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Tuesday 31 May 2011

Gang of Brits, including eight men from the East Midlands, have appeared in a Spanish court accused of ripping off tens of millions of pounds in one of Europe's biggest boiler room scams.

Posted On 23:01 0 comments



Detectives believe the 15 suspected con artists were cold-calling thousands of UK residents and pressurising them into parting with their savings for non-existent shares.

The men - aged between 22 and 41 - were arrested earlier this week in an armed raid by Spanish and British authorities on their suspected headquarters in Palma, Mallorca.

Detectives leading the investigation said they were living "lives of luxury in the sun" from the scheme.

Officers appealed for potential victims to come forward. Dyno Medical, Inca Pacific Gold and Mining and Viking Gold Resources were named as fake companies linked to the gang.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart, from the City of London Police's Economic Crime Directorate, hailed the raid as a "major result" in the fight against boiler room scams.

"It is the first time in Spain that authorities believe they have dismantled an operation of this scale in its entirety," he said.

He said gang members were talking on the phones as the raids took place. The officer added: "They were shocked when we went through the door. It was a real message for the crooks out there - we are very grateful for the work, support and co-operation we had from Spanish police."

The 15, indicted under Spanish law, are: Liam Rymell, 23; Dominic Jones, 24; Shafiq Dad, 41; Omar Rana, 27 and Rashid Shafayat, 30, all from Nottingham; Danny Dilliway, 25, from Canvey Island, Essex; Farhan Khan, 24, from Hayes, Middlesex; John Bartlett, 22, from Mansfield; Tyrone Robinson, 23, from Mansfield; Chris Savva, 30, from Grays, Essex; Lee Fisher, 24, from Mansfield; Mohamed Ghazalli, 26, also from Essex; Anthony Baugh, 25, from Luton; Neil Simpson, 27, from Basildon; and Fahim Khan, 36, from south London but residing in Spain. Two German nationals also appeared in court in connection with the alleged con.

They appeared briefly in a Spanish court on Thursday but are yet to face trial, City of London police said. Boiler room scams involve fraudsters using high pressure sales tactics to con investors into buying non-tradable, overpriced or even non-existent shares. They are thought to cost the UK around £200 million a year


Lodi Sees Series of Gang Related Shootings

Posted On 22:01 0 comments

According to Lodi Police the victim is a 20 year old Hispanic male, who is also a known gang member. A police spokesperson said it is not certain if the shooting is gang related, but that it is a possibility.

According to Lodi Police, the victim was on his way to a residence in the neighborhood when he was shot multiple times. After being shot, police said the victim started to head to friends who live at a nearby apartment complex, but he collapsed in the street.

The victim was transported by helicopter to the hospital with life threatening injuries.

Police do not have a suspect name or description, but are looking for two vehicles of interest; a four-door white passenger vehicle and a brown pick up truck with a cover on the back.

Lodi Police added that this is the third in a series of gang related shootings in the past week; the first two incidents reportedly did not have victims. After the third shooting, police said there was a fourth shooting that happened in another part of town, however there were no victims.

Police said residents do not need to be concerned because the shootings appear to be crimes of opportunity where gang members spot rival gang members.

 


NorteƱos initiated Sanchez in a process known as getting "jumped in," whereby he was severely beaten until the others were satisfied

Posted On 21:57 0 comments

 Day of the Dead, the Norteños initiated Sanchez in a process known as getting "jumped in," whereby he was severely beaten until the others were satisfied. "I got dropped a couple of times," he said, "but I got back up. I got heart." That was when he took the street name "Bloody." He was 16.
Sometime this month, Alameda Superior Court Judge Robert Friedman is expected to deliver a verdict on a proposed gang injunction targeting 40 suspected members of the Norteño gang. The injunction, proposed by City Attorney John Russo in 2010, has dominated headlines for more than half a year and helped foster a sense that Oakland's Latino gang members number in the thousands. That's not the case.
Oakland police estimate there are roughly 700 Latino gang members in the city -- 400 Norteños, 150 Border Brothers and 150 Sureños. Those numbers appear to have remained relatively steady over the past 10 years, despite a 13 percent increase in Oakland's Latino population since 2000, according to census figures.
Latinos now make up 25 percent of Oakland's population, on par with the African-American and white numbers. Yet the topic of Latino gang violence has remained front and center. On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council voted 4-3 to support the injunction after several hours of testimony from supporters and opponents.
Opponents say the injunction unfairly maligns innocent young people who they fear will be victims of racial profiling by police. But others, including store owners and concerned parents, support efforts to crack down on gangs, saying they are responsible for wrecking young lives and destroying communities.
The Norteños, or Northerners, form the oldest and largest of the three big Latino street gangs in the East Bay. Norteños identify with the color red and by "N," the 14th letter of the alphabet, which they often tattoo on their chests and arms in Roman numerals as XIV. Norteños have a broad but loosely defined relationship with the Nuestra Familia prison gang, whose members, according to law enforcement officials, are involved in drug trafficking, prostitution and gunrunning.
But while Nuestra Familia is highly organized, the Norteño street gang is less so.
"If a Norteño was to go to prison, they'd hang out and congregate with similar people, but that doesn't make them a member of Nuestra Familia," said Lt. Fred Mestas, who directed the Oakland Police Gang Unit from 1991 to 1998 and is considered a local expert on the subject. Equally powerful in prisons are members of the Mexican Mafia, or MM, a criminal organization with roots in Southern California.
On the streets, these southerners, or Sureños, identify with the color blue and the letter M. With the exception of a few small groups, Sureños are recent arrivals to Oakland.
Lucy Toscano, a former rival gang member, recalls the moment she first saw them. It was a September day in 2003, and she was at a funeral for a friend killed in the streets. A car convoy pulled into the cemetery and a group of men started shooting at the funeral procession. About a dozen people were shot.
"It was Sureños doing the shooting," she said. "It was all a show by Sureños to tell the world they had arrived here."
The arrival of the Sureños made a bad situation worse, according to Mestas. "Before then it was hard to find a Sureño," he said. "But when migration people started moving here, and finding other people up here, and they started claiming blue, and they became Sureño."
Into this already volatile mix, Oakland was hit with another gang development that sprang out of the vast prison gang structure. Straddling the line between the Norteños and the Sureños are the Border Brothers.
A 23-year-old from East Oakland who goes by the street name of "Drips" -- "because I make people drip blood" -- is one of them.
Drips has bled, too. The scars of past conflicts -- at least two gun shots and multiple stab wounds -- can be seen all over his back. Like the Norteños and Sureños who identify with a specific color, the Border Brothers typically wear all black.
According to Mestas, the Border Brothers sprang to life when "mules" -- poor young men from Mexico or other Central American countries coerced into smuggling drugs across the border for money -- were caught and sent to prison. With no one to defend them, and facing possible death at the hands of the much more established gangs, these young men began to band together. To ease the pressure on their precarious position in prison, they became mercenaries. These killers for hire operated first within and later on without the prisons' brutal hierarchy.
"They started doing mercenary work, hits for other gangs to keep the heat off them and to make money," Mestas said. More than the other two gangs, Border Brothers accept people of all races and backgrounds, including undocumented migrants from Mexico and other Central American countries, provided they abide by the gang's set of rules.
Police and community activists say gang violence in Oakland isn't usually related to drug trafficking or gunrunning. More often, violence erupts when young men "flash" the colors of their own gang in a neighborhood where a rival gang usually lingers. If a gang member paints graffiti on a wall in a rival neighborhood, it can provoke retaliation in the form of shootings, stabbings or severe beatings. Sometimes, fights break out over girls.
"The violence in Oakland is usually some form of disrespect or inferred disrespect," Mestas said.
"It's not money; it's really kind of sad," according to Axel, a 33-year old Sureño from San Francisco. "When you really break it down, it's just (the) colors (we wear)," he said recently, at the tattoo parlor where he works. "When you break it down, we're all brown, we're all Latinos."
But that sense of shared experience and cultural affinity is often lost to ignorance, fear and impetuous decision-making. Those factors are made worse when the environmental and neighborhood conditions become intolerable, said Jeff Duncan-Andrade, a sociologist and expert on youth behavior at San Francisco State. "For a young person to join a gang is a significant decision, a high-risk decision, one that will result in some kind of bodily harm, some sets of psychological attacks and, not uncommonly, death," Duncan-Andrade said. "That begs the question -- why would anybody make that decision?"
The gang members interviewed for this report all had different reasons for their decision. Joining a gang gave Bloody a short-term sense of safety and security in the face of a constant barrage of assaults by the Border Brothers who ruled the streets in his new neighborhood. As his family fell apart, the gang stepped in with support and protection.
For Drips, the Border Brother, becoming a gang member felt almost like a family obligation. His mother had been a Border Sister. His father and grandfather had both been in the gang. The sense of belonging it offered reached deep into his own family.
"It's about respect," said Drips, pacing back and forth near his East Oakland home.
The night before, a rival gang had sped by and fired shots, though nobody could say why exactly. The drive-by had left him extra cautious. "We come from the ground, we're Mexicans. We have to be somebody. I consider myself a paisa, brown pride. We came, and we were like nobody, but now we're big. Everybody knows us; (the gang) comes from our backgrounds."
The gangs' staying power is directly related to the environments from which they spring, Duncan-Andrade said. Where poverty, substance abuse and a violent street culture already exist, gangs are more likely to thrive as kids drop out of the institutions meant to protect them.
"You're much less safe by joining a gang, but under conditions these kids face, where you feel bodily threat, you'll make decisions that aren't always logical," Duncan-Andrade said. He argues that environment plays a much greater role in the creation of gangs -- and the seeming inability of police to dismantle them -- than people are comfortable admitting.
The combination of rough streets, pervasive substance abuse in the community and violence in neighborhoods will break down the protectors that elsewhere keep kids safe from gangs, Duncan-Andrade said. Those most susceptible to joining gangs are teenagers, and the brains of teenagers are particularly susceptible to making short-range decisions that are high-risk, no matter where they live, he said. Their choices, however, are defined by their environment, not their race.
"If you took wealthy white kids, and put them in an environment like East Oakland, you'd have white gangbangers. It's that simple," he said.
What is clear is that as long as some of the factors remain that help push young people into gangs in the first place -- poverty, unsafe streets and a lack of social programs to keep them occupied after school -- the gangs themselves are unlikely to disappear, no matter how many police flood the zone.
They may shift their activities to other areas, or go underground for a while, Duncan-Andrade said, but their loyalty to the blue, the red and the black will remain intact until it can be replaced with something more meaningful in the community. "I know it's wrong, but I'm just going to keep going until my casket drops," said Bloody, as if to underscore this point.
Drips, the Border Brother, expressed a similar refrain. He said the only way he'll leave the gang is "if I die."
Only one gang member interviewed for this story expressed a desire to leave. He was 17 and said to call him No Name. He joined the Sureños, he said, "to fit in." He had gotten into fights with Norteños and Border Brothers. He had been shot at. But he had also stayed in school, and he was surrounded by teachers who wanted to see him succeed.
One of them had applied to college on his behalf, and he was waiting for the response. He wanted out, he said, even though it was hard to leave behind the life that had given him a sense of meaning. But he said he was willing to change. "It's good to be riding with my girl and know that someone isn't going to just come up and shoot me," he said. "I'm trying to start over."


Boston gang rivals battle on beach

Posted On 08:49 0 comments

Authorities say law enforcement officials converged on Carson Beach in South Boston and broke up fights involving youths from rival gangs.



Massachusetts State Police said in a statement that about 1,000 youth had gathered at the beach Monday afternoon during the third consecutive day of disturbances there.

One youth has been arrested for disorderly conduct and the others, ages 14-19, disbursed from the area. It is believed the youths arrived at the beach by train.

A veteran State Police commander says it was the largest gathering of youths on the beach that he has seen in two decades. Troopers from the State Police Barracks in South Boston, Boston police, transit police and officers from the University of Massachusetts Police were called in to clear the area.

 


Denver-area street gangs have gotten into the bank-robbery business

Posted On 08:39 0 comments

Denver-area street gangs have gotten into the bank-robbery business, helping fuel a surge in heists in the metro area this year.

As of Friday, the Denver area recorded 80 bank robberies in 2011, compared with 64 at this time in 2010, according to FBI spokesman Dave Joly. Denver now ranks second nationwide only to Seattle in bank robberies per capita.

The 25 percent increase has included more violent, takeover-style robberies and more robberies linked to local gangs, Joly said.

The Safe Streets Task Force, a joint effort of local, state and federal law enforcement, is working with the Metro Gang Task Force to address the new threat.

In some cases, it appears bank robberies have become a kind of "rite of passage" for prospective gang members, Joly said.

As crimes go, it's a poor choice. About 85 percent of bank robberies committed in the Denver area since 2007 have been solved, according to the FBI. The culprits can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison per offense — longer if it's an armed robbery.

In one recent Denver case, a repeat offender was sentenced to 146 years in prison. And because it's a federal crime, bank-robbery convicts must serve 85 percent of their prison terms.

"Robbing a bank is a very high-risk, low-reward crime," said FBI Special Agent in Charge James Yacone.


Monday 30 May 2011

6 dead in confrontation between rival drug gangs and police in Rio de Janeiro slum

Posted On 12:32 0 comments

Authorities say a shootout between rival drug gangs at a Rio de Janeiro slum left six alleged traffickers dead and three bystanders injured.
Rio de Janeiro police officer Rogerio Martins told local media that about 10 gunmen tried to invade the Para Pedro shantytown in Rio's north side early Sunday when the shootout began, leaving two dead. The other four gang members were killed when police arrived.
Authorities said the three bystanders were hit by stray bullets but were not seriously injured.
Police arrested four alleged gang members and seized several weapons.

 


convicted killer is the latest gangland figure to be quizzed by police about the disappearance of gardener Graeme Ferry.

Posted On 10:30 0 comments


Detectives investigating the missing 24-year-old have spoken to Michael Archibald.
The Sunday Mail can reveal that 30-year-old Archibald attended the same party as Ferry at the home of violent gangster Garry Smith.
Ferry was last seen leaving the party in John Bowman Gardens, Bellshill, Lanarkshire, more than eight weeks ago.
It is understood Archibald gave a voluntary statement and was not quizzed as a suspect.
An insider said: "The case is attracting a lot of attention and police fear it could be more significant than a missing person inquiry.
"Ferry was in the company of a convicted killer and someone convicted of attempted murder just before he disappeared so it was inevitable they would be questioned."
The hunt for Ferry took a dramatic twist nine days ago when police searched woodlands at the Kirk O'Shotts church, near the M8, looking for his body.
The investigation was briefly described as a murder inquiry but the search was called off last Saturday when nothing was found.
Ferry, from Bellshill, who worked at a heritage centre in Coatbridge as a landscape gardener, was warned by police two years ago that his life was in danger.
He was given the formal notice that threats had been made on his life - known as an Osman warning - by Strathclyde Police.
Archibald was charged with the murder of father-of-two John Kane, 21, outside his home in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, in January 2000.
Then 19, he was later jailed for eight years on a reduced charge of culpable homicide after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
His co-accused Stuart Docherty, 21, was jailed for life for the murder, which took place in front of Kane's wife.
Archibald was jailed for a further six years at the High Court in Edinburgh's in 2006 for an unprovoked attack on a man at a taxi rank in Hamilton - while out on licence for the killing.
Yesterday Archibald's solicitor, Jim O'Dowd, said: "My client can confirm he was at the party at Garry Smith's house on April 2. Mr Ferry was also at the party. My client was interviewed twice by the police."
Earlier this month, the Sunday Mail revealed 33-year-old Smith had also been questioned in connection with Ferry's disappearance.
Smith has a record for violence, including police assault and attempted murder.


Sunday 29 May 2011

$1 million reward for gangland to solve the mystery over the killing of Richard Mladenich

Posted On 08:24 0 comments

ONE million dollar reward has been offered for information over the underworld killing of Richard Mladenich.

Mladenich, a feared stand over man from Altona North, was shot dead at St Kilda's notorious Esquire Motel on May 16, 2000, reported the Herald Sun.

The 39-year-old was fatally shot about 3.30am in room 18 of the Acland St motel.

A $100,000 reward was offered by police in December 2002.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the reward was on offer for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Richard Mladenich's death.

Homicide Squad Detective Senior Sergeant Ron Iddles said the smallest piece of information could assist detectives to solve the 11-year-old mystery.



"We're hoping this reward will encourage people with information to come forward and help solve this crime," Detective Senior Sergeant Iddles said.

Information received in relation to this matter will be treated as strictly confidential.

 


Saturday 28 May 2011

feared gangland figure who has been on the run for almost a year and a half is now based in the Turkish resort of Kusadasi.

Posted On 07:59 0 comments



Jeffrey Finnegan (31) from Finglas, north Dublin, absconded from Shelton Abbey open prison in Co Wicklow in December 2009 after being granted temporary release for Christmas.

Sources say Finnegan fled Ireland using a false passport just hours after his jail release and then travelled to mainland Europe. Intelligence received by gardai indicates that he has been based in Turkey for "some months now".

Known as a violent criminal, Finnegan was arrested by gardai investigating the murders of innocent women Donna Cleary and Baiba Saulite in 2006 but he was never charged in relation to these crimes.

A member of Marlo Hyland's notorious crime gang, Finnegan was shot in the neck and back as part of a bitter internal feud in that mob just weeks before Hyland was murdered.

The shooting incident happened in Annamoe Parade, Cabra, in December 2006.

From Rathvilly Drive, Finglas, Finnegan is a convicted drug dealer who was a close associate of slain gangster John Daly , the armed robber who was shot dead in October, 2007 -- less than six months after calling RTE's Liveline show on an illegal mobile phone from Portlaoise Prison.

Our photograph shows Finnegan partying with his childhood friend Daly just weeks before Daly was gunned down as he sat in a taxi outside his Finglas home. The party was organised to celebrate Daly's release from prison.

In July 2008, Finnegan was given a four-year jail sentence for offences including unlawful use of a stolen car, dangerous driving and no insurance as well as assault causing harm and burglary.

The court heard at that time, that Finnegan had 47 previous convictions -- the most serious being a six-year sentence he got after being caught with cocaine and ecstasy valued at IR£150,000.

In March 2009, Finnegan was one of the ring-leaders of a mini-riot at Dublin's Mountjoy prison.
Prison sources concede that the decision to transfer such a dangerous prisoner to an open prison was "very strange" and it was "bizarre" that he was given temporary release just months after being involved in a jail riot.

Gardai say that the gangster "will be arrested on sight" if he returns to Ireland.

According to figures released to the Herald by the Irish Prison Service, Finnegan is one of 590 prisoners who are unlawfully at large -- but most of these prisoners are classified this way because of a technical breach, for example, failing to sign on at the prison at an allotted time.


the biggest gang trial in San Jose in years, a jury Friday found four NorteƱos guilty

Posted On 07:57 0 comments

the biggest gang trial in San Jose in years, a jury Friday found four Norteños guilty of a murderous rampage that took four lives and severely injured eight people, ending a nearly yearlong proceeding that cost taxpayers more than $1 million -- and entailed so many charges the verdict took 95 minutes to read aloud.
The outcome was a victory for prosecutor Stacey Capps and San Jose detectives, who invested nearly five years in bringing to justice one of the leaders of the El Hoyo Palmas gang and his hit squad of three young men.
"I told my wife, 'We're taking some really dangerous people off the street -- forever,' '' lead Detective Sean Pritchard said shortly before the verdicts were read.
The gangsters set out to avenge the killing of two associates by rival Sureños by indiscriminately shooting virtually anyone who happened to cross their path at the wrong time during a four-month period ending in early 2007.
Dressed in black pants, sweatshirts and caps, the gangsters carried out their killing "missions," as they called them, in East and West San Jose. Among the victims of the 11 separate shooting incidents was locksmith Hernan Koba, who was merely trying to open someone's car door when he was robbed of $1 and shot dead.
"We're happy about the verdict,'' Koba's brother Danny said after the hearing. "But it's still hard.''
"It won't bring our brother back," his brother Sergio Koba agreed.
The jury of eight women and four men took about seven days to reach a decision after listening to the lawyers present evidence for more than four months. The case began last spring with months of pretrial motions, and was so detailed it generated 875 exhibits.
Dedicated jurors
The whole affair, including evidence of the gang's obsession with palm-tree motifs and its cavalier attitude toward killing, was an eye-opener for some jurors.
"The areas in which the crimes happened surprised me,'' one said in an interview after the trial. "I hate to say it, but we know about the east side. But now we're looking at the west side, and I thought, 'I think I shop there,' and that was unsettling."
Judge Arthur Bocanegra commended the jurors for their dedication: None were ever late or called in sick in more than 18 weeks. The jury also maintained its cool in the face of what law enforcement viewed as a possible threat by the gang. A few young men dressed in gang attire snapped pictures of some jurors as they were leaving the courthouse, frightening them. Security was heightened.
Security remained heavy Friday, with five armed bailiffs standing guard as the court clerk took the witness stand to read some 150 pages of verdicts, including the penal code numbers of each offense. The number of charges varied per defendant, with 15 total. But the verdict took so long because each charge carried either gang or gun enhancements or, in the case of the murder charges, the choice of first- or second-degree, and special circumstances, including multiple killings.
Dead to rights
The jury found the men guilty of every single charge, concluding that Gene "Shorty" Sanchez directed a hit squad of three young men: Samuel "Rico" Castro, Michael "Negro" Espana and Orlando "Gangster" Rojas, who was 17 at the time but was prosecuted as an adult. All were charged with conspiring to commit murder, and the alleged hit squad members are also charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
All four gang members maintained poker faces as the verdicts were read. Sanchez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, and the three other men face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sentencing was set for July 22.
The evidence against them included cellphone records, ballistics tests, informants' testimony and self-incriminating statements the defendants made in letters and in recorded conversations from jail. But the clincher of Capps' case was an eyewitness account from a virtually unimpeachable source -- a San Jose police officer who witnessed the final homicide, just a few days after police put the gang under surveillance.
Expensive prosecution
Santa Clara County Superior Court spent $200,000 to transform a dingy courtroom into a cavernous, high-tech venue for the trial, which originally involved 13 alleged members of the notorious, multigenerational El Hoyo Palmas street gang. But the courtroom proved unnecessary after the number of defendants shrunk and the judge wound up splitting the case into two separate trials.
The first half of the case also has cost taxpayers more than $1 million in legal defense costs and fees for the indigent gang members, including more than $100,000 just for printing expenses. That's because there were 77 binders of information for each of the four defense attorneys.
The second phase, which begins in August, could cost nearly as much.


Friday 27 May 2011

Authorities believe the Four Block Gang controlled much of the drug dealing in Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill neighborhood, committing drive-by shootings to protect turf and feuding with rival gangs.

Posted On 12:15 0 comments

An investigation that began after four teenage girls killed themselves two years ago led to a federal indictment Thursday that named 44 gang members and associates on drug and conspiracy-related charges.
Authorities believe the Four Block Gang controlled much of the drug dealing in Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill neighborhood, committing drive-by shootings to protect turf and feuding with rival gangs.
Those feuds, one of the indictments reads, “resulted in murders and attempted murders.”
View indictments
To view the indictments, click here and here.
One official confirmed several of those arrested Thursday are “persons of interest in several homicide probes” in Schenectady.
But it was the suicides that focused law enforcement efforts on the Four Block Gang, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said at a Thursday news conference. Three of the suicides were the direct result of harassment and belittlement suffered at the hands of gang members, authorities said. Other girls attempted suicide.
Authorities looking into the suicides soon realized there was a gang connection and an intensive federal, state and local investigation followed.
“We hope that it has dealt a crippling blow to the Four Block Gang,” Carney told reporters. “And, to the extent that some of these individuals may have been involved with these emotionally fragile young girls, and contributed to their belief that their lives were not worth living, perhaps today there is some measure of justice for them.”
More than 200 law enforcement agents descended on addresses in Schenectady and elsewhere Thursday morning, sweeping up a total of 30 suspects by mid-morning. Five others were already in custody from previous arrests.
In all, 44 face federal indictment involving acts in Schenectady, Glenville, Niskayuna, Saratoga Springs and as far away as Rutland, Vt. Nine people remain at large.

U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announces indictments unsealing racketeering and narcotics charges against members of the Schenectady "Four Block Gang" on Thursday at Schenectady City Hall.
Watch Video»
Cash, guns, drugs
In the morning raids, authorities seized $11,000 in cash, three handguns, one AK-47 and 200 grams of crack cocaine, U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said.
Of those indicted, Hartunian identified 14 specifically as members of the Four Block Gang.
The indictment, while alleging murders and attempted murders were committed by the gang, did not name specific cases or incidents. Asked about that later, Carney confirmed those included multiple killings locally. He declined to put an exact number or identify the killings.
Only two specific shootings were identified. In one, Curtis Perkins, 23, is accused of firing at a rival gang member July 21 of 2010 on Furman Street. The other occurred three days later, according to the indictment, when defendant Jose A. Serrano, 20, fired at another rival gang member on Elder Street.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Clifford Holly discusses the operation and Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney talks about a connection between a rash of suicides among girls in 2009 and the gang activity.
Watch Video»
Perkins is facing a possible sentence of up to 25 years if convicted in another shooting. He’s accused of trying to kill the father of his then-girlfriend’s child Jan. 3 at the corner of State and McClellan streets. Perkins allegedly tried to kill the man while free pending sentencing on an earlier weapons possession count. He was eventually sentenced to seven years on the weapons count.
In announcing the arrests, Hartunian addressed gang members or would-be gang members: “Stop gang banging, stop engaging in acts of violence. If you don’t, you’ll end up like Four Block, in a cell block.”
Thursday’s news conference, held in Schenectady’s City Hall rotunda, was attended by many of the agencies that helped in the investigation, including the Schenectady Police Department, Schenectady County Sheriff’s Department, federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the state police.


Thursday 26 May 2011

Man killed in west Dublin gun attack

Posted On 17:15 0 comments

The man, aged 20, was a passenger in the back seat of a car at Moorfield Avenue, Ronanstown when a gunman shot him several times.
He was taken to Tallaght Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The shooting, which has all the hallmarks of a gangland attack, happened just after 9pm.
The victim was hit in the upper body and head.
Gardaí in Ronanstown are appealing for anyone who was in the area at the time or anyone with information to contact them
It is the second shooting in Dublin today.
Earlier another man was shot in the shoulder at the Cabra House Pub by a gunman who's believed to have made his escape on a bicycle

 


Gardai have launched a murder inquiry after a second gangland-style gun attack in Dublin in one day.

Posted On 17:12 0 comments


The 20-year-old victim was sitting in a car in Moorfield Avenue, Clondalkin, at about 9pm when a gunman opened fire.

He was shot in his upper body and head and was rushed to Tallaght Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Gardai said no one else was injured in the shooting.

The scene was preserved for a technical examination.

Earlier, a 23-year-old man was shot in the shoulder in the Cabra House pub on Faussagh Avenue, Cabra, north Dublin.

A Garda spokeswoman said the victim refused medical attention for his injuries, which are not life threatening.

Investigators have appealed for witnesses


Troubled rapper Torrence “Lil Boosie” Hatch continues to add more negative light to his present situation as the Baton Rouge native was charged by Louisiana police officials

Posted On 08:13 0 comments

Troubled rapper Torrence “Lil Boosie” Hatch continues to add more negative light to his present situation as the Baton Rouge native was charged by Louisiana police officials along with two fellow inmates for attempting to smuggle ingredients to make codeine syrup inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary as reported by CBS affiliate news channel WAFB 9 earlier today.

Already potentially facing the death penalty as the result of a first-degree murder charge from the shooting death of Terry Boyd amid other pending drug charges, the 28-year old Boosie has entered a plea of not-guilty regarding the murder case. He is also facing possession and distribution charges for marijuana, Ecstasy and codeine. Prosecutors have maintained that the case they’ve built is rife with proof that Hatch hired a hit-man to murder the 35-year old Boyd. Boosie is also suspected in five other murders, police officials say.

Titus Franklin and Arthur Stewart, both 27, were also hit with the same conspiracy and smuggling charges; all three men hail from Baton Rouge. The case broke when Stewart and Franklin allegedly made arrangements to deal with a men they thought to be a drug delivery connection but was actually an undercover agent. The pair arranged a plan for the agent to deliver the goods straight to Hatch, but it was actually the sting for police. Boosie also incurred an additional charge of inciting a felony.

It has been quite a bumpy year for Boosie and his Trill Entertainment record label compatriots. Rapper Webbie was arrested this past April in Tennessee on drug and evidence tampering charges, this following a late March brawl in East Saint Louis that took place after a concert and left one security guard shot.


Prosecutors have filed murder charges against a 16-year-old boy caught posing as a woman following a Sunday’s deadly gunfight in Auburn that claimed another teen’s life.

Posted On 08:06 0 comments

Prosecutors have filed murder charges against a 16-year-old boy caught posing as a woman following a Sunday’s deadly gunfight in Auburn that claimed another teen’s life.

Also charged Wednesday was the slain teen’s father charged with assault following allegations that he emptied a pistol into an apartment he believed to be associated with his son’s killer. Asked if he meant to shoot those inside, the dead boy's father allegedly answered, “They killed my (expletive) son! What do you expect?”

Filing charges, King County prosecutors claimed James A. Mills shot and killed Adrian Wilson, also 16, during a 5 p.m. shootout at the Aspen Meadows Apartments, located in at 402 21st St. S.E. Two others were injured during the shooting.

According to charging documents, Wilson and his family were attending a community barbeque at the apartment complex when the shooting began.

Witnesses told police Wilson and Mills were in an argument when Mills pulled a pistol and shot the other teen. Wilson died at the scene.

Two other young men were also injured during the initial shooting, though police have yet to detail how they ended up injured. Prosecutors did not charge Mills with injuring them.

Immediately after the shooting, the dead teen’s father, Gabe Wilson, rushed into the common area with a gun in hand and began, Auburn Detective Michelle Vojir told the court.

Gabe Wilson, 45, then fired numerous times into an apartment occupied by people associated with Mills, the detective continued. Witnesses said he yelled during the shooting.

“I am going to (expletive) kill you guys,” Gabe Wilson allegedly shouted.

Officers arriving at the scene restrained Gabe Wilson as he attempted to rush one of the witnesses to the shootings. Speaking with officers, Gabe Wilson allegedly said he saw that witness hand Mills the pistol used to kill his son.

According to charging documents, Gabe Wilson told police he picked up a gun dropped on the ground near one of two men injured in the initial shooting. He then said he attempted to chase down Mills and another youth but returned to the apartment complex when he couldn’t locate them.

Questioned by police, Gabe Wilson allegedly admitted to using the dropped gun to shoot up an apartment unit where those associated with Mills resided. Asked whether he intended to hit those inside the apartment, Vojir said Gabe Wilson responded in the affirmative.

“They killed my (expletive) son!” he allegedly said. “What do you expect?”

Investigators recovered 17 shell casings from the common area where Adrian Wilson was killed.

Mills was arrested at 10 p.m. the following day after Auburn officers tracked him to his mother’s apartment in Kent, the Auburn detective said in court documents. Officers at the apartment saw what appeared to be a thin woman at the apartment door and moved to investigate.

“They approached the female and she took off her purse, sunglasses and wig,” Vojir told the court. “At that point, the officers recognized the ‘female’ as Mills and placed him under arrest.”

Speaking with police, Mills allegedly said he’d brought the gun to protect his girlfriend’s mother from Gabe Wilson, with whom she had had problems in the past. Other witnesses told police Gabe Wilson had sent threatening messages to the woman, who also lives in the apartment complex.

The teen allegedly went on to admit to shooting Adrian Wilson after he approached him during their argument at the barbeque.

“I’m not gonna run away from my problems,” Mills said, according to charging documents. “I’m not getting’ punked, not gonna intimidate me.

“I’m gonna stay right there and do what I planned to do.”

An autopsy conducted Monday showed Adrian Wilson died of a single gunshot wound to the chin.

Investigators claim Mills is a member of a Crips-affiliated street gang. Gabe Wilson is alleged to be a member of the Nortenos, a Northern California gang.

While the gangs are not known to be rivals, Vojir noted that gatherings of gang members can be explosive.

“The presence of gang members of unrelated gang sets together in one place is a volatile situation requiring the members to adequately represent themselves before their peers,” the detective told the court. “This situation would normally lead to gang members arming themselves prior to anticipated contact with members of another gang set.”

Mills has been charged with second-degree murder in King County Superior Court. He is charged as an adult due to his age.

Gabriel Wilson has been charged with first-degree assault and, because of an earlier felony drug conviction, unlawful possession of a firearm. Both remain jailed.


Wednesday 25 May 2011

Thug admits using power tool in savage beating of gangland rival

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Robert Kirkwood left James Hanlon permanently scarred after using the tool as a blunt weapon in a roadside attack.
The High Court in Glasgow heard Hanlon - a pal of murdered gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll - was a passenger in a car which was forced off the road last August.
The Vauxhall Vectra was hit head-on by an Audi A4, then shunted from the rear by a Ford Focus.
A man ran out of the Audi and pulled Hanlon, 26, from the Vectra - then Kirkwood, 25, jumped out of the Focus armed with a red drill.
Stunned passers-by in Stepps, Glasgow, watched as Kirkwood repeatedly bludgeoned Hanlon over the head and body with the tool.
Andrew Miller, prosecuting, told the court: "None of the eyewitnesses described any sound consistent with the drill being activated at the time of the assault.
"This, together with the medical evidence, indicates that the drill was used as a blunt weapon."
The court heard Hanlon, who was unarmed, lay dazed and bleeding as the beating continued.
Christopher Milligan, 26, who had been driving the Vectra, ran off when the attack began.
Yesterday, Kirkwood pleaded guilty to assaulting Hanlon to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
He was originally charged with assaulting him to the danger of his life, but the Crown accepted his plea to a reduced charge.
Co-accused Charles McCormack, 28, of Moodiesburn, and Michael McCormick, 22, of Garthamlock, Glasgow, had pleas of not guilty to assaulting Hanlon accepted.
Mr Miller added: "When paramedics attended the scene they found James Hanlon lying on the ground. He had obvious bleeding injuries to his head."
The court was told he will be permanently scarred, but suffered no lasting physical problems.
Kirkwood was recognised by detectives when they examined CCTV footage of the attack.
He was arrested on a warrant while he was travelling to Kent from France via the Channel Tunnel on September 27 last year.
He is currently serving a sentence of three years and eight months for drug offences.
Judge Lady Dorrian deferred sentence on Kirkwood until next month for reports.
Police are still hunting gangland thugs who allegedly hacked off Hanlon's twin brother Bryan's penis with chisels in a separate attack last August.
The twins were both close pals of Gerbil - a feared enforcer for the Daniel crime clan.
He was gunned down in front of terrified shoppers at an Asda store in Robroyston, Glasgow, in January 2010.

 


Monday 23 May 2011

One of three Crips gang members accused of murdering a rival Blood gang member in prison sent a series of text messages calling for violence against the Bloods prior to the killing,

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One of three Crips gang members accused of murdering a rival Blood gang member in prison sent a series of text messages calling for violence against the Bloods prior to the killing, a court has been told.

Samoan born Tue Faavae, 23, was found strangled to death in a shower block at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo on March 1, 2009. He had also been stabbed in the face.

Three other inmates, who all have name suppression, are on trial in the High Court at Auckland charged with his murder.

During the trial one of the men, a 29-year-old, made the unexpected admission he alone had killed Faavae because he was angry and upset after a fellow Crip was assaulted by Bloods.

Faavae is said to have disrespected the Crips after the assault by laughing about it and yelling ''Bs up'' (a pro-Bloods call), although he was not involved the attack.

The accused went to Faavae's cell block and covered the security cameras with toothpaste, getting his co-accused to help but not explaining what he was doing, the court was told on Friday.

Punches were thrown but things turned more serious when Faavae produced a sharp metal shank and tried to stab his opponent several times.

The accused reached for his own weapon, an electrical cord, which he initially used like a knuckle duster but ended up using to strangle Faavae to death.

He then enlisted his co-accused to help carry him to the shower block, where he returned a short time later and, he says, stabbed him around the face.

''At that time I was still angry and confused at what happened. I went back to the shower and saw his face, I pulled the shank out of my pocket and gave him a couple of stabs,'' he told the court today.

''Looking at it now I don't know why I did it, but I did it.''

Crown prosecutor Kevin Glubb read out a series of text messages the man allegedly sent to his co-accused and to other gang members, calling for violence against the Bloods.

''Can't wait to get out of here so we can kill those c****,'' one message said.

''Put the call out to your boys to smash any Bloods,'' said another.

The accused said he could not remember sending most of the messages and that his phone was regularly shared with other inmates.

Mr Glubb said the man had also arranged to be moved to an upstairs cell block so he could get closer to the Bloods, which the man denied.

He said there had also been communication between the three accused on the day of the killing and that another of the men had told Faavae ''you're next''.

The man's lawyer, Simon Lance, yesterday asked the jury to make allowances for his client's lack of education and to take into account the prison environment in which the killing occurred.


Sunday 22 May 2011

two Bloods gangs that operated side-by-side, led respectively by Derrick “Boss” Ward and Junior “Horse” Jackson.

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arrests made this week highlight the presence of the Bloods street gang in Lackawanna County, but Lackawanna County Prison Intelligence Captain and Lackawanna County Gang Task Force Chairman Robert Maguire said even more nationally known gangs have shown a presence in the region for quite some time.


“Obviously, the arrest the other day shows that there is a big presence of gangs from New York City operating in the area,” Maguire said.

“Operation Sunset” served warrants on 42 people, arresting 36 by Thursday morning, in relation to the organized sale and purchase of $750,000 in cocaine, marijuana and LSD in the last six months.

The investigation discovered two Bloods gangs that operated side-by-side, led respectively by Derrick “Boss” Ward and Junior “Horse” Jackson.

“They will probably be replaced with other guys. The significant part about it was that they traced it back to New York with higher-ups out there,” Maguire said.

“The arrest the other day won’t do much to stop it. However, it does let them know that we’re on to their activities.”

Acting Attorney General Bill Ryan said leaders Ward and Jackson had high-level assistants, mid-level dealers and even a “human resources director” identified as Rashad Roper to solve disputes between the cooperating gangs in South Scranton.

The intricate operation of the business was no surprise to Maguire.

“They are run like an organized crime family. They have a hierarchy – lieutenants and captains, kind of like how a prison or a military force is run – and they need to answer to their higher-ups.”

Maguire said gang members from New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore have been discovered in this corner of the state for years.

Other gangs that have shown a presence in Lackawanna County include the Crips, Latin Kings, Trinitarios, Sure�os, Juggalos, and Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

While the community has been active in reporting graffiti and alleged gang activity, the arrests this week show investigations don’t occur overnight.

“This goes to show that some of the things that people like to call about, they think they’re going to be handled in a week. These things take time, and this way you take out a significant portion of a Bloods set,” Maguire said.

While the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s office has worked to quickly remove graffiti along with the county’s community service program, Maguire said it is important to notice tags throughout the area.

“Look for signs of graffiti in your neighborhoods. It’s not all gang-related, but let your local law enforcement know. We’ll get somebody out to get pictures and track this,” he said.

Other signs of gang activity include colors worn to associate members with national groups.

Colors like red or blue, for Bloods and Crips respectively, are worn on bandanas or hats, but are often in subtle places, like the lining of a pants pocket, Maguire said.

“People need to look in their own neighborhoods. If they see something that’s not right, they need to let law enforcement check it out.”


Saturday 21 May 2011

Bermuda Jury unanimously convicts Kevin Warner of premeditated murder

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He's only 21, yet Kevin Warner has already been involved in two high-profile murder cases on the Island.
Yesterday he was convicted by unanimous jury of the premeditated murder of Dekimo (Purple) Martin on May 28 last year.
Less than two years ago he was one of five young people charged with the killing of 18-year-old Kellon Hill.
College-bound student Mr Hill was murdered as he left a late-night party at Elbow Beach on August 9, 2008.
Prosecutors in the case alleged that one of the suspects Kellan Lewis snatched a gold chain from around Mr Hill's neck, starting a fight.
He later used a knife to stab the victim around his chest and body, causing a fatal wound to his heart, the court heard.
The four other defendants — Warner, Zharrin Simmons, Gary Hollis, and Devon Hairston — were alleged to have taken part in the fight using various weapons. Warner is said to have used a walking cane.
They all denied the allegations and one-by-one all, except Lewis, walked free from court as their lawyers argued there was ‘no case to answer'.
Lewis was initially cleared of the murder after a “hung” jury failed to reach a verdict, but last March was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to spend 12 years behind bars.
In yesterday's trial, the court heard Warner was a good family friend of Mr Martin's. He was also best friend's with the victim's cousins Kellan and Chelsy Lewis.
No motive had been offered by prosecutor Carrington Mahoney as to why the accused would shoot 24-year-old Mr Martin.
However the court has heard Warner was an associate of the White Hill Crew, while his older brother was a member of the MOB (Money Over B****s) gang.

 


Friday 20 May 2011

Pacoima gang member should receive the death penalty for his role as the shooter in the murder-for-hire slaying of a Buena Park businessman

Posted On 15:41 0 comments

Pacoima gang member should receive the death penalty for his role as the shooter in the murder-for-hire slaying of a Buena Park businessman nearly 10 years ago, an Orange County jury recommended Thursday.
Armando Macias, 35, watched the jurors when the death verdict was announced after two days of deliberations. Moments later, he swiveled in his chair, smiled at his sister – who was tearing-up in the courtroom gallery – and waved.
He became the third gang member to get a death verdict for the Oct. 2, 2002, shooting death of David Montemayor, who was gunned down on a residential street as he tried to escape from three gang members hired by his sister.
It marks the first time in Orange County history that three defendants received death sentences for the same case.
Two of Macias' gang associates have been tried, convicted and sentenced to death for their roles in the Montemayor murder. They include a veteran gang member convicted of being the go-between who put together the death squad and the unsuccessful driver of the getaway car.
Two other co-defendants, including Deborah Ann Perna, Montemayor's sister who initiated the plot, have been tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Susan Montemayor, the victim's widow, sat solemnly in the gallery when the death verdict was announced. She has been present for all five verdicts involving the murder of her husband. "It's a relief to be done with the last one," she said.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Murray said Macias, who has gang tattoos on his shaved head, was the triggerman who fired a bullet from a .38-caliber revolver into Montemayor's head when he tried to get away from the three gang members who had abducted him at the family's trucking company in Rancho Dominguez.
The Pacoima gang members were in the process of compelling Montemayor to take them to his Buena Park home, where they erroneously believed he kept coffee cans crammed with cash skimmed from the trucking company, Murray contended during Macias' trial.
But Montemayor, who was aware that his wife and children were home getting ready to start their day, decided to bolt from the kidnapper's SUV rather than lead them to his home. He was gunned down before he got very far. Montemayor, Murray and other prosecutors said, was a hero.
Macias became the fifth and final co-defendant to be tried in the case. The same jury that recommended he receive the death penalty also convicted last month of first-degree murder plus several special circumstances, including that he committed murder for the benefit of his gang, and committed murder for financial gain.
During the penalty phase, Murray argued that Macias was "violence personified" who joined a gang at an early age, beginning a life of escalating crimes that culminated when he shot Montemayor in the head when he tried to flee to protect his family.
Defense attorney Robert Viefhaus pleaded with the jury to give Macias life without parole instead of the death penalty. Viefhaus contended Macias was the product of a lousy and impoverished childhood who was almost destined for a life in a gang. Viefhaus also argued that Macias is an accomplished artist who has some redeeming qualities and who made some positive changes in his life since his arrest. Macias spent much of his seven-week trial sketching at the counsel table.
The slaying was set up by Perna, Montemayor's sister, who was angry and jealous when she learned that their father planned to hand over control of the family trucking business to his son, according to the testimony in the previous trials.
Perna contacted an employee and asked if she knew people who would commit murder for money, prosecutors contended. The employee, who later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and agreed to cooperate with authorities, put Perna in touch with Anthony Navarro, a veteran member of the Pacoima Flats street gang, according to prosecutors. Navarro then assembled the team that went after Montemayor.
On Oct. 2, 2002, Macias and two other gang members abducted Montemayor at gunpoint as he opened the trucking business in Rancho Dominguez. But there was no secret stash of money. Montemayor bolted from the kidnappers' SUV rather than lead the gang members to his house. He was chased down, Murray said, and Macias shot him at close range.
The early morning shooting on a quiet residential street ignited a wild police pursuit across Orange County freeways for miles as television cameras covered the action from helicopters until police executed a maneuver to disable the kidnappers' SUV at Tustin and Lincoln avenues in Anaheim. The three Pacoima Flats gang members, including Macias, were arrested at the scene
The other defendants in the case, and their roles in the shooting are:
Deborah Ann Perna, 54, convicted in 2005 of contracting with Pacoima Flats gang member Anthony Navarro to have her brother murdered so she would get control of the family's trucking business. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Navarro, 44, was convicted in 2007 of arranging to have three younger Pacoima Flats gang members kidnap and murder Montemayor. He received the death penalty.
Gerardo Lopez, 27, was one of three gang members who kidnapped Montemayor and was arrested at the end of the car chase. He was convicted in 2006 of special circumstances murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Alberto Martinez, 33, the Pacoima Flats gang member who was the get-away driver after Montemayor was shot to death. He received the death penalty in 2010.
If Macias received the death penalty, he will be the 59th Orange County killer on death row, and the first to be added to the list in 2011.


First Gang-Related Murder in Walla Walla

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20 year old Walla Walla man was shot to death Tuesday evening during a confrontation with suspected rival gang members. Julio Cesar Martinez was walking in an alley in the 300 block of Myrtle Street, when he and a friend were approached by several subjects. At least 4 shots were fired, two of which struck Martinez. He died a short time later at Providence Saint Mary Medical Center. The second subject with Martinez was not injured. Martinez was known to be a local gang member and had been arrested numerous times in the Walla Walla and Milton-Freewater area.

Walla Walla Police, with assistance from the Sheriff’s Office, College Place Police Department, and the Washington State Patrol, cordoned off the area while Detectives processed the scene. At least one residence was evacuated.

Several homes in the area where the suspects may have run were kept under close surveillance pending searches. The Emergency Services Unit SWAT team was called out to make entry at one residence. Interviews of several witnesses and family members are taking place at this time. No arrests have been made and leads continue to come in.

Walla Walla Police Detectives and the City’s Special Teams Unit continued to run down leads Wednesday morning on Tuesday night’s homicide. No arrests have been made at this time. Interviews of over a dozen subjects, many of which are known gang members, were conducted throughout the night and into the morning. Officials are concerned over possible retaliation and all area law enforcement are on heightened alert, with special emphasis on areas known to be frequented by gang members.

This is the first known gang related homicide inside the city limits of Walla Walla. This is the first homicide by firearm in the city for several years.

 


captured Victor Valdez, known as "El Gordo Varilla" (The Big Stick), in Cuernavaca, a popular getaway south of Mexico City

Posted On 15:29 0 comments

Mexican soldiers arrested a suspected drug boss and a police chief accused of protecting him on Thursday, blaming them for much of the violence terrorizing tourist towns near Mexico City.

In an early morning swoop, soldiers in black ski masks captured Victor Valdez, known as "El Gordo Varilla" (The Big Stick), in Cuernavaca, a popular getaway south of Mexico City where drug violence is escalating.

Valdez is believed to be the second-in-command of the Cartel de Pacifico Sur (South Pacific Cartel) run by drug lord Hector Beltran Leyva, which is fighting rivals for control of Cuernavaca and the strategic Pacific resort city of Acapulco.

In a brief army presentation to reporters, Valdez said local police chief Juan Bosco helped the gang evade capture. Bosco was later arrested by soldiers in Cuernavaca, the army said.

"The guy protecting us was Commander Bosco, he used to alert us to army and federal police crackdowns," Valdez told reporters, wearing a dark polo shirt and flanked by soldiers in body armor.

Bosco received about 15,000 pesos ($1,290) a month for tipping off the cartel, Valdez said.

The allegations about the police chief's role underscore the endemic corruption in Mexico's badly-paid municipal police forces that President Felipe Calderon has vowed to modernize, although security experts say he has yet to make good on those promises.

Cuernavaca, once better known for its swimming pools and colonial-era palace, has become an unlikely symbol of Mexico's drug war chaos since a Mexican poet's son was killed in the resort city in late March, fueling protests about the relentless drug killings across Mexico.

Thousands of people led by poet Javier Sicilia marched on Mexico City this month to condemn the violence that has killed almost 40,000 people since Calderon launched his army-backed assault on drug cartels after he took office in December 2006.

In another development, authorities in the U.S. border state of Arizona said police arrested 25 suspected members of a Mexican drug cartel, significantly hampering the group's ability to smuggle drugs and illegal immigrants from Mexico.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the suspects -- believed to be members of the Jesus Valencia-Rodgriguez cell of the powerful Sinaloa cartel -- smuggled drugs and illegal immigrants through the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation on the Arizona-Mexico border.

Most of the suspects are U.S. citizens and the rest Mexican, said Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, who announced the arrests at a news conference in Tucson.

They were arrested in Phoenix, Tucson and on the Tohono O'odham reservation and face charges that include smuggling, money laundering and participation in a criminal syndicate.


Monday 16 May 2011

The Kurdish Pride Gang has expanded, splintering into three groups 38th Street, P-Mills for Paragon Mills, and 8 Block in Harding Place establishing a larger foothold in Middle Tennessee

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The Kurdish Pride Gang has expanded, splintering into three groups and establishing a larger foothold in Middle Tennessee, gang experts say.

The gang, which started in Nashville, has created three subsets, known in street parlance as cliques, said Metro Police Gang Unit Detective Mark Anderson, a speaker at the 2011 Ethnic Gangs Organized Crime Symposium.

The conference, which ended Friday, ran for three days at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

It brought together law enforcement and community organizations that wanted to learn more about gangs and gang activities.

Middle Tennessee has the nation’s largest Kurdish community, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people, including many who fled their homeland after they were bombed with chemical weapons by Iraqi armed forces under Saddam Hussein.

Nashville is where the Kurdish gang, the only one in the United States, was formed in 1999.

Middle Tennessee saw a growth in gangs, with 5,000 members cycling in and out over the last 10 years, gang experts say. The area’s population increased and more diverse communities grew with it.

Young Kurds banded together to combat bigotry and protect themselves from others, including gang members, Anderson said.

From there it developed into a gang first known as the Kurdish Boys and then Kurdish Pride, with at most 30 members, said Anderson, who has tracked the gang from the start.

Resurgence puzzles officials

Today, the gang has splintered to three groups — 38th Street, P-Mills for Paragon Mills, and 8 Block in Harding Place — and each gang has 12 to 18 members.

They also have members in Williamson County. It’s typical for gangs to splinter into different sects, but it’s not known what prompted this group’s resurgence.

“They have branched out and are back in recruiting mode,” Anderson said, adding that there are some tribal divisions within the groups. “They are recruiting in middle schools and high schools.”

Just about all Metro high schools have some gang activity, but some gangs are identified with certain schools, police have said.

School districts don’t have a formal method for tracking gangs, and there’s no statewide tracking system. The Metro Police Gang Unit tracks the gangs on the street and keeps a database of gangs and their affiliates.

When Anderson started tracking Kurdish Pride, brothers Ako and Aso Nejad were considered the leaders of the gang.

They were convicted in 2008 of conspiring to kill a drug dealer they suspected of robbing them and firing shots at a park police officer. With the brothers in prison, the gang had no leadership until now.

The group’s signature crimes continue to be burglaries, assaults and sales of prescription and designer drugs.


Jesus David Hernandez Grisales, also known as Shorty, is accused of being the hitman for a criminal gang in Colombia's second city, Medellin.

Posted On 08:14 0 comments



Police in Colombia say they have captured a man accused of involvement in at least 50 murders.

He was on the run after being sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder.

The Colombian government has warned that criminal gangs have become the state's new enemy and promised to devote more resources to their capture.

Misleading prints

Hernandez, 34, was captured after a long-running investigation.

In 2004, Hernandez was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison for murder and illegal weapons possession and has been on the run from the authorities ever since.

Officers of Colombia's anti-narcotics squad said he had gone to great lengths to avoid being identified.

They said he carried a fake identity card, and had also had plastic surgery on his nose and ears.

Police said he even had his fingertips altered, so his prints did not match those they had on record.

But officials said that after spending 18 hours carrying out various tests, they had no doubt the man in their custody was Hernandez, whom they accuse of being the hitman for a criminal gang called The Office.

The gang extorts money from local businessmen and runs much of Medellin's drug market.

Dangerous enemy

Earlier this year, the Colombian government declared criminal gangs their new enemy.

Defence Minister Rodrigo Rivera told Colombian news magazine Semana in January that the gangs were a major challenge for the security forces.

Mr Rivera said these criminal organisations were increasingly taking control of drug-trafficking networks from Colombia's left-wing Farc guerrillas.

He said they were also responsible for many of the murders committed in major cities such as Medellin.

Hernandez is accused of being behind the disappearance in 2009 of three young women who were with a rival drug dealer when he was killed by Hernandez's gang.

Police believe the three women were also killed and their bodies thrown into the local river.


Sunday 15 May 2011

Original Gangster Killers gang member guilty of racketeeting conspiracy, sentenced

Posted On 08:38 0 comments

United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian said that Marcel Perry, a/k/a Juxx, a/k/a Jooks, age 23, of Albany, New York, was sentenced on Friday by United States District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe to 111 months’ incarceration (Perry was facing a sentence of 130 months but received 19 months credit for time already served), five years of supervised release following his release from incarceration, and a $100 special assessment.



This sentence follows Perry's plea of guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge as set forth in count one of a federal indictment relating to the criminal activities of the Original Gangster Killers (OGK) or “Downtown” gang, which operated within the City of Albany.

Perry is the second OGK gang member to be sentenced. He previously had admitted that he was an OGK gang member and conspired with other persons to possess with intent to distribute and distribute cocaine base (crack cocaine) within the Northern District of New York.

Perry's involvement in the narcotics conspiracy involved the possession with intent to distribute and distribution of more than 50 grams of cocaine base (crack cocaine). Perry also previously had admitted that on or about November 5, 2003, in the vicinity of Teunis Street, Albany, New York, he possessed for sale a quantity of imitation crack cocaine; and on or about July 28, 2004, in the vicinity of Third Avenue and Clinton Street, Albany, New York, he distributed a quantity of crack cocaine to another individual.



Perry also previously had admitted that he had participated with other gang members in acts of violence. Specifically, on or about March 25, 2007, in the vicinity of Delaware Street, Albany, New York, Perry possessed a firearm and was present with a co-conspirator when another OGK gang member discharged Perry's firearm at another person and wounded him.

This prosecution resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Field Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration, Albany District Office; the City of Albany Police Department; the Albany County Sheriff’s Department; the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department; the New York State Department of Corrections; the New York State Division of Parole; the New York State Police; the United States Marshal, Northern District of New York, Albany Office; the Albany County District Attorney’s Office; the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office; the Town of Guilderland Police Department; the Town of Bethlehem Police Department; and the City of Cohoes Police Department.

 


Monday 9 May 2011

Two rival gangs were involved in the shooting that killed Mario D. Brown, 22, early Saturday morning and injured another

Posted On 23:38 0 comments



Two rival gangs were involved in the shooting that killed Mario D. Brown, 22, early Saturday morning and injured another, Lt. Ken Landwehr said.

It would be the first gang-related homicide of 2011, Landwehr said, because this is the first time this year where all those involved in the incident were gang members.

Police are still looking for the suspect.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Saturday, more than 100 people gathered for an after-hours party in a parking lot at 3105 E. 13th St., between 13th and Lorraine.

A white-over-black SUV pulled up, words were exchanged between Brown and someone in the vehicle. Multiple shots were fired, striking Brown in the chest, and injuring a 25-year-old man in the leg and arm.

Brown later died at the hospital. The 25-year-old has been treated and released, Landwehr said.

According to witnesses, Landwehr said Brown and the man who did the shooting had argued earlier in the evening at a Wichita club.

"We believe (Brown) was targeted," Landwehr said.

More than 20 witnesses were interviewed by the police, but so far the shooter's identity isn't known.

"I'm sure there were several people present who know the individual's name," Landwehr said, "but it hasn't been revealed to us yet."


Elting approached the City of Poughkeepsie bar on his bike with a Glock handgun tucked in his waistband.

Posted On 08:39 0 comments

The first time Congress Tavern owner David Auffarth saw Mahdi Elting was in 2006 — when Elting approached the City of Poughkeepsie bar on his bike with a Glock handgun tucked in his waistband.

Auffarth alerted police, and Elting ended up in state prison.

The last time Auffarth saw Elting was early Thursday morning — the 26-year-old's bullet-riddled body lying where Auffarth first laid eyes on him nearly five years ago.

"Where he was shot dead was the exact spot where I had seen him on the bicycle," Auffarth said. "When I saw the body, I realized it was him."

City police Capt. Steve Minard said investigators do not think the two incidents are related, though the motive for Elting's homicide remains under investigation. Police have charged James T. Wilson, 29, a City of Poughkeepsie resident; Cory Febo, 25, a Bronx resident; and Harvey Boone, 35, of Dover each with one count of second-degree murder. They are being held without bail in the Dutchess County Jail.

While Elting's friends and family mourn his death, state records and Journal archives indicate he had an extensive criminal history — the most recent being the felony weapons convictions stemming from the 2006 incident at the Congress.

Also in 2006, police listed Elting as a "general/founder" of the notorious Partners N Crime street gang. A joint investigation into the gang resulted in more than a dozen arrests late that year. Authorities said gang members were responsible for a homicide and robbed other drug dealers.

According to testimony at Elting's 2007 weapons trial, he was seen around 1 a.m. Sept. 16, 2006, carrying a handgun in the waistband of his pants as he approached the Congress. After Auffarth told police he had seen the gun, two officers chased Elting and found a loaded Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol in an alley off Main.

"He pulled up the front of his shirt, and he's got a monster Glock in his belt," Auffarth recalled Saturday.

With the trial in progress, Elting stopped the proceedings and pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. State records indicate Elting was sentenced to three years in state prison. He was released last year.


THE home of murdered gangland thug Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll has been frozen in a dirty money probe.

Posted On 08:35 0 comments




A judge agreed to ban his partner, Kelly Green, from selling the s217,000 house.
Carroll was reported to prosecutors for fraud and money-laundering in connection with the house before he was shot dead outside an ASDA supermarket.
After his murder in January last year, the authorities launched a bid to seize the house in Lennoxtown, north of Glasgow, using proceeds of crime laws.
They suspect that Carroll obtained the mortgage for the house - and a loan for another property - by fraud.
Court documents in the case have revealed tax details for Carroll, 29, a feared drug dealer, kidnapper and member of Glasgow's Daniel crime clan.
Inland Revenue records show he had a legitimate income of just s1800 in 2003-4, s10,400 the following year and s11,750 in 2005-6. Carroll had no visible income in the three years between 2006 and 2009.
And for six years up to 2009, the taxman has no record of any income for his partner, Green, whose father is crime boss Jamie Daniel.
In 2001, Carroll bought a house in Drumchapel, Glasgow, for s48,000 with a s44,475 mortgage from Abbey National.
He claimed to have worked as an "MOT mechanic" at a garage in the city's Possil since 1996 but he was jailed for three months in January 1999 for car theft.
When Carroll sold the Drumchapel home for s110,000 in April 2008, he used his s70,274 profit from the sale as a deposit for the house in Lennoxtown.
He also got a s149,955 mortgage from Platform Funding, telling the lender that he earned s46,000 a year as a "sales manager" for a greasy spoon cafe in Maryhill, Glasgow.
The authorities believe Carroll obtained both mortgages fraudulently.
When they went to court to have the Lennoxtown house frozen, they asked that Green, 30, should not be told in advance about the legal action in case she tried to sell the property.


Friday 6 May 2011

the Tenth Street Gang and the Seventh Street Gang — have waged a bloody war on Buffalo’s West Side for years

Posted On 16:27 0 comments

the Tenth Street Gang and the Seventh Street Gang — have waged a bloody war on Buffalo’s West Side for years, police say.

Over the past three years, one violent retribution attack has followed another, causing grief for many families and making people afraid to walk the streets in some neighborhoods.

Thursday, cops and federal prosecutors attempted to put a stop to the violence by filing criminal charges against 35 alleged members and associates of the two gangs.

The charges were announced by U. S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. and leaders of the FBI, State Police, Buffalo Police and other law enforcement agencies.

“These are exactly the type of people we need to take off the streets to make neighborhoods safe again,” said Richard

W. Kollmar, special agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI office.

“Countless homicides, countless shootings — they have terrorized entire neighborhoods on the West Side,” said Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda, who said he believes the arrests will make some neighborhoods safer.

Hochul said the individuals charged include six alleged members of the Seventh Street Gang and 29 associated with Tenth Street, which has been the dominant gang on the West Side for more than 20 years.

Crimes alleged include four murders, 10 attempted murders, numerous assaults and scores of drug deals, prosecutors said in court papers. Most of the alleged Tenth Street associates who were charged on Thursday had been previously charged with related crimes in an indictment last September.

Identified as members of the Seventh Street Gang — also known as Checko’s Crew — are: Efrain “Checko” Hidalgo, Thomas Rodriguez, Kasiem Williams, Esteban “Rudolfo” Ramos-Cruz, Jordan Hidalgo and Juan “Puchongo” Torres.

Efrain Hidalgo, Williams, Ramos-Cruz and Torres are accused of taking part in the August 11, 2009, murder of Eric Morrow, a member of the rival Tenth Street Gang.

Buffalo police said Morrow, 21, of Kamper Street, was shot in the chest and leg while standing next to the porch of a home on Auburn Avenue near West Avenue. Thirteen days after that shooting, the indictment charges that Williams tried to murder Saul Santana, a member of the Tenth Street Gang.

Police charged that Santana had shot and killed Anthony “Act” Colon, a 20-yearold Seventh Street gangster, while Colon was walking on Ullman Avenue on July 26, 2009.

The 29 defendants accused of racketeering crimes in the Tenth Street case are: Santana, Kyle “Bow-Wow” Eagan, Tony Peebles, Cody Busch, Matthew Deynes, David Deynes, Nourooz Ali, Efrain Barreto, Charles “Pingy” Watkins, Desmond Ford, Jimmarlan Sessions, Omar Hernandez, Justin Augus, Melvin Medina, Miguel Moscoso, Hector Rodriguez, Jimmy Sessions, Derrick Yancey, Johnathan Serrano, Michael Bobbitt, Brandon Bobbitt, Renal Velasquez, Daniel Colon, Douglas Harville, Jairo Hernandez, Matthew “Matt Nasty” Smith, Chazity Fluellen, Michael Hernandez and Benjamin Medina.


Wednesday 4 May 2011

Legendary Compton, Calif. rapper-producer DJ Quik has revealed that he was an initial suspect in the Los Angeles Police Department's investigation of the 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G.

Posted On 09:23 0 comments


In the wake of the recent release of F.B.I. files on the murders of 2Pac and Biggie, Quik told HipHopDX.com that the L.A.P.D. followed his movements and tapped his phones, considering him a potential suspect in the revered Brooklyn MC's shooting death.

"Just because I was there at that [VIBE] party [with Biggie before the shooting], they tapped my phones, found out my accountant's number and went and posted up and waited for me at my accountant's office to pick me up for questioning," Quik explained. "And it was only because I owned a '95 [Chevy] Impala [SS] that was black cherry colored like the one that was used supposedly in the shooting -- which was probably black, mine was burgundy, but at night they look identical in color."

While former L.A.P.D. officer David Mack was never questioned -- he owned an Impala matching the alleged shooter's description and has been tied to the murder by various sources -- Quik reveals that he told the police "everything" he knew, in order to clear his name.

"When they came to my accountant's [office] to come get me, I ended up calling my lawyer and I told him what was going on," Quik said. "So he called the Parker Center and arranged for me to go up there and talk to 'em, instead of them gafflin' me up and making a scene. So I went down there and told 'em everything I knew, everything I saw, the whole s--t. And after I did that the burden was off. 'Cause it was rumors in the street that I did that s--t. How am I gonna kill Biggie Smalls when I like him? Who does that?!"

Quik was associated at the time with Bad Boy Records' rival Suge Knight and the Piru Blood gang, but he quickly dismissed the notion that he would have had any involvement in Biggie's murder, lamenting the passing of one of hip-hop's greatest stars.

"Unfortunately, we really did lose -- we lost the essence of hip-hop," Quik continued. "We lost the core. Hip-hop [became] a very expensive sports car body without an engine."

DJ Quik released his eighth studio album, 'The Book of David,' on April 19, 2011.


32-year-old Martin Robles will find out his execution date tomorrow

Posted On 09:22 0 comments

32-year-old Martin Robles will find out his execution date tomorrow from District Court Judge Jose Longoria. Robles has been imprisoned since December of 2002 for the murders of Jesus Omar Gonzalez and John Commisky. Both men were shot and killed inside a home on Mary Street in November 2002.

Robles and 27-year-old Joe David Padron, both known gang members, were convicted of capital murder. Patron was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murders of Gonzalez and Commisky. Robles and Padron have also served time in prison for other murders.


Steve "King Silence" Calderon pleaded guilty Monday to plotting the murder of a Latin Kings gang associate for "snitching" about a 2004 slaying in Bethlehem's Saucon Park.

Posted On 09:18 0 comments



— Steve "King Silence" Calderon hesitated before pleading guilty Monday in federal court to plotting the murder of a Latin King gang associate for "snitching" about a 2004 slaying in Bethlehem's Saucon Park.

Calderon, 28, told his attorney he didn't want to admit to a conspiracy because the murder never happened. But federal prosecutors have his words on tape urging other gang members to get revenge for the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.

In October 2008, Calderon and other members of the Bethlehem Sun Tribe of the Latin Kings agreed to murder a gang associate named Ant. Calderon and other gang members determined Ant had cooperated with police to put Neftali "King Nefti" Colon in prison for killing Eugene Martinez, a Latin King from the Bronx, court documents say.

"[Colon] is in jail for the Nation, so we got to take care of it, that's it," Calderon said in a secretly recorded conversation, court documents say.

Calderon and fellow members of the Bethlehem Sun Tribe agreed they would take turns shooting the victim so none of them would be in a position to cooperate with law enforcement. Calderon discussed shooting Ant and a second associate also blamed for Colon's conviction in a "mob-style hit" as they got into a car.

The murders were prevented when Calderon was arrested on an unrelated warrant, court documents say. Calderon's attorney, Kathryn Roberts, explained to her client that the act of discussing the murder was evidence of the conspiracy.

Calderon sobbed as U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky reviewed his plea agreement. In addition to conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, Calderon pleaded guilty to conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise and distribution of crack cocaine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gallagher said Calderon is guaranteed a sentence of 135 months — more than 11 years — in federal prison under the plea agreement. The judge, however, has discretion to impose whatever supervised release and fines he determines are appropriate.

By pleading guilty, Calderon avoids a potential life sentence.

Calderon is one of 12 Latin Kings leaders indicted on murder conspiracy and racketeering charges as a result of a three-year investigation by federal and Lehigh Valley law enforcement authorities.

Calderon is the fifth gang leader charged in the racketeering indictment to plead guilty. The remaining seven are scheduled to stand trial in June.


Sunday 1 May 2011

Four members of a Crips street gang clique in Pittsburgh pleaded guilty this week in federal court to charges of conspiring to conduct a racketeering enterprise,

Posted On 18:29 0 comments

Four members of a Crips street gang clique in Pittsburgh pleaded guilty this week in federal court to charges of conspiring to conduct a racketeering enterprise, according to a report obtained by the Organized Crime Committee of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. 

Vance Pearson, 25, aka “Vinny P;” Rayshawn Malachi, 25, aka “Melly Mel;” Arthur Davis, 24, aka “Seven;” and Phillip Turner, 22, aka “Philly C” each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in a racketeering conspiracy before Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond. 

Davis also pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder under the violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity statute.    In addition, Turner pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a carjacking he and an indicted co-conspirator committed at gunpoint on September 4, 2007, and a charge of possession of a firearm on December 15, 2009.

According to the guilty pleas, Pearson, Malachi, Davis, Turner and others participated in a pattern of racketeering activity that included multiple acts involving gun point robberies; attempted murders; distribution of controlled substances, including cocaine, heroin and crack cocaine; and acts of obstruction of justice and intimidation.        

According to information presented in court, Pearson, Turner, Davis and Malachi were members of the Northview Heights/ Fineview Crips, a criminal street gang operating out of the Northview Heights public housing facility in the Northside neighborhood, and in the Fineview neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  The gang had been operating in Northside since 2002, when in 2003 it formed an alliance with the Brighton Place Crips to expand the gang’s drug trafficking territory and increase the gang’s capability for violence.   

The gang maintains exclusive control over drug trafficking in these neighborhoods through continuous violence and intimidation of rivals and witnesses.  Members of the gang support each other through payment of attorneys’ fees, bond, jail commissary accounts and support of incarcerated members’ families.   

In addition, the Brighton Place/Northview Heights Crips gang maintains an ongoing rivalry with other Northside street gangs such as the Manchester Original Gangsters.  According to information presented in court, these gangs have been involved in multiple retaliatory shootings.  Brighton Place/Northview Heights Crips gang members identify themselves by wearing blue, flashing Crips gang hand signals, and using phrases such as “Cuz,” “C-Safe,” “Loc,” and “G.K.”

According to information presented in court, Pearson, Malachi and Turner acted as “hustlers” or distributors of controlled substances including heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine for the gang.    Davis was a “soldier” or enforcer for the gang, providing protection for the enterprise through the commission of violent crimes.   Malachi was involved in the distribution of heroin on multiple occasions from approximately 2003 to August 2006 including arrests for heroin, marijuana and crack cocaine.   On June 22, 2009, while on probation and still wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet, Malachi was arrested selling heroin in the Crips-controlled neighborhood of Northview Heights.


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