True Detective

ringleader, Brian McCulloch, 39, from Paisley, who was caught on tape boasting that he made £20,000 a day selling the drug

Saturday 31 October 2009

ringleader, Brian McCulloch, 39, from Paisley, who was caught on tape boasting that he made £20,000 a day selling the drug, was jailed for 10 years. The court was told that he was caught when he bought a BMW jeep, which had a police listening device installed inside, from his co-accused Stephen Jamieson. Jamieson, 26, also from Paisley and who was jailed for eight years, used his profits to buy a £115,000 Lamborghini car, an £1,800 dog and three watches together costing £10,315. Steven Caddis, 30, and Gary Caddis were sentenced to six years and five years. The court was told that the men were overheard by police using codewords while discussing buying and selling cocaine, mentioning prices that ran into tens of thousands of pounds. Strathclyde Police searched 171 houses and questioned 146 people. Officers have so far seized drugs and drug-related material worth £8.8 million, £445,000 in cash, two Mac-10 machineguns and an assortment of sawn-off shotguns, rifles, handguns and ammunition. They also took three Range Rovers, one BMW X5, one BMW X3, one Lexus and one Porsche Cayenne, as well as five Rolex watches, two Cartier watches and one Breitling watch. At an earlier hearing all four men admitted dealing cocaine. Jamieson also pleaded guilty to money laundering. Judge Lord Pentland said the sentences reflected “society’s condemnation” of the activities of gangs such as McCulloch’s. He told him: “It is a trade which wreaks so much misery on its users and their families. It is clear that you were one of those particularly concerned with organising and running an extensive criminal scheme involving large amounts of cocaine. The quantities and values of the drugs involved were substantial.”
The judge commended the police for their “skill and diligence” in bringing the gang to justice.

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indictment charging Eric McPeters, Dean Moya and Richard Vickery with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine

Friday 30 October 2009

indictment charging Eric McPeters, Dean Moya and Richard Vickery with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. All three men are from Helmet, California. Investigators say the Department of Homeland Security tracked the aircraft from northern New Mexico on October 22nd. A drug-sniffing dog helped officers locate a huge stash of cocaine in two large suitcases on the plane.
Each defendant faces a minimum prison term of ten years if convicted on the charges.

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18-year-old Shea (shay) Fraser,Judge Fraser's daughter was taken into custody Tuesday

Judge Fraser's daughter was taken into custody Tuesday in Marysville in central Ohio and charged with two counts of trafficking in heroin, one count of heroin possession and one count of complicity related to heroin trafficking.Police say she was among 18 people arrested from an undercover investigation. She remained jailed Thursday, awaiting an initial court appearance. A message seeking comment was left for her attorney.

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Arrested Charles Edward Smith, 32, after a reverse purchase of drugs at a hotel

Arrested Charles Edward Smith, 32, after a reverse purchase of drugs at a hotel and brief foot pursuit in July 2008. Prosecutors said deputies found more than 100 grams of cocaine in Smith's possession.Smith admitted to buying about four ounces of the substance for $3,780 at the hotel.Smith's attorney told Hayes that his client, who has a vision problem that made it difficult to keep a job, got swept into dealing drugs because the money was too good and too quick.Prosecutors agreed to charge Smith with trafficking between 28 and 100 grams of cocaine provided that he serve 15 years and pay a $50,000 fine. Had Smith been convicted by trial, he would have faced a sentence of seven to 25 years.

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Eight people have been arrested by the national police in Tenerife on charges of trafficking 800 grams of cocaine

Eight people have been arrested by the national police in Tenerife on charges of trafficking 800 grams of cocaine worth around 46,000 euros. The raids followed the detention of two suspects at Los Rodeos airport.One of the suspects was carrying a large amount of coke that he had digested into his body. He was taken to hospital in order to remover the drugs safely from his intestines. Subsequently several raids were carried out on houses on the island.The police found the 800 grams of cocaine and an equivalent amount of another power that they believe would be used to “cut” with the coke to double its volume. All of the eight arrested have records for drug trafficking and robbery with violence or intimidation.

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John W. Bradberry, 39, of York, York County; and Terrance D. Pemberton, 39, of Harrisburg; were stopped last Friday

John W. Bradberry, 39, of York, York County; and Terrance D. Pemberton, 39, of Harrisburg; were stopped last Friday around 12:20 a.m. around mile marker 57, state police at Fogelsville said.Police said the men were pulled over because the tint on the windows was illegal. Two pounds and six ounces of cocaine were seized along with drug paraphernalia.Both were arraigned on charges of possession, possession with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal conspiracy and committed to Lehigh County jail under $50,000 bail.Pemberton, who also is known as Eric M. Lang, remains in jail. Bradberry posted bail the same day of his arrest and was released, according to court records.

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Kevin Thomas, 47, of Route 52, was convicted Thursday of criminal sale of a controlled substance

Kevin Thomas, 47, of Route 52, was convicted Thursday of criminal sale of a controlled substance, a felony, following a jury trial in Ulster County Court.
Witnesses testified during the trial Thomas sold cocaine to a confidential informant of the Ulster County Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team on April 30.
Thomas remains jailed pending his sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 18.

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extradition request for Christopher "Dudus" Coke

extradition request for Christopher "Dudus" Coke in August, has so far only responded with requests for more information about the gun and drug trafficking charges against the reputed gang leader.Coke, identified by the U.S. Justice Department as one of the world's most dangerous drug kingpins, allegedly controls a band of gunmen inside Tivoli Gardens, a barricaded neighborhood of Kingston, the capital of Jamaica and a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere.U.S. authorities are voicing frustration that Jamaica is not moving more quickly to honor a mutual extradition treaty."The U.S. government is looking forward to the Jamaican government respecting their obligations under the treaty," Patricia Attkisson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, said Thursday.The political opposition has also criticized the government for putting Jamaica into what it calls a standoff over Coke, who is known for his loyalty to the Jamaica Labor Party. Island gangs have loose affiliations with both major parties — a legacy of the 1970s, when political factions provided the guns to intimidate rivals."The cascading effect of international reaction to the administration's inaction could lead ultimately to Jamaica being labeled and declared a 'rogue state,' with lasting adverse implications for our people," said Peter Bunting, a lawmaker with the opposition People's National Party.A government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

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Adrian Mosley, 39, and Anissa Mosley, 41, appeared on Thursday in a Beaumont federal courtroom, where they were formally charged with drug possession

Adrian Mosley, 39, and Anissa Mosley, 41, appeared on Thursday in a Beaumont federal courtroom, where they were formally charged with drug possession and intent to distribute cocaine.The case began July 29 when Beaumont police stopped their car for a routine traffic violation. A search of the vehicle netted 28 kilograms of cocaine, officials said.They were arrested Oct. 22 after a federal grand jury indicted them on the drug trafficking charges. A later search of their home in Pearland uncovered a cocaine processing lab, weapons, ledgers used in the drug trafficking and a money counting machine.Investigating the couple are the Drug Enforcement Administration's Galveston office, the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office and the Beaumont Police Department.

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Michael Shawcross, 26, was stopped by officers from the UK Border Agency at Heathrow Airport as he stepped off a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil

Michael Shawcross, 26, was stopped by officers from the UK Border Agency at Heathrow Airport as he stepped off a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, in September. He had been backpacking in South America before heading back to the UK.Shawcross, of Lower House Lane, Norris Green, was interviewed by officers from HM Revenue and Customs as investigators carried out tests on his rucksack and sleeping bag.Isleworth crown court heard the drugs had been washed with a liquid which was then impregnated into the lining of the bags.The 4kgs of 100% proof cocaine would be worth nearly £900,000 on the streets, HMRC said.On September 5, Shawcross pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle the drugs and he was sentenced to eight years behind bars, with a travel restriction order for three years after his release.Peter Avery, Assistant Director of HMRC Criminal Investigations, said: "We will continue to work closely with our UK Border Agency colleagues to detect and seize drugs smuggled into the UK and prosecute those involved."

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Charged 30-year-old Eric Wayne McPeters, 40-year-old Dean Bryan Moya and 31-year-old Richard Allen Vickery of Hemet, Calif

Charged 30-year-old Eric Wayne McPeters, 40-year-old Dean Bryan Moya and 31-year-old Richard Allen Vickery of Hemet, Calif., with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.The Department of Homeland Security last Thursday identified a suspicious aircraft that had landed in Liberal. Liberal police were contacted and they requested assistance from the Southwest Kansas Drug Taskforce and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.A drug-sniffing dog was brought from the Beaver County (Okla.) Sheriff's Office and it hit on the 1964 Cessna 210D twice, according to a court document. A search warrant was obtained, and investigators found two suitcases containing 50 individually wrapped bricks of cocaine.Moya and Vickery were arrested at the Liberal Inn, but McPeters has not yet been taken into custody.Authorities said the plane was forced to land in Liberal because of bad weather.

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33-year-old Bum Gu Kim and other members of his ring would buy cocaine from a source in Arizona and drive it up to Buffalo, N.Y.,

33-year-old Bum Gu Kim and other members of his ring would buy cocaine from a source in Arizona and drive it up to Buffalo, N.Y., where they crossed the border into Canada, Kim admitted. While in Canada, they would exchange the cocaine for Ecstasy and bring it back to Maryland, where they sold it wholesale to area drug dealers. The cocaine was allegedly purchased from Leonardo Aldana, an Arizona man who is currently awaiting sentencing after being convicted of distributing cocaine and methamphetamine. After listening to a phone conversation between Kim and a co-conspirator in June 2007, federal agents followed Kim to a parking lot near Arundel Mills Mall, where they watched him sell drugs to another person, court documents said. When agents attempted to pull the customer over, the customer fled and tossed 4,800 Ecstasy pills out his window. When the pills were tested in a federal lab, authorities say they found MDMA -- the chemical compound in Ecstasy -- and methamphetamine, more commonly known as speed. Prosecutors said they believed Kim distributed more than 400 pounds of Ecstasy because of the number of deals they overheard him arranging from taps on his cell phone. Kim was eventually arrested after the Internal Revenue Service linked him to the money-laundering scheme, court documents said. Kim would take the cash proceeds of from selling the Ecstasy and use it to pay off credit advances taken out at casinos in Buffalo and Ontario, Canada. He pleaded guilty to the drug distribution charge and money laundering in October 2008, court records show, nearly a year after federal authorities brought his drug-trafficking scheme to a halt. "Money laundering is not a victimless crime, said IRS Special Agent C. Andre Martin. "The underground, untaxed economy harms the nation's economic strength."

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Billy Joe Johnson is a white supremacist gangster


Billy Joe Johnson is a white supremacist gangster who was convicted to 45 years in prison for murdering a man, but then later confessed to two more murders and asked for the death penalty. Was Johnson seeking redemption for his crimes? Apparently not, but rather to do his time on death row which he believes will offer him amenities he is currently without.Also, as his attorney says, Johnson figures by the time the appeal process runs out he'll be 65 or older and will not want to live anyway.

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Martin Robert, who police say has been linked to Hells Angels activity

Wednesday 28 October 2009


Martin Robert, who police say has been linked to Hells Angels activity. Police have issued an arrest warrant for Robert on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, gangsterism and drug trafficking and conspiracy. Robert, 35, has been implicated in the killings of members of the rival Rock Machine and Bandidos biker gangs from 1994 to 2002 - the height of the biker war. He also has reputed ties to drug trafficking over the past 12 years, say police. Robert is believed to like vacationing in the Dominican Republic.

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Neil Purves, 27, of Cockburnspath, was detected by police as he travelled at 166mph

Neil Purves, 27, of Cockburnspath, was detected by police as he travelled at 166mph on a 60mph stretch of the A702 near West Linton in the Borders. He had admitted a charge of dangerous driving in a previous appearance at Peebles Sheriff Court. Graham Walker, representing Purves, said he had been "seduced by speed". In addition to his jail term, Purves has also been disqualified from driving for five years. Mr Walker told the court: "It is fair to say superbikes have a seductive appeal to them. "It is fair to say he was seduced by speed." 'Deeply ashamed'However, Sheriff John Horsburgh said there was no alternative to a jail term.
He said: "The speed at which you were travelling means a custodial sentence is the only option I have."
The court heard that Purves, who has since sold his Suzuki GSX-R 1000 motorbike, covered 0.7 of a mile in just 16 seconds on 13 May this year. His lawyer said he was "deeply ashamed" of the offence.
Procurator Fiscal Morag McLintock told a previous hearing: "We believe this is the highest speed that the police have ever recorded in Scotland. "A police speed check was taking place when officers were alerted by a high pitched whine from the motorcycle's engine." Last year more than 20 motorists were caught travelling at more than 100mph on the Dolphinton stretch of the A702. It has sparked calls for permanent speed cameras in the area.

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Cameraman filming the police stopping of a car full of AK81 gang members

Cameraman filming the police stopping of a car full of AK81 gang members, has been threatened and pushed by one of the gangsters during the incident late yesterday afternoon, reports broadcaster TV2.Police had been on alert as a court case involving Hells Angels spokesman Jørn ‘Jønke’ Nielsen was taking place in the Eastern High Court in the central city.He and AK81 member Esben Hertz were yesterday acquitted of charges implicating them in a stabbing.Not long after the trial’s conclusion, the car carrying the members of AK81, a Hells Angels support group, was stopped on Store Kongensgade, a street near the court house, just outside The Copenhagen Post offices. When a TV2 cameraman began filming the incident, one of the gang members walked over to him, told him to shut off the camera and pushed him away.’Luckily nothing happened to me or the camera, but I can thank the police’s quick intervention for that,’ said the TV2 employee.It is unclear if the police will charge the temperamental gang member.

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Ronald Priestley, who was one of Britain's most wanted men, fled to Spain's "Costa del Crime"

Sunday 25 October 2009

Ronald Priestley, who was one of Britain's most wanted men, fled to Spain's "Costa del Crime" in 2005 after masterminding the £4.25million fake banknote fraud.The 69-year-old was sentenced to eight years in jail in his absence but was eventually arrested by Spanish police in Marbella.At Leeds Crown Court on Friday, Judge Peter Collier told Priestley: "Your sentence commences today." In 2006 a jury heard that after a surveillance operation on Priestley and his associates, a sophisticated printing operation which could turn out counterfeit £20 notes was uncovered in Birmingham.Priestley, of Leeds, West Yorks, will also face the judge of his original trial, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, over charges relating to breach of bail.Michael Smith, representing him, asked for the case to be adjourned.Priestley had been previously jailed in April 2002 for conspiring to sell counterfeit perfume and champagne.

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Málaga province forced Chinese women into prostitution

Three people who forced Chinese women into prostitution, holding them for 24 hours a day in a property in Santa Pola which was used as the brothel, have been taken into custody by National Police. One woman who was found in the flat was freed by the officers who raided the property, which had been under surveillance for some time before police decided to make their move.The Interior Ministry said in a statement this week that the victims were ‘recruited’ through job offers on a web page, but then found themselves kept captive by their bosses, who also withheld their passports. The money they earned was paid into bank accounts opened in the women’s names – between 120 and 600 € a day - half of which was then transferred the following morning to a bank in China.Bank documents, computers and bank notes were seized during the search.The investigation began in March in Málaga province, leading detectives to the leaders of the organisation based in Santa Pola.

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British man, wanted in connection with causing the death of another driver

British man, wanted in connection with causing the death of another driver when he was drunk and driving against the traffic last June, has been arrested by the National Police in Alicante Airport. The arrest came as part of a joint operation with the SOCA, British Serious Organised Crime Agency. Named as P.L. he was born in Glasgow in 1981 and had been driving a van against the traffic on the motorway at Larkhall in Scotland when the accident happened, despite him being banned from driving at the time.

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Arrested two Britons and Irishman in connection with the theft of top of the range cars in the U.K.

National Police in Orihuela Costa, Alicante have arrested two Britons and Irishman in connection with the theft of top of the range cars in the U.K. which were then brought to Spain to be sold illegally, or to be used in the carrying out of other crimes.The first arrest came when one of those detained was driving a Mercedes ML 270 on false British plates, and checks established it had been stolen in the U.K. After he was arrested the other members of the group were identified and also detained when driving a stolen Audi A4 on false British plates.Two vehicles with false number plates were recovered in the operation, along with fake driving licences and I.D.Those arrested have been named as 28 year old L.S., 33 year old E.D.D. and 28year old A.L.S.

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77 year old Sheila Peterkin, originally from Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, and her husband, Jorge Pérez, a former philosophy professor, were found stabbed t

The couple's bodies being removed from the scene of the murder - EFE
Sheila Peterkin and her husband, Jorge Pérez, were stabbed to death by their mentally ill sonThe Glasgow Sunday Mail has revealed that the woman who, with her husband, was killed by her schizophrenic son at her Madrid home last weekend, was a Scottish woman who had moved to Spain in the 1950s.77 year old Sheila Peterkin, originally from Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, and her husband, Jorge Pérez, a former philosophy professor, were found stabbed to death at their home on Calle Fermín Caballero, in the Fuencarral district of the city, on Sunday 11th October. Their 47 year old son, Andrés Pérez Peterkin, still holding the murder weapon, admitted his guilt when officers arrived at the scene, and was taken to hospital after trying to take his life with the same knife he had used on his parents.His brother Miguel criticised in a letter published last week that the closure of psychiatric institutions has left many of the mentally ill out on the streets without the care and treatment that they need. ‘Schizophrenia’, he said, has caused my dear brother to commit an act that has filled his conscience with pain, remorse and guilt.’The newspaper said Andrés was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 16.

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Whiskeria murder in Marbella

fatal stabbing of a young Romanian woman in Marbella on Friday night is under investigation by police as a domestic violence murder, following the arrest of the victim’s ex boyfriend in connection with her death. Also from Romania, the 30 year old is reported by Diario Sur to have been in a relationship with the victim for a number of years.The 26 year old woman died outside a well-known alternative nightclub on the N-340 road between Puerto Banús and Puente Romano at around 11.30 on Friday night, where her suspected assailant was waiting for her as she arrived. She is understood to have been stabbed at least 10 times, despite efforts by staff at the club to stop the fatal attack after the victim’s friend, who had arrived there with her, ran inside for help.Police found the murder weapon lying on the ground beside her body when they arrived at the scene, and her assailant crouching down beside her. Emergency services were unable to do anything to save her life.
The man was refused bail by the duty judge in Marbella.

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Would-be bank robber who waited patiently in line for more than 10 minutes for his turn at the cash desk

Would-be bank robber who waited patiently in line for more than 10 minutes for his turn at the cash desk last Friday was overpowered by other customers queuing up at the branch in Málaga City, Diario Sur reports.His attire in the recent warm weather had already given some cause for suspicion: a cap with a visor pulled down to cover the upper part of his face, and a high-necked pullover covering part of his chin. Suspicions were confirmed when he responded to the cashier’s question of ‘How may I help you?’ with the reply, ‘I’ve come to rob the bank’, pulling out a large knife from his pocket.Customers in the queue managed to force him to the ground and hold him there until police arrived on the scene. He turned out to be a regular client of the branch and is noted by Sur to be under treatment for psychiatric problems.

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West Drive Locos, Daniel Villa, 20, was arrested Thursday at a home in Hollywood

Daniel Villa, 20, was arrested Thursday at a home in Hollywood, said Michael Jeandron, a spokesman with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
Villa is accused of being a “high- level” Desert Hot Springs gang member who is named in a gang injunction against the West Drive Locos, Jeandron said.
Villa is accused of evading law enforcement and intimidating a witness while he was freed in lieu of bail on another case.That witness is believed to have provided evidence to prosecutors that helped them get the gang injunction.District Attorney Rod Pacheco said gang activity will not be tolerated in Riverside County.“Gang members can't expect to commit a crime and run away to avoid justice,” Pacheco said. “We will seek them and we will find them.”In March, Villa was targeted during Operation Falling Sun, an eight-month investigation that led to a massive citywide raid that targeted gangs in Desert Hot Springs.Villa was arrested during a search at his home during the operation on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and being in the presence of other gang members, Jeandron said.
Villa posted $30,000 bail and was released April 2.Villa pleaded guilty to a robbery charge in a home invasion robbery in 2005 and was sentenced to four years in state prison. Prosecutors allege that after he was released from prison, Villa returned to Desert Hot Springs to resume his gang lifestyle.Villa, who is being held in lieu of $1.3 million, is set to appear in court on Nov. 3 for a felony settlement conference.




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Crips and the Mexican Mafia were the gangs involved

Detectives said Garland Taylor’s killing was gang-related.Officers found Taylor shot in the head in the 900 block of Anderson Street. He died Monday at University Hospital.None of those arrested is facing a homicide charge, and a warrant hasn’t been issued for any suspected triggerman, Police Chief Kevin Kelso said.But warrants were issued for engaging in organized criminal activity with the intent to commit aggravated assault, a first-degree felony.Two of those named, Jordan Sheffield, 19, and Justin Gonzales, 21, are still being sought.In custody at the Guadalupe County Jail are Darrell Sheffield, 23; Timothy Dailey, 18; Gregory Popham, 19; David Buitron Jr., 37; Christopher Buitron, 23; and Mark Buitron, 22.Police also arrested a juvenile male whose name was not released.In a news release, Kelso said the Crips and the Mexican Mafia were the gangs involved and said police have not identified gang affiliations for all those charged. He said fears of retaliation among witnesses is making the investigation difficult but that more arrests are expected.

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Bloods have 305 members in 33 “sets,” or subgroups, followed by the Crips, with 235 members in 33 sets.

Gaston County has 678 validated gang members, according to Gastonia Police statistics. The Bloods have 305 members in 33 “sets,” or subgroups, followed by the Crips, with 235 members in 33 sets. The Juggalos, a gang that takes its name from a term popularized by the hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse, claims 37 members, while the Hispanic gang MS-13 has 21.While those numbers are large enough for local law enforcement agencies, they don’t include the dozens to hundreds of teens affiliated with gangs who aren’t actual members. Many of the youths referred to Gang of One fall into this category.
“We work a lot with the kids who are affiliated,” said Capistran. “Nine times out of 10, the kid isn’t actually a member, but they are what we would consider at-risk.”
The Bloods and the Crips are rival gangs with common roots in inner-city Los Angeles. The Bloods, who wear red bandanas and clothing, were founded by a group of former Crips. The Crips favor blue clothing and bandanas, and both gangs have distinctive written symbols and hand signs.MS-13, whose formal name is Mara Salvatrucha, was begun in the 1980s by Central American immigrants in Los Angeles. Popular MS-13 symbols are devil horns, dice, daggers and crossbones.Police data shows 91 validated gang members belonging to street gangs other than the popular East Coast and West Coast crews. Those gangs include hate groups such as the Aryan Brotherhood and neo-Nazis, motorcycle gangs like the Hell’s Angels, Southern Gentlemen and Pegans and homegrown gangs like 704 and the Queen City G’z.
Nearly all street gangs are involved in drug trafficking, according to the Governor’s Crime Commission. Many are linked to violent crime, including homicides, shootings, armed robberies and assaults.

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Vallucos gang member wanted on suspicion of running over a motorcyclist

Vallucos gang member wanted on suspicion of running over a motorcyclist in July and then abandoning the injured man.With the help of the U.S. Marshals Service and an anonymous tip, officers arrested Daniel Cuellar about 9 p.m. Friday at the Wells Fargo Bank at the intersection of Trenton and North McColl roads in McAllen, said San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez.Cuellar, who has an extensive arrest history with the San Juan Police Department, was arraigned Saturday on charges of resisting arrest and accident involving injury.Resisting arrest is a Class A misdemeanor punishable up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000. Accident involving injury is punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for up to five years or confinement in a county jail for up to year, plus a possible fine of up to $5,000.Cuellar may have tried to drag the wounded motorcyclist into his vehicle, Gonzalez said. The victim, who suffered multiple leg fractures in the collision, told police he could smell alcohol on the man’s breath.
“He was all intoxicated, but we can’t prove that,” the chief said.Investigators had previously searched for Cuellar at several locations in Alamo, Donna, Harlingen and San Juan. The man reportedly had been hiding in various spots, possibly staying with fellow gang members.Police also arrested Cuellar’s brother Friday at the bank on a charge of public intoxication.

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"Ballroom Blitz" - Security Footage.

"Ballroom Blitz", which occurred in the packed grand ballroom of the Royal Pines resort at Carrara on March 18, 2006? Police have now released the dramatic television camera footage showing a melee quickly erupting, with chairs and glasses thrown and tables overturned. Gunshots can then be heard.

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Gary Watson, 63, remained in critical but stable condition early this week after he was shot last week in his pickup truck at the entrance to the Hells Angels clubhouse on Route 23

Saturday 24 October 2009

Gary Watson, 63, remained in critical but stable condition early this week after he was shot last week in his pickup truck at the entrance to the Hells Angels clubhouse on Route 23, said Lt. Gary Wright of the Maine State Police Criminal Investigation Division. "We're still continuing with the investigation," Wright said. "We have some leads, and we're following up on those ... We have evidence collected on scene, which needs to be evaluated ... None of these types of cases are easy.So far, no one has been charged with Watson's shooting. As of Friday late afternoon, Watson remained at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where his condition was still being monitored, said Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.Wright explained that just because Watson is affiliated with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club does not mean the crime had anything to do with the group. However, all angles must be covered. "We have to look at every possibility," he said.When asked about the challenges of conducting an investigation that involves an organization that historically has been hesitant to talk with police, Wright said, "It's a quandary. When dealing with groups like that, it's difficult to get information. We're hopeful we might overcome this obstacle. We're certainly not certain we'll overcome it. Hopefully we develop enough information to be able to proceed ... In the end, you can't force people to talk to you."As of Tuesday, police had not yet spoken with Watson. "We're hoping that when he's physically able to speak with us, that he does," Wright said.
Watson is the only eyewitness to the shooting, he said, but "it's possible that he didn't see anything."
When asked if police are on alert for any indication of retaliation, he said, "We certainly have to be open to that possibility. We're going to be looking for anything related to this incident."Somerset County Sheriff Barry DeLong said there have been few incidents involving even a mention of Hells Angels in the past few years. "There's been complaints here and there but nothing major in the past three or so years," he said.A woman who lives near the clubhouse -- known locally as the Slaughterhouse -- said she heard about six gunshots around 5:30 p.m. last Thursday. When she looked out her window, she saw Watson's pickup truck reverse out of the clubhouse's driveway and into the middle of the road, perpendicular to the flow of traffic. When she went to Watson, there were bullet holes in his back window and side mirror, she said. One bullet appeared to have passed through his seat and entered his neck.An ambulance took Watson to the Canaan Fire Department where a LifeFlight helicopter took him to the hospital in Bangor. He underwent surgery there, McCausland said.Hells Angels members in Canaan declined to talk about the incident on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 10. Scores of motorcyclists arriving at the clubhouse during the group's Fall Roundup Chowder, Stew & Chili Cook-Off Saturday drove past a reporter seeking comment outside the entrance. A Maine State Police trooper could be seen driving past the clubhouse on Route 23 during the afternoon and was later parked just off the road, less than a half mile away.

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Gary Oxley, 48, from Bexhill, blasted Joseph Oliffe, 35, twice in the back of the head with a .455 calibre Webley Mk I revolver

Monday 19 October 2009

Gary Oxley, 48, from Bexhill, blasted Joseph Oliffe, 35, twice in the back of the head with a .455 calibre Webley Mk I revolver as he sat drinking coffee.
Oxley then calmly dialled 999, and told an operator: "I have just shot someone. I fear for my life and my family."The Old Bailey heard Oxley owed Mr Oliffe, a father-of-two from Bromley, Kent, and his associates £6,000 in drugs money. Oxley claimed the "gangsters" had threatened the lives of his wife and parents.Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow told the court Mr Oliffe and friend Perry Hunt had arrived at the DA Sandwich Cafe in Court Road, Mottingham, Kent, on March 4 this year.
"They ordered two coffees and a chocolate bar before taking a seat at the window."Cafe owner Ali Gezer sent his employee Mahmut Akin out to get coffee from the shop next door.Shortly after he served the men Oxley walked in.
"He greeted them and they were seen to say hello back to him," the prosecutor said.
"Oxley walked up to the counter as if he was about to place an order, but rather than doing so, he stepped through the gate that separated the cafe and the kitchen.
"To the horror of Mr Gezer, he removed a gun from the waistband of his trousers and initially pointed it at the cafe owner."Fearing he would be shot or robbed, Mr Gezer asked Oxley if he was alright.Oxley ran towards the two men and aimed the weapon at Mr Oliffe's head.Mr Hunt was facing the gunman and ran out of the cafe, but the victim had his back to Oxley and 'was completely unaware of the danger he was in'.
Mr Glasgow said: "Oxley approached him and fired three shots.
"Two struck him in the head and Mr Oliffe collapsed on the table."Oxley then aimed the gun at the retreating figure of Mr Hunt.Following him out of the cafe, Oxley bumped into shocked cafe worker Mahmut Akin. "He was still holding the revolver and appeared to be in shock."He shouted: 'Call the police, I have killed a man', and then ran back into the cafe."Mr Gezer stood paralysed with fear behind the counter, but ran out the back of the cafe when the gunman returned.Mr Glasgow told the court: "The police received a number of calls about the incident, one from Oxley himself."He said he had shot someone, said he was scared for his life, and that the people involved were gangsters.
"He said he had no choice because they had threatened his wife, his mum and his dad. He said he had no choice because the problem concerned drugs and he owed them £6,000."Oxley told the emergency operator the situation was "quite heavy". He also said he had put the gun on the floor and did not want the police to shoot him.
Following his arrest, Oxley refused to tell officers why he had killed Mr Oliffe.
But in his fifth interview he claimed the pair – Mr Oliffe and Mr Perry – had threatened his wife and family and had been round to his home.Whilst in custody he was allowed to make a call to his parents and was overheard saying: "I won't have threats to the family. I have tried to go on the straight and narrow but I won't have that."Oxley, of Hornbeam Avenue, admitted murder. A charge of attempted murder, which he denied, was ordered to lie on the court file.Locking him up for life, Judge Peter Thornton said: "This was a deliberate, calculated and planned act."You killed in cold blood. Whatever the background to this case, whatever the past of the deceased you have taken a life, deprived a family of a loved one and deprived a mother of her only child.
"Friends and family now mourn their loss."The judge said it was accepted Oxley was being blackmailed over a drugs debt.
"The aggravating features of this case are the cold and calculated killing, shooting your victim in the head from behind, clearly intending to kill him.
"Secondly, however bad the background of the case you abandoned the help of the police, took the law into your own hands and killed with a firearm which you acquired and took to the scene.
"There was clearly substantial premeditation in your actions."

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Gangster Manny Buttar was found guilty of assault with a weapon Thursday for smashing a beer glass against a stranger's head

Gangster Manny Buttar was found guilty of assault with a weapon Thursday for smashing a beer glass against a stranger's head as he confessed to killing a rival gang leader.B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker said she accepted the evidence of victim Pardeep (Sunny)Dhillon that an intoxicated Buttar assaulted him viciously in 2006 at a Surrey restaurant after learning Dhillon was a cousin of slain gangster Bindy Johal.And Ker said she believed Dhillon that Buttar claimed he "killed for a living" and admitted to executing Johal, his one-time ally turned rival.
She said the Buttar statement may well have been false drunken rhetoric, but that Dhillon would have no reason to make such a claim unless it happened."It is entirely believable that Mr. Buttar made those comments....I accept without reservation Mr. Dhillon's evidence," Ker said. "I do not believe the denials of Mr. Buttar."Buttar was visibly upset by the verdict which came after a three-day trial last month at the New Westminster Law Courts. He will be sentenced

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David "Bart" Barbeito is too dangerous to free pending trial.

Saturday 17 October 2009

David "Bart" Barbeito is too dangerous to free pending trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Stanley ruled after FBI testimony about an allegedly violent confrontation involving the club's ruling panel and renegade West Virginia bikers in 2003. She also heard a recording of a conversation involving Barbeito and other Pagans leaders in Pittsburgh four years ago.Barbeito, who's led the club since 1989, is the lead defendant in a 44-count indictment returned against 55 Pagans and associates from West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Florida. The charges include two murder conspiracies, kidnapping, weapons violations and drug dealing.Barbeito pleaded not guilty to one charge stemming the 2003 confrontation and three gambling counts. The Pagans' trial is set for Dec. 15.Barbeito, 49, of Myersville, Md., also faces state kidnapping and conspiracy charges in West Virginia.
The 2003 incident centers on a dispute between national vice president Floyd "Diamond Jesse" Moore and six or seven members of the club's Charleston chapter. Moore also is being held pending trial.
A Pagans member who has become an informant says Barbeito told him to retrieve a shotgun that he held on six or seven cohorts at the club's South Charleston clubhouse, said FBI agent Chris Courtright, who conceded the informant's version of events was not corroborated."He (Barbeito) and the other members who traveled to West Virginia were going to solve this problem," Courtright said. Those members comprised the Pagans' so-called mother club, which investigators say functions as a sort of board of directors for the organization. "He was on the side of Jesse and the mother club members that were present."The dispute was resolved without injuries, though the local members quit the Pagans, Courtright said.Defense attorney Stanley Needleman argued the dispute centered on drug dealing by the Charleston members, who were booted for selling speed."It was Mr. Barbeito who outlawed it," Needleman said.Federal prosecutor Steve Loew also surprised Pagans member William Grayson by calling him as a witness. Grayson has attended earlier arraignments and was in the courthouse but not the courtroom Thursday.Grayson repeatedly invoked his right against incriminating himself and refused to answer questions about his membership in the club and whether he has replaced Moore as national vice president.He did, however, say Moore probably isn't vice president because he's in custody. Grayson also acknowledged two federal convictions for his role in a deadly 2002 brawl with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in New York. Seventy-three Pagans were convicted of federal charges stemming from the fight. One died.

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Guns may belong to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang

Dredger-operator working to clean up a bush-laden area in the city’s Amager district yesterday got a serious shock when he heard a loud bang.The blast came from a sawn-off shotgun – one of two the dredger had inadvertently dug up, along with some compatible shells in a plastic bag. Police suspect the guns may belong to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, whose clubhouse is just around the corner from the site.The items have been handed over to the police’s forensic unit.

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Member of the East End Hells Angels convicted on four weapons counts in July was ordered freed on bail Tuesday on his next round of charges.

Member of the East End Hells Angels convicted on four weapons counts in July was ordered freed on bail Tuesday on his next round of charges.

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Zavisa Drecic, 45, of Buchner Road, was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday in a Toronto courtroom.

Zavisa Drecic, a former member of the Niagara Hells Angels, had been transferred to the Woodbridge chapter of the gang when he was swept up in a provincewide police crackdown in 2007. Zavisa Drecic, 45, of Buchner Road, was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday in a Toronto courtroom. He was credited a year for pretrial custody and restricted bail conditions. Project Develop was an OPP-led investigation into the gang that used one of its members as an informant. Drecic was one of 31 people arrested in pre-dawn raids on April 4, 2007, in Ontario, British Columbia and New Brunswick. He spent 30 months under house arrest at his Welland home. Drecic, who facilitated drug transactions through a third party, pleaded guilty to three counts of trafficking illegal substances, but not guilty to trafficking in association with a criminal organization. He was found guilty of the criminal association charge earlier this month. Prosecutor Tanit Gilliam said Drecic brokered a $500 deal via a third party on May 16, 2006, for 279 grams of gamma hydroxybutyrate acid (GHB), commonly referred to as the date-rape drug. On May 25, 2006,, he facilitated the sale of 136 litres of GHB for $25,000. On Sept. 22, 2006, he sold a kilogram of cocaine for $29,500 and one kilogram of ephedrine for $1,500. He also sold a kilogram of cocaine on Feb. 1, 2007, for $36,000. Two other locals arrested during Project Develop have already been through the courts. Kevin Skuta of Welland was sentenced in May to five years and nine months in jail after pleading guilty to trafficking more than 100 litres of GHB and trafficking a kilogram of cocaine.

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“Malaya” case which revolved around corruption in the building developments ,mainly in Marbella on the Costa del Sol

Friday 16 October 2009

“Malaya” case which revolved around corruption in the building developments ,mainly in Marbella on the Costa del Sol is now estimated to have involved the enormous figure of 670 million euros in money laundering deals.Most of this involves money received in exchange for “favours”in relation to building development in the city of Marbella. The money laundering is thought to have involved up to 27 people.These people it appears were under the control of a single ringleader.This was the former town planning assessor Juan Antonio Roca.The suspects are spread right across Spain and include six lawyers from a firm in Madrid.As well as the property corruption scandal on the Costa del Sol,particularly in and around Marbella ,it is also thought that the area known as Los Alcazares in Murcia is also involved .

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300 million pounds that police estimate boiler rooms will steal from U.K. investors this year

300 million pounds that police estimate boiler rooms will steal from U.K. investors this year compared with 100 million pounds in 2007. They say cold- calling share sellers are finding it easier to lure victims as people look for quicker returns in the wake of the financial crisis.Spain is the friendliest locale for boiler rooms that target U.K. investors, investigators say. Its major cities are only a two-hour flight from London, and the country is home to 761,000 expatriate Britons, according to the U.K. Foreign Office, making it an ideal place to set up a stock-selling operation aimed at English speakers. About one-third of all known boiler rooms are located in Spain, according to data from the U.K. Financial Services Authority.
That’s why British tabloid newspapers refer to the 1,000- mile stretch of Mediterranean coastline -- which runs from Barcelona in the northeast to the resort of Marbella in the south -- as the “Costa del Crime.”


Spain’s beach communities gained notoriety as a safe haven for British criminals in the early 1980s, when convicted robber Ronnie Knight spent a decade there on the run. A century-old extradition agreement between the U.K. and Spain lapsed in 1978 amid tensions over the status of Gibraltar, the self-governing British territory that Spain claims as its own. While the agreement was re-established in 1985 just before Spain joined the European Community, the predecessor to the European Union, the country didn’t shake off its image as a gangster refuge.

“What do boiler rooms want?” asks Michael Levi, a professor of criminology at the University of Cardiff in Wales, who has written books on corporate crime. “They want a nice environment, and that means good telecoms and a local police and judiciary that aren’t too bothered about them. That has been true for Spain.”
Small investors aren’t the only victims of the con artists. ValiRx, which is listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, says its legitimate business and good name have been damaged by the Damak scam. “Cases like this have a very negative impact,” says ValiRx Finance Director George Morris. He traces problems back to Pacific Continental Securities (U.K.) Ltd., a legal London- based brokerage that the FSA liquidated in 2008, after the regulator found that Pacific Continental had shared client information with boiler rooms. The gang that targeted Reay was behind several share scam operations, including Blackwell Advisory Group, run from one of Barcelona’s most exclusive neighborhoods. Blackwell’s office was on the first floor of an apartment block with ceramic mosaics and wrought-iron balconies along the city’s Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, near boutiques for Gucci Group NV and Giorgio Armani SpA. The firm was run by Danish-born Henrik Botcher, now 37. Fraser Jenkins, a 28-year-old Welshman, assisted Botcher by supervising the Blackwell Web site, showcasing information and live share prices about the companies being flogged by its salesmen. “He’s been to university; he’s a bright lad, and polite,” says Martin Hall, detective constable at the City of London police, about Jenkins. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind taking him home to meet your mum.” The portrait of the Blackwell operation conveyed by court documents, police investigations and witness accounts shows a competitive, male-dominated world reminiscent of a David Mamet play. A team of 15 young men, who had answered advertisements in London newspapers seeking “telesales terrorists,” made several hundred calls each day. None of the workers knew the surnames of their two bosses, according to witness statements gathered by police. Henrik and Fraser paid salaries in cash and billeted the cold-callers in an apartment above a shuttered hairdresser’s shop. Such communal living is typical of boiler room operations because it increases competition among employees. Callers pulled down 4,000 pounds a month plus commissions-operating in a cutthroat world where a Rolex watch would be dangled off a hook on the office wall as a sales incentive. At night, the boiler room boys enjoyed a culture of heavy drinking and drug use, according to witness statements. The men frequently could be spotted outside, smoking furiously to relieve stress, says Juan Carlos Miguel, a barman at the cafe next door to Blackwell’s offices. “Then, from one day to the next, they were gone.” Spain’s national stock market regulator, the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores, had jurisdiction over only licensed brokerage firms until 2007. By the time it was granted legal powers to go after share fraud, a culture of crime had taken root, says Maria Gracia Rubio, a Madrid-based securities lawyer at Baker & McKenzie. “The law takes some time to permeate through society,” Gracia Rubio says. A spokeswoman for the CNMV declined repeated requests to comment.
The Damak scam that stole Reay’s nest egg was masterminded by Claude Clifford Greaves, 52, a London-based tax adviser partial to wearing silk handkerchiefs in his suit pockets. Police say Greaves is a serial trickster responsible for at least 10 million pounds worth of fraud over five years. His financial web was spun from the U.K. and Spain to the Caribbean, Paraguay and Hong Kong. Greaves has traded in his bespoke clothes for the maroon sweater and green pants inmates are required to wear at a minimum-security prison on England’s southern coast, where he’s serving a sentence of five and a half years. He was found guilty by a London jury in March on charges of money laundering and selling financial products without authorization. Three other defendants were sentenced to a total of eight years and three months after pleading guilty to their part in the scheme that relieved the Reay family of its money. Boiler room criminals use technology and creativity to obscure their true locations. Overseas-based salesmen route calls through London dialing codes and direct investors to send checks to fancy addresses in the U.K. capital-where the companies maintain post office boxes. The men who make the calls are typically well-spoken: Police say recruitment is being stepped up on university campuses in England to attract students hungry for jobs. The callers often mesh two first names as a pseudonym, as Robert Samuel did. His real identity was never discovered.
British investors are particularly vulnerable to cold calls because names of shareholders in each publicly traded company must be listed in registers. Addresses and the number of shares they own are also included. Those registries make it easy for smooth-talking sales agents to broaden their base of victims, says Bob Wishart, a detective superintendent at the City of London Police who heads Operation Archway, a task force dedicated to shutting down boiler rooms.

“We had the Cambridge University professor, a member of the House of Lords -- we’ve had them all,” Wishart says. So-called suckers’ lists of investor telephone numbers are passed around boiler rooms, authorities say. Britain’s FSA last November wrote to warn 11,500 people that they were on a list obtained by regulatory counterparts in Canada. “Because we recognize that getting the funds back is so difficult, we focus our resources on trying to warn off members of the public from dealing with the share fraudsters in the first place,” says Jason Burt, an official at the U.K. regulator’s unauthorized business division. Before her first foray in the stock market, Reay had already dabbled, unsuccessfully, in other investments. She had lost money in land bank deals, where companies bundle undeveloped plots, organize development permission for the properties and flip them for a higher price. She believes those investments first put her name into play.

Reay became suspicious about the fate of her money around Christmas 2006, when she still hadn’t received ValiRx share certificates. She looked up Damak Group on an Internet search and found a police notice urging people to come forward if they believed they had been scammed. She was just one of thousands of victims targeted by various scams run by Greaves, who at the time was serving a three-year jail sentence in London at Her Majesty’s Prison, Wandsworth, for an unrelated 7.5 million pound fraud. He had been convicted of avoiding value-added tax payable on computer parts across the European Union in what’s known as a carousel fraud. By the end of 2006, Greaves was managing a network of about 30 people in three different countries while on day release from his first jail sentence. “Claude could talk and talk and talk,” says Hall, who led Operation Storm, the effort that brought down Damak. “He’s quite funny in a way. He’s nice enough to talk to. You wouldn’t want to invest your money with him but … .” Born in Grenada in 1957, Greaves grew up in Peckham, a gritty part of south London. By the time of his arrest in 2008, Greaves was living in London’s exclusive Mayfair district, a short walk from Buckingham Palace. He qualified as a tax adviser with the U.K. Chartered Institute of Taxation in 1980, records show, and set up an accounting firm soon after. He eventually established a Mayfair tax advisory business, ROK International Ltd., in March 2004. It’s one of at least 60 companies in which Greaves has been listed as a director, according to U.K. corporate records. ROK International was located in a whitewashed Bruton Street townhouse that faces The Square, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and is around the corner from the jewelry stores and boutiques of Bond Street. His son and daughter, Leigh and Phillipa, both in their 20s, managed ROK during their father’s first stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

Leigh Greaves, a technology support analyst, was never charged by police. His sister was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud and of money laundering in the March trial that saw her father convicted. She’s still a tax adviser. Neither responded to e-mails seeking comment. Greaves, who’s appealing his conviction and sentence, declined to comment through his London-based lawyer, James Nicholls at Bark & Co.
Money from ROK’s accounts was funneled in 2004 to New Haven Trust Co., a Liechtenstein-based investment firm, police evidence shows. New Haven has its own colorful history. The firm’s director, Mario Staggl, helped set up accounts for billionaire Igor Olenicoff to evade U.S. tax liabilities. U.S. prosecutors separately indicted Staggl in court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in April 2008 for allegedly helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. He has since been declared a fugitive. Staggl’s Vaduz, Liechtenstein-based lawyer, Andreas Schurti, declined to comment. Greaves’s clients have also attracted the attention of prosecutors. His first firm, Allen & Greaves Ltd., audited the accounts of two companies investigated in 2002 by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office. No charges were brought in the case, which centered on share-selling scams and pushing overpriced claret to wine investors. Rolston Allen, Greaves’s former partner at the firm, said in an e-mail that he considered himself a victim of Greaves and had cut off contact with him seven years ago. Damak falsely asserted that it held a stockbroker license from the St. Lucian regulator, investigators say. It bought blocks of shares-both publicly and in private, over-the-counter sales-in companies like ValiRx, which callers like Samuel would try to flog to Britons. Back in London, ROK handled Damak’s paperwork and shifted the money to an HSBC Holdings Plc bank account in Hong Kong. Share certificates, when they existed, were also mailed by ROK. Today, Botcher and Jenkins, the men who ran Blackwell, are serving prison sentences after pleading guilty in a London court in February to breaching two financial regulations and to money laundering. Botcher’s lawyer, John Milner at London-based Irwin Mitchell LLP, says his client is appealing the 45-month sentence and believed that Blackwell investors were high-net-worth individuals. Jenkins, who is appealing his 21-month sentence, was an administrator at a firm that fell afoul of the U.K. financial regulator, says his Manchester, England-based lawyer, Mike Brunskill at Pannone LLP. Botcher had been recruited to the Greaves operation by Roozbeh Yazdanian, a fourth defendant, who also pleaded guilty to regulatory offenses. Yazdanian, 38, is appealing his sentence and declined to comment through his law firm, Russell Jones & Walker. The downfall of Greaves’s empire can be traced partly to a deal made with Ulrik Debo, another Dane. Debo was the majority investor in London-based Pantera Oil and Gas Plc, which was drilling in the Chaco Basin in Paraguay. He wanted to pull his money out to reinvest but couldn’t find a buyer.
“Ulrik has this problem: He’s got a quarter of a million pounds’ worth of stock stuck in this company,” explains Hall of the City of London Police. “Henrik turns around and says, ‘We might be able to do something about that.’” Botcher brokered a meeting in May 2006 with Greaves, who said Damak Group would buy the stock.
Filings show that Pantera sold Debo’s 1,256,367 shares at 2.67 pence each to Damak in August 2006. Damak resold them to investors through Blackwell for 12 pence each. Blackwell’s salesmen promised that the company would soon list on London’s AIM. It never did. “I lost every penny I put into that company,” says Debo, who’s now the chief executive officer of London-based DeBondo Capital. He gave testimony in court and didn’t face any allegations of wrongdoing. He declined to comment further.
Pantera changed its name to Artemis Energy Plc in December 2007. The brand has been tainted through association with Damak, says Mahesh Patel, Artemis’s company secretary. “We’ve not been able to raise a dime,” he says. Operation Storm, which triggered the end of Greaves’s adventure, was sparked when a victim contacted police in November 2006 and complained about losing money on Pantera stock after investing through Blackwell Advisors. The investor passed the police Damak’s share invoices, which had ROK’s address printed on them. Officers raided the Bruton Street offices and froze ROK’s bank account. Hong Kong police then froze about 400,000 pounds in the HSBC account where cash had been routed.
As police closed in, Jenkins, the Blackwell Web guru, booked a day-return flight from Barcelona to the U.K. and tried to withdraw about 50,000 pounds from his account. The bank tipped off the police, who arrested him. The game was up. Such successful prosecutions are rare, because resources are stretched and responsibility for fighting boiler rooms is shared between the police and the FSA. London’s Operation Archway, set up two years ago, has fewer than 10 full-time police officers. The FSA can freeze assets believed to belong to boiler rooms and can prosecute only U.K.-based operations or individuals. “I found out that, overall, the FSA were useless, the police were understaffed and weren’t given enough resources,” says Nigel Evans, a lawmaker in Britain’s Conservative Party who argues that the police need more manpower. His party, which is ahead of the ruling Labour Party in most U.K. polls, has pledged to abolish the FSA if it wins the next election and hand regulatory power back to the Bank of England. Even if the authorities do succeed in taking down a boiler room, British jail sentences for company-related fraud tend to be just a fraction of penalties handed to their U.S. counterparts, whose terms increase in proportion to the size of thefts. “Criminals who defraud people of hundreds of millions of pounds and who ruin thousands of lives should face the threat of significant prison sentences,” says Margaret Cole, enforcement director for the FSA. “Prosecuting individuals for conducting unauthorized business, which carries a two-year maximum term, simply does not do justice to the offense and certainly not to the victims.” Back in Carlisle, Reay is still paying the price for her mistake. She’s on suckers’ lists being passed around illegal companies. “I’ve had 150 phone calls over three years -- sometimes it’s twice a week,” she says. “Someone could call me up now and offer me the best thing in the world and I wouldn’t believe them.” The police say there’s a simple way to fight boiler room fraud: When a stranger calls and starts talking about your investments, hang up the phone -- no matter how posh the caller sounds.

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Matthew Carpenter, 29, formerly of Albermarle Way, Cambridge and Marlon Robinson, 21, formerly of Ramsden Square, Cambridge were found guilty

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Matthew Carpenter, 29, formerly of Albermarle Way, Cambridge and Marlon Robinson, 21, formerly of Ramsden Square, Cambridge were found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine. Carpenter, Robinson, Duncan Berry, 24, of Ramsden Square, Cambridge, and Aymon Popo, 25 of Tideslea Path, London were found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms.Carpenter received 11 years for drugs offences and four years for firearms offences to run consecutively, totalling 15 years.Robinson received seven years for drugs offences and three years for firearms offences, totalling 10 years.Berry received three and a half years for firearms offences, with a 12 month sentence to run concurrently for possession of ammunition. Popo received three and a half years for firearms offences.Carpenter, Robinson and Popo are now subject to Serious Crime Prevention Orders meaning they will be monitored in prison and out of prison once their sentences have ended and will have conditions placed upon them.Three others were found not guilty of any charges.Detective Inspector Craig Harrison said: "This investigation was long, complex and challenging for all involved."The jury heard almost 10 weeks of evidence complicated by the fact that not all defendants were alleged to be involved in all conspiracies

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Brenice Lee Smith was arrested at the San Francisco International Airport

Brenice Lee Smith was arrested at the San Francisco International Airport as he arrived there on a flight from Kathmandu.The 64-year-old is suspected of being part of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a Hippie gang of drug dealers and users that was founded in the 1960s. Smith had been living in Nepal posing as a Buddhist monk.
The deteriorating law and order system due to continuous political instability for nearly 13 years, corruption in the bureaucracy that enables criminals on the run to procure passports and other legal documents easily and the open border with India have contributed to a growing number of criminals from other countries heading for Nepal where they can lie low in safety.There are also allegations that some politicians are involved in providing a safe haven to criminals on the run.
Indian don Babloo Srivastava wrote in his fictionalised memoirs that Nepali lawmaker Mirza Dilshad Beg provided safe houses for terrorists from Pakistan and their safe passage from Nepal to Thailand.Beg was murdered near his own residence in Kathmandu in 1998 in what was believed to be gang warfare.Besides terrorists, arms and drug smugglers and counterfeit Indian currency dealers, Nepal is also increasingly becoming a haven for western paedophiles.In 1999, Nepal police arrested French citizen Jean Jacques Haye and British national Christopher R. Fraser for paedophilia and running a child pornography racket internationally. Both ran child care centres in Kathmandu and abused the inmates.Though Haye was deported, he returned to Nepal and lived there quietly till his arrest once again this March when a childcare organisation tipped off police.

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Nathan Harris was told he must serve at least 16 years for ordering the execution of young father Craig Brown


Nathan Harris was told he must serve at least 16 years for ordering the execution of young father Craig Brown on Christmas Eve last year. Mr Brown was shot five times outside the home of his girlfriend Denica Date and their four-year-old son as he unloaded presents. Harris, aged 15 at the time, was spotted at the scene by Miss Date, who later identified him after seeing his picture on the social networking site Facebook. He had set in place the "lethal train of events" that led to the killing after seeing Mr Brown - who he believed to have "dissed" a friend - in the area. The youth, now 16, of Shepherd's Bush, west London, was found guilty of murder by an Old Bailey jury. Judge Richard Hawkins told Harris: "Your part in bringing these men to the scene to bring an end to Craig Brown's life was an important part.
"The loss to Denica Date and her young son cannot be measured." Jeremy Carter-Manning, QC, defending, said Harris's natural father had been in prison for most of the boy's life. He said Harris was "not a leader of men" adding: "He got caught up in the activities of older and more mature people." There was an outburst in the public gallery as Harris was led out of court. A woman shouted: "He didn't do it."
Detective Inspector Kenny McDonald, who led the investigation, said Harris had a "violent tendency" and it was "exceptional" for such a young person to be involved in such serious crime. Video footage posted on YouTube and hand-written rap lyrics found in his bedroom showed the teenager's obsession with guns and violence. Text messages on his mobile phone appeared to show other youths asking him to procure firearms for them. Harris had first come to the attention of police when he was 13-years-old following the murder of 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga in March 2007. He was one of a number of teenagers rounded up by detectives for questioning, although he was never charged with the crime. In December 2007 when he was 14, Harris was alleged to have taken part, with another youth, in the rape of a teenage girl, but was formally cleared following a trial at Inner London Crown Court. A second defendant, 22-year-old Khalid Elsheikh, was cleared of murder but jailed for 10 years for possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

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Luis Nava pleaded guilty earlier this year to drug charges, related to both cocaine and marijuana.

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Latin Kings street gang came back to Lubbock federal court Friday. Luis Nava pleaded guilty earlier this year to drug charges, related to both cocaine and marijuana.
The 26-year-old also admits his participation in the gang. Nava was sentenced Friday to 22-years in prison for the drug charges. Federal agents tied the gang to a deadly drive by shooting in Big Spring last year using an AK-47. Parts of the gun were found by an FBI dive team east of Crosbyton. Written statements indicate that until the gang was busted, the leader of the Latin Kings in Texas lived in Lubbock.

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Mohammed Fahda, 22,wanted in connection with the March 14 shooting death of Abdul Qadier Darwiche in Sydney's southwest.

Mohammed Fahda, 22,wanted in connection with the March 14 shooting death of Abdul Qadier Darwiche in Sydney's southwest. Investigators allege the killing was linked to feuding families involved in the Sydney drug trade. Fahda arrived at Sydney airport about 3.15pm escorted by Tongan police officers, NSW Police said.
He was arrested by officers attached to the State Crime Command Homicide Squad and taken to Surry Hills police station," police said in a statement. He is expected to be charged later with the murder of Abdul Darwiche at Bass Hill on March 14, 2009.
Mr Darwiche, 37, was killed in a hail of bullets while sitting in his car outside a service station. He was shot in front of his young children allegedly after having a verbal argument with another man. The shooting raised speculation that a long-standing gang feud between the Darwiches and the rival Razzak and Fahda families would be reignited. Darwiche's older brother, Michael Darwiche, has since been charged with planning an attack to avenge the March slaying. He and another man allegedly were found in a car with a pistol, ammunition, maps and the names and addresses of Fahda family members. Darwiche claimed to be en route to a McDonald's restaurant.

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Ray Kanho $4 million worth of confiscations were part of a sentence

Ray Kanho,the Montreal Mafia and various street gang members. And Monday afternoon he watched the small fortune he amassed while drug trafficking with both groups be confiscated by the federal government.The $4 million worth of confiscations were part of a sentence Kanho received Monday at the Montreal courthouse for his activities, uncovered during Project Colisée, an investigation into the Montreal Mafia.As part of a negotiated settlement that took months to complete, Kanho lost his home in Laval’s Duvernay district, a 10-unit apartment building in Montreal and another house in Laval listed under the name of two of his relatives. He also conceded that more than $2.8 million the RCMP secretly removed from his father’s home in Laval, just weeks before he was arrested in Nov. 2006, was the proceeds of crime.“Listen to me. They took everything. I have nothing left,” Kanho was recorded telling an accomplice in 2006 after realizing his money was gone.He incorrectly assumed his sister’s boyfriend stole the money and is believed to have assaulted the man, or had someone else assault him, before the Montreal police arrested Kanho as a precaution and informed him the RCMP took his money.Besides the confiscations, Quebec Court Judge Jean Pierre Bonin sentenced Kanho to a 14-year prison term. With time served factored in he has a little more than eight years left to serve and is required to serve at least have of that before he is eligible for parole.
Kanho admitted to taking part in several conspiracies to smuggle cocaine into Canada, in particular with Giuseppe Torre, a man with ties to the Montreal Mafia also serving a 14-year sentence for crimes uncovered during Colisée.Kanho also admitted to being the man who ultimately was behind the corruption of two customs agents, including Nancy Cedeno, the Canada Border Services Agency agent who was convicted last week of accepting bribes.Besides giving up the $2.8 million and his real estate, Kanho agreed to let the federal government confiscate 72,000 shares he had in Investissement Mondi Inc., the investment arm of a St. Léonard-based construction company.According to a seizure order filed recently, Kanho is alleged to have used Constructions Mondi Inc. to launder his drug money. The company specializes in building single-family units and constructed several in Laval since 2000, including the Duvernay home confiscated on Monday.According to an affidavit filed with the seizure order, Kanho invested more than $180,000 total with the company. After purchasing shares in the company Kanho began receiving $1,000 a week from Constructions Mondi and claimed it was his salary on tax returns. However, while he was investigated in Project Colisée, Kanho did nothing that resembled work for the construction company.On April 13, 2007, the RCMP arrested Dominic Zavaglia, the president of Constructions Mondi. He gave investigators a videotaped statement during which he tried to explain why Kanho was paid $1,000 a week for doing nothing. Zavaglia, who has not been charged with a crime, told investigators that the money was paid to Kanho as a salary to save on tax deductions. But the affidavit, which was prepared after Zavaglia was questioned, the RCMP alleged Kanho’s money was given to Investissement Mondi “as a strategy to launder money.”By agreeing to the confiscation of his remaining shares Monday, Kanho admitted they were bought with dirty money.

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Rejected pleas by gun gang members Kaleem Akhtar, Madasser Ali, of Bradford, Asaid Salim, and Paul Wilson that their jail terms were over-the-top.


Rejected pleas by gun gang members Kaleem Akhtar, Madasser Ali, of Bradford, Asaid Salim, and Paul Wilson that their jail terms were over-the-top. He said the weapons dealt in by the gang had been accurately described as “an assassin’s armoury” and that, under the tough new guidelines he handed down, they might well have qualified for indefinite sentences for public protection. The judge said: “Guns kill and maim, terrorise and intimidate. That is why criminals want them, that is why they use them. “Sentencing courts must address the fact that too many lethal weapons are too readily available, too many are carried, too many are used, always with devastating effect on individual victims and with insidious corrosive impact on the local community.” Ali, 31, of Great Horton Road, Bradford, was jailed for 18 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy. Akhtar, 31, of Abbotsford Road, Chorlton, was jailed for 20 years at Manchester Crown Court last August after he was convicted of conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition with intent. Salim, 28, of Bedford Road, Firswood, Manchester, received ten years and eight months after admitting the same charge. Paul Wilson, 37, a cage fighter, of Liverpool Road, Southport, purchased some of the weapons from Akhtar for onward distribution and was given 11 years and six months after admitting conspiracy to possess firearms. Another of the cases reviewed and ruled upon in yesterday’s judgment concerned a man who was found guilty of turning replica guns into live weapons linked to more than 50 shootings, including the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky One of the guns supplied by Grant Wilkinson, 34, was used during the Bradford armed robbery that led to the death of 38-year-old PC Beshenivsky in 2005, although it was not the murder weapon.

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Civil Guard Colonel?

60 year old man, named by Europa Press as A.L.L., has been arrested by the Murcia Civil Guard after posing as a Colonel in the force for the past nine years. He always carried with him a Civil Guard badge and is understood to have often quoted details of the career history of high-ranking members of the force to give added credence to his claim.Even his former partner, who he was with for five years, believed he was a Civil Guard colonel during the time they lived together.The man used his supposed position to force backhanders out of businesses in Los Alcázares, San Javier, los Narejos and Murcia City with the threat of closing them down if they failed to accede to his demands.The investigation began two months ago after a man whose car was intentionally set alight refused to present an official complaint for fear of reprisals from the arsonist, presumably the false Civil Guard who is now in custody.

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Four Civil Guards from Almuñecar, arrested for drug trafficking, on Friday and found with 2,000 kilos of hashish, have been denied bail

Four Civil Guards from Almuñecar, arrested for drug trafficking, on Friday and found with 2,000 kilos of hashish, have been denied bail and sent to prison by Duty Court Number Two in Torrox. One of the four is now known to have been previously based in Nerja.Five other people were also detained on Friday, which saw a large number of police vehicles arriving and leaving from both the Civil Guard barracks in Nerja and in Almuñecar as members of the Internal Affairs division arrived from Madrid. The five others arrested are now reported to include a man from Málaga and two from Cueta.Two of the Civil Guards were caught ‘in fraganti’ when they were moving the drugs in the Güi river in Torrox Costa.More arrests have not been ruled out in the case, which is the third of this type in the past decade.

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Madrid, police shoot and wound armed man.

José Luis AT, was shot by police after waving and firing a weapon at them in the Madrid district of Hortaleza, reported a spokesman for Police Headquarters. The man, who had previous convictions for theft and violence, poor was admitted to the Clinical Hospital in Madrid after receiving at least four bullet wounds in the lower limbs of his body, including the buttocks and abdomen. The event occurred from 1700 hours today at number 6 Calle Manizales, when an anonymous caller alerted police to the presence in the way of a man who brandished a gun in his hand.
A National Police patrol moved in and asked this man to take out his hands from his pockets and to raise his arms, the man responded with several bursts of gunfire.
In this situation, the officers then had to use force to subdue the man. At the scene police found a bag in which he had several guns and knives

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Raul Esparza struck a deal with San Mateo County prosecutors

Saturday 3 October 2009

Raul Esparza struck a deal with San Mateo County prosecutors on Aug. 18 that allowed him to get out of jail.He wasn't free for long. Esparza was arrested Tuesday after San Carlos police pulled over a car he was riding in that authorities say contained a revolver and baggies they believe were full of cocaine.Esparza, who turned 19 this week, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to three felonies — possession of a narcotic substance for sale, possessing a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.The charges stem from a traffic stop on Tuesday on the 1500 block of El Camino Real in San Carlos. A police officer pulled over a car driven by James Kulp-Haggard, 20, at about 10:15 p.m. because its license plate lamp was out, Cmdr. John Reed said. Esparaza was allegedly in the passenger seat.Officers noticed Kulp-Haggard, a resident of Martinez, was on probation. They searched the car and found three baggies of suspected cocaine that weighed a total of 31.9 grams, along with a revolver and ammunition, Reed said. The two men were arrested and booked into jail.The substance in the baggies still needs to be tested to confirm if it is cocaine, Reed said. Esparza, a Redwood City resident, faces up to seven years in prison if convicted on the latest charges, significantly less than the 20 years to life he faced about six weeks ago.
In the previous case, Esparza, his brother Salvador Esparza Jr., and Angel Sanchez — all suspected gang members — pleaded no contest on Aug. 18 to one felony count of engaging in gang activity. Prosecutors said the trio participated in the beating of two men who were sitting in a car in unincorporated Redwood City in May 2008.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and carjacking in exchange for a 16-month prison sentence. Each of the three defendants had credit for more than 500 days of time served, fulfilling their sentences, though it is unclear exactly when they were released.Raul Esparza and Kulp-Haggard both remained in custody Thursday on $100,000 bail.

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18-year-old man was shot in the leg outside the Biblos club

18-year-old man was shot in the leg outside the Biblos club at Byporten in downtown Oslo. Several witnesses were detained after the shooting, but the lead detective, Find Belle, of the Oslo police told the Dagbladet that the perpetrator is still at large. None of the witnesses are not currently suspects in the case.
"The shooter was a of African descent wearing a leather jacket. That's all we have at the present,' Said Belle. "The shot man is on the operating table at Ullevål hospital, and his status is fine."
The 18-year-old gang member is an acquaintance of the police, said Belle and added that he has an African sounding name. Heavily armed police with K-9 unit arrived to the scene quickly. The shooting took place around 02:25 in the morning. The police found several spent brass at the location.People ran from the scene of crime in panic after at least one shot was fired.

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Ian Alexander Foden, 24, of Gorse Crescent, admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition


Ian Alexander Foden, 24, of Gorse Crescent, admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition at an early hearing. Yesterday he was sentenced to five years in prison at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court. Acting on intelligence received from the community, police officers executed a warrant at his home shortly after 8am on June 25. A Norinco 9mm self-loading pistol and 19 rounds of ammunition were recovered.
Detective Constable Stuart Brown said: "Possessing a gun and ammunition is a grave offence and one GMP works tirelessly to tackle. "We don't know exactly why Foden had the weapon but it is possible he was storing it for someone else because of his previously unblemished record. "I hope today's sentence sends out a stark warning to those prepared to hide guns and those who use people they think police will not pursue to hide them that we will always act on intelligence given to us. "If you have any knowledge about anyone involved in gun and gang crime please come forward.

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Federal effort against Black P. Stones street gang convictions

David L. Brown, 25, of 2327 N. Delaware St. must spend 10 years on supervised release - the federal version of probation - after he is released from his 244-month sentence.His arrest was part of Operation Rockclimb, a federal effort against the Black P. Stones street gang. Unlike past operations such as Crackshot, which took on the Gangster Disciplines in the mid-1990s, Rockclimb has made extensive use of wiretaps to build cases. More than two dozen people so far have been indicted.
In Brown's case, his plea in June stated he was linked to more than 50 grams of crack cocaine during the two-year conspiracy.The 50 grams of crack is not an indication of how much cocaine was involved during the two years Brown allegedly participated in the conspiracy. Rather, it is a statutory amount used to trigger stiffer sentences.Brown was part of a ring headed by Carlos Williams, 34, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and his niece, Tiffany Edwards, 21, who was sentenced to 10 years behind bars on related charges.He bought drugs for himself and others, his plea agreement states.

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G-Shine set of the Bloods

Father of a young Bloods street gang member who died in a November 2007 drive-by shooting in New Brunswick forgave his son's killer at the man's sentencing Friday, going so far as to tell him to keep in touch."If you want to write to me or talk to me on a personal level you can do that," said Kevin Purnell of Somerset to 21-year-old Morgan Brown of New Brunswick.The comments capped an emotional hearing in which Brown apologized to Purnell and condemned the lifestyle that went with the crime."I'd rather be broke and a bum in the street" than continue living that way, he said. "All I can say is I'm sorry."Purnell's son, Dyshon Thompson, 24, was gunned down on Hampton Road on Nov. 5, 2007, in front of children playing touch football under street lights in the gang-ridden public housing complex.Brown and his co-defendant, Shakeira Summers, 22, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the case, were members of the G-Shine set of the Bloods. A dispute between G-Shine and members of NHB or Neighborhood Bloods, Thompson's set of the gang, sparked the killing.
"This was a classic gang rivalry," said Manuel Sameiro, assistant Middlesex County prosecutor.Brown was firing an AK-47 from the window of the drive-by car and Summers was using a handgun, prosecutors said.The case was marked by the interrelations of victims and shooters and their families. Purnell, who has coached youth football in New Brunswick for nearly 20 years, is friendly with Summers' relatives and appears to have coached Brown when he was a child.Brown's attorney, William Fetky of New Brunswick, argued for a lenient sentence, based on Brown's limited criminal record. Judge Dennis Nieves, while citing Brown's sincerity and remorse, rejected that.
Brown was sentenced to 20 years in prison, part of a negotiated plea with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. He must serve 85 percent of it, or about 17 years, before he becomes eligible for parole.

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Member of John Gilligan's drug gang was a key player in the 'Park West Bloodbath'.

The criminal, aged 35 and from Ballyfermot, sustained a hand injury in the 20-man melee which led to the murder of British gangster Jason Lee Martin last Sunday.
The Herald understands the man, who is a gangland enforcer and has a number of previous convictions, sustained a bite wound to his hand in the fight at Park West Road.Gardai have identified him as being present at the scene, with a relative. It is understood he may have been friendly with Martin, and had been a criminal contact of the Briton for a number of years.The Ballyfermot man was a close associate of both John Gilligan and Brian Meehan in the 1990s, and was regarded by gardai as a central member of the Gilligan crime gang, the outfit behind the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.He is not believed to have had involvement in the journalist's murder, despite his friendship with killer Brian Meehan.After the jailing of Gilligan and Meehan in the 1990s, he operated on his own, and is also suspected of carrying out attacks on criminals who owed him protection money.
He remains a target for the garda Organised Crime Unit in southwest Dublin.
Gardai are investigating whether the Ballyfermot man helped Jason Lee Martin hide out, after the Manchester criminal left the UK eight weeks ago. Martin was wanted for questioning over the kidnap of a building contractor in Lancashire, on August 1 last.Days before that incident he had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a woman in the city. She withdrew the allegations, but the Herald understands Martin told his family he was leaving the UK for Spain following that arrest. He is believed to have spent eight weeks hiding in Dublin, where he attended the Bernard Dunne fight in the O2 last Saturday night with a group of Ballyfermot criminals.
The group returned to Hennigen's bar on Park West Road, where a fight between two men took place in the car, which led to around 20 others brawling. Martin sustained a fatal stab wound, and another man, in his 20s from Tallaght, was seriously injured.
Gardai have issued an appeal for taxi drivers who were in the area at 1.50am last Sunday to contact them.

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Hermandad de Pistoleros Latinos,Brotherhood of Latino Gunmen

Floating trunk stuffed with a headless torso found while fishing in Galveston Bay six years ago, it didn't take long for authorities to figure out the dead man was the Houston captain of a Texas gang aligned with Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.On his back, his name was tattooed in Old English script. On his hip, was inked a likeness of a .45-caliber handgun, the sure-fire call sign for a gang whose Spanish name translates as Brotherhood of Latino Gunmen. What took much longer was an investigation, sparked in part by intelligence information that the killing was an inside job, payback for skimming drug profits. Within the past week, that investigation has resulted in the sentencing of 24 gang members and associates on drug and money laundering charges.The probe underlined Houston's positioning as a hemispheric hub for smuggling illegal drugs into the United States. It also shed light on how a lesser-known prison-born gang distributed drugs for Mexico's best-known gangster, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who heads the Sinaloa Cartel and made the Forbes list of billionaires.“They certainly were a prolific drug-trafficking group as evidenced by the dollars involved and the drug quantities involved,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Braley.Records do not show whether any of those in custody offered insight into the killing in exchange for leniency, but the gang remains in the cross hairs of the law. Police contend that after being shot, Ranferi “Tiny” Arizaga was taken to a Houston apartment where he was dismembered. His head, torso, arms and legs were tossed separately into the bay where the Gulf of Mexico was supposed to swallow them.“It is their way of sending a message,” said Lt. Tommy Hansen, of the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, who noted beheading is a common terror tool in Mexico.Although the Sinaloa syndicate is known to operate in Houston, the city is considered the turf of El Chapo's rival, the Gulf Cartel.
Some of those who were busted in the gang investigation had criminal records; some did not.Court documents, testimony and interviews indicate a wide-ranging conspiracy that looped between Laredo and Houston:Among those snared was a car wash owner; a former semi-pro basketball player; a bowling alley employee; a soft-drink truck driver; the owner of a tattoo parlor; and the mother-in-law, wife and a maid of one of the gangsters.Perhaps the flashiest gangster of them all was Pedro “Master P” Gil III, who got 25 years, records show.Gil, who was born in Laredo and left school in the ninth grade, made a fortune moving cocaine to Houston, where it was bound for New York, Tennessee and other states. As part of his plea, Gil forfeited up to $6 million cash, nine cars, assorted Laredo real estate, and an array of jewelry, including a Rolex watch with 50 diamonds.Gil and his wife were high rollers in Las Vegas, having charged nearly $100,000 on a credit card in 2007. How much cash they dropped is unknown.Millions of dollars were stashed in the names of family as well as a maid who had a Laredo bank account. Gil's lawyers had no comment.Court documents indicate the gangsters were taken down by members of their own organization who betrayed them by wearing hidden recording devices. Members of Hermandad de Pistoleros Latinos, as the gang is called in Spanish, are in the organization for life, experts said.down to soldiers.Going against them means death, but hits must be sanctioned and leaders attend meetings known as High Mass.
“They don't kill just for the heck of it,” said Sig Sanchez, head of the prison system's gang department. “They are like many other groups: They have their constitution, they have rules and regulations they have to follow.”Sanchez called them “thugs and killers — a bunch of people that don't belong.”

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Gangster shot dead


Senthilvelavan alias ‘Kurangu’ Senthil (27) of Vilathisamuthiram in Nagapattinam district had dropped-out in the second-year of the engineering course he was doing from Annamalai University, Chidambaram.Senthil, who was involved in minor offences, threatened a merchant from Madurai in 1999 and had demanded for money. Later he led the gang formed by his close accomplice ‘Manalmedu’ Sankar, who was also shot dead in an encounter.In 2007, Senthil was notified as a prime accused in the murder case of Tiruvarur district DMK secretary Poondi Kalaiselvan and was lodged in the Central Prison here.However, Senthil who had come out on bail was reported absconding for about a year.Inspector General of Police, Enforcement and IG (in-charge) of Central Zone, J K Tripathy, told reporters that Ammapettai police inspector S Karthi keyan made inquiries with another inmate, Vijay alias Anand. He allegedly revealed that Senthil and his aide Natarajan had planned to murder Poondi Kalaiselvan’s brother and the present Tiruvarur DMK Secretary, Poondi Kalaivanan and Ammapettai DMK union secretary Suresh, IG added.Anand also informed Karthikeyan that the duo was hanging around Tiruchy, Coimbatore and Chennai.Based on this information Karthikeyan and head constable Sridharan visited Tiruverumbur on Friday.When the cops spotted Senthil riding a motorcycle, they chased him. After Senthil’s motorcycle skidded at Ganapathy Koil in Vengur he is alleged hurled a countrymade bomb at the police personnel, which failed to go off. Meanwhile, another country-made bomb, a country-made pistol and two cartridges fell down from Senthil.However, he reportedly took out an aruval and allegedly assaulted Karthikeyan, injuring him on the left shoulder. When he also tried to assault Sridharan, Karthikeyan fired two rounds at Senthil and one of them hit him in the head and other on the chest.The police took Senthil to the Tiruchy GH where he succumbed to his injuries. Karthikeyan and Sridharan were admitted at the GH.

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