A man previously served with a gang injunction has been booked on three counts of attempted murder in connection with a shooting earlier this month that left two men injured and the dog they were walking dead.According to the Riverside Police Department, three men were walking the dog on Chicago Avenue near Seventh Street at 10 p.m. Jan. 13 when a vehicle approached them from behind and someone started shooting; two of the three were hit.Investigators identified Ignacio Chavez, 31, of Riverside, as the suspect.Chavez was arrested Jan. 26 on an unrelated warrant; he was later booked for attempted murder and other charges. Chavez was among 114 ESR gang members served with a permanent gang injunction in 2007.

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Police early Saturday morning captured Ernest “Bama” Edwards, who was wanted for allegedly pulling a gun and threatening to shoot another man in Monticello this past Tuesday.Officers descended on the Cinco Estrella Club, formerly the Anson House, on East Broadway in Monticello in search of Edwards.Sheriff’s Deputies, Monticello Police, and State Troopers were acting on a tip that the reputed Bloods gang member was at that location. When police arrived at about 2:30 a.m., they spotted Edwards, who was wearing an oversized red sweat shirt, in the back of the club. Before police could reach him, he faded into the crowd. A short time later, Edwards was spotted attempting to leave the club. Police almost missed him because he got rid of the red sweat shirt and was now wearing blue clothes, as if he was a member of the Crips street gang. When Edwards was confronted, he resisted arrest. He shouted out gang codes to the patrons in the bar who in turn began to pelt police with bottles, cups, and food. Edwards was taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest by Sheriff’s Deputies. Edwards was then turned over to Monticello PD for arraignment on the outstanding warrant.

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Under a plea agreement, David W. Dennis Jr., 23, of Disputanta faces six to 10 years in prison for his role in robbing Petersburg residents with a sawed-off shotgun last March as a member of the G-Shyne gang.Prince George County man who robbed or attempted to rob four people in four days as part of his initiation into a Bloods-affiliated gang in Petersburg pleaded guilty yesterday to seven felonies, including criminal gang participation.Petersburg Circuit Judge Pamela S. Baskervill accepted Dennis' pleas and agreed to a defense request to delay sentencing until Wednesday. Under terms of the plea agreement, Dennis will be sentenced in accordance with state sentencing guidelines, which call for no more than 10 years in prison. Dennis has no prior record.

Dennis is the third member of the G-Shyne gang, a subset of the nationally known Bloods, to be convicted in recent weeks for crimes committed in Petersburg as a gang. Their leader, Kalvin B. Kelley, 22, also known as "40-cal," was convicted Jan. 13 of conspiring to kill a Petersburg police detective who had arrested him last year in the robberies for which Dennis was convicted yesterday.

And on Jan. 21, Devonta Binns, 17, pleaded guilty to multiple robbery, gun and conspiracy counts and was sentenced as an adult to serve 10 years in prison.
According to evidence in yesterday's case, Kelley -- the gang's "five-star general" -- directed Dennis and other gang members to rob various Petersburg residents March 7 and March 11.
The victims included two Petersburg High School students who were accosted at gunpoint on the morning of March 7 as they were waiting to ride the bus to school.Dennis and Binns, wearing red bandannas that symbolized their membership, took $3 and two gold rings from one of the teens and about $100 from the second, according to a summary of evidence by Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Cheryl Wilson.
Dennis had just joined the gang as a "pup" and was directed to commit the robberies to prove his worth, Wilson said.Earlier that morning, Dennis and Binns -- again at Kelley's direction -- accosted a man walking to work on Halifax Street and threatened to shoot him if he didn't hand over his money. But the man had none. The gang members then found the two high schoolers at St. Matthew and Diamond streets.Encouraging his crew to bring in more money, Kelley set up a personal acquaintance to be robbed March 11. Prosecutors say he directed Dennis and Michael Brown to trick the victim into believing Kelley would meet him at an apartment complex on Commerce Street.There, Dennis accosted the man with a shotgun and the two men struggled with the weapon after Dennis chased him to his car. The man was robbed of $130 and quickly called police after his assailants fled. Dennis and Brown were arrested a short time later.It was after their arrest that investigators began to piece together information about the gang.Defense attorney Shaun Huband, Dennis' lawyer, portrayed his client as a reluctant participant who committed the robberies out of fear that Kelley would harm his family and girlfriend. After his arrest, Dennis was "grateful it was over" and he no longer was under Kelley's influence, Huband said.The G-Shyne gang was formed in 2006, operated in the Tri-Cities area and had 100 members at its height, Wilson said. Three additional suspected gang members will be tried in mid-February.

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Raul Cortez, convicted this week of capital murder was a member of a violent street gang while growing up in Chicago, witnesses told a Collin County jury Friday. The testimony came during the punishment phase in the trial of Raul Cortez, who was found guilty Thursday of killing four people inside a home here during a botched robbery plot. The same jury must decide whether Cortez should die for the crime or be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. Cortez was convicted for the March 12, 2004, shooting deaths of Rosa Barbosa, 46; her nephew, Matthew Barbosa, 25; and his friends Austin York, 18, and Matthew Self, 17.On Friday, the jury saw photographs of gang symbols – as well as a Bible verse and a cross – tattooed on Cortez's body. Similar symbols and gang colors appeared on Cortez's MySpace page at the time of his arrest in 2007, McKinney police Detective Diana Tilton testified. Chicago police Officer James Vins testified that the group was that city's "No. 1 most violent street gang" and is involved in homicides, narcotics trafficking, extortion, robbery and other crimes.Cortez's ex-wife testified that Cortez was proud of his Chicago gang affiliation and became friendly with Mexican prison gang members after he moved to Texas. She told the jury Cortez had a "dark side" and told her he once led a raid of rival gang members' homes in Chicago. "They killed them all," said the woman who is not being identified because she is a victim of childhood molestation. On cross examination by defense attorney Doug Parks, the woman testified that Cortez had never mistreated her during their six-month marriage and that she had no proof he had ever killed anyone. After the prosecution rested its case, defense witness Dr. Mark Vigen, a psychologist who has studied Texas prisons, described prison life to jury members. He told them inmates serving life sentences are "probably the least problematic of inmates." Visiting state District Judge Webb Biard sent the jury home about 4:30 p.m. Friday and told them to bring an overnight bag Monday when they will probably begin their sentencing deliberations.

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leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods street gang has been sentenced to 70 years in state prison. Under the sentence imposed Friday, 26-year-old Michael Smart of Irvington, a reputed "Universal 4-Star General" in Nine Trey, must serve more than 46 years before becoming eligible for parole. A Mercer County jury convicted Smart last week on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses. Prosecutors say Smart took part in a May 2006 shooting in Irvington the left a Crips gang member injured, then fled to Atlantic City where he conspired to kill another Nine Trey member. He was one of 46 alleged Nine Trey members indicted in September 2007 after a joint investigation by the New Jersey State Police and the state Division of Criminal Justice.

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The arrests this week of 30-plus alleged gang members — all of whom authorities accuse of conspiring to deal crack cocaine"Because of the ties to the firearms, to the drugs," Ferrell said, "you're going to see a reduction in gang violence and violence as a whole."I think it's going to impact the neighborhoods where these individuals were living, but also impact the entire city."
The FBI on Wednesday announced the arrests of 16 people accused of crack cocaine distribution, saying they were part of the 29th Street Gang out of northeast Omaha. A federal grand jury last week issued sealed indictments against 17 people. One person remained at large.The indictments against 12 of the people recently arrested have been unsealed. Five of the 12 have been accused of conspiring to distribute 50 or more grams of crack cocaine and face charges of up to life in prison. The ages of the 12 ranged from 20 to 40.This week's arrests were in addition to the December arrests of 17 other alleged members of the 29th Street Gang on crack distribution-related allegations.John Kavanagh, special agent in charge of the Omaha FBI office, said the 30-plus arrests were good news for Omaha neighborhoods."In a metro community this small, you will see a tremendously positive impact in the community," he said, "and you should see a significant decline, certainly, in the narcotics trafficking and the violence associated with it."Omaha Police Chief Eric Buske said he is hopeful the arrests will help reduce drug and gang crime here."I don't think we're in a position to say it's a death blow," he said. "Sometimes people think that's the culmination of the investigation. . . . Based on my experience, it's the midpoint of the investigation because you have a lot more work to do."Because most of the people arrested face federal charges and long prison terms, Ferrell said, they may be more willing to assist authorities on pending investigations — such as unsolved homicide cases — in an attempt to reduce their sentences.Alberto Gonzales, the outreach coordinator for the South Omaha Boys & Girls Club, has worked for years on gang intervention. He said he expects to see a short-term drop in drug activity in north Omaha."People are going to go into a panic," Gonzales said. "The word's gonna be on the street about this big bust — everybody's going to hear about it. People are going to be quiet for a minute. But again, someone will take over where the last person left off. That's the sad thing about this disease of addiction: People are always out there ready to make that dollar."Gannie Clark, a north Omaha community activist, also isn't optimistic that the arrests will stem the flow of drugs in the city."It won't stop because it's too big," he said. "The drug market has always been too big."You can arrest 100 people tomorrow, and the average person can buy drugs in west, east, north or south Omaha," he said."It's just a sad thing. You need to stop it at the point where it's coming in."The arrests, Kavanagh said, were the result of a long-term investigation conducted by the Greater Omaha Safe Streets Task Force, which is made up of the FBI, the Omaha Police Department, the Nebraska State Patrol, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The effort also was assisted by the Bellevue Police Department, the Douglas County Attorney's Office and the Douglas and Sarpy County Sheriff's Offices.
The focus of the task force is on disrupting the criminal organizations."We leave the buy/bust operations to the suppression teams" run by local police, Kavanagh said.
Some of those arrested consider themselves 29th Street Bloods, Kavanagh said; some call themselves Crips. The Crips and the Bloods were the two main, rival gangs that moved into Omaha from Los Angeles in the late 1980s.The local gang members' ties to the main Crips and Bloods aren't that strong, he said, so the various gang members were cooperating to sell drugs."As of right now, we're seeing an association, working together, as opposed to the traditional, all-out war between the two groups," Kavanagh said. "They're very loosely based Crips and Bloods."And that's a good thing for a community, he said."When they're this loose and fractured, it's easier when you dismantle them or arrest them — there's no allegiance. . . . A structured group would have someone in place for succession."Bob Fidone, public safety and compliance director for the Omaha Housing Authority and another ex-gang unit officer, said he doesn't think the arrests will disrupt the city's drug trade, but they should have an immediate impact on violence levels.In his current job, Fidone has found that evicting troublemakers who make up 5 percent of a public housing unit's population can reduce disturbances and fights by about 80 percent.
Kavanagh said the arrests, while welcomed, are only the first phase in the process.
"This is an ongoing investigation," he said. "We will go after everybody involved in this, from the suppliers of the crack cocaine to the people supplying the weapons."

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Sixteen members of the Cut Throats gang face federal drug and conspiracy charges in a case that began after several drive-by shootings in Columbia and Jefferson City.
Federal prosecutors and Columbia police announced the charges in a 34-count grand jury indictment Thursday. Fourteen of the 16 defendants are from Columbia, and the other two are from Fayette and Kansas City.Each defendant faces drug conspiracy charges for allegedly distributing powder and crack cocaine. Four face weapons charges connected to shootings outside mid-Missouri gas stations in June 2007 and January and May 2008.Interim Columbia Police Chief Tom Dresner said the arrests point to a gang problem in Columbia that city leaders have been reluctant to acknowledge.

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More than a dozen people with alleged ties to a notorious white supremacist street gang are facing numerous gun and drug-related charges after a year-long joint investigation by Mounties and Edmonton police.And more people with the White Boy Posse will face charges once the investigation — dubbed Project Gat — is completed, said RCMP Insp. Bob Simmonds with the province’s integrated response to organized crime. The investigation resulted in several search warrants at three Edmonton homes and a business on 127 Avenue and 127 Street in Edmonton all within the last week, as well as another home in St. Albert.The warrants resulted in police seizing dozens of guns, including 16 assault rifles, which were laid out for media to see during a news conference Thursday. Police also seized $500,000 worth of cocaine, 3,000 ecstasy tablets, $310,000 in cash and a large quantity of stolen equipment, including a snowmobile. Project Gat was launched after a number of drive-by shootings last year, including a very public shooting inside a restaurant in the city’s Chinatown on June 10, 2008, Simmonds said.Edmonton police Insp. Kevin Galvin with the service’s organized crime branch said the gang is based in Edmonton and has links in several cities in northern and central Alberta and British Columbia.The Posse, said Galvin, also has several known ties to other gangs, including the Hells Angels. “The issue of violence on the streets of our communities is a very complex and wide-spread issue,” said Galvin.“It’s tough to quantify the impact (these) charges and seizures will have today.”Police also targeted the Posse in a police investigation — dubbed Project Goliath — that led to 17 known members arrested last March.

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Jessee Thomas, 22, and Ernst Exavier, 25, were convicted by a jury in December on criminal racketeering charges brought by Attorney General Bill McCollum's office as part of a regional law enforcement effort last year to crack down on gangs. Thomas also was convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of forged notes.Thomas and Exavier, both of Lake Worth, were among 12 suspected members of the Top-6 gang who prosecutors said terrorized Palm Beach County residents. Prosecutors said the gang is connected to several murders and drug crimes. Two members of the Top 6 gang in Lake Worth were sentenced today to a quarter century in prison each - the first significant victory in Palm Beach County for statewide prosecutors now applying racketeering laws to dismantle criminal gangs.Defense attorneys for Ernst Exavier, 25, and Jessee Thomas, 22, argued at their sentencing that the case was one of guilt by association, that the men never had admitted to being members of the gang, and if they were involved at all, it was as lesser players. Exavier testified his only intention was to make music with Top 6.Circuit Judge Karen Miller, who presided over their racketeering trials earlier this year, clearly disagreed, finding that the men were members of the gang and handing down lengthy prison terms.Exavier and Thomas are among 12 Top-6 gang members arrested within the past year during a coordinated operation by the attorney general's office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the Lantana and Boynton Beach police departments.
Jurors convicted Exavier of racketeering, yet acquitted him of conspiracy to commit racketeering. Jurors convicted Thomas of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, along with various lesser charges.Attorney Gerald Salerno, who represented Exavier, said in 17 years of practicing criminal law he had never seen a case like this one with a huge investigative effort but thin evidence. Salerno offered the example of Exavier's song lyrics about pushing kilos of cocaine being prominently emphasized at trial. "Despite that we never saw one shred of evidence" of any drugs, he said.Attorney Mark Koenig represented Jessee Thomas. Thomas' brother, Tommy, is also charged and awaiting trial. Koenig argued Jessee Thomas had no gang tattoos and was never photographed making Top 6's distinct hand sign. "Just because it's your brother doesn't mean you are part of this conspiracy and this organization," Koenig told the judge."This is guilt by association. When it comes to racketeering and conspiracy," Koenig said, taking a long pause. "I don't see it. I don't see it."

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Investigators on Wednesday morning arrested three suspected members of an alleged violent motorcycle gang, "The Renegades."Sgt. Danny Buie with Suffolk Police said his department, working with investigators in Chesapeake and North Carolina, discovered the motorcyle gang while investigating the alleged mob beating of a tattoo artist in Suffolk."It was an educational experience for me today," said Sgt. Buie.Sgt. Danny Buie said investigators with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies seized a room full of evidence from Renegade hangouts in Suffolk, Chesapeake, Elizabeth City, North Carolina and Hertford Co. North Carolina.
Police say the gang's clubhouse is in Elizabeth City.Sgt. Buie said police seized medieval looking weapons, an arsenal of guns, drugs, gang clothing, a statue of skulls with the leader's name, "Skunk," on the top skull and they also seized clothes belonging to Skunk's wife."She can't be a member of the gang, women can't be members, but she can wear the leather jacket with a patch that says she is the property of a gang member."On the back of the jacket it reads, "Property of Skunk," and police say that means it's strict hands off for the other Renegades.Sgt. Buie also says Skunk told police he is the Renegade's "National Enforcer," and he goes around the country carrying out discipline."If Skunk gets a call from somewhere else around the country and they have a problem, Skunk will travel to that area and try to resolve the situation through verbal negotiations, or as he says, 'physical negotiations,' whatever he has to do," said Sgt. Buie.Police say the three men, admitted they are with the Renegades and were actually very polite during their interrogations.The men who were arrested, Daniel Ray Justice, 41, William Jeffery Wolfe, 43, and Jerry Lynn Gurganuas, 52.

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Stein Bagger’s former bodyguard, prominent Hells Angels member Brian Sandberg, narrowly escaped with his life yesterday when he was shot at close range Danish television and radio personality Mads Vangsø put it best when he asked the government if residents of Copenhagen now need to buy bulletproof vests for their children, in a full page advertisement in national tabloid Ekstra Bladet.
His call for the government to take action came after the midday shooting that took place on an exclusive central Copenhagen shopping street yesterday.High-profile Hells Angels member Brian Sandberg was sitting at the window of Joe & the Juice coffee shop on Ny Østergade street when two suspects approached and opened fire at 1pm.CCTV footage and eye witness accounts describe one of the men drawing a pistol and shooting at Sandberg’s back twice from less than two metres away. The two men fled on foot from the scene.It was initially feared that Sandberg was seriously injured, but it appears that the 9mm thick café window absorbed most of the bullet’s power. Ekstra Bladet reports that the first bullet penetrated the window and Sandberg’s heavy padded jacket, before leaving burn marks on his back. The second bullet also broke through the glass, but embedded itself in the café’s sofa, which had its back facing the street.Sandberg was taken to hospital before receiving a police escort to the City police station at Halmtorvet square. He emerged after an hour of questioning to flashbulbs and jostling reporters. Sandberg did not answer any questions regarding the attempt on his life, only confirming that he felt fine, before being whisked away from the station by two AK 81 members in a waiting car.
AK 81 is a young supporters group of the Hells Angels and its members have been linked to many of the shootings between the bikers and immigrant gangs.It is the second street shooting is less than three days after an Algerian man was hit by gunfire as he sat in a central café on Monday night. The 40-year-old was in a Thai restaurant in the popular café area of Halmtorvet, when a masked man emerged from a car and sprayed the restaurant window with bullets. The victim was hit by four bullets as he dived for cover, but is expected to recover from his injuries.Hells Angels spokesman Jørn Jønke Nielsen told B.T. newspaper that he did not see this as an escalation of the difficulties between the bikers and the gangs.‘There’s no conflict, so there’s no need to talk of retaliation,’ said Nielsen.Sandberg has been the subject of much attention over the last year, not solely due to his Hells Angels connections. His security company BS Consultancy was hired by Stein Bagger’s IT Factory and Sandberg had effectively acted as Bagger’s personal bodyguard, until the executive fled to the US, leaving IT Factory bankrupt.Berlingske Tidende newspaper reports that the bodyguard had been paid 200,000 kroner per month by Bagger to keep him safe. The attempt on his life came only an hour after he had been questioned by prosecutors in connection with Bagger’s ongoing fraud case.

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Mexican prosecutors said Thursday that the Gulf drug cartel and its Zeta hit men are the most violent of Mexico's gangs and account for the highest number of weapons seized.The Attorney General's Office says the two related gangs have "the biggest presence and activity in crime and violence."Together, they accounted for a majority of the 31,512 weapons seized by law enforcement officials since December 2005. Those arms include anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers and .50-caliber rifles.The cartel, which recruited a gang of hit men known as Zetas from army deserters, controls cocaine and marijuana trafficking along Mexico's Gulf coast, and ships drugs to the United States.The office said the second-highest number of arms was seized from the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel. Mexico's largest drug trafficking organization, the Sinaloa cartel and its allies, was third in the number of weapons seized.The cartels have been locked in increasingly bloody battles for control of trafficking routes that resulted in the deaths of over 5,300 people in Mexico in 2008.

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Long Beach gang member who killed three people during a shooting spree has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Reuel Dishon Hulbert, who was spared the death penalty by a jury, was sentenced Thursday by Superior Court Judge James Pierce, who called the killings assassinations of rival gang members. The 28-year-old Hulbert is a black member of one of the oldest Asian gangs in Long Beach. Hulbert was convicted on Dec. 10 for the first-degree murders of Daniel Chantha, Woodtee Bunthong and Sakorn Phan in 2003 and 2004. He was also convicted of attempted murder for wounding a fourth man.

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Vivian Blake, the reputed leader of the notorious Shower Posse gang is now in Jamaica. Mr. Blake arrived in the country on a special US martial flight at 1.30 p.m. He has been processed at Kingston Central police station and released.
Shower Posse is a criminal organisation, which started in Tivoli Gardens, Kingston before establishing bases in several US, Canadian and British cities.

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Washington-area gang leader has been charged for his alleged role in the October shooting of two men in Reston, federal court documents said.Dennis L. Gil Bernardez, aka “Dopre” and “Pando,” was charged Friday with committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering after being identified by one of the Reston victims from a photo array, according to documents filed in Alexandria’s U.S. District Court.Bernardez runs the MS-13 group Normandie Locos Salvatrucha, which controls the notoriously violent gang’s turf in the District and Prince George’s County, an FBI agent wrote in a sworn statement.But Bernardez was recently sent to Fairfax County by MS-13 leaders in El Salvador because the group there, the Western Locos Salvatrucha, was not “representing,” or handling gang business properly, the agent wrote.The events leading up to the Oct. 6 shooting started Aug. 30 with an MS-13 gang member clashing with his relative, a former 18th Street gang member from Los Angeles. The two men lived in the same Reston apartment complex. The relative and two friends beat the ex-18th Street member with a baseball bat and glass bottles, the agent wrote.The 18th Street gang started in Los Angeles in the 1960s and the two gangs became rivals as MS-13 moved in.On Sept. 2, the former 18th Street member and his friends retaliated, punching the MS-13 gang member and others through the windows of a white Ford Explorer.Then came Oct. 6, when Bernardez approached the 18th Street member and two other men in a Reston park, the agent wrote. Bernardez had two men with him and asked them, “Which ones?” Bernardez’s companions pointed to the 18th Street member and another man. Bernardez then allegedly pulled out a revolver and opened fire, hitting the 18th Street member in the back and missing the second man, with a bullet passing through his sweatshirt.The third man said, “I am not in their gang. I have no problem with you,” he later told the agent.Bernardez started walking away, but then turned.“I can’t leave any evidence,” he reportedly said as he opened fire, hitting the third man twice in the back.Both shooting victims survived.

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"Suspects drove by him, confronted him and asked him if he was banging, 'Do you bang?' is what they stated," said Officer Travis Shephard, Grandview Police Department.The suspects showed their guns and as the victim ran for his life, they shot him with a shotgun and a pistol. He was taken to Sunnyside Hospital for a bullet wound to the buttocks and shotgun spray to the arm. Neighbors said drive-by shootings happen all to often on Avenue E.
"No this is not the first time. Last year somebody shot that truck over their," said Margarita Brito."Parts of the neighborhood have seen more gang related crime than others. This spot has had it's fair share over the years," said Shephard.Avenue E in Grandview, a few blocks down the Grandview Police Department, a few blocks the other direction McClure Elementary School. The street has had so many drive-bys that some residents are afraid to let their children play in their front yards.Officer Shephard said the victim is known to associate with one of the gangs in town. He lives in the neighborhood where he was shot, likely by a rival gang. "They don't seem to be fighting over guns it seems to be more, or drugs, it seems to be more of location, property, territory as you'd say," said Shephard."I have two children and they were here last night. They're scarred too, they say what happened what happened?" said Brito. Officer Shephard said Grandview's gang problem is an ongoing issue they battle everyday. The community can help by reporting suspicious activity.

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Danny Hockenhull, aged 24 and Curtis Goring, 27, are accused of stabbing Brett Blake in the Uniq nightclub on Carver Street, in June, after going to the venue armed.Hockenhull, of Hawkshead Road, Grimesthorpe, Sheffield, is alleged to have stabbed Mr Blake in the neck before Goring, of Rolleston Road, Firth Park, Sheffield, stabbed him in his stomach.They both deny murder and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. Goring also denies affray relating to another disturbance at the club and Hockenhull denies wounding with intent after a bouncer was injured the same night.Sheffield Crown Court heard Hockenhull told detectives it was Mr Blake who was carrying a knife.In pre-prepared statements, Hockenhull admitted fighting with Mr Blake on the dance floor. He added: "He produced a knife and injured me. I backed away and others began fighting. I did not have a knife, I did not stab Brett Blake, I did not see anyone else stab him."The prosecution claims Hockenhull, Goring and Mr Blake were once all members of the S3 postcode gang but Hockenhull told detectives he never had been a member.

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Last night, a passenger in a car driving in the area of 144th St. and 90th Ave. was shot at least once in the side when a masked man opened fire on the vehicle. RCMP in Surrey are investigating what they believe is a targeted shooting -- the second in less than 24 hours.Surrey RCMP believe the driver was the intended target . The pair drove to the hospital on their own -- where police confiscated the car. The victim is expected to recover. The attack comes less than a day after Surrey resident Andrew Cilliers was shot in the head in his car on a Surrey street in what police believe was a targeted attack. The 26-year-old was rushed to hospital in serious condition, but died shortly after from his injuries. His death marks Surrey's first homicide of 2009.

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Eddie Perez, a one-time gang leader who turned his life around to become Hartford's most powerful mayor, surrendered to police Tuesday to face a bribery charge for having a city contractor renovate his home and not paying for it until after being confronted by investigators.

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Anthony Perry, 22, a reputed gang member was fatally shot at a busy shopping district in Jamaica Plain, passersbys watched in horror as an MBTA Transit police officer tried to save the Perry. Perry was shot in the head, and was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he later died.

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Monticello police are again searching for Earnest “Bama” Edwards, 26, a high-ranking operative of the Bloods street gang. notorious street gangster is wanted on a felony warrant after he brandished a gun at a longtime adversary, sparking a melee at a village gas station, police said.On Tuesday, about 6:30 p.m., Edwards encountered a longtime foe on Broadway, police said. The two men jawed at each other and went separate ways. Minutes later, Edwards got out of a car at the nearby Mobile gas station and flashed a handgun at the man.The other man and his friends ran inside the gas station and began hurling full beer bottles at Edwards, who retaliated by throwing them back, police said. One beer bottle hit the car of an innocent store patron, shattering his windshield, police said. No gunshots were fired.Edwards is wanted on a warrant for possession of a weapon, menacing and reckless endangerment. Police said he fired a gunshot at the same adversary, whose name was not released, in 2006.Much of Monticello’s violent gang activity has revolved around Edwards since 2005. He would recruit young men around Monticello to sell drugs while he protected the territory and went after users who didn’t pay. Edwards had been a suspect in several shootings, once shot himself in the leg, and convinced his pals to bum-rush police when he was surrounded at an apartment complex. Monticello police finally cornered and arrested Edwards in December 2007 at the Sleepy Hollow apartment complex. He was convicted of grand larceny here and possessing more than 50 grams of marijuana in New Jersey. He was released from Bergen County Jail on Dec. 1. Since then he’s returned to Monticello and tried to reestablish himself as the village’s top tough guy, police said.

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Gangs apparently targeting people who exchange money at Mexico City's international airport shot a French citizen in the head on Tuesday, and authorities warned that gangs have put lookouts at exchange windows in the terminal.The 55 year-old French biotechnology researcher, who works at a Mexican university, was attacked and robbed of euro4,800 ($6,336) on a street near the airport, assistant city prosecutor Luis Vasquez and police said. He is in serious condition at a local hospital.
Officials at the French embassy said they could not confirm the victim's name or home town.Mexico City police chief Manuel Mondragon said criminal gangs have posted lookouts at some of the money exchange businesses inside the airport. The lookouts tip off associates waiting outside who rob the victims after they leave the terminal. The gangs often use extreme violence.The lookouts send a message by radio or telephone about who has changed money ... and then cars are sent out to intercept the person, Mondragon said. When the victim resists, it unleashes the most incredible violence, like shooting this man in the head.The Frenchman's driver testified that two cars appeared to follow them after they left the airport, then cut them off, police said. One man got out with a gun and shot the victim when he refused to hand over the bag containing the money.There have been about three other reported cases of foreigners being held up under similar circumstances in recent months, police say.In one case, a tourist from Guinea was shot during a similar attack near the airport in January.Vasquez said the two crimes may be related.
We believe it could be members of the same gang, or another gang using the same methods, Vasquez said.The airport itself is under the auspices of federal police, while the streets outside the terminal are patrolled by city cops.Mexico has seen a wave of drug-related killings that claimed more than 5,300 lives in 2008, as well as violent kidnappings and common crime, but relatively few foreigners have been among the victims.On Dec. 10, American anti-kidnapping expert Felix Batista was abducted in northern Mexico and has not been heard from since.

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Gangster Jonathan Bacon delivered 114 sticks of stolen dynamite, a grenade, seven handguns, two shotguns, a rifle and an Uzi submachinegun to police as part of a plea bargain for an associate, according to court documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun.
The eldest of the trio of brothers linked to the Red Scorpion gang, Bacon brought the arsenal to Abbotsford Det. Lyle Simpson in February 2007 after the deal was negotiated by a lawyer for Bacon associate Dennis Karbovanec and a Crown prosecutor, the documents say.Details of the plea bargain are contained in court documents related to new charges against Karbovanec, 27. He faces 11 gun charges after being stopped by Abbotsford police last October, wearing a bullet-proof vest and allegedly hiding a loaded 9-mm Luger and silencer in a secret compartment in his leased GMC Yukon.The 2007 plea bargain resulted in a conviction for possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition and a lifetime firearms ban. Documents available Monday did not disclose the charges that led to the deal.The surrender of the firearms and explosives was arranged in phone calls between Simpson and Jamie Bacon, the youngest of three brothers, who survived a brazen murder attempt at a busy Abbotsford intersection last week.Jamie, 23, is facing his own series of gun and drug charges laid last May as police issued an extraordinary public warning about death threats to the brothers and their associates.Karbovanec was also recently targeted in a shooting, arriving at Mission Memorial Hospital Dec. 31 with two bullet wounds and wearing a bullet-proof vest. He was treated and left, refusing to cooperate with police.Simpson said in the warrant application that when Karbovanec was arrested three months ago, he tried to give his vehicle to two associates who arrived at the scene, but it was towed to Abbotsford police headquarters.A police search uncovered a balaclava, gloves and a police scanner as well as the gun and silencer.
Police were assisted by Paul Vogt, of the Canada Border Services Agency, an expert in vehicle concealment, who helped find the hidden compartment, Simpson said."Vogt described this compartment as one of the most sophisticated he had seen in 16 years of experience in the field," the document said.The next day, investigators arranged to have the Yukon towed to the RCMP's secure lot in Surrey, as two plainclothes officers followed.A black Mercedes leased to Jonathan Bacon followed the tow truck, the search warrant document says."The tow truck stopped at a red light, while the Mercedes drove along the right shoulder of the roadway and came to a position parallel to the GMC Yukon. The Mercedes then stopped and the driver exited, approached the front passenger door of the GMC and extended his hand in a motion to open the door," Simpson said in his application. "Both officers drew their weapons and ordered the male away from the GMC. At this time, the male re-entered the Mercedes and drove off."Simpson said the two officers were not sure if the male was Jonathan or middle brother Jarrod, who is also facing gun charges and out on bail

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Sam Fasulo, 37, died Sunday after being shot several times while he was driving in a sports utility vehicle in Montreal North on Friday afternoon. No arrests have been made in the shooting and investigators are trying to track down a pale coloured sports utility vehicle that is believed to have been used in the homicide. Several shots were fired into Fasulo’s Jeep. Montreal police Constable Laurent Gingras said investigators have little in terms of a description of a white man who witnesses saw inside the suspect vehicle before it sped away. Fasulo only recently finished serving a four-year sentence he received in 2004 for his leading role in a major drug trafficking ring that sold crack cocaine and heroin out of Italian cafés in St. Leonard and St. Michel. When police carried out search warrants in the 2003 operation dubbed Project Espresso they seized a large quantity of drugs but also uncovered a cache of weapons that included automatic and semi-automatic firearms.
According to National Parole Board decision prepared when he was granted a full release in 2005, Fasulo was considered the leader of the highly organized drug trafficking ring that brought in $100,000 a week. The Montreal police had evidence it had operated quietly for years. It was busted after residents who lived near the cafés began complaining that the drugs sold out of the cafés brought problems like prostitution and used syringes to their neighbourhoods. One of the parole decisions notes “(A) police report also indicates a tie to traditional Italian organized crime, which (Fasulo denied).” Despite the denial, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit investigation Project Colisée uncovered links Fasulo had with Francesco Arcadi, the mob boss with the Rizzuto Clan. In 2002, Arcadi was recorded giving orders to Fasulo to resolve a problem after a drug dealer with ties to the mob was roughed up inside a Montreal bar. Arcadi was recorded telling Fasulo to go immediately to the bar but to not start punching right away. Instead, Fasulo was told, their adversary should only get a warning. “You tell him: ” Don’t you touch this fellow or I will slit your throat like a goat,” Arcadi told Fasulo.
Subsequent wiretapped conversations suggested Fasulo solved Arcadi’s problem in under an hour. Arcadi, 55, is currently serving a 15-year prison term he received in October after pleading guilty to conspiracy and gangsterism charges filed against him in Project Colisée.

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Martin Herrera, of Fountain Valley, was critically injured when shots rang out shortly after 4 p.m. Friday in the 600 block of N. Bristol Street. Herrera died the next day as a result of his injuries at UCI Medical Center in Orange, said Santa Ana police Cmdr. Tammy Franks.David Frias, 18, of Fountain Valley remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition, Franks said. Gang detectives arrested Hector Martinez, 23, on Sunday in Corona where he lives. Martinez was booked on suspicion of murder and a gang enhancement and is being held at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. Detectives are not releasing details of what led to the shooting pending the ongoing investigation.Herrera's killing is the third gang-related killing of the year in the city. Last year, there were 13 gang-related killings.

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Esteban Manuel Saidi died Wednesday night at Intermountain Medical Center of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies said. Two of the Saidi's classmates, also 16, were booked into juvenile detention. The suspected shooter, a sophomore, and his accomplice spoke with the high school safety officer and turned themselves in about an hour after the shooting. They were arrested at a nearby home. The gun was recovered in the area of the shooting. Sheriff's deputies would not confirm for publication the suspects' identities on Wednesday night.
Kearns High School shooting However, a person who identified himself as a relative of the alleged shooter said members of the Sureño gang had been harassing the shooter. Sheriff's officials said the shooting was gang-related, but they would not name the gang affiliations of the victim or the suspected shooter. Sheriff Jim Winder said the suspected gunman and the victim were known to gang investigators before Wednesday's shootings. Saidi was with at least two other people when he encountered the shooter and his accomplice around noon on a side street near the school, 5525 S. Cougar Lane (4840 West), said sheriff's spokesman Don Hutson. It was not clear whether there were others with the two suspects, he said. After Saidi was shot, two of his friends brought him to the school. Another student described the victim lying on the ground. "He was pale. He was dying. He was just laying there with a weird look in his eyes," said the student, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. The student said he had heard there was "supposed to be a fight" and was walking toward the scene to watch it when he saw Saidi. Hutson would not comment on the report that the noontime fight was planned. The student said he did not hear gunshots and did not know the victim. He said the school was locked down when he returned. The school reopened at 2 p.m. and will hold classes today, said district officials. A classmate who called himself Kyle said the suspected shooter was known to have gang ties and played on the school football team. "He is a nice kid," Kyle said. "I didn't think he would ever do anything like that." Dillan Davis, a 17-year-old junior, said gang members make little mystery of their affiliations. "It's not hard to tell. Everyone always wears colors," he said. "They're just kids; you can be friends with them. They're just regular." Other students, though, spoke of long simmering tensions between rival groups of Latino and Polynesian teens.
"It's not about ethnicity, really, it's about gangs. It was really bad last year," said 16-year-old Yesenia Rangel. At least three students were handcuffed Wednesday and detained after school for questioning. The students were involved in a fight, which may or may not, have stemmed from the shooting, said Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley. Winder said that Kearns gangs lately have become more violent. "Just today in our staff meeting we were discussing ... tensions in this area," he said. Aaron Merlo , 18, and Francisco Cardenas, 17, said they have noticed the rise in violence. "After Panda Express, and then this right here," Cardenas said, referring a gang-related shooting Saturday at a West Valley City eatery. A 15-year-old gang member was shot and critically injured after he pulled out a machete during a fistfight with members of the rival Crazy Ass Mexicans gang, according to jail documents. A 21-year-old was arrested. "I don't like Kearns no more," Merlo said. "It used to be more peaceful." Senior Courtney McAfee, 18, said she's frustrated with the violence. "I just don't think people have to bring their business to school," she said. Parent Veronica Hollestelle said she is considering home-schooling her 10th-grade son, Alex, or moving him to a different district.
"I want to get him out," she said. "I'm done with this area." Others said they generally feel safe. "I don't walk through the halls scared," said sophomore Sierra Reid, 16. McKensie Rosenhan, a Kearns graduate, waited during the lockdown to get her 17-year-old sibling. "It sucks it happened here because we get such a bad rap. It's not a bad place at all." Alex Wiles, the Kearns High student body president, said the media have portrayed the school in the wrong light. "We don't have a gang problem," he said, adding that he's never seen a gun at school.

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Salinas police arrested a 37-year-old suspected gang member and convicted felon of being in possession of a firearm Friday morning, according to authorities.Officers served a search warrant in the 200 block of Winham Street around 8 a.m. and located a Smith and Wesson .45 revolver, a 30/30 Winchester rifle and gang-related items, police said.Anthony Sandoval was arrested and booked into county jail for being a suspected gang member in possession of a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said.

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Arrested Victor Rios on suspicion of being in the country illegally while possessing a firearm and box of ammunition during a search warrant. Rios is suspected of belonging to the Monos Criminal Street gang

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officers arrested Alfredo Jose Rodriguez on suspicion of being in the country illegally while possessing a firearm. Rodriguez is suspected of belonging to the Westside La Habra Compo gang,

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19-year-old Maurice Bowser, an alleged member of the Bloods gang, was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. Shots were fired into a passing car, and a man thought to be a member of the Crips gang was hit in the leg.Six people standing on the street nearby and alleged to be inciting the shootings were charged with solicitation to commit a felony, said Elizabeth City police Sgt. Gary Bray.The charges carry penalties less harsh than those against a shooter, but the result is the potential for more gang members to be taken off the street, Bray said.In November, seven alleged gang members were arrested after an investigation of a string of shootings in the summer; authorities employed the seldom-used charge of "going armed to the terror of the public."
Those arrests netted what was believed to be most of the Bloods gang known as West Side Piru, Bray said.Using the old laws to make as many arrests as possible, even for more minor crimes, is part of a zero-tolerance policy used by the Elizabeth City Police Department and neighborhood crime watches.Since zero tolerance was instituted in 2007, murders in Elizabeth City have dropped from seven in 2006 to two in 2007 to none last year, according to the city's annual crime report. Assaults related to gang activity fell to 94 from 104."We want to send a strong message to gang members who influence others to commit crimes, We're going to charge you, too," Bray said.
"Solicitation to commit a felony" can be used when someone induces another person to commit a felony. Without that charge, Bray could have arrested only Bowser, he said.
After a spate of shootings last year, Bray sought a way to arrest gang members who encourage a shooter but are not carrying weapons themselves, he said. He studied the statutes and found "solicitation to commit a felony.""It's not been tested in court yet," he said."Going armed to the terror of the public" allows police to make arrests even if no shots are fired. Both laws originated in England but are rarely used in North Carolina, District Attorney Frank Parrish said."What's happened is what's old is new again," Parrish said.He will prosecute the charges if the evidence supports them, he said.Elizabeth City police are also teaming with federal law enforcement to make large-scale arrests with charges that carry heavier penalties, Bray said.In addition, neighborhood watch groups have been more active, Police Chief Charles Crudup said. Residents have been asked to report even minor crimes around their homes. The city plans to install 18 more cameras - for a total of 24 - in high-crime areas, Crudup said.Officer Eddie Rodriguez is working with neighborhoods, civic groups and individuals in gang prevention. Gangs in Elizabeth City are using drug money to buy guns, said Bray, who heads a combination drug and gang unit.
Typically, shootings happen when a gang "disrespects" a rival gang member or trespasses through drug-selling turf, Bray said.Children as young as 12 join gangs and are used to sell drugs or carry out gun deals, he said. Older gang members know that youths without a record will not get much punishment.
"If you start at 12, by the time you reach 16, you're going to be well-versed," Bray said.Recently, police arrested a 16-year-old after he was pulled over on a traffic stop. A pump shotgun was found in the car. It was discovered that the teen was wanted in New York in the shooting of a rival gang member when he was 14. Now he is awaiting extradition to New York.Years ago, gangs were identified more by neighborhoods, but nationally recognized names have arrived here through the prison system, Bray said. A prisoner is typically forced to join one or the other, he said.
Some gang members say they will "throw down their flag," or leave the gang, after an arrest. "We don't have any documented cases of that actually happening," Bray said.Violent crimes have dropped for two years but can return quickly, he said. Two weeks ago, in what is believed to be a gang-related incident, a man was shot in the back with a shotgun, Bray said. The man survived, but no one has been arrested.
"I don't know if we'll ever get it totally under control," he said. "You try to do the best you can. It gets over-whelming at times."

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Paris DiMarco Moffett, 30, was arrested in 2007 after a raid at the south Novato apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Delicia Mitchell. Authorities found a large stash of narcotics and a handgun in the apartment, arrested both Moffett and Mitchell, and seized four children in the home, including twin infants.
Authorities said Moffett was a member of the Eddy Rock gang, one of several street gangs accused of terrorizing the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. The city attorney issued an injunction in 2007 barring the gangs from "safety zones" in the neighborhood.Moffett pleaded guilty to possessing 183 grams of crack cocaine at the apartment, or about 6.5 ounces, and possessing a loaded Colt .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol used in his drug trafficking. He was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.Moffett's lawyer, Randall Knox, called the outcome "unfortunate.""I'm hopeful that when he gets out he'll be able to lead a productive, law-abiding life," Knox said.Mitchell pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute ecstasy.Under her plea agreement, she is expected to receive probation when she is sentenced in March.

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Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is asking for the public's help in locating
VARGAS is alleged to be a member of the Spanish Cobras street gang and is believed responsible for overseeing the distribution of crack cocaine at various locations throughout the City of Chicago. VARGAS was among 30 suspected gang members and associates who were charged in October of 2008 as the result of an investigation code named "Operation Snake Charmer". VARGAS is one of only two defendants from this investigation, who is still at large.VARGAS is described as a Hispanic/male, 31 years of age, 6'2" tall, medium build, weighing approximately 180 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and slight facial hair. He is also known to use the street name of "Twin" as he has a twin brother with the same name, Gilberto Vargas. VARGAS has the letters "MOB" tattooed on his left arm and the phrase "Trust no nigga, Love no bitch" tattooed on his stomach.
In appealing to the public for help in locating VARGAS, Mr. Grant announced that a reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to his location and arrest. Anyone recognizing VARGAS or having any information as to his current whereabouts is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700.VARGAS has an extensive criminal record, including charges for crimes of violence, and as such should be considered "Armed and Dangerous".The Chicago FBI's Joint Task Force on Gangs is comprised of FBI Special Agents and Detectives from the CPD, Gang Crimes Unit.The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Eugenio Montoya Sanchez, 38, the brother of alleged North Valley mastermind Diego Montoya Sanchez, faces between 10 and 30 years in prison when he is sentenced April 3.The maximum life sentence is prohibited under Colombia's extradition agreement with the U.S.Prosecutors say the Montoyas oversaw a drug empire that smuggled cocaine worth some $10 billion to the U.S. beginning in the early 1990s.Eugenio Montoya admitted in court Friday that he handled the cartel's finances and money-laundering work, including a series of cash "stash houses" in Colombia where as much as $20 million in U.S. currency was hidden. Montoya also acknowledged playing a role in the August 2003 torture, killing and dismemberment of a confederate whom cartel leaders feared was cooperating with authorities."Yes, your honor," Montoya answered when U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga asked if the allegations were true."You were a high-ranking manager," Altonaga said.Montoya was arrested in January 2007 at a farm outside Cali, Colombia, and later extradited to the U.S. The North Valley cartel emerged in the 1990s as the leading exporter of cocaine to the U.S. - usually via Mexican land routes - following the demise of the earlier Cali and Medellin cartels.In a written plea agreement, Montoya said he would cooperate with U.S. investigations - possibly including his brother's case - and assist in identifying property and other drug-tainted assets that could be forfeited. That cooperation could result in a future reduction in Montoya's sentence.Montoya's attorney, Ruben Oliva, said the plea deal was the best possible outcome for his client, who would have faced more prison time if the case had gone to trial. Under the agreement, 10 other charges will be dropped.Diego Montoya, 46, was extradited to Miami on Dec. 12 to face the same indictment as his brother. He has not yet entered a plea.
A third Montoya brother who helped run the cartel, Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2006 to nearly 22 years in federal prison.

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Edwardo Nino Alfaro, 26, identified as a leader of the East Side Loco street gang, was prosecuted under Idaho’s Criminal Gang Enforcement Act, which enhanced penalties for gang-related crime.Alfaro is already serving a 26-year sentence in Idaho prison in connection with a 2007 drive-by shooting in Caldwell. He will be eligible for parole in 2014, but will need to begin serving his 150-month federal sentence as soon as he is released from state prison, according to a Thursday news release from Moss.U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill ordered Alfaro’s new federal sentence to run consecutively to his sentence in state prison, saying Alfaro poses “a very serious danger to the community of continued gang and gun violence.” Winmill said he hopes Alfaro is denied parole on the state charge and stays in prison until he is 62 years old.

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One man has been jailed and two other suspects identified in the gang-related stabbing of an Antioch man whose injuries have left him in a coma, police said.
Police arrested Nicholas Van Camp, 31, of Antioch, downtown about midnight today after public tips led investigators to identify him along with Antioch residents Robert Garcia, 20, and Jovon Allen, 22, as suspects. Garcia and Allen remain at large, and should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.The victim, a 22-year-old Antioch man, was found on Wilbur Avenue about 2:20 a.m. Monday suffering from multiple stab wounds to his upper body, police said. He was taken to a local hospital, and while he is expected to survive, he was put into a medically induced coma to stave off infection risks, said Antioch police Lt. Leonard Orman.
Orman said an investigation revealed that the victim and the three suspects are all associates of the Norteño street gang, and that the victim disrespected the gang in some way. The suspects were open about making their involvement in the stabbing known, he said."These folks were not keeping this secret," Orman said. "They were broadcasting this out, trying to send a message that they will not stand for any disrespect (to the gang)."Orman said police got numerous tips after news of the stabbing surfaced. All three suspects have extensive criminal histories, he said.
Van Camp was booked into County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of attempted murder and use of a deadly weapon, and is being held without bail because of a parole violation. Orman said investigators will seek a gang enhancement to the charges when they present the case to the District Attorney's Office.

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Shotgun stolen in Dundalk over a year ago was found by Gardai in north Dublin after a suspected gangland hit was foiled.Uniformed gardai were on patrol in the Dunsoghly area of Finglas on Thursday night last when they noticed a car being driven in a suspicious manner.As Gardai pursued the vehicle, one of the two occupants threw an object over a wall and into the garden of a house.After a search of the garden, gardai recovered a loaded pump-action shotgun, which they suspect was about to be used in a 'hit' on a major Dublin gangland figure.It was initially believed that that the shotgun had been stolen in a burglary in Drogheda, but Gardai have since confirmed that it was stolen from a house in the Lisdoo area of Dundalk on New Years Eve 2007.Two men were subsequently arrested and held in Finglas and Blanchardstown garda stations under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

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Edgar Diaz, 23, was a member of the Down Below Gang, which operated in the Sunnydale housing project in the Visitacion Valley district of San Francisco. Prosecutors said the gang sold crack cocaine and other drugs and protected its turf with violence and murder.Diaz pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco in November to participating in a racketeering conspiracy that included three murders and several attempted murders personally committed by Diaz.The 40-year sentence handed down by Alsup on Tuesday was agreed to by prosecutors and defense lawyers in the plea bargain.Before the guilty plea, Diaz faced the possibility of a rare federal death penalty if his case had gone to trial and he had been convicted. The U.S. Justice Department had authorized local federal prosecutors to seek a death penalty.Alsup referred to the three murders during the sentencing and said, "In a way, it's hard to accept the sentence of only 40 years, as long as that is."But the judge said he had to defer to prosecutors' decision to reach a plea agreement.
A second gang member, Emile Fort, 27, continues to face a possible death penalty if convicted of three different murders he is accused of in connection with racketeering.Fort is due to go on trial in Alsup's court on Feb. 23.Diaz and Fort are among 12 members of the gang indicted in an 86-count indictment in October 2005. The 10 others have pleaded guilty to various charges.One of them, Raymon Milburn, was sentenced by Alsup Tuesday to seven years in prison for his guilty plea on a charge of conspiring to murder a man who was a potential prosecution witness against Fort.

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Tango Blast Houstone.The men not yet arrested but also indicted in the case are: Ronnie Elmer Jackson, 36, of Navasota; Raul Sergio Madrigal, 29, of League City; Mario Alberto Gonzalez, 34, of Houston; and Juan Mario Rangel, 28, of Houston.If found guilty of conspiracy to distribute drugs, they would face a mandatory minimum federal sentence of 10 years in prison and a $4 million fine




Tango Blast Houstone. members of Texas' largest prison gang,Acting Houston U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson announced today that 14 members of the highly-decentralized yet populous Houstone gang have been indicted on five counts related to the possession and distribution of marijuana and cocaine. The indictments are the result of the task-force's three-year-long investigation, which involved organizations including the FBI, DEA., ATF, Houston Police Department, and the IRS.
As we reported back in August 2007, Tango Blast Houstone bills itself as a milder and kinder alternative to other state prison gangs such as the Texas Syndicate and Mexican Mafia. Members follow a looser code and set of rules and are not nearly as organized. That said, Tango Blast Houstone members can be just as vicious and involved in crime. So while the gang and its seemingly relaxed approach may look fresh and unique, in many ways it's just an act members are using to recruit unprecedented numbers of people into the largest and fastest-growing gang in Texas.
Johnson hosted a news conference this afternoon to announce that this is the task-force's first made case of the new year. "We're here collectively to wage battle against any gang who chooses Houston as their turf," said F.B.I Special Agent in Charge Andrew Bland.The government is alleging that beginning in 2007, the defendants conspired to possess with the intent to sell 1,000 or more kilos of marijuana and more than five kilos of cocaine. In addition to the drugs, agents also seized guns, jewelry, cell phones, several high-end cars and $12,000 in cash. The government is also seeking the defendants to forfeit $18 million, the alleged worth of the sold drugs, says Johnson.Ten of the 14 indicted gang members are in custody. Four are still on the loose.

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Federal court jury found 29-year old Anthony Washington, a Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips gang member guilty of three charges. The relatively quick three day trial concluded on Friday.Washington was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, and illegal possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.Los Angeles Police Department Officers arrested Washington in January 2006. Washington was prosecuted under the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, a joint partnership between Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the United States Attorney's Office, and local law enforcement agencies. Washington, a multi-convicted felon will be sentenced later this year. He is facing a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison without the chance for parole."We are very pleased with the verdict today. ATF will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to target violent gang members that infect the streets of Los Angeles," said John A. Torres, Special Agent in Charge of ATF's Los Angeles Field Division.The Rollin 30's turf is located in the southwest section of Los Angeles. The well-entrenched street gang is known to engage in narcotics trafficking, home invasion robberies and firearms trafficking. ATF arrested eight members of the gang in March 2007, and an additional 24 members in October 2008.The Rollin' 30's are a Crip gang originally called themselve the Harlem Godfathers in the South Central section of Los Angeles, California in the mid 1970s. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, they possess the second largest territory of all black gangs in Los Angeles with only the Eight Tray Crips covering a larger territory.

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Daniel Uruiza and Guillermo Garcia, both 16, and Raymond Sullivan, 17, are scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 27 on charges of murder and intent to promote a criminal street gang in San Bernardino Superior Court.The Three teenagers were ordered held over for trial Tuesday in last year's deadly stabbing of 16-year-old Robert Banuelos near Arroyo Valley High School. After listening to testimony from law-enforcement witnesses, Judge Kyle Brodie determined that sufficient evidence was presented during a preliminary hearing to try the trio. Uruiza also faces a special allegation of using a weapon, a knife, according to court documents. "This brings us one step closer to bringing justice to the victim's family, and hopefully closure," said Deputy District Attorney Ron Webster, who is prosecuting the case. Banuelos was confronted and stabbed near Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, after school on May 20, according to San Bernardino police. He was a documented gang member from the Los Angeles area, according to earlier accounts from police. Witnesses said the defendants, who are members of a Westside street gang, were "putting in work" for their gang, Detective Pete Higgins testfied. Higgins told defense lawyers during questioning that Banuelos was targeted for death after a fight involving him and Garcia. Uruiza and Sullivan did not attend Arroyo Valley, authorities said.With Uruiza charged as having the weapon, lawyers for Sullivan and Garcia aimed to portray their clients at the hearing as bystanders at an after-school fight. Uruiza's lawyer, James Gass, declined to comment when reached after the hearing.
Highway Patrolman James Helm said the defendants were part of a group of young men who crossed Ninth Street in front of his patrol car, 20 to 25 minutes before the stabbing. Helm later heard a dispatch about the stabbing. In court, he identified two of the defendants, and was mostly sure about Garcia except for a different haircut, as being detained for the stabbing near Mount Vernon Avenue and Vine Street. San Bernardino police Officer Edward Lee testified that he was flagged down by a friend of the victim's. During encounters with police before the stabbing, Uruiza and Sullivan had signed "gang cards" identifying them as members and had been added to a street gang injunction on the city's Westside, testified Officer Chris Gray. Uruiza and Sullivan both have tattoos representing the gang, and Uruiza has a tattoo on his stomach in connection with the "Dead Presidents" case, Gray said. In that case, four gang members - two of whom were gang presidents - were gunned down in the driveway of a West Vine Street duplex in July 2000.

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Abbotsford Police got reports of shots fired just previous to 4 p.m. at the Abbotsford Village Shopping Centre and a black Ford 150 truck fleeing the scene.James Bacon narrowly escaped with his life after gunfire erupted at a shopping mall in Abbotsford this afternoon. Moments later, a black Mercedes SL500 heading west on South Fraser Way a block or so from the mall careened down an embankment and slammed into the stone stairway of the Abbotsford Keg Restaurant located on West Railway. Police and firefighters arrived to find the empty Mercedes, engine still revving emitting smoke and fumes in front of the restaurant. A witness waiting at the stop sign at the intersection of West Railway and South Fraser Way said he saw the driverless Mercedes come down the road and plunge down the 10 to 15 foot slope .
Looking up along the road he saw a man on his hands and knees in the middle of South Fraser Way get up and run into the industrial area immediately south. Moments later James Bacon was taken into police custody in an alley behind businesses on Abbotsford Way. Wearing a blue bullet proof vest and hoodie with splashed with a gold pattern, he was overheard telling officers he was shot at with an automatic weapon. He was transported from the scene in a back of a patrol car. Abbotsford Police are not confirming the man taken into custody is James Bacon. However, the individual, in his twenties, is well known to police and believed to be the target of the shooting, said Const. Casey Vinet. He has been questioned and released, said Vinet. A mother driving a van loaded with her four kids was in one of the lanes adjacent to the black Mercedes when shots rang out. "We heard six pops. It was like pop, pop, pop. We didn't even know it was gun shots." "I've got four kids under eight with me. If the bullets had of missed him. I was right beside him. It's too scary." Immediately after the shots, she looked over to see a big dent in the driver's side door and the car take off through the intersection. The young mom said she was shaken up that this level of violence could take place in her neighbourhood.
"It's pretty freaky. I just want to get us home."Vinet said no one was injured in the shooting, but a third vehicle unrelated to the shooting was struck by a bullet.
No arrests have been made. Abbotsford brothers James, Jarrod, and Jonathan Bacon are currently the subject of a extraordinary public warning issued by the the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force.The gang task force warned that anyone associating with the brothers could be in jeopardy as the trio were targets in a murder plot by rival gangsters.As a result, the Bacon family home in east Abbotsford is under surveillance by police cameras for the safety of area residents.The warning was issued in May, following the arrest of James 23, and Jarrod, 25, in connection with two separate RCMP firearms investigations.The pair are charged with numerous weapons offences.According to their bail conditions, the two brothers must abide by a curfew and reside at the family home, not carry weapons of any kind, not wear or possess any paraphernalia associated with the Red Scorpions gang, and must not have any contact with Dennis Karbovanec.

Karbovanec a long time associate of the Bacon brothers survived a targeted shooting in Mission on New Year's Eve.

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Edgar Diaz, 23, originally faced a possible death sentence but reached agreement with federal prosecutors on a prison term in November, when he pleaded guilty to taking part in a racketeering conspiracy. The charge included distribution of crack cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana, a number of attempted murders, and the murders of Beverly Robinson in April 2004 and Kenya Taylor and Antoine Morgan in June 2004.member of the Down Below Gang in San Francisco was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison Tuesday after admitting that he took part in three murders.Another defendant, Raymon Milburn, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to murder a man identified by prosecutors as a witness against the gang.
Police say the Down Below Gang has terrorized the Sunnydale public housing complex in Visitacion Valley since the late 1990s. Twelve alleged members were indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2005, and U.S. District Judge William Alsup has now sentenced 11 of them to prison.In a court filing urging the judge to accept the plea agreement, attorney Tony Tamburello described Diaz's upbringing in the squalor and violence of Sunnydale while his mother drank, used drugs and was periodically hospitalized or imprisoned. The final defendant, Emile Fort, an alleged leader of the gang, is scheduled to go to trial in February on racketeering charges that include multiple murders and could be sentenced to death if convicted.

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Police in Manchester are investigating a shooting at a popular restaurant.Police said no one was injured when several shots were fired into a hallway at Rocco's Bar and Grille at about 9:30 p.m. Monday.The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation.

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Three men, who filmed themselves gang-raping a 16-year-old girl before dousing her in caustic soda, have been given prison sentences of up to nine years.The girl, with a mental age of eight, screamed in pain as she was disfigured for life. They later laughed while using their mobile phones to record her suffering on the first floor of an empty house undergoing renovation.Her attackers were among a gang up to 10 who had hoped the powerful corrosive would destroy forensic evidence, Met police officers discovered. As she writhed in agony, they poured water on her, intensifying the burning.The alarm was raised by a neighbour in Tottenham, north London, who heard her "frantic" cries and found her covered with raw patches on her face and body.Passing sentence, Judge Shaun Lyons said: "The victim has been left with severe post traumatic stress disorder and many, many physical difficulties."In the dock were Jamaican-born Rogel McMorris, 18, of Antill Road, Tottenham, north London, who was jailed for nine years after being convicted last month of two rape counts and one of causing grievous bodily harm.Co-defendants Jason Brew, 19, of High Cross Road, Haringey, north London, and 20-year-old Angolan immigrant Hector Muaimba, of Guildford Road, Waltham Forest, E17, were both found guilty of one charge of rape. The each got six years for attacking the girl, although a further two years was added to Muaimba's sentence for a separate Old Bailey conviction for robbery.The judge made no specific recommendation about how long the trio should serve and the sentences were condemned by charities representing people with learning difficulties.
Kathryn Stone, of pressure group Voice UK, said: "These sentences don't come close to reflecting the brutality and horror of this attack."Detective Constable Alex Newton said: "After all the work and the response of the community it feels like no sentence is any justice compared to what the victim has been through. But at the same time it sends out the message that these things will be prosecuted and the offenders will be brought to justice."

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Initiation ritual used by the Gangster Disciples street gang, in which new members must endure a six-minute beating. Kezar said Staff Sgt. Jerome A. Johnson's beating escalated that night from reckless to a free-for-all. The beating reportedly occurred in a park pavilion outside Kaiserslaughtern. Kezar told the court-martial that witnesses will place Jones at that pavilion.
The military alleges that Jones is a member of the Gangster Disciples and that he helped raise money and recruit members for the gang. The military claims the gang advocates the use of force or violence in violation of military law. Court documents also claim that Jones tried to persuade a witness not to testify, that he helped another suspect hide and that he used marijuana. Capt. Jeremy Emmert, a defense lawyer, said Jones did not kill Johnson and does not belong to a violent gang. He said the defense also has evidence that Jones was not at the park that night.
What prosecutors call a gang was a "benign" group for brotherhood, Emmert said. Also, Emmert said, "Each (government witness) has their own motive to lie about why they say Sergeant Jones was there." Others accused in Johnson's beating are either serving sentences or facing a court-martial.

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Early Friday, two carloads of involving as many as people got into an altercation, said South Jordan police Sgt. Dan Starks. The incident may have started in the parking lot of Valley High School, 325 W.11000 South, he said. Starks did not know Monday if the original argument started there or was a carry-over from somewhere else.Once on the road, one of the occupants of one car fired multiple shots at the other, Starks said. Possibly three to four shots were fired, he said.One victim was struck inside the car. He was taken by his friends to a local hospital. Doctors in turn called police. The injury was not serious, Starks said.After some investigation, one person was arrested over the weekend and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault with gang enhancements. Some of the occupants of the cars were believed to be juveniles. Police were not releasing much information as of Monday because of the on-going investigation.

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Ronal Gang, responsible for more than 50 burglaries in seven states, was crippled yesterday when police shot dead three members, including the mastermind.
The gang, which comprised Indonesians, had been operating for the past two years.
They had evaded police detection by entering and exiting Malaysia through the proper channels.Their crime spree came to an end yesterday near the Sungai Ramal toll plaza when police cornered the three men who were in a Proton Waja.
When they saw the police, they tried to shoot their way out of trouble by firing two shots. Police returned fire, killing all three -- mastermind Muhammad Zaen, 38, and Sarapudin, 30, both from Lombok, and Ramli, 33, from Medan .Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the gang had committed 29 burglaries in Malacca and at least 10 reported cases in Selangor."During one of the gang's burglaries in Johor, the mastermind, who is nicknamed Ronal, also raped a teacher. "This gang is one of the most wanted in the country," he said at the scene.Describing what happened yesterday, he said police had spotted the suspects in Salak South and tailed them to the toll plaza where the police team attempted to flag them down.That was when the shooting started.A search of the suspects' vehicle unearthed a revolver with six rounds of ammunition and various house breaking tools, including screwdrivers and sickles. Khalid said the gang would wear two sets of clothing whenever they were going to commit a crime, as the first set of clothing would be used to conceal their identities."This gang is vicious as several of their victims were injured while they were ransacking the house. "The rape incident in Johor last year is another example of their brutality." Selangor police are checking with their counterparts in Malacca, Johor, Kedah, Pahang, Negri Sembilan and Perak as the Ronal Gang had struck in these states, too . It is unclear if the gang had committed any other sexual offences during their 50-odd break-ins.

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Two people were shot and wounded in the Logan Square neighborhood this evening, officials said. Paramedics were called to the 2800 block of North Albany Avenue at about 6:50 p.m. for two gunshot victims, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The victims were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in "very critical condition," Langford said.

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Belhar police are on high alert, as they fear tension between the 26s and 28s gangs in the area may lead to more violence after a child and teenager were wounded in a gang-related shooting last week.The incident came a week after another resident was shot in Belhar, and officers believe this was also gang-related.On Monday, Fred Jacobs, the Belhar police station's commissioner, said gangs were becoming more active in the area."There's something going on between the 26s and 28s. We think it's about drugs, but I can't say exactly why (last week's) shooting happened. It's still under investigation," he said.On Thursday, a three-year-old boy and 18-year-old were wounded on the corner of Buitengracht and Ryger Avenue.Police spokesperson Bernadine Steyn said a group of residents had been standing there when a green Toyota Tazz had stopped nearby.She said it was alleged two men got out the car and shot at the group a number of times, and some in the group had then returned fire.
The boy, who was standing at a gate in front of his house, was shot in the right arm and back, while the 18-year-old was hit in the chest.Steyn said the gunmen then sped away in their car. No one was arrested.On Monday, Jacobs said the shooting had been gang-related.He said since last week, extra police officers had been patrolling the area, which was now quiet. "At the moment we're taking precautions, because we don't know what's going to happen. We're keeping a visible police presence out there, trying to prevent things from happening."When we make arrests, we also gather information. We've arrested gangsters, but so far we haven't arrested anyone for (the latest shooting)," Jacobs said.Two attempted murder cases were being investigated.

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Three alleged members of a street gang involved in a bloody battle with a rival gang have been denied bail.Court of Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice Neil Wittmann detained Chantha Kim and brothers Marcel and Daniel Landry following a lengthy bail hearing on Monday.Crown prosecutor Shane Parker argued for the trio's detention. Lawyer David Chow, who represents the Landrys, and Steve Virk, who represents Kim, sought their clients' release.Details of the hearing cannot be revealed because of a court-ordered publication ban.The three men, all alleged members of the FOB Killers gang, were previously ordered released by provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux on Dec. 18, but Wittmann quashed her order.The three men, along with Shaun Roberts and a 17-year-old male, each face four counts of attempted murder, four counts of discharging a firearm with intention to endanger life and two other weapons charges related to the Nov. 16 gun battle in the 200 block of Centre Street S.Roberts and the youth were also ordered released before Christmas.Police said the shooting started when the occupants of an SUV pulled up alongside a car and opened fire.
Two of the four wounded occupants in the smaller vehicle have been identified through court documents as Hans Eastgaard and Timothy Chan--both long associated with the Fresh Off the Boat gang.Matthew Chubak, who was also in that vehicle, was shot to death last Tuesday.Police say 21 people have been killed since members of FOB split in a dispute over drug profits and became known as the FOB Killers.The Landrys, Kim and Roberts will be back in court on Friday.

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Three alleged members of a street gang involved in a bloody battle with a rival gang have been denied bail.Court of Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice Neil Wittmann detained Chantha Kim and brothers Marcel and Daniel Landry following a lengthy bail hearing on Monday.Crown prosecutor Shane Parker argued for the trio's detention. Lawyer David Chow, who represents the Landrys, and Steve Virk, who represents Kim, sought their clients' release.Details of the hearing cannot be revealed because of a court-ordered publication ban.The three men, all alleged members of the FOB Killers gang, were previously ordered released by provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux on Dec. 18, but Wittmann quashed her order.The three men, along with Shaun Roberts and a 17-year-old male, each face four counts of attempted murder, four counts of discharging a firearm with intention to endanger life and two other weapons charges related to the Nov. 16 gun battle in the 200 block of Centre Street S.Roberts and the youth were also ordered released before Christmas.Police said the shooting started when the occupants of an SUV pulled up alongside a car and opened fire.
Two of the four wounded occupants in the smaller vehicle have been identified through court documents as Hans Eastgaard and Timothy Chan--both long associated with the Fresh Off the Boat gang.Matthew Chubak, who was also in that vehicle, was shot to death last Tuesday.Police say 21 people have been killed since members of FOB split in a dispute over drug profits and became known as the FOB Killers.The Landrys, Kim and Roberts will be back in court on Friday.

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Three-year gang feud for control over some of the Western Cape's townships has left some communities in despair.Police have described the situation in the townships as "tense".Last Wednesday Thando Dondi, 24, and his friend Patrick, whose surname has not been released by police, were both shot while they walked to a shop in Nyanga to buy bread. Dondi was killed, while Patrick, who underwent an operation on Monday, is in a coma.This is the latest in a litany of gang-related shootings in what police believe is a revenge attack between two rival gangs - the Palestinians and Amasoldiers.The gang fighting has escalated since the attack on Dondi and his friend.In the space of four days, one person has been murdered and five others injured, including two officers from the police's specialised organised crime unit.
The Amasoldiers are said to take their name from a former uMkonto weSizwe soldier.
The roots of the Palestinians lie in their belief that "Palestinians are armed". They are also known to wear fezzes.A police source said the turf war between the two gangs stemmed from an incident three years ago in which five people - mostly teenagers - were murdered by the Palestinians.Police said the battle was not solely about the lucrative drug trade but also about "owning" townships."Whoever controls the township controls what happens there. The gangs are responsible for violent crime in their areas and other areas, which has several spin-offs, including pocketing the victims' belongings, cash (and) cellphones and, in the case of a hijacking, their sound system - all of which can be sold," said a police source.
Dondi had been charged in 2006 with the deaths of five Langa youths who had been gunned down after two alleged Amasoldiers kicked down a door to a Wendy house and shot them.Two others were also injured in what became known as the "Langa Massacre".

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Shootout in one of Mexico's wealthiest neighborhoods left a 19-year-old university student dead and two others missing, a Monterrey police spokesman said Monday.The group of friends had just left an exclusive club in the northern city of Monterrey before dawn Sunday when attackers opened fire on their Mercedes Benz. That sparked a high-speed chase through the exclusive San Pedro district. The car crashed in an underpass, said the police spokesman, who was not authorized to give his name.
One passenger was killed, but three others walked away unharmed. The car's driver and front-seat passenger were missing. It was unclear if they fled the scene or had been kidnapped.Officials had no motive in the shootout.Mexico has seen a sharp rise in violent homicides, with more than 5,300 people killed in organized-crime slayings in the first 11 months of 2008. Kidnappings have also jumped, but many go unreported for fear that police involvement will put the victim at risk.Also Monday, prosecutors in Chihuahua state reported that the head of a police commander was found in a plastic foam cooler left outside a police station in Praxedis G. Guerrero, near the border city of Ciudad Juarez.Police found the cooler on Sunday, and next to the cooler was a message signed by "La Linea," a crime and drug gang. The prosecutors' statement did not reveal the contents of the note.And in Tijuana, a city police officer was hospitalized Monday with gunshot wounds after attackers opened fire on his car.

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Police said there was a "strong possibility" that shots fired at a private hire cab in Granton and a shooting outside the Gauntlet pub in Broomhouse a few days later were linked.Sources said criminals from the north of the Capital have found themselves locked in battle for almost a year with a hardened gang of young dealers from Gilmerton and the Inch. It was even claimed that one gang in the area had managed to obtain a machine gun and that a rival gang had managed to obtain a Mac 10, an automatic weapon.Gangs were said to have become embroiled in a string of "tit-for-tat" shootings, including the attacks at the Gauntlet and on the cab. Other incidents involving the gangs since mid-August are said to include:

Two gunmen on a motorbike who fired shots from a semi-automatic pistol at a man from Broomhouse while he sat in his van.
A gang member shot in the face in Drylaw who was left with four shotgun pellets lodged in his skull.
An alleged heroin dealer from Craigmillar who had his front window shot at by the motorbike gunmen.

"This is a feud which has got out of control."
Police admitted they were investigating the possibility the series of incidents were both gang and drugs related.

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six men in their 20s and 30s were shot dead and dumped together in Ciudad Juarez in October with a cardboard sign reading: "Message for all the rats: This will continue."

Vigilante gangs are threatening Mexico's drug gangs near the U.S. border in retaliation for a wave of murders and kidnappings that killed 1,600 people in this city alone last year.One group in the border city of Ciudad Juarez pledged last week to "clean our city of these criminals" and said their mission was to "end the life of a criminal every 24 hours."The emergence of vigilantes would be a new twist to a vicious drug war that killed 5,700 people in Mexico last year and forced the United States to give hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Mexican government.
Ciudad Juarez, a manufacturing center in the desert across from El Paso, Texas, was the scene of the worst violence in 2008 as drug cartels fought each other as well as staging kidnappings for ransom and extorting businessmen.In an e-mail to news organizations, the "Juarez Citizen Command" said it was funded by local businessmen sick of abductions and extortion in the city, home to factories that export goods to the United States.While none of the city's 1,600 in the last year were undoubtedly the work of vigilantes, a body was found on January 7 with a message next to it that read: "This is for those who continue extorting."Drug gangs often leave threatening messages with the bodies of their victims, but security officials said those two incidents might have been the work of vigilantes.Another group, "Businessmen United, The Death Squad" put a video on Internet site YouTube last June threatening to go after kidnappers and criminals in Ciudad Juarez, the biggest city in Mexico's Chihuahua state. The video is no longer on YouTube.State officials in Chihuahua said they were investigating who was behind the messages."We cannot tolerate the presence of these type of faceless, anonymous groups," said Manuel del Castillo, a spokesman for the state government.Retiring CIA chief Michael Hayden said last week that Mexico's drug violence was possibly a greater problem than Iraq for President-elect Barack Obama. The U.S. Justice Department also says Mexican gangs are one of the biggest threats to the United States.Mexican President Felipe Calderon has sent tens of thousands of troops and federal police to battle drug gangs but the violence has become worse since he took office in 2006.At least two other groups calling themselves vigilantes have sent statements to news organizations in the past two months, one in the northern state of Sonora bordering Arizona, and the other in the Pacific state of Guerrero, home to the beach resort of Acapulco.

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