Homicide investigators are still trying to determine why a man shot to death at a busy Surrey strip mall late Tuesday was in the area just before his murder.Cpl. Dale Carr o f the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the man was known to police, but no motive has yet been determined for the shooting, in which a second man was seriously wounded.The man had been eating at the To Chau Restaurant in the strip mall at 10028 King George prior to the fatal shooting, but Carr said investigators have not confirmed what the man was doing at the time.RCMP went to the scene after receiving a number of shots-fired calls about 10:15 p.m.No one was answering at the restaurant Wednesday, which remained behind police tape for much of the day as police continued to scour the area for evidence in the murder.
Carr said the second victim is so seriously wounded that police have not been able to talk to him.Until well into the morning Wednesday, the victim's body could be seen slumped in a sitting position half in and half out of an idling black car. He appeared to have been shot while sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle.
Carr said that when police arrived at the scene, they found the second man "in severe medical distress in the direct vicinity of the vehicle.""He was transported to a Metro Vancouver trauma hospital where he has undergone surgery," Carr said,
Although the dead man was parked metres from the door of the Sun Hang Do Martial Arts Studio, there is no evidence of a link between the murder and the gym, Carr said.The master instructor at the studio, Eric Mowat, said he heard the victim had been in the restaurant next to his business."This happened after we were closed," he said. "We close at 9 p.m."He said he had been forced to keep his studio closed all day while investigators continued to work."We are just waiting to reopen. They can't give me an exact time," Mowat said.He was more worried about his students, who range from children to older adults.The mall houses several businesses, including a Fruiticana produce store, restaurants, a women's fitness centre, an HSBC branch and a wireless company right next door to Mowat's martial arts centre.Carr said investigators would be screening any available surveillance video from the busy complex or neighbouring businesses."The crime scene has been examined by the Integrated Forensic Identification Section, the Police Dog Service has conducted a search of the area," he said. "Neighbourhood inquiries will be conducted in hopes that a nearby resident saw something that can advance the investigation."Carr said "investigators are not able to link this incident to drugs or organized crime, and are not yet able to say whether this was a targeted incident."But he also said there was no indication that a random killer was on the loose in Surrey.Late Tuesday and early Wednesday, plainclothes homicide detectives and uniformed RCMP members combed the area behind the yellow police tape that stretched for half a block.
The strip mall is across the street from Surrey Central mall, kitty-corner from Holland Park and just a block from a SkyTrain station. Just two blocks south of the murder scene and a little east is the Balmoral Tower, where six people were slaughtered on Oct. 19, 2007.

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Federal police say Garcia Luna's bodyguards witnessed the head of Mexico's Public Security Ministry discuss an "agreement" with a drug cartel gangster

The Secretary of Public Security, Genaro Garcia Luna, who is considered untouchable and Felipe Calderon's "spoiled official," has maintained numerous public officials accused of having links to drug traffickers--El Mayo Zamabada in particular--in his inner circle. An investigation carried out by agents who are opposed to the proposed police integration[1] assure in a letter sent to Congress, which Proceso has a copy of, that this past October numerous armed men intercepted Garcia Luna on a highway and disarmed members of his escort while a gangster warned him, "This is the first and last warning so that you know that, yes, we can get to you if you don't follow through on the pact..." The document adds that then Garcia Luna withdrew from the spot for four hours in order to negotiate with the gangster

With his powerful tentacles and his ability to corrupt police and infiltrate the institutions responsible for combatting drug trafficking--including the National Defense Department--, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia has extensive control within the Public Security Ministry (SSP in its Spanish initials), which is led by Genaro Garcia Luna, whose main collaborators--some of them currently held under administrative detention--are accused of being at the service of the man who today is considered to be the top boss of the Sinaloa cartel.

The owner of estates and ranches, untouchable in Sinaloa--his stronghold--, Zambada Garcia has broad networks of complicity at his disposal in the most important departments in the PGR [Federal Attorney General's Office], such as the SIEDO [the Assistant Attorney General’s Office for Specialized Investigation of Organized Crime], and in the SSP, where various top-level officials are being investigated for serving the gangster who, following the example of Amado Carrillo[2]--who for many years was his business partner--, transformed his appearance with plastic surgery.
Also untouchable and considered to be President Felipe Calderon's "spoiled official," Garcia Luna doesn't appear to escape the networks that Zambada Garcia and the Beltran Leyva brothers created in the SSP. The Beltran Leyva brothers left the Sinaloa cartel following a division sparked by the aprehension of Alfredo "El Mochomo" Beltran this past January.Police who are opposed to the federal police unification project carried out an investigation regarding the alleged ties between Garcia Luna and Zambada Garcia's and Arturo "El Barbas" Beltran Leyva's cells.
In a field investigation, backed up by records and revelations that were supposedly made by Garcia Luna's own body guards, the police agents reconstructed an episode that occurred this past October 19 in Morelos state, which they recount in a letter sent to the Chamber of Deputies [Mexico's lower house of Congress] and the Senate with the goal of demonstrating, according to the agents, the danger that granting more power to the SSP would entail. They assert that a significant number of SSP police commanders are working for drug traffickers.

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The manager said a string of girls have quit their jobs amid fears for their safety as police hunt the culprits - and believes the gang is targeting brothels across Redbridge and east London.Gang of men threatened prostitutes with guns and knives while robbing a brothel three times in a week.She said security had been stepped up since the incidents - at 7.40pm on Thursday, October 30, 5.30pm on Tuesday, November 4, and 6.30pm on November 5.The boss, who asked to remain anonymous through fear of reprisals, said: "It was the same bunch of guys every time. They kick the doors down and say they will use weapons. Even though we couldn't see any, who wants to take that risk?"Each time they took money, the girls' mobile phones and laptops. Luckily I don't keep large amounts of cash on-site."During the first raid the robbers screamed "armed police" as they burst in.The manager, who has run the business for the past four months and been in the trade for four years, said: "The police have been really good with us, but they are worried these men will burst into people's homes by mistake."They have helped us improve locks and we have also fitted CCTV and employed security guards."The gang - unmasked black men aged between 18 and 25 - are rumoured to have carried out similar raids across Barking and Dagenham, as well as Romford.The boss said: "They are really quite aggressive and scary. I have been left very shocked by all of this and people are terrified of it happening again."
A Redbridge Police spokesman said: "With regards to the robberies taking place in brothels, I first have to state that these businesses are advertised as massage parlours, which means they are legal premises."When a crime is reported it is dealt with in exactly the same way as any other crime."There has been an increase in massage parlour robberies and we are asking the businesses to ensure they report any crimes, such as robberies, to the police."The crime prevention team visits such businesses and replaces locks to reinforce the security of the premises.

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Malcolm Bull, 53, from Milton Keynes, was convicted by an 11-1 majority verdict of killing Gerry Tobin, who was shot dead on the M40 in Warwickshire in August last year.A jury at Birmingham Crown Court, which is still considering the case against three other men accused of murder, also found Bull guilty of possessing a shotgun.
Jurors convicted two other members of the Outlaws biker gang of the murder of Mr Tobin on Monday.Simon Turner, 41, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and Dane Garside, a 42-year-old from Coventry, were also found guilty by the jury of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.Garside, a father of seven, was also convicted by a 10-2 majority verdict of possessing a shotgun.The jury is still considering its verdicts on three other men who deny murdering Mr Tobin, a 35-year-old from Mottingham, south east London.The remaining defendants, who all deny murder and possessing a shotgun, are Karl Garside, 45, Dean Taylor, 47, and 46-year-old Ian Cameron, all from Coventry.Mr Tobin, a mechanic, died almost instantly when he was shot as he rode along the M40 at about 90mph on August 12 last year.The trial has been told he was targeted simply because he was a "fully-patched" Hell's Angel by members of the Outlaws' South Warwickshire chapter.

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Xie Jing Feng alias Richard, 50, the drug mafia don from Canada caught red handed on Vadodara-Mumbai highway on Friday.According to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials, the arrest of the leader got them to bust the first-ever methamphetamine producing unit near Vadodara on Friday. The officials have also arrested two Malay citizens in the case.Ayush Mani Tiwari, zonal director of NCB, Ahmedabad, told TOI that methamphetamine is a very popular drug in South-East Asian countries, Japan and United States. "The drug comes under amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) that contains methamphetamine, amphetamine and Ecstacy. In early 70s, the drug was banned but it resurfaced in a big way in late 90s and since then, the drug is very popular in party circuits," he said.Though there were no reported incidents of methamphetamine usage in India, NCB sleuths have time and again got tip-off of its production and despatch to consumer countries. NCB has conducted raids in the past in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Gurgaon in the last five years."In this case, Richard used to come frequently to India where he visited Mumbai and Vadodara. In special meetings, Malaysians were also present. In the initial questioning, we have come to know that they made drug substances from freely-available chemicals with an alternate formula. They then used human carriers to send it outside the Indian boundaries," said Tiwari.NCB officials said that as drugs have an international market and very less investment, many youths were lured in the business. "If one is given up to Rs 40,000 just to deliver a packet from one country to another, who would not be tempted? We had recently nabbed a Taiwan citizen from Delhi airport who was found in possession of contraband. We are working on the leads in this case," said an NCB official.

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Chinese man kidnapped by a gang of Chinese “mafia”, who tortured and threatened him with execution unless a Dh100 million ransom was paid.Police said yesterday the 24-year-old Chinese man was snatched from outside his home in International City on Nov 16.He was tortured with a stun gun by the gang, who told his girlfriend he would be killed if she did not pay. However, police two days later stormed a flat in Ajman, rescued the hostage and arrested eight men and a woman.A spokesman for Dubai Police CID described the gang as part of a “Chinese mafia”, whose leader was wanted in China for crimes including torture, kidnap and murder.The victim’s ordeal began when he was attacked and dragged from the entrance to the building where he shared a flat with his girlfriend. The gang had been watching and following the man since earlier that day when he had paid a large amount of money into a bank.Col Khalil Ibrahim al Mansouri, the deputy chief of Dubai CID, said the man was interested in moving his money to the country and was in Dubai. “He came here with the interest to start a business in Dragon Mart and to invest his money in the country,” he said. The man, who had left the toy shop at the mall where he works, was on his way home to prepare supper for himself and his girlfriend while she stayed behind in the store.
An hour later, the woman identified as LH received a call from the kidnappers who demanded that she deliver Dh100 million (US$27m) from his wealthy family or they would kill her boyfriend.“She was threatened and told that if she didn’t come up with the money, which she negotiated down to Dh20 million, they would kill him,” Col Mansouri said. “They also made her hear his voice so that they could make sure she knew they got him.”A team of 100 police officers was assembled to find the missing man. Investigations quickly led the police to a flat in Ajman, which was placed under surveillance. Another spot, an Arab-style home in Fujairah, was also suspected to be involved.“An investigation was carried out which led us to a suspicious flat in Ajman. The building was an area which had a big Chinese population,” Col Mansouri said.Police raided the two locations at the same time at 4am on Nov 18.
The man was found in a weak condition in the flat in Ajman with bruises on the left and right side of his abdomen where he had been tortured with the stun gun. He later told police his captors fed him only one meal a day.“His arms and legs were tied up to a bed and he was blindfolded,” Col Mansouri said.
The gang members “put up a fight using instruments including the electric gun” but were overpowered by police officers, he added. The eight people were detained in Ajman while a 36-year-old man, purported to be the gang leader, was arrested in Fujairah.Some members of the gang are residents, while others are on visit visas.
Police believe the ringleader entered the country using a fake passport. They were all charged with kidnapping, resisting and attacking police and possession of an illegal weapon. The case has been referred to the public prosecution. The Chinese Embassy in Dubai said it was aware of the case but police had not provided further details.Luo Ze Jun, China’s political attaché to the UAE, said: “This kind of case is very rare. We haven’t seen anything like this in the last two years.”

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Cheshunt Drug baron and three of his cronies caught with chemicals and cash in a plot to supply cocaine have been jailed for more than 23 years altogether.Daniel Davis, 25, of Nutwood Gardens, Cheshunt, was convicted of conspiracy to supply a Class A drug, money laundering and acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property.He was jailed for 11 years.Officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) swooped on various East London locations last year, seizing £54,200 in forged £20 notes, tens of thousands in cash and Euros and 13.8kg of boric acid, used to dilute pure cocaine.Mastermind Davis, a failed entrepreneur, turned to supplying cocaine as his next 'get rich quick' plan after his courier business went bust. Also convicted after a six-week trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court were Kevin Downes, 49, Paul Leaper, 29, and Thomas Smith, 23.SOCA officers captured Davis and Leaper in West Lane, Bermondsey on June 30 last year with 13.8kg of boric acid and a quantity of bank notes. Three months later, Davis and Downes were discovered inside a Nissan Almera parked in Royal Docks, East London.Inside the hatchback's boot, officers found £40,000 in cash.The gang's stash of counterfeit £20 notes and tens of thousands in Euros were discovered at an address in South Woodford, the trial heard.The gang was arrested before they bought any drugs.Jailing Davis for 11 years, Judge Georges Khayat QC said: "You always thought big. You clearly thought that almost overnight you were going to make a lot of money."Instead of settling down with a family you then decided you would involve yourself in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs."Downes was jailed for five years, Smith was sentenced to six and Leaper was given 18-months.Downes, of Llewellyn Street, Bermondsey, was found guilty of acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property and money laundering.He had already admitted a separate count of acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property.Leaper, of The Street, Stourmouth, Kent, denied acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property and money laundering.
Smith, of Chesterfield Gardens, Greenwich, denied conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A to another and acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property.

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Mark Anthony Escobedo, 28, was arrested in connection to a fight with a 37-year-old Watsonville man at a bar on Nov. 16.The victim was involved in an altercation at the bar on East Lake Avenue, and received severe injuries when he was slashed multiple times on his chest and back with a sharp cutting instrument, according to police. The police department's gang unit was able to identify Escobedo as the suspect.During Friday's arrest, police said they found evidence connected to the incident, a loaded sawed-off shotgun and crystal methamphetamine.Escobedo was charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of an illegal sawed-off shotgun, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a loaded firearm while in possession of a controlled substance and the illegal possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He was booked in County Jail.The condition of the victim was not available Saturday.

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man found shot dead in an alley may have been the victim of a gangland execution, police believe. The 24-year-old, who has not been named, was discovered at 9pm on Friday in West Ealing, London. The Met's Operation Trident team, which investigates black-on-black killings, is looking into possible gang links. No arrests had been made by last night. Police appealed for witnesses.

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Bruno Diquinzio, 42, was named yesterday as remaining at large following arrests in Project Croisière, a joint police investigation into a cocaine trafficking ring that stretched from Vancouver to Montreal.Diquinzio, a Montrealer, played an enforcer for a mafioso in Omertà, a popular fictional account of the Montreal Mafia that aired on Radio Canada during the late 1990s. The series title was borrowed from the Sicilian expression for the Mafia's code of silence.Besides charges filed against him in Montreal court yesterday, Diquinzio is being sought since June 1 on drug trafficking charges filed in Vancouver.In 2000, he was sentenced to a 3-year prison term after police in Montreal linked him to a large stash of drugs, cash and weapons uncovered in the St. Michel district. Police initially linked him to the Montreal Mafia, but during a Dec. 2000 parole hearing, his classification was modified to a "large-scale drug trafficker" with extensive contacts in the drug milieu.At least one of the people arrested yesterday is known to have links to the Montreal Mafia through the Rizzuto clan. Antonino Milioto, 62, was arrested in 1999 in connection with another cocaine smuggling ring along with people connected to the Montreal Mafia. In 2003, he was sentenced to 31/2 years for playing a limited role in the plot to smuggle hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Miami to Montreal.Sûreté du Québec Sgt. Martine Isabelle described Project Croisière as a joint investigation by the SQ, the RCMP and Revenue Quebec."A part of the investigation leads us to believe it can be tied to (the Hells Angels)," she said.None of those arrested yesterday appears to be full-patch members of the biker gang.Nine people were arrested in Montreal. Another five were arrested in Ottawa and two others were apprehended in Vancouver. Arrests were also made in the Laurentians, Eastern Townships and western Quebec."The investigation began in September 2006, and it showed that the drugs were imported from Mexico to Canada," Isabelle said. "On an annual basis this organization was importing several hundred kilos of cocaine."The drugs were smuggled via the western U.S. into British Columbia in vehicles. From Vancouver, the cocaine was driven to Montreal, then distributed to various part of Quebec.Included among the people identified by police as leaders of the network were Lionel Gauthier, 67, of Val Morin; Robert Brunet, 62, of Rosemere; Mario Cariello, 46, of Montreal; Richard Paré, 42, of Rosemere; and 46-year-old Michel Lecompte of Gatineau. Revenue Quebec announced yesterday it was placing seizure orders on assets owned by Gauthier, Cariello and Lecompte.Isabelle said two large seizures were already made in Montreal and in western Quebec in April and May during the investigation. Police seized cocaine, ecstacy and cars at the time

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Noe Ramirez Mandujano, a veteran federal prosecutor who resigned in July as head of an elite unit known as SIEDO, is charged with passing tips to the Beltran Leyva gang in the western state of Sinaloa, Mexican Atty. Gen. Eduardo Medina Mora said.
Ramirez, 47, becomes the highest-ranking law enforcement official to be arrested amid a government investigation of infiltration of police agencies by drug traffickers.Five other officials from SIEDO, a division of the attorney general's office that spearheads drug investigations, already face charges of leaking intelligence to the Sinaloa group.Medina Mora said a member of the gang told authorities he paid a total of $450,000 to Ramirez as part of a monthly payoff scheme "in exchange for providing information about investigations and ongoing actions" against the Sinaloa drug smugglers.The attorney general said Ramirez had voluntarily appeared before prosecutors to answer the accusations but there was sufficient cause to detain the former official.If true, the accusation represents another serious setback to President Felipe Calderon's war on Mexican drug cartels, a centerpiece of his 2-year-old administration. Mexico is awash in drug violence, with more than 4,000 people dead this year, according to unofficial media counts.
This latest arrest, amid a government inquiry called Operation Cleanup, may demonstrate Calderon's commitment to rooting out official corruption but it also will likely further undermine public confidence in the war on drugs.

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Coquitlam RCMP and a local newspaper say they have been contacted by an anonymous tipster who claims he has the bullet-riddled body of an escaped gangster stored in his fridge.The caller told the North Shore News that Omid Tahvili, the convicted drug dealer who escaped from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in November with the aid of a guard, was killed last week after he was shot five times in the head, chest, arm and legs.The tipster said he is storing the body in a fridge and that he would hold onto it until the RCMP offer him a suitable reward. "I can't keep the body around no more longer, because the body stinks right now," the caller told the North Shore News.If they don't make that deal with me, I'm just going to burn the body and get rid of it."He would not reveal how he came to be in possession of the corpse, or any information about who shot Tahvili.Coquitlam RCMP Cpl. Scott Baker confirmed that the tipster had called him twice and offered to return the body in return for a large payment.Police are taking the call seriously, but Baker said there isn't any proof that Tahvili is either dead or alive. He said the caller refused to send RCMP pictures of the body, nor would he give his name or contact information.Although caller ID showed a Toronto number, Baker said that police have not been able to trace it, and they can't be sure that the tipster is actually in Ontario. The caller told the North Shore News that he was "somewhere back east."
The caller accurately described Tahvili's tattoos, but police said those descriptions have been widely circulated in the public."He could very well know Tahvili, and Tahvili could be in on the whole thing," Baker said. "It sounds pretty hokey.... It sure is possible, but is it likely? I don't know."In August, Crown prosecutor Wendy Dawson revealed in court during the sentencing hearing of former jail guard Edwin Ticne, who helped Tahvili escape in return for $50,000, that the gangster had called Coquitlam RCMP to say he was in Toronto and wanted to make a deal for his return to B.C.Before being sentenced in absentia in January, Tahvili phoned his lawyer and promised to turn himself in if the judge let him off with time served. But that deal was refused, and Tahvili was ordered to serve six more years in jail for the kidnapping and torture of a Surrey man in 2005.The judge ruled that Tahvili was the mastermind behind the abduction plot, in which the victim was kidnapped at gunpoint, blindfolded, assaulted and taken to a secret location, which police believed was Tahvili's business, Platinum Touch in Vancouver. During that sentencing, the court heard that Tahvili and his business shipped at least $654,000 in drug money during a one-month period when they were under police surveillance

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Daniel "Max" Davenport, 24, of West Hempstead, N.Y., who is said to be a member of the Long Island Boys, was arrested just before 9 p.m. when troopers found him hiding inside 246 Hazle Ave., Wilkes-Barre, according to the newspaper. An alleged member of the Jersey City Boys was charged Tuesday and another alleged member is sought by police, the newspaper reported.Pennsylvania State Police have arrested a man they say is associated with two drug-dealing gangs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., one that has ties to Jersey City, according to a report in the Times-Leader of northeastern Pennsylania.

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Sentenced Logan Atkins to three years in prison and one year in jail for the gang-related shooting of Lamar Anthony Waddy, then 18, in Staunton in March 2007. Atkins pleaded guilty in February to participating in gang activity, unlawful shooting while committing a felony and reckless handling of a firearm. One gunshot struck Waddy in the buttocks. Atkins is already serving a four-year sentence on two felony firearm possession convictions in Waynesboro in August 2007. He will serve the new sentence in addition to the previous and will undergo 10 years of supervised probation upon release, as outlined in a plea agreement by attorneys. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jeffrey Gaines said Atkins was uncooperative with police, but was “visibly shaken,” after the shot unintentionally struck the victim. He said he hopes the sentence will give Atkins time to mature and send a message to “self-styled gangbangers” that gang participation will bring felony charges.
The defendant’s sister spoke on his behalf, describing a troubled home life during their youth. “All we had was each other,” said Devin Hite, 30, of Staunton.
Hite added that Atkins wants only the best for his 2-year-old daughter. For more than a year, Atkins has spoken and corresponded with gang prevention coordinator Diane Kellogg of the Central Shenandoah Office on Youth, lending valuable insight into the lure of gangs, Kellogg testified. “He does not want his daughter to grow up in a community with gangs,” Kellogg told Judge Thomas H. Wood. Wood ordered Atkins have no contact with gang members upon release. Judge Humes J. Franklin, who recused himself from the case, previously rejected the same plea agreement accepted Tuesday.

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Ruben "Niteowl" Castro, 48, a kingpin of the 18th Street gang, admitted to running criminal operations at the park in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder. He had been indicted in 2006 on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and murder, along with 17 others.Gangs under his control allegedly taxed drug dealers in the area, as well as MacArthur Park fruit and ice cream vendors. Police also reported gang members taxing people who play chess on park tables.Revenue was divided among Castro and his associates on the street.Because of the extent of his criminal reach from federal prison in Florence, Colo., Los Angeles Magazine picked Castro as one of the city's most powerful people in December 2006.Castro was already serving three life sentences for a 1997 conviction on racketeering and conspiracy.
Deputy U.S. Atty. Brian Michael said Castro's conviction sets the stage for the trials of others in the 2006 indictment.

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Ian Gemell Bonner and Cornelius Moore, both 16, were charged with murder and armed robbery in connection with the crime. Kenneth R. Gaines, 26, was charged with armed robbery, firearm and drug charges.
Members of the sheriff's gang task force descended upon the Luckey Street home, which sits within the territory claimed by the Sunset gang, on a tip they received while working that investigation, sheriff's Lt. Scott Peebles said. They think the gang was using the home as a "trap house," or a storage facility, for their weapons and drugs, according to Lt. Peebles. "We've got ideas about who this stuff is going to be linked to and we're going to verify that through forensics," he said.
By late morning, deputies could be seen carrying suitcases and paper bags filled with cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and ammunition from the home. Two assault rifles, a shotgun and three handguns also were seized. Lt. Peebles said his office had received information while working Mr. Hammond's slaying case that members of the gang were hiding their guns and drugs on Luckey Street, which is off 15th Street near the now-closed Castleberry plant. It wasn't until recently, however, that police were able to connect it to the home that was raided Wednesday, Lt. Peebles said. "We weren't able to pinpoint it until we got the information today," he said.
Mr. Hammond was fatally shot last month when three men burst into his Royal Street home. A man and two teenagers, who were arrested shortly after, are accused of shooting him a number of times as his grandmother slept in another part of the home.

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Giuseppe Grigoli was arrested last year and is in jail while the investigation continues. Anti-Mafia authorities say assets including supermarket outlets, land and cars, were seized Tuesday in Sicily.Italian authorities have seized assets worth euro700 million ($885 million) from a supermarket chain owner suspected of letting the Mafia use his businesses to launder money.Prosecutors told reporters in Palermo that Grigoli's name was found on notes discovered after the 2006 arrest of the Mafia's reputed top boss, Bernardo Provenzano. Provenzano allegedly used the notes to communicate with his lieutenants, which were found in his hideout.Media reports did not identify a lawyer for Grigoli. Nobody at his company was available for comment.700 million euros in assets they believe can be traced to the most important fugitive Cosa Nostra boss, Matteo Messina Denaro, in an operation described as ''historic'' by anti-mafia police. The assets were in the name of 60-year-old businessman Giuseppe Grigoli, who is known as the 'Supermarket King' and has the exclusive franchise for western Sicily of the Despar supermarket chain.
Grigoli was arrested last December for allegedly being Messina Denaro's bagman after his name surfaced in some of the 'pizzini', or hand written messages used to avoid wire tapping and electronic surveillance, found in the hideout of Cosa Nostra superboss Bernardo Provenzano when he was arrested in April 2006.
The assets seized from Grigoli included 12 businesses, 220 real estate holdings - including villas and apartment blocks - and 133 pieces of land for a total of some 60 hectares.''This is one of the most important operations in recent years,'' said Palermo prosecutor Roberto Scarpinato. Investigators believe that through his supermarkets Grigoli was able to launder illicit Cosa Nostra profits and give a legal cover to organized crime operatives. ''Having conquered the food distribution market, Grigoli was able to give jobs to hundreds of people close to Cosa Nostra or recommended by the Mafia,'' Scarpinato said. ''This is one of the examples of Cosa Nostra benefiting in a disproportionate manner from the need for employment in certain social areas,'' he added.President of the Senate Constitutional Affairs Committee Carlo Vizzini congratulated police on sending a ''huge signal'' to mobsters.''The mafiosi must understand that there is no way out for their assets, which sooner or later will be seized and confiscated. For all Mafia men, there will be nothing but prison and poverty,'' he said.
Justice Minister Angelino Alfano also praised the investigation, stressing that ''the key to demolishing the entire criminal system of Cosa Nostra lies in the systematic confiscation of their illegal assets''.
Messina Denaro and Palermo boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo took over the reins of Cosa Nostra after Provenzano's arrest and a power struggle appeared to be brewing between them until Lo Piccolo was captured in November 2007.
Since then, 46-year-old Messina Denaro, who has been on the run since 1993, is believed to have effectively taken on the role of Cosa Nostra boss of bosses. A former Porsche-driving playboy from Trapani, Messina Denaro enjoys a semi-mythical status among the younger generations of Cosa Nostra.
The gangster sealed a reputation for brutality by murdering a rival Trapani boss and strangling his three-months-pregnant girlfriend.

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Four known gang members allegedly involved in a bitter war between two rival groups have been charged after an early morning shooting in Chinatown on Sunday.With weapons and attempted murder charges already laid in this incident, and more expected against others this week, police are saying this investigation could put a "significant dent" in the fight."This is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute," said Calgary police acting Insp. Grant Miller of Sunday's shooting.
We think we're going to make a significant dent in it with this particular investigation."The "brazen, targeted" attack of one gang against another unfolded around 1:30 a.m. in the 200 block of Centre Street S. when an SUV pulled up alongside a car and people inside began firing.At least 17 bullets hit the car, wounding four inside, said Miller.Other stray bullets struck nearby businesses on the street.Officers arriving on the scene found two victims inside the car, including one who was wearing a bulletproof vest, Miller said. Later, two other victims, believed to be from the same car, showed up at Foothills Hospital.
Police across the city were given a description of the SUV involved in the shooting, which was later located in the northwest community of Citadel.Inside were four males, one of whom was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, said Miller.
The three were arrested, while the fourth was taken to Foothills Hospital for treatment. Of all those wounded, only one has been treated and released. All, however, are expected to recover from their injuries.Miller said investigators recovered a couple of handguns and several shell casings, but it could still take some time to sort out all the details and finish laying charges, considering "the number of gunshots, the number of vehicles, the number of people."
Investigators are still pursuing leads, he added. "We're continuing to put more pieces of this complicated puzzle together."Still, the weapons used, the fact that one of the victims was wearing body armour and the location of the shooting is cause for concern."They come armed now. Automatic weapons have been used in the past," Miller said. "These are very serious groups involved in a longstanding, very serious situation. It obviously puts members of the public not related to this at a huge risk."So far, only members of one gang have been charged. Daniel Landry, 23, Marcel Landry, 25, Chantha Kim, 31, and a 17-year-old male who can't be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act have all been charged with four counts each of attempted murder and causing bodily harm.

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Christopher Ablett, a reputed member of the rival Mongols motorcycle gang, appeared in San Francisco Superior Court for the second time this morning since his extradition from Oklahoma last week and was appointed an attorney from the public defender's office.attorney for a man accused of fatally shooting the leader of the San Francisco chapter of the Hells Angels in September said today his client denies committing murder.The 35-year-old Modesto resident is suspected by San Francisco police of fatally shooting 46-year-old Mark "Papa" Guardado outside a bar in San Francisco's Mission District on Sept. 2.He has not yet entered a plea to charges of murder and firearm possession and remains in custody in the jail's high-security unit in lieu of $5 million bail.Ablett's new attorney Stephen Olmo said today he has not yet received the evidence against his client."My client's absolutely denying that he committed murder," Olmo said.Olmo declined comment on Ablett's alleged status as a Mongols member, or whether he has admitted to being at the scene of Guardado's shooting.Olmo also refused to discuss what Ablett had been doing in Oklahoma.In early September Ablett was declared a fugitive, and a $5 million warrant was issued for his arrest after police searched his Modesto home and seized a motorcycle and other items.On Oct. 5, Ablett turned himself in to police in Bartlesville, Okla.Ablett is due back in court Dec. 4 for plea entry.

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In what Cincinnati cops say is the largest criminal gang prosecution in the history of the city, a number of local, state and federal agencies have cracked down on a gang in Northside that calls itself the “Northside Taliband."A six-month investigation led to a 90-count indictment against 50 members and associates. The gang is believed to have as many as 90 members.Charges include murder, burglary, robbery, assault, drugs. A number of those charged are cited for “participating in a criminal gang,” a second-degree felony.

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