldn't come in and start no trouble."
That fear made Colur Tyme neutral ground to gangs -- a sanctuary. Rival gang members would shoot each other in the streets, but in the tattoo parlor all they fired off were dirty looks, according to Dan Carrier, who worked with Sgt. Blaise Dresser behind the scenes to identify every suspect that made a sale.
"They seemed to realize that if they did do something up there, the money would run out," Investigator Carrier said. "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."
Suspects were told the weapons they sold were headed to New York. Investigator Brown maintained that he made regular trips to New York City to unload Augusta's stolen guns. In reality, the weapons made a much shorter trip to the ATF crime lab in Savannah.With thousands of dollars in cash and weapons entering the store, being robbed was a very real fear. It could not only mean injury or death for the undercover officers, but also the end of the operation. If it happened, investigators were told to cooperate, hand over their money and report the crime like any other business owner. A gunman robbed Taylor's Banquet, a salon and banquet hall that shared a parking lot with Colur Tyme, in November 2006. Just minutes after the holdup, the gunman and his three accomplices came into Colur Tyme. Their faces were captured on several of the cameras wired throughout the building, but to use the images to arrest the suspects would have meant the end of Augusta Ink.
"The deputy and the business owner came next door, and I told them what I'd seen," Chris said. "I told them what kind of vehicle (the suspects) had, because it was parked right in front of the shop. They had no idea. They treated me like I was a business."Three teenagers involved in the robbery were arrested that night without the Augusta Ink tapes. The fourth, a 16-year-old Cross Creek High School student, was picked up by police two months later. The team learned from the experience. They brought in extra help, both from their department and the ATF. Months later, they would rely on that help when dealing with three of their top targets: Jacob Plowright, Nathaniel Jones and Raphael Milligan.
It was late New Year's Day 2007 when Paul Patel was working in the freezer of his store, Richmond Hill Market. His wife, Binal, was at the counter when two men, later identified as Mr. Plowright and Mr. Jones, pointed handguns at her and demanded cash. Hearing the commotion, Mr. Patel rushed from the back of the store to aid his wife. Startled, the suspects fired their guns, striking Mr. Patel in the left leg and the abdomen. Severely injured, Mr. Patel was rushed to Medical College of Georgia Hospital for treatment and survived. Investigators said that before the shooting, they had no knowledge of the group. But they say that changed a day later when Mr. Plowright sold a 9 mm handgun to an undercover officer. ATF ballistics tests connected the gun to the shooting of Mr. Patel, and the undercover investigators found themselves in another difficult situation.
"At a point when we realized everything they were involved in," Lt. Peebles said, they thought, "OK, how are we going to arrest them and keep them in jail without using anything from the operations as evidence, because once we do that it exposes the operation?"The violence continued. A little more than a month later, a bouncer at Club Dreams on Washington Road was shot twice in the chest. A week after that, police say, Mr. Plowright appeared in Colur Tyme again -- this time accompanied by Mr. Jones. For $240, they sold police a .40-caliber handgun that ballistics tests later matched to the club shooting. By then, police had connected Mr. Plowright and Mr. Milligan to the robbery of the Video Warehouse on Tobacco Road. Mr. Plowright was also accused of stealing a billfold from a 16-year-old Sonic employee in October 2006.In late April, Mr. Jones was arrested and charged with the shooting at Club Dreams. Two weeks later, Investigator Carrier and Investigator Paul Godden said, they followed Mr. Plowright, who was driving a stolen car, from Colur Tyme and tried to do a traffic stop. He rammed the investigators with his car, then led them on a half-mile chase to the entrance of the Raintree subdivision before he was captured. After his arrest, a stolen Colt .45 pistol was found beneath the car seat.
Because he rammed the investigators' vehicle, police said they were able to charge him with aggravated assault on a police officer, ensuring that he would remain in jail until trial, and they managed to keep Augusta Ink quiet for the time being
"He basically handed us 'no bond' on a silver platter," Lt. Peebles said.Essential to the success of Augusta Ink were the close bonds the undercover investigators built with their targets, according to police. Suspects vented to their business associates, who happened to work in the Richmond County sheriff's office.

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David John Partridge was left with a shocking gash from his ear to mouth  

David John Partridge was left with a shocking gash from his ear to mouth after being slashed with a homemade knife in the Adelaide Remand Centre. Person responsible for the death of a toddler has survived a suspected bikie-sanctioned revenge attack in jail.The man wielding the knife - made from a razor blade - is an associate of the Finks motorcycle gang. Three-year-old David Mamo's grandfather is a senior member of the Finks motorcycle gang. He is currently before the court on multiple firearms and unlawful possession charges. The incident comes almost two years after a relative of Mamo's warned in a death notice placed in The Advertiser of "suffering" for those responsible for his death. The attack on Partridge, 29, happened earlier this month. He was rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment and is now back at the Remand Centre in a secure unit. The man believed responsible for the attack has been shifted to Yatala Labour Prison. Sources there said he is closely linked to the Finks. When arrested on sex offences late last year, he was working in a southern suburbs tattoo shop owned by a senior Finks member. David Mamo died at the Women's and Children's Hospital in February 2006 after suffering severe internal injuries, including a severed bowel. Police alleged the injuries were inflicted by his mother Melissa Joanne Field, 29, and Partridge. Both were charged with murder, but subsequently pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of criminal neglect. Field, who pleaded guilty in December 2006, was sentenced to six years in prison while Partridge, who pleaded guilty last November, will be sentenced shortly.
In the weeks after David Mamo's death, there were veiled threats of retribution. One death notice in The Advertiser read: "Rest in peace my little grandson, the suffering is over and theirs only just begun." Yatala sources said this week: "There appears no other motive for the attack. "It looks like this bloke has been able to position himself to be in the same unit as Partridge and then take advantage of the situation. He is now in mainstream and being afforded the protection of other Finks associates." The sources said that besides ensuring his protection while in prison, the knife attack may also serve to ensure the man's membership of the Finks.
It may also be used by other gang members to intimidate the man's female victim as his trial approaches. "It is quite common amongst these people to intimidate witnesses and this incident may well end up being used to put pressure on those involved in his case," one source said. "They don't stand over and intimidate people just to extort money ... they use their coercive demeanour in many ways."
It is understood neither Partridge nor the man suspected of the attack are co-operating with police investigating the incident

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Dre Boys under siege from rival gangs,allegedly involved in drug dealing and extortion who are waging a bloody underworld turf war  

In the past two years, there have been at least 17 drive-by shootings in the township in which nine people have lost their lives.In the latest incident this week, Leanne Armugam, wife of Chatsworth taxi boss Duncan Armugam, and her cousin, Donovan Pillay, were victims of a drive-by shooting in Hillary.Armugam survived the second attempt on her life in two years, escaping with a bullet wound in her arm. Pillay, who was shot six times, is fighting for his life.Armugam and his family call themselves the “Dre Boys” but insist they are not part of a gang and are not connected with the Chatsworth underworld. Previous shooting victims include:
Five-year-old Dredin-Lee Armugam, who was killed in 2005;Bystander Deon Govender;
Smithy’s nightclub owner, Munsamy Gounden, who was gunned down in Croftdene, near his club, last year; and Gounden’s passenger, Nicky Pillay, who was also killed in the incident.The random shootings have now prompted a call by community leaders for the police to set up a task team to nail the culprits.

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Banlieu girl gang Paris cops recently broke up a suburban street-fight  

Paris cops recently broke up a suburban street-fight between rival gangs—but this time the gangsters were girls, the Times of London reports. "They had knives, screwdrivers, sticks and teargas and they were really going for each other," one officer said. Girl violence has spiked 140% in France since 2002, but police were surprised by the sight of an armed girl-gang battle. • “Some of the girls are incredibly violent these days,” one 16-year-old boy said. “They're tougher than us." Banlieu girls say the fighting isn't about race as much as turf—and, more importantly, boys. One fight "began because one of the Noisiel girls started hanging around the boys in Meaux,” one girl said. But les filles dangereuses dressed nicely and spoke sweetly when meeting with a Times reporter.

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Deadly gang-style beating in East Ocean View  

Police are looking for two more suspects in connection to a deadly gang-style beating in East Ocean View last summer.20-year-old Natasha Buie and 18-year-old Curtis Newby both face murder charges stemming from a July 27th fatal beating where a group of people killed a Georgia man and badly beat two others.
Eight other supsects have been indicted in the case.The following information was released by the Norfolk Police Department:The Office of the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney announces today the unsealing of direct indictments of 2 individuals, each charged with 1 count of First Degree Murder, 1 count of Lynching, 2 counts of Malicious Wounding, 3 counts of Robbery, and 6 counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony. The Grand Jury meeting in Norfolk Circuit Court on January 16, 2008, returned true bills for the direct indictments of Natasha O. Buie, 20-years-old, and Curtis Wayne Newby, 18-years-old. Those indictments were sealed until today. The charges against Buie and Newby stem from the gang-related armed robberies and beatings of 3 men on July 27, 2007, in the 9500 block of 16th Bay Street, in Norfolk's East Ocean View neighborhood. One of the victims, James Robertson, died from his injuries.
Buie and Newby are not in custody. Detectives with the Homicide Division of the Norfolk Police Department are actively searching for Buie and Newby to arrest them.
Andre Cortez Gaddie was also indicted by the January 16, 2008, Grand Jury on the same charges listed above. Information about the direct indictments against him was made public after his arrest on February 2, 2008, in the 1500 block of Hemlock Street in Norfolk.In addition to the 3 individuals mentioned above, 7 others are in custody on similar charges in connection with these crimes. Each one is awaiting his or her trial.

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Organized crime is increasing on Spain's touristic southern coast  

Marbella, Spain - Organized crime is increasing on Spain's touristic southern coast, the Costa del Sol, where more than 700 international criminal rings operate, the far-left party Izquierda Unida (IU) said in a report released Friday. The number of criminal organizations present in Malaga province grew by almost 10 per cent in 2007. More than 50 abductions and settlements of accounts occurred in 2006 on the Costa del Sol, where police dismantled over 130 criminal rings, detaining more than 1,200 people, over three years. The report stressed the link between organized crime and political corruption on the Costa del Sol. More than 170 people including mayors, officials and entrepreneurs have been detained in connection with scandals linked especially with the construction sector in the region in the recent years.

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Billy Bowden has been picked up in Whistler, British Columbia.  

RCMP confirm an ex-member of the Hells Angels has been arrested. Billy Bowden has been picked up in Whistler, British Columbia.
Winnipeg police Constable Jacqueline Chaput says the arrest was made on the strength of a warrant for failing to appear in court.
Bowden was due to appear in court to face charges of firearms and drug possession stemming from when he was stopped on January 20th, 2007 in the back lane behind the 500 block of Corydon Avenue.Members of the Winnipeg Police Services organized crime unit were investigating a member of the Hells Angels being in possession of a handgun.The one-time member of Manitoba's Hells Angels chapter was arrested last week in Whistler, B.C., a source said. Bowden was wanted on an arrest warrant that was issued Jan. 10 after he failed to appear in a Winnipeg court on drug and gun charges. One of the last times he was seen in public in Winnipeg was Nov. 18 at The Empire Cabaret. Jeff Engen, 24, was fatally stabbed in the bar's basement lounge that night. No one has been arrested. It's believed Bowden left the city in November or December. The rumour mill has been working overtime since then. There were rumours Bowden was killed in Vancouver and, days later, whispers he was fatally shot in Saskatchewan. Police heard the rumours, too, but quickly dismissed them, a source said. Bowden was kicked out of the Hells Angels last October, a source said. He has had a number of high-profile run-ins with the law in recent years. In March 2005, he was shot in the leg at Dirty Laundry, a Corydon Avenue bar now known as NV.

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Mongrel Mob president Peter Nahona,and the mob, Adene Broughton,Daniel Wiari,Aaron Timoti,Tiari Tipene, are jailed.  

Wanganui's gang culture has been dealt another blow with the town's Mongrel Mob president being jailed.
He was one of more than 60 gang-related arrests following the shooting of toddler Jhia Te Tua last year, and Wanganui has had a 7 per cent drop in crime since.
A proposed city bylaw that aims to reduce gang intimidation by banning gang colours and paraphernalia around the central city is due to be heard in Parliament next month.In the High Court at Wanganui yesterday, Mongrel Mob president Peter Nahona, 43, was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to sell methamphetamine.
Four other Mob members and associates - Adene Broughton, 33, Aaron Timoti, 27, Tiari Tipene, 31, and Daniel Wiari, 27 - were also jailed on drugs charges after telephone conversations between the men were intercepted during the massive police investigation into Jhia's murder.
Jhia, 2, daughter of Black Power member Josh Te Tua, was shot in the chest during a drive-by shooting on her Puriri St home on May 5.The attack came after a series of gang skirmishes that day, and 12 Mongrel Mob members and associates were later charged with her murder.More than 60 gang members were arrested on violence, firearm and drug related crimes during the six-week investigation.
"We're certainly not silly enough to say that taking some of the key players out of action did not contribute to the reduced crime level. It's a help but it's not everything," area commander Inspector Duncan McLeod said.With more Mongrel Mob members in jail, police had noticed an increased presence of Black Power and Tribesman, a gang fairly new to the region.
Next month Wanganui National MP Chester Borrows will present the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill to Parliament.Mr Borrows, who is a former police officer, said a police crack-down on Wanganui gangs in the mid-90s had also lowered crime, but later increases meant the gang bylaw was still necessary.
It had the full support of local and national police and had been given overwhelming approval in a council referendum.
"Concentration on gangs is a proven system to lower crime and Wanganui is now reaping the rewards of police action in the last year," he said.
"The bylaw is a way to keep up the pressure. It doesn't mean that every gang member will be charged with being a member of a criminal organisation but it can be used if deemed necessary."

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David Francis Giles, 58, a Hells Angels member for more than 20 years.In this case, there's no evidence of who supplied the cocaine.  

"The Crown has presented no evidence of what Giles actually did," Richard Fowler said of the charges against his client, David Francis Giles, 58, a Hells Angels member for more than 20 years."What cogent evidence is there that he's engaged in criminal activity?" he asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie.After a 10-month trial, the prosecution has offered no evidence to prove Giles ever possessed or controlled nine kilograms of cocaine seized by police in Kelowna in 2005, Fowler said.
"In this case, there's no evidence of who supplied the cocaine. There is no evidence that he paid for the cocaine," he added.
Fowler suggested the Crown has taken evidence and moulded it to fit its theory that Giles was involved in a "joint venture" with two co-accused in possessing the cocaine for trafficking."But it's ill-fitting," he said of the Crown evidence.
Giles is accused of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking "for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, to wit: the East End chapter of the Hells Angels."
The trial is a test case of the anti-gang law being applied against the Hells Angels in B.C.Also on trial are alleged Hells Angels associates David Roger Revell, 43, and Richard Andrew Rempel, 24, who are accused of cocaine trafficking and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in association with a criminal organization -- the Hells Angels.In April 2005, police seized nine kilograms of cocaine over a two-day period: three kilograms from a storage locker in the Kelowna area, five kilograms the next day from a secret compartment in a car kept on a used car lot in Kelowna, and another kilo seized from a drug dealer's car leaving the car lot.
Police also found about 400 grams of cocaine on the car lot, where Rempel worked. The lot was allegedly operated by Revell, who also operated a local gym and a restaurant.The Crown, during four days of final arguments, played a number of recordings of intercepted phone calls and outlined a flurry of BlackBerry e-mails allegedly exchanged between Revell and Rempel after the cocaine was seized from the storage locker and police were checking the car containing the cocaine.
Police also installed covert listening devices in Giles' Kelowna-area home and in the Hells Angels clubhouse in Kelowna.
The Crown contends Vancouver's East End Hells Angels were expanding into Kelowna, where they wanted to establish a new chapter and take control of the lucrative illicit drug market.In one conversation in Giles' home on May 2, 2005, the biker is heard discussing the seized cocaine and telling Revell: "We'll get back up."
The Crown suggested that is evidence both men are involved in the cocaine seizures and that they further discussed how much money they owed for the
But Fowler argued the quality of the recording was so poor that the words attributed to Giles were not clear. "Nor is it clear Giles is talking at that point," he added, suggested there may be someone else in the room other than Revell and Giles.
Fowler went over a number of phone calls to show Giles was not directing or controlling Revell and Rempel.The lawyer suggested Giles and Revell were simply friends who often discussed things over the phone and in person. Police surveillance observed Giles and Revell meeting outside a Kelowna gym called Reflex on April 6.
The eight-minute meeting occurred as police were seizing the car containing the five kilograms of cocaine.What might have been discussed at that meeting is simply speculation, Fowler said, adding the judge should be cautious in making inferences not based on a foundation of fact.The lawyer pointed out that during a wiretap conversation on May 2, 2005 between Giles and Revell, they discussed the loss of eight kilograms of cocaine, which he said indicates only that Giles had knowledge of the cocaine, but was not controlling or directing Revell or the drugs.
"You have to be extremely careful about relying on after-the-fact conversations to infer knowledge," Fowler told the judge.
The judge pointed out that Giles was heard saying in the Kelowna clubhouse: "I deal in drugs." But Fowler said the comment must be viewed in its context -- Giles was discussing what police believe. "He's relaying what he's been told [by police]," he added.The defence lawyers will continue their final arguments today at the Vancouver Law Courts.A total of 18 men were arrested. A number of trials are pending

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Bandidos biker gang haven't re-established themselves in Edmonton  

City police say that while the Bandidos biker gang haven't re-established themselves in Edmonton, they'll be watching to see if their re-emergence in Canada will bring them out West again.
"There's no solid information to indicate any developments here, but it's certainly on the radar screen. Our members are certainly aware of the developments out East," said police spokesman Dean Parthenis, referring to recent reports the gang is moving to set up in Ontario again.
The reports come just a few months after the gang announced it was shutting down, a development experts chalked up to the April 2006 massacre of eight Bandidos members in Ontario as well as its status as the underdogs to the more powerful Hells Angels.
On its website, a statement from the Bandidos says the decision to close was "the wrong way to go" and that the club is now reviving its chapters.
"They are just not willing to give it up and they've reopened the Bandidos back up in Canada again," a Bandidos associate told Sun Media recently

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South Side Village Crips, West Side Mafia Crips,4-5-6 Island Bloods. Investigation  

Among those named in a 17-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week is a reputed leader of the Crips street gang, 27-year-old Jerron Johns of San Bernardino, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. His girlfriend, Crystal Dillard, a Los Angeles County probation officer, also is named. Police Lt. Paul Capraro said Monday afternoon that Dillard is in her mid-20s and from Upland. No other information about her was available. The crackdown "means a huge dent in the narcotics trafficking that was going on in Pomona," Capraro said. Authorities say 23 suspects transported and sold cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana in Pomona. All are named in the federal indictment. Dillard and Johns were arrested late last month after Johns sold more than 2 pounds of crack cocaine to a police informant, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Police say they are hunting another high-profile gang leader with ties to the operation. They say Raymond King, 37, is the main source of crack cocaine in Pomona. From January 2007 to the present, police and the the FBI have been working on an investigation into the South Side Village Crips.
That investigation led to investigations into the West Side Mafia Crips, and the 4-5-6 Island Bloods. Police started with a investigation on the east side of Pomona, focusing on drug dealing in the 1600 block of East Kingsley. Three people were killed in that block of Kingsley in 2007, according to Daily Bulletin archives.
"What we quickly learned was that the South Side Village Crips and the West Side Mafia Crips were carrying out drug activities that included violence and intimidation and included shootings in the streets of Pomona," Romero said. The investigation started at the street level and continued to expand so that it "methodically moved up the chain to identify key players, and as we expanded we had to expand out resources," Romero said of the department working with federal authorities. The Drug Enforcement Administration was brought in and assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office was sought early on, he said. Authorities arrested 11 of the suspects Monday morning in Pomona. They were identified as Jeremiah Johnson, 29; Matthew Moore, 27; Carl Ingram, 29; Karriem Bradford, 34; Nekea Rojas, 28; Miracle Wilkerson, 30; Alicia Bass, 23; Willie Ward, 35; Michael Woods, 37; Eric Quintin Massengale, 46; and April Green, 32. Two other suspects, Lakiea Jones, 27, and Maleek Jenkins, 31, are already in state custody facing other charges. Besides King, authorities are seeking seven additional suspects named in the indictment. They are Arif Habib, 26; Larry Kirk, 27; Jamie Bailey, 44; Brandi Hall, 28; Joseph Crawford, 39; James Dixon, 39; and an unidentified man who goes by the names G-Whip and Big G.
Cities of residency for all suspects were not available Monday. Romero said police found that the Crips and Bloods put aside their feud "when it came to selling drugs and making a profit. The issue of red and blue went out the window," Romero said.
Crips members were seen "interacting" with members of the 4-5-6 Island Bloods. The latter is considered one of the most violent gangs in Pomona, Romero said.
Authorities said Monday after the news conference that they would continue their joint effort to fight drug-dealing and crime in Pomona and elsewhere.

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The Tribesmen motorcycle gang, Ohakune District Court  

A confrontation between two gangs led to man being arrested in Raetihi on Monday morning. The man allegedly produced a pistol at the towns Caltex station. It is unknown whether the pistol was loaded, but no shots were fired. Both parties are believed to have gang affiliations, with the men threatened members of the Tribesmen motorcycle gang. Sergeant Mike Craig of Ohakune police said animosity between the alleged gunman and the group of Tribesmen was the likely cause of the incident.
"I guess it's got gang connections. Certainly, any time this happens we have to be concerned, but in this case nothing really happened. The alleged offender was remanded on bail to appear in Ohakune District Court

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Manitoba Hells Angels chapter president Dale Donovan  

Three full-patch Hells Angels members -- including Manitoba chapter president Dale Donovan -- were among those arrested and charged with drug, weapon and gang offences.
Three other Manitoba men were also charged with conspiracy to murder after a plot to kill a drug rival was exposed during the year-long sting.
Search warrants obtained last month by the Free Press disclosed the inner-working of a major gang and drug distribution network across Manitoba and western Canada.
They also give a rare inside look at the highly-organized structure of a criminal enterprise, the competition that exists and the violence that often results.Manitoba government has authorized a direct indictment in a major undercover drug and gang investigation that utilized the services of an undercover agent. Today’s decision means the 17 people arrested in December as part of Project Drill will go directly to trial without having the benefit of a preliminary hearing.No dates have been set.
Lawyers for the accused will only get one crack at testing the evidence and grilling career criminal Scotty (Taz)Robertson, who was paid $650,000 to broker a series of drug and weapons deals that were caught on audio and video surveillance beginning in late 2006.

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Captured Pasqualle Condello, 57, one of Italy's most wanted bosses of the southern 'Ndrangheta Mafia  


Italian police on Monday arrested Pasqualle Condello, 57, one of Italy's most wanted bosses of the southern 'Ndrangheta Mafia, who has been on the run since the 1980s, the ANSA news agency reported.Condello had been sentenced to life in prison for a 1989 murder and has been considered since that time as the most important organised crime boss in Calabria. He was arrested at a house in the region's capital, Reggio di Calabria.Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato called it "a great day for Calabria and the fight against organised crime in Italy."Police arrested Pasquale Condello, 58; his nephew, Giandomenico Condello, 28; and son-in-law Giovanni Barilla, 30; and another unnamed person in a raid Monday evening.
More than 100 Italian police officials descended on an apartment in the southern Italian city of Reggio Calabria, finally arresting Condello, the reputed head of 'Ndrangheta, the Italian news agency, ANSA, reported Tuesday.Police officials said Condello was "cool and detached" during his arrest and said "I have nothing to do with your investigations, with gang wars nor with the charges for which you have issued nine arrest warrants against me."Officials said they believe Condello ran an extensive drug trafficking, extortion and racketeering ring that extended through much of Italy, racking up four life sentences in abstentia along the way, ANSA said.
A 2006 report from Italy's national crime agency said the 'Ndrangheta organization ran a cocaine operation in Europe that generated more than $50 billion per year.
Officials say the 'Ndrangheta organization is the most powerful mob organization in Italy, rivaling the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and Camorra in Naples.

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Rondel 'Fine Man' Rawlins G$50 million (US$250,000) reward for Rawlins' capture  

Twelve people, including three lawmen, were gunned down Sunday night in the small mining village. The 12 were murdered during a one-hour assault, which forced the Bharrat Jagdeo administration to postpone yesterday's reading of the national budget.
Police have also since linked that attack to a gang led by the country's most wanted man, Rondel 'Fine Man' Rawlins. Rawlins is reported to have warned law enforcement authorities that there would be mayhem in the country if his reputed pregnant common-law wife was not released by abductors.The police have offered a G$50 million (US$250,000) reward for Rawlins' capture. He is wanted for several murders, including the April 2006 assassination of Agriculture Minister Satyadeow 'Sash' Sawh, several of his siblings and a bodyguard. In recent weeks, crime has spiraled out of control in this Caribbean Community country.Only three weeks ago, a gang of about 25 men launched an attack at Lusignan, a community in East Coast Demerara, where they killed 11 people, including five children.Many residents have gathered on the streets of Bartica, lamenting the brutish manner in which the 12 people were slaughtered Sunday night. There had been no major statement by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration the Government Information Agency (GINA) has announced that Jagdeo would be meeting with stakeholders today.
At least 20 unidentified gunmen using speedboats first attacked a police outpost Sunday, killing three officers and seriously wounding two others, before taking away various firearms and freeing a number of inmates. Reports said the men then hijacked a police vehicle which they used to run amok, shooting indiscriminately at homes and businesses. Police believe that the gang that carried out the attack was the same group which killed 11 people, including five children at Lusignan three weeks ago.

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The Rebels gang members Birthday  

Forty-seven police officers from the Crime Gang Task Force, Licensing Enforcement Branch, STAR Group and Southern Operations Service searched the Old Noarlunga premises at about 9.30pm. two pistols seized by police during the raid of a southern suburbs bikie clubroom on Friday will be forensically tested by police.Police allege that as they approached the clubrooms two loaded semi-automatic pistols were thrown over a side fence. Police said there was evidence suggesting liquor was being sold without a licence. They seized about $3000 of liquor, $480 cash and three ecstasy tablets. It is understood the Rebels gang members were celebrating two members' birthdays.

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Hells Angels North Crew  

Detectives from the gangs squad arrested a large, well-built man, dressed in black jeans and a grey t-shirt and wearing white sneakers, in Pyrmont. A luxury waterfront flat believed to be owned by a Hells Angels bikie in Sydney was searched by police this afternoon. A blue Ford FPV GT sedan was also filmed and searched by police, while the muscled man, his hands cuffed behind his back, stood and watched.
A sticker on the rear window of the car, with South Australian plates, read: "Hells Angels North Crew". Another sticker on the inside of the car read: "This is a Hells Angels vehicle. F*** with it and find out."The suspect being arrested today in Pyrmont and, left, the Hells Angel warning sign in the car by his home.Officers from City Central command then searched a ground floor flat in the luxury Wharf Crescent complex. The man was then placed in a police car and taken away, while two detectives from the gangs squad left the building holding a small brown evidence bag. The man was later charged with allegedly perverting the course of justice and bailed to appear in court at a later date.

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Blue City, Queens Drive, Finsbury Park Man Dem, Holly Park Boyz and Manor House Boys.  

Blue City, Queens Drive, Finsbury Park Man Dem, Holly Park Boyz and Manor House Boys.
Finsbury Park Man Dem par round the Six Acres Estate. Blue City align themselves with FPMD. Holly Park Boys are from the Holly Park estate and are also aligned to FPMD. Highbury Grove Man Dem are present round the Highbury Estate and Holloway Boys from Holloway. Popham Youts are a younger gang in the area close to the City.
Islington’s gangs are predominantly mixed with numbers of African and Caribbean manz. There are some man that par round De Beauvoir Town in Islington sides, although De Beauvoir Town extends into the borough of Hackney aswell.

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MS-13, Mara Salvatrucha.Who are they?  

Who are they? Members of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, who are mostly Salvadoran nationals or first generation Salvadoran-Americans, but also Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and other Central and South American immigrants. And according to the FBI's recent national threat assessment of this growing, mobile street gang, they could be operating in your community...now or in the near future. Based on information from their own investigations, from state and local law enforcement partners, and from community organizations, FBI concluded that while the threat posed by MS-13 to the U.S. as a whole is at the "medium" level, membership in parts of the country is so concentrated that they have labeled the threat level there "high."
MS-13 operates in at least 42 states and the District of Columbia and has about 6,000-10,000 members nationwide. Currently, the threat is highest in the western and northeastern parts of the country, which coincides with elevated Salvadoran immigrant populations in those areas. In the southeast and central regions, the current threat is moderate to low, but recently, FBI see's an influx of MS-13 members into the southeast, causing an increase in violent crimes thereRight now, according to the FBI MS-13 has no official national leadership structure. MS-13 originated in Los Angeles, but when members migrated eastward, they began forming cliques that for the most part operated independently. These cliques, though, often maintain regular contact with members in other regions to coordinate recruitment/criminal activities and to prevent conflicts. The FBI believes that Los Angeles gang members have an elevated status among their MS-13 counterparts across the country, a system of respect that could potentially evolve into a more organized national leadership structure.MS-13 members engage in a wide range of criminal activity, including drug distribution, murder, rape, prostitution, robbery, home invasions, immigration offenses, kidnapping, carjackings/auto thefts, and vandalism. Most of these crimes, you'll notice, have one thing in common—they are exceedingly violent. And while most of the violence is directed toward other MS-13 members or rival street gangs, innocent citizens often get caught

in the crossfire. MS-13 is expanding its membership at an "alarming" rate through recruitment and migration. Some MS-13 members move to get jobs or to be near family members—currently, the southeast and the northeast are seeing the largest increases in membership. MS-13 often recruits new members by glorifying the gang lifestyle (often on the Internet, complete with pictures and videos) and by absorbing smaller gangs.Speaking of employment, MS-13 members typically work for legitimate businesses by presenting false documentation. They primarily pick employers that don't scrutinize employment documents, especially in the construction, restaurant, delivery service, and landscaping industries.The FBI, says through its MS-13 National Joint Task Force and field investigations, remains committed to working with local, state, national, and international partners to disrupt and dismantle this violent gang.
Mexican drug cartels responsible for recent border violence have also cemented ties to street and prison gangs on the U.S. side. U.S. gangs retail drugs purchased from Mexican traffickers and often work as cartel surrogates or enforcers on U.S. soil. Intelligence suggests Los Zetas have hired members of various gangs at different times including the Mexican Mafia, Texas Syndicate, MS-13, and Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos to further their criminal endeavors.Just this week over a dozen people were either shot or beaten to death in separate incidents in Mexican border cities. Over the weekend in Juárez Mexico, just across the Rio Grande River which is all that separates Mexico from the U.S. border city of El Paso Texas. Also, in Juárez an 8-year-old girl at a road side cafe was shot in the ribs apparently by a stray bullet during a fight between street gangs, officials said. At about 2:20 a.m. Sunday, Juárez officials said, Javier Leal Saucedo, 33, was found dead near Zaragoza Boulevard and Rayon Street. He had been beaten to death by border gangs doing the dirty work for the powerful Mexican Cartels.
Later the same day at about 9 a.m., the bodies of two men were found shot in the head in Ejido Jesus Carranza, a suburb of Juárez. The victims have not been identified, but authorities said, they found two 9 mm shells near the bodies. Also on Sunday, a 30- to 35-year-old man was found dead in his car, the victim of still another gangland type killing. The cause of death and the name of the victim are not known. The incident took place near Paseo de la Plaza and Paseo de los Arcos streets in downtown Juárez. In January of this year in Tijuana Mexico not far from the American city of San Diego, officials said they found six executed kidnapping victims inside a Tijuana house where gunmen took refuge during a chaotic three-hour shootout with Mexican soldiers and police. The victims, all male, were blindfolded and gagged wrapped in blankets and had been shot in the head, although it was unclear if they were killed before or during the gun battle. said Edgar Millan, a spokesman with the federal Public Safety Department. According to Gen. Germán Redondo Azuara, commander of the second military zone said Mexican soldiers, state and local police were sent in to help control the firefight that began when federal agents prepared to raid a house in the Tijuana neighborhood of La Mesa. Police now say that it was a shelter for a cell of the Arellano Felix drug cartel.
Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, the state secretary of public safety indicated to the press that three nearby schools were evacuated. Television showed police running with small children in their arms while shots rang out. Edgar Millan a top official with Mexico's federal Public Security Secretariat said, the shootout killed two gunman and one police officer and wounded three other police officers, in the latest outbreak of violence across the border from San Diego. As a result of the Mexican Government siege four gunmen were arrested – one is a well known state police investigator and another is a local Tijuana police officer. The four arrested gunmen have been flown to Mexico City for questioning. Millan said officials recovered 11 automatic rifles and three bulletproof vests inside the house. Rommel Moreño Manjarrez, Baja California's attorney general said already this week, gunmen shot and killed eight people in Tijuana alone, including three local police officers, as well as a district commander, his wife and his 12-year-old daughter. The gun battle shocked even crime-weary Tijuana residents. Many argued President Felipe Calderón should step up a yearlong crackdown on gangs, drug traffickers and other organized criminals that has sent soldiers into cities across the nation.The San Diego Tribune further reported, a Mrs. Padilla spent the three-hour shootout hiding in the closet with her 19-year-old daughter. As they crouched in the dark, they started to think they wouldn't escape alive. Gunmen across the street shouted that they would drop bombs unless police backed off.

"The gunfire was terrible," she said. "It made the walls shake. I really didn't think we were going to get out." Less than two blocks down the street, police were rushing children from a school vulnerable to gunfire from men holed up on the roof and top floors of the besieged brick safe house.
Some of the children were carried by officers who crouched and pressed themselves up against the building to avoid the bullets. Other children ran out onto the sidewalk in groups under armed guard, their eyes wide with terror. "I could hear the hail of gunfire, and it was really strong," Rico Espinosa said. "I didn't feel fear until we had evacuated all 65 kids that were under my care, and then my legs started to shake." Rico and the children were all safely removed from the school, but Rico's husband, Jorge Espinosa, stayed in a back room to take calls from worried parents.

"It was like being in Beirut," he said. Residents said soldiers, sent in to help overwhelmed police, swarmed rooftops. The gunmen refused to back down, shouting obscenities at the police and taunting them. Recently in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo assailants killed the director of public safety for the town of Tulancingo. Jose Alvarado was shot more than 20 times, Hidalgo state police director Ahuizotl Figueroa said.Many on both sides of the border have been killed or wounded and the terror goes on with authorities unable to control the gangs that kill and traffic in drugs and humans for the wealthy Mexican cartels.

Gen. Germán Redondo Azuara says he believes many of the drugs raised in Afghanistan, finds its way via smuggling routes into markets in both Europe and the United States where they are peddled by gang members. In turn millions of dollars and Eros are used to fund terrorist and their terror activities not only in Afghanistan but around the world. Most of these same terrorist drug organizations, that fuel the terror network also help to fund the Taliban attacks in Afghanistan. Part of this illicit cash provides operating capital for international terrorist Osama Bin Laden and others. The Columbian and Mexican drug cartels now believed to be working with international terrorist is the most pervasive organizational threat to the United States according to one D.E.A. agent. murder money & mexico: tijuana cartelThese new combined international drug trafficking organizations are complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantities of Afghanistan illicit drugs. Global Terrorist And Drug Trafficking CartelsA high ranking ICE official claims the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO´s) are perfect for the terrorist because they are active in every region of the country and dominate the illicit drug trade in every area in both Mexico and the United States. Because of this new alliance Mexican DTOs are expanding their operations dramatically in order to gain a larger share of the drug market. Colombian DTOs are dominant cocaine and heroin traffickers, particularly in the Northeast; however, they are increasingly relinquishing control to Mexican DTOs in order to shield themselves from law enforcement detection. The Mexican DTOs are already major transporters and distributors of cocaine and South American heroin into the U.S. They also distribute cocaine and other drugs to numerous other DTOs and criminal groups that are also active in the United States, the world´s largest users of cocaine and heroin.Other reasons the terrorist have chosen the Mexican DTOs is they control the transportation and wholesale distribution of most illicit drugs in every area of the western hemisphere, exerting unrivaled control over transportation and wholesale distribution of cocaine, Mexican heroin, Mexican marijuana, and ice methamphetamine. Their established overland transportation routes and entrenched distribution networks enable them to supply primary and secondary drug markets throughout these regions. Mexican DTOs are further expanding their influence throughout the world.
The drug distribution is even involving gangs in America and they in turn sale to the street dealers. The street dealers than get the products to the smaller dealers to distribute to our neighbors. All of this creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. And that is exactly what the terrorist want.
In a recently released FBI report on gangs operating both in Mexico and the U.S which was meant for law enforcement eyes only says and we quote: That these gangs on both sides of the border perpetrate violence—from assaults to homicides, using firearms, machetes, or blunt objects—to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement, and the general public. They often target middle and high school students for recruitment. And they form tenuous alliances...and sometimes vicious rivalries...with other criminal groups, depending on their needs at the time.

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Battle between Benkard Barrio Kings and La Eme aka Mexican Mafia two of the city's Latino gangs  

gang member stabbed a city officer who tried to keep him and about a dozen others from killing a man early this morning, police said.Police said this began with a battle between two of the city's Latino gangs. They've made two arrests. This is what they said happened:Officer Richard Hammer was patrolling Mill Street by himself at about 1:45 a.m. when he saw a lone man sprint across the street followed by the group. The men caught the man and beat him, stomped on his head and stabbed him. Hammer jumped out of his car, yelling at the men to stop and calling on the radio for backup. When he grabbed two of the men, the others turned on him.Someone hit him in the back of the head. Hammer lost his grip on the two, and everyone except the beaten man ran north on Mill Street. Hammer got up, chased and caught the two he'd had before. As he pinned them against a wall, five or six others punched him in the back of the head and upper body. One of the men Hammer held turned, punched him and tried to pull him to the ground. They fought as the second man wrenched free from Hammer and ran with the rest of the group.Hammer cuffed the man he still held and waited for backup.Officers arrived and went looking for the other men. The man originally targeted by the group lay bleeding. He'd been stabbed multiple times and, police would later learn, was bleeding into his lung.Hammer noticed his leg hurt after he loaded the suspect into a patrol car. He lifted his right pant leg. Blood covered his calf and boot. He'd been stabbed in the thigh. Officers had already called an ambulance to take the wounded man to the Newburgh campus of St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital. Now, Officer Tom Reynolds loaded Hammer into a patrol car and raced him to the hospital, too. Emergency room staffers stapled the wound together. He is recovering at home today. The other man went to Westchester Medical Center. His condition wasn't available.

Detectives Joseph Cortez and Lorenzo D'Angelico arrived at the scene and found a pen knife with a long, serrated blade they think stabbed Hammer and the other man. Meanwhile, officers Anthony Giudice and John Maguire spotted a man on William Street who fit the description of one of the suspects. They stopped him. He had a knife and 1.8 grams of cocaine, and they arrested him on drug charges. They're still trying to figure out his role in the fight.In the hours that followed the fight, detectives began trying to put the pieces together. Detectives Cortez and D'Angelico questioned the suspect Hammer arrested. His name is Edson Godinez, a 17-year-old who lives a couple blocks away from the fight. They said he admitted stabbing the other man and Hammer. The second man arrested was 20-year-old Emmanuel Flores of Newburgh. Police say they're gang members but declined to say which gang. They think the fight was part of an ongoing battle between the Benkard Barrio Kings and La Eme, sometimes called Mexican Mafia. The group and the lone man are gang rivals, police said.
Detectives hope to identify more suspects and make more arrests in the days ahead.

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Morneau, 32, Christian Laurin, 19, and Alan Mulder, 19, are accused of smuggling 130 pounds of Ecstasy into the state of Montana  

Morneau, 32, Christian Laurin, 19, and Alan Mulder, 19, are accused of smuggling 130 pounds of Ecstasy into the state of Montana. Convictions would carry mandatory minimum sentences of a decade, and a maximum of life with no chance of parole.
Documents filed in district court show the trio was pulled over Feb. 9 by state troopers while driving on an interstate highway in Montana. Police say inconsistencies in statements given by the three suspects led the troopers to search the vehicle, and three duffel bags containing the Ecstasy pills were seized.
Morneau told police he had hauled the bags across the Canada-U.S. border by snowmobile, according to the court documents. Police also allege Morneau told them the teenagers were knowing participants, and were to be paid $1,000 for their involvement. Morneau allegedly told police he was being paid $5,000 -- from an unidentified source -- to take the bags over the border and that his accomplices were to be paid out of his take. All three accused face charges of possession with the intent to distribute.At a preliminary hearing held Friday in Billings, Montana, a judge determined there was probable cause to hold the trio. They'll most likely spend the week there before being moved to a federal facility in nearby Shelby.
Under the U.S. "speedy trial" law, the government has 70 days to begin trial proceedings, but the court-appointed defence lawyer for Laurin, David Merchant, said the government now must indict the three, which would start the trial clock again. No plea has been entered by any of the men, Merchant said. Merchant said the teenagers could be exempted from the 10-year mandatory minimum based on a first-offence "safety valve" that exists in U.S. law, should the amount of drugs alleged to be involved turn out to be less.Merchant said he's still waiting on lab reports to verify the exact amount of Ecstacy in the duffel bags.Merchant also said he sees serious problems with the case so far, and wonders why police pulled the three over for a broken headlight at 7:50 a.m.
"There's some things that don't add up -- they were pulled over for another reason," Merchant said. Winnipeg police said Mulder was reported missing by family on Tuesday.
He had told family he was travelling to Mall of America in Minneapolis.

Laurin's Facebook profile indicates his friends are aware of his situation -- he had been active on the social networking site up until Wednesday of last week.
He listed his favourite activities as "working out every day and spending money."
By 4:30 p.m. Friday, his profile had been pulled down, but a friend of Laurin said the teenagers are friends who had known each other for a couple of years.
Morneau is a self-employed mechanic who is no stranger to the local Hells Angels, who often come to him to fix their bikes, justice sources said.He's also become well known in the courts recently.Morneau currently faces drug charges stemming from a May 2007 arrest. Winnipeg police stopped a car in which Morneau was a passenger and seized 76 Percocet pills and 30 rocks of crack cocaine,He was also charged with possessing an illegal metal baton and found to be carrying several cellphones. Police and the Crown alleged Morneau was working as a local "dial-a-dealer." He has denied the allegations.
At the time of his drug arrest, Morneau had been free on bail pending sentencing for his role in an unusual theft ring.
Morneau was nabbed in July 2006 and admitted to breaking into several semi-trailers parked in locked compounds on the edge of the city. He stole several items including 800 pounds of ground beef, $2,500 in beer and $400 worth of McDonald's products, court was told.Morneau was supposed to be sentenced for those crimes in early 2007 but the case was delayed when he failed to show up for a court-ordered meeting with his probation officer.

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Special Forces of Arturo Beltran militarization of Mexican Drug Gangs  


soldiers seized 23.5 tonnes of cocaine – enough for about 200 million lines of the drug – in the world's biggest ever cocaine bust. It was destroyed in a public bonfire. Calderon is hoping his crackdown will bring his administration rewards from the US, which has frequently urged its southern neighbour to be more aggressive against drug mafias. The US Congress is debating a $1.4 billion anti-drug aid proposal for Mexico, including high-tech phone-tapping equipment and possibly Black Hawk helicopters.The proposal has been tacked onto a bill requesting more funding for US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Calderon argues the US government has a responsibility to help out because US drug users fund the traffickers - analysts estimate that Mexican drug trade to the US is worth around $10 billion to $30 billion a year.Most of the weapons fuelling the bloodshed are also bought in US gun stores and smuggled south over the Rio Grande."How are we supposed to confront these guys if they come at us? We need the army to wipe them out"Osiel Mendoza, Mexico City police officera group of armed men went to the house of a police officer in Tijuana and shot him dead, along with his wife and nine-year-old daughter.Armed men have also battled police and soldiers in clashes lasting up to three hours, turning Mexican residential areas into war zones.Analysts say the orchestrated attacks show that Mexico's longstanding drug violence has entered a new phase. In the past, rival gangs fought over billion-dollar smuggling routes of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana to the US. Now, the gangs are working together to defend these routes from the federal government."We used to see narcos against narcos. Now we are seeing narcos against cops," Jorge Chabat, a Mexican drug expert, told Al Jazeera using the common Mexican name for drug traffickers. "Calderon is paying the price for taking on the cartels. As he has five years left in power, he might just get away with it.""It's a bi-national problem," said a senior US drug official in Mexico who withheld his name for security reasons. "It's an extremely bloody uphill battle. Narco-organisations have a developed infrastructure. It is being threatened and we are seeing their brutal response."However, critics worry that Black Hawks or other such tools given to Mexico could fall into the wrong hands. In the last two decades, hundreds of police, soldiers and politicians have been convicted of working for the cartels. One entire unit of army special forces deserted in the late 1990s to form a paramilitary commando called the Zetas, who work as bloody enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. Their rival, the Sinaloa Cartel, imitated their paramilitary style by training hundreds of would be enforcers in special weapons and tactics. After years of beheadings and reprisal massacres, these two cartels recently reached a truce, only to turn their wrath on the federal government, according to Mexican and US drug officials.The level of firepower of the drug gangs has been shown in raids on cartel safe houses in recent weeks. Police stormed one middle-class Mexico City home to find 30 guns, 12 grenade launchers, 30 grenades and more than 40 bullet-proof jackets with the initials FEDA – a Spanish acronym for "Special Forces of Arturo Beltran", an alleged drug gang leader.A raid on a Tijuana warehouse used by a cartel for training even unearthed a shooting range and assault course.Low ranking police officers complain they are outgunned and are risking their lives for salaries which are as low as $600 per month."How are we supposed to confront these guys if they come at us?" Osiel Mendoza, a Mexico City police officer, "We need the army to wipe them out."

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West Trade Bloods Antonio Craig got 20 years behind bars  

Antonio Craig got 20 years behind bars. Investigators said he ran the West Trade Bloods. They said another gang member already picked up where they said Craig left off.Charlotte-Mecklenburg police captain Steve Willis said, "Another member has stepped up and taken the role on that Mr. Craig was working through at the time."
Investigators said they have to keep chipping away at the organization. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Detective Steve Parker said, "One thing we do is go after the most violent offenders of the group."FBI Special Agent David McCranie said, "We want to focus on the head of the group, the head of the gang, because you go after the top. We don't want to build from the bottom. We want to go from the top and take it out."Investigators think Craig was the second blood leader they caught since 2006.

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Bellinos crime family  

Geraldo Bellino, the "managing director" of the Bellino syndicate was sent to jail for seven years in 1991, a member of the family is in the dock as the alleged mastermind of a crime gang. Todd Sean Filippa, 44, the son of Tony Bellino, a senior member of the 1980s syndicate and a prominent figure in the Fitzgerald inquiry who was never charged, has pleaded guilty in relation to a massive drug operation producing and supplying amphetamines, as well as cocaine, throughout Queensland and interstate. The burly, pony-tailed Filippa, who adopted his mother's maiden name because of the notoriety of the Bellinos after the Fitzgerald inquiry, was arrested with 18 other people in 2004 following simultaneous raids on 27 premises in a joint investigation, led by Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission and involving the Queensland police and the Australian Crime Commission.
Filippa was arrested at a drug lab in Miles, in southwestern Queensland, where investigators found a pill press and 200 litres of pseudoephedrine, used in the production of the street drug ice. He is alleged to have run the drug gang for more than eight years, at the same time he had moved into the Bellinos' more traditional business of nightclubs. A father of two, Filippa owned and operated two nightclubs, Scores and Rockafellas Bar and Restaurant, in Fortitude Valley - the inner-city backdrop to the crime and corruption that was aired at the Fitzgerald inquiry.
In the back rooms of the two clubs - since sold, with the profits being pursued through a $1 million-plus claim under the Proceeds of Crime Act - Filippa is alleged to have run the drug business. Over the past week, prosecutors have been laying out a case that Filippa was the mastermind of the organised crime gang, playing hours of secretly taken videos of him doing business with his underworld associates. In the tapes, Filippa is a hard man, littering almost every sentence with a profanity or tale of adventure that seems straight out of a scene from television's The Sopranos. But it is largely bluff, according to his lawyers. While Filippa has pleaded guilty to trafficking, possession and drug production charges, he has denied allegations that he was the gang's mastermind.Instead, he claims, he was just a cog in the network. A contested sentencing hearing before a judge is attempting to determine the extent of his involvement. But it is likely Filippa will have to serve years in jail. Two of his more senior associates were last year sentenced to 10 and 11 years' jail for their involvement in the drugs operation. Eight other people have been sentenced to jail terms, ranging from four to eight years, for their role in the network. Prosecutors want him to go to jail for 15 years. He is already in prison, after initially being granted bail then being caught attempting to obtain a passport under a false identity.

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Giles, a full-patch member of the notorious motorcycle gang, is charged along with two Hells Angels associates, David Revell and Richard Rempel,  

British ColumbiaA lawyer for David Francis Giles denied Thursday there was any direct evidence that the senior Hells Angel member was involved in running a drug-trafficking ring out of the East End chapter's Kelowna clubhouse.Revell and Rempel are also charged with trafficking cocaine. The three men were arrested after police seized eight kilograms of cocaine from a storage locker and a vehicle in the Kelowna area in 2005. Crown has argued Giles kept himself well insulated from the handling of the drugs but was in charge of a "cell" that had him giving orders to Revell, who in turn dealt with Rempel, the man at the bottom of the ladder.But lawyer Richard Fowler told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne Mckenzie yesterday that there was no evidence of a "particular act" that proves Giles was in any way linked to the drugs.He said there was no proof that Giles had knowledge of or was in control of the drugs, no proof of any financial transactions and no evidence linking Giles to sums of cash.
"This is not a relationship in which Mr. Giles is directing anybody to do anything," he said in final submissions. "The kind of thing you see in drug cases is completely absent in this case for Mr. Giles."Fowler singled out an intercepted communication from a bug placed in Giles' home in May 2005 in which the Crown claims Giles confidently predicts: "We'll get back up," after discussing the loss of the kilos of cocaine with Revell.He argued that the call, pivotal to the Crown's argument that Giles knew about the trafficking activity, was inaudible and hard to tell who is speaking. The call was replayed three times, once at the request of the judge.
"The Crown takes evidence and molds it to fit their theory but it is ill-fitting at best," claimed Fowler.

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Vallaro is the Mafia "rat"  

"You have to go bother these people for your money," heard telling a subordinate. "Rough them up a little. Tell them 'You're a f---ing stiff' … Crack a face. F--- them up. Don't you do it, send a f---ing kid to rough them up, a f---ing joke."

Joey Vallaro so many people want him killed. Otherwise he could make a killing himself on the speakers' circuit with his story of how even in adversity there is opportunity.In Vallaro's case it would be about how he turned a jail stretch for extortion into a career as a Staten Island trucking magnate.
Always a step ahead, so far at least, Vallaro is the Mafia "rat" at the centre of a 170-page indictment against 62 mobsters and crooks, including the bosses of New York's Gambino family, which resulted in 57 arrests last week. It was a crippling blow to one of the city's notorious Five Families.Twelve years and a lifetime ago, Vallaro became pals with the Gambino captain Nicholas "Little Nicky" Corozzo while they were in the can. Not long before he was jailed Vallaro and a partner had started a trucking company.Court documents, referring to Vallaro as "John Doe #4", show that on the outside another Gambino captain, Thomas "Tommy Sneakers" Cacciopoli, recovered a debt owed to Vallaro's company "and, in return, demanded monthly extortion payments from that point forward". After his release from prison in 1999 Vallaro made the payments directly to Cacciopoli, 58, and to stay in business he has since handed over more than $US160,000.In return, the Gambinos sponsored his business: ushering him into exclusive rights at development sites and granting him permission to start a cement company. When Vallaro wanted to sell after a buyer approached him, he first had to obtain permission from the family."In keeping with instructions from Gambino family captains Nicholas Corozzo and Leonard DiMaria to consult them before making any decisions concerning his business, John Doe #4 informed DiMaria of the [buyer's] offer. DiMaria later informed John Doe #4 that the family had agreed to allow him to make the sale, provided he pay $100,000 to the Gambino family," court documents show.Vallaro's partner did not fare so well: "In early January 2008, Gambino family soldier Joseph Scopo approached John Doe #4 on behalf of Gambino family captain Thomas Cacciopoli and instructed him that when the sale of his cement company took place, John Doe #4 should not provide his partner with the more than $300,000 in sale proceeds due to him, and that Cacciopoli would collect the money himself when he was released from prison."

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bullet-proof BMW worth €100,000 belonging to a leading member of one of the country's most dangerous criminal gangs  

Siezed bullet-proof BMW worth €100,000 belonging to a leading member of one of the country's most dangerous criminal gangs after a high-speed car chase.The driver of the car, who is a close relation to the vehicle's owner, was arrested following the pursuit after he failed to stop the high-performance vehicle at a garda checkpoint in Limerick city.Officers also recovered a bullet-proof vest in the vehicle. The arrested man is likely to face charges in connection with the incident.The top-of-the-range black BMW, which was fitted with bullet-proof glass at a cost of €100,000 to the owner, belongs to a leading member of the Dundon-McCarthy gang. The car owner, who is behind bars, and the arrested driver remain a target for gangs based in the St Mary's Park area of the city.The vehicle remains impounded following the high speed chase on Tuesday.The driver of the vehicle who is in his early 20s is well known to Limerick gardai investigating ongoing criminal and gangland activity in the city.He has just returned to Limerick from Spain where he was in the company of murdered Dublin criminal Paddy Doyle until days before he was shot dead. Doyle was shot dead in the Costa del Sol last week.The Limerick man who returned to the city a fortnight ago has served three years for drug dealing has openly threatened to kill opposing members in Limerick city's ongoing feud. He was released from prison last November.

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Donnie Bryant and the Hybrid Gang  

20-year-old Donnie Bryant is accused of participating in what prosecutors call an "ambush-style murder" at a North Las Vegas apartment complex in September 2004.
Federal prosecutors have launched their case against a member of what they call a "hybrid" gang.
Prosecutors say Bryant was a member of a gang made of up a mix of members from rival gangs. The case was brought in federal court as part of an attempt to crack down on violent street gangs.
Bryant is charged with violent crime in aid of racketeering and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Those convicted in federal court have no chance of parole. Bryant pleaded not guilty. His attorney told the jury that some government witnesses will be looking for a deal to shorten their own

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Giles the "quintessential" Hells Angel "  

Three men on trial for drug trafficking were engaged in a "joint venture" and were in business on behalf of the East End chapter of the Hells Angels, prosecutor Martha Devlin said Wednesday.Questioned by defence lawyers about wiretaps involving David Giles, David Revell and Richard Rempel, Devlin cited several calls involving Giles, a full-patch member of the club, that she says prove that the men were working together to traffic cocaine in association with the notorious motorcycle club.
One phone call had Giles referring to how Revell had made $30,000 for him in the past several months.That all simply demonstrates that Revell and Giles are indeed in business," she said. "That establishes that there's a joint venture . . . and that there is an association between the two of them."
Citing another call, she said it was proof that all three men were involved in the joint venture and it all went to aid in the bid to expand the East End chapter from Vancouver to Kelowna.Revell and Rempel were arrested in April 2005 after eight kilograms of cocaine were seized, three from a storage locker in the Kelowna area and five from a secret compartment in a Chrysler vehicle. Giles was arrested a few months later.All three are charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking for the benefit of a criminal organization.Devlin called Giles, a 20-year-member of the club, the "quintessential" Hells Angel "and there's not a citizen he meets who he doesn't make sure knows who they're dealing with."
"He's got the jewelry, the clothing, all the paraphernalia at this house, the plaques and the stickers."Defence lawyers are expected to begin their final submissions Thursday.

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The gangs being targeted are the G-Unit, the Gambinos, the Sandy, Dufu, Nelson Street, Beverly Hills, John John, Duke Street, Mango Rose, Desperlie Cr  

The gangs being targeted are the G-Unit, the Gambinos, the Sandy, Dufu, Nelson Street, Beverly Hills, John John, Duke Street, Mango Rose, Desperlie Crescent, Africa, Quarry Street, Harpe Place and Trou Macaque.
Sources believe the gang leaders may be “losing business” due to the upsurge in violence in Laventille and the deployment of police officers and soldiers to bring crime in the community under control. As a result, the criminals are seeking less secure areas to trade drugs and arms and carry out extortion activities and kidnappings. They need “quick cash” to stay “in business”, said a senior officer. “If the gang leaders are now losing business and control over drug turfs because of the heavy presence of the police and soldiers (in Laventille), they will now be forced to use other means necessary to get the money they require to fuel their drugs and gun trade,” said the source. Most of the gang leaders are in their 20s, and police suspect they are hiding in Diego Martin, Carenage, Champs Fleurs, Enterprise, Longdenville and at the Trainline in Marabella. Police report that there are 86 gangs comprising of 1,720 members which operate in Trinidad. The migration of the criminals from Laventille has raised concern among the western, southern and central police divisions, where officers are bracing for a rise in crime. Yesterday, they complained that they lacked the manpower to combat any crime upsurge and felt that although a heavy police presence is required in Laventille, the gang leaders must be flushed out before they take root in other communities. Last year, officers of the Chaguanas CID were kept busy with a spate of gang-related murders, robberies and shootings. The situation cooled down by September but between October and November, residents of Las Lomas and Brasso complained of being the targets of gangs. Violent crimes also rose in Champs Fleurs. Police records revealed the escalation in the Laventille gang wars began in the second half of 2007, following the release of several criminals from prison. The police believe the gang leaders will continue to attack each other, not in Laventille, but in vulnerable communities that are not considered crime hot spots. “It is all about business, and we the officers on the ground hope that the top brass in the service discuss the migration of these gang members seriously, before the situation gets out of control,” said a junior police officer. Deputy Police Commissioner Gilbert Reyes yesterday shied away from commenting on the report that the police are targeting the gang leaders.

“We want to deal with the situation and we are having a lot of intelligence allowing us to make some key decisions in dealing with the situation in Laventille,” Reyes said. Newsday learned that officers were given firm instructions on Monday to find the 25 gang leaders to be questioned in connection with outstanding offences including murder. On Monday, Police Commissioner Trevor Paul, Chief of Defence Staff, Colonel Edmund Dillon and Brigadier Peter Joseph, Director of the Special Anti Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT) met with National Security Minister Martin Joseph and a decision was taken to lockdown several areas in Laventille. This action was prompted by recent murders, shootings and a firebombing at Picton Road. The police exercise started around 9 pm on Monday and continued yesterday. Between Monday and Tuesday morning five persons were held and a quantity of items seized. Late Tuesday 20 persons, including three murder suspects were also detained.

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Manitoba-based ephedrine smuggling ring  

Manitoba-based ephedrine smuggling ring were ordered yesterday to stand trial May 28 in Buffalo, N.Y. Hugh Stevens and Sandra Jacobi were caught up with dozens of others by RCMP and the Drug Enforcement Agency in the alleged smuggling scheme which was based in Winnipeg and Lac Du Bonnet.Stevens, 61, and Jacobi, 50, had originally agreed to plea bargains, but those deals fell apart over the last six months. Both will stand trial by jury. Stevens has been in custody since his arrest in September 2004.In Winnipeg, a preliminary hearing for two suspects continues at the Law Courts Building.The case centres on how bulk amounts of ephedrine ended up in a California meth lab controlled by the Mexican Mafia. The ephedrine was legally imported into Canada through a Thunder Bay, Ont., company, but allegedly diverted onto the black market. Ephedrine is banned in the U.S. Its sale is regulated in Canada by Health Canada. Two of the eight Canadian defendants are no longer alive to be prosecuted. Lac du Bonnet resident Rodger Bruneau Sr. was charged as being the ring's kingpin, but he died in his sleep of an accidental drug overdose about three years ago. A tenth defendant, Emmanuel (Manny) Barbagianis, was shot to death in Winnipeg two years ago. His slaying remains unsolved. DEA agents, RCMP and Winnipeg police arrested about 90 people in the smuggling scheme, called Operation Brain Drain in the U.S. All suspects arrested in the U.S. except Stevens and Jacobi have agreed to plea deals -- reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony against Stevens and Jacobi.It's alleged Bruneau and Stevens recruited other people to use cars, trucks and horse trailers to move hundreds of pounds of ephedrine from Canada into the U.S. through the Niagara-Buffalo region. In July 2004, police found 195 kilograms of ephedrine hidden with a horse in a trailer that they had followed from a racetrack outside Hamilton, Ont., across the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.

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