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State authorities have banned the Hell's Angels motorbike gangs in Frankfurt, on the grounds that they were engaged in criminal activity. Boris Rhein, interior minister for the state of Hesse, accused the gangs of running drug and prosecution rackets through which they had seized control of the streets. "This is a clear signal that we won't allow a state within the state," said Rhein, adding that the gangs were disciplined by a vow of silence. All assets of the outlawed Westend and Frankfurt chapters of the Hell's Angels were seized under the ban. Each chapter is believed that have around 90 members. Two other Hell's Angels groups were banned in other parts of Germany in June and last year, although gangs in the rest of Germany remain legal.
Despite intense security for a national meeting of Mexico's state prosecutors and tough talk from top cops, criminals dumped more bodies in Veracruz three days after gunmen left 35 corpses on a major avenue during rush hour. An official said Friday that police found 11 bodies around town Thursday, even as this Gulf of Mexico port city ramped up security for the prosecutors meeting by deploying hundreds of soldiers, sailors and police on the streets. It was unclear who left the most recent group of bodies. Officials believe the New Generation gang was behind the dumping of 35 bodies Tuesday on a busy street just a half-mile (kilometer) from the convention hall as a grim message to the Zetas drug cartel, which dominates the region. Authorities had established a security perimeter around the metropolitan area, with soldiers in trucks stopping people in town they considered suspicious. The prosecutors meeting was Thursday and Friday. Residents in Veracruz said this week's horrors had only deepened the fear scaring visitors away from the tourist destination and keeping some residents at home at night. In August, panicked parents rushed to fetch their children from Veracruz schools after a couple posted Twitter messages warning of nonexistent drug cartel attacks on banks and schools.
Langley gangster linked to both the Red Scorpion gang and the Independent Soldiers was sentenced to 14 months in jail this week on two firearms counts. Tyler Willock, 30, was also hit with a mandatory 10-year firearms prohibition after pleading guilty to occupying a vehicle with a firearm in it and careless use of a firearm. He appeared in Surrey Provincial Court to be sentenced Thursday morning. The charges were laid after a Gang Task Force investigation in the summer of 2008 during which Willock was stopped in a vehicle in Langley . Several months later in February 2009, Willock was shot at while in a vehicle with friends in Surrey, resulting in charges being laid against rival gangsters in the United Nations gang. That case is yet to go to court and Willock was not injured. And then on March 8, 2009, Willock's Red Scorpion associate Albert Jackman viciously attacked Willock with a sledge hammer, striking him more than 20 times. Jackman was livid over comments Willock made about their associate Kevin LeClair who was shot to death a few weeks earlier. Jackman had been told Willock said that he wouldn't have to repay LeClair $40,000 he owed him. Willock didn't testify at Jackman's trial or provide a victim impact statement. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Crawford said in his decision that he could only imagine the impact of the attack on Willock's life from the photos the Crown entered at trial. Willock suffered broken bones and other injures and has not fully recovered. Crawford heard how Jackman arrived at Willock's house with an associate and ordered Willock to the floor of his bedroom. Jackman then tied him up using zap straps and duct-taped his mouth and eyes. He then struck Willock more than 20 times with the sledgehammer. "Willock was literally smashed to pieces," Crawford said in his decision. Willock's bedroom walls and ceiling were splattered with blood. In July, Jackman was sentenced to 10 years for the attack on Willock. Jackman, 25, is also serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in a stabbing death that took place 20 days later in March 2009.
Gangster who bragged that he “ran Tottenham” after opening fire on his rivals with a machine gun in the street has had his appeal against conviction turned down by top judges. Former decorator Yusuf Arslan, now 21, was put behind bars indefinitely for public protection at Kingston Crown Court last September. Arslan belonged to the “Tottenham Boys” gang, which had a long-running feud with a rival Hackney gang, said Mr Justice Wilkie, sitting at London’s Appeal Court. He had opened fire with the sub-machine gun in Lansdowne Road, Tottenham, on September 30, 2009, in revenge for the shooting of a friend who ran a nearby shop. He had blocked his victim’s car in before letting off a volley of shots. A fragment of shell hit one of his targets’ left arm, but the majority of the shots hit their car’s body and windscreen. Arslan, of Oxford Close, Edmonton, was also prosecuted over an incident in December that year in which he and others were stopped in a car wearing body armour and carrying a revolver. One police officer said he heard Arslan brag he “ran Tottenham” and had access to more guns than the police. He was convicted of attempted murder, possessing guns and ammunition and was ordered to serve a minimum 10 years before being considered for parole. His lawyers challenged the convictions on Friday, claiming the identification evidence against him was flawed. But Mr Justice Wilkie, sitting with Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Holroyde, said the “sure identification” had been made by one of the men Arslan shot at. “This appeal against conviction is unarguable,” he concluded.
