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Sunday 12 December 2010

Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, also known as 'Rikin,' was extradited to the U.S Alleged drug trafficker extradited by Mexico to US | AP Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Counterfeiters are Hijacking the Global EconomyAlleged drug trafficker extradited by Mexico to US AP Texas News Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that a suspected Mexican drug gang leader linked to a 2006 border incursion by armed traffickers into Texas has been extradited by Mexico to the U.S.
The DEA said Saturday that Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, also known as 'Rikin,' was extradited to the U.S. to stand trial on marijuana and cocaine trafficking charges.
Escajeda, who allegedly worked for the Juarez cartel, was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in 2006. From a base in Chihuahua, Mexico, he is alleged to have controlled a drug trafficking corridor for marijuana and cocaine in the area of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, located across from El Paso, Texas.
He was arrested by Mexican authorities last year"

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Thursday 9 December 2010

Customs Sniff Out Record Cocaine Shipment | News | ERR

Customs Sniff Out Record Cocaine Shipment News ERR: "Tax and Customs Board have announced that in October they seized a 47.81 kilogram shipment of pure cocaine, the largest ever found in the nation. Three suspects have been detained and charged in connection with the haul, while a fourth remains at large.
'This is the biggest quantity of cocaine seized in Estonia's history,' state prosecutor Helga Aadamsoo was quoted by rus.err.ee as saying. She said that the amount was enough to get 5 million people intoxicated.

Doctor Dealer: The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine EmpireRene Kanniste, head of the Tax and Customs investigation unit, said that the cocaine was hidden in an air shipment of coffee that arrived from Venezuela, and had an estimated street value of over 6.4 million euros.

According to the State Prosecutor, two of the suspects are Estonian citizens, while the other two are citizens of “other countries.” If convicted they face sentences ranging from six years to life in prison.

Before this haul, Estonia's largest cocaine bust was in 2005 when a 43.1 kg of the drug was found hidden in a large cog wheel shipped from Peru. In that case three Israeli citizens were convicted and received sentences of nine, 11 and 15 years."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder

Monday 15 November 2010

BBC News - Warning over heroin emergencies in Dorset

BBC News - Warning over heroin emergencies in Dorset: "Police in Dorset have issued a warning to heroin users after six people were taken to hospital having suffered adverse reactions to the drug.
Paramedics were called to eight locations in Bournemouth, Dorchester and Wareham on Saturday night.
In total, four men and two woman were taken to hospital.
Two men have since been discharged and conditions of the four remaining in hospital are not thought to be life-threatening.
Another man received treatment from an ambulance crew but was not admitted to hospital, while a further man refused treatment when paramedics attended."

'Superman logo' drug dealer jailed

The Press Association: 'Superman logo' drug dealer jailed: "Ashley Wiltshire, 31, led a gang which used presses to stamp images on the £50,000 blocks - also using 'F1' and 'Playboy bunny' symbols.
Police seized drugs with a total street value of £500,000 at a youth club in Poplar, east London, in April and at a house in Loughton, Essex, in June.
Wiltshire, of Romford, Essex, along with Larry Hammersley, 44, of Poplar, Jay Putinas, 25, of Woodford Green, Essex, and Daniel Vann, 32, of Ongar, Essex, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Hammersley was jailed for six years, Putinas for four-and-a-half years, and Vann for four years, following the investigation by City of London police.
Judge Martin Stephens told the men: 'You did it to make money quite unconcerned about the misery that the trade would bring to so many people.'
He said the operation to prepare and distribute cocaine across the South East on a 'very substantial scale' was 'sophisticated and professionally organised'."

The Press Association: 'Superman logo' drug dealer jailed

The Press Association: 'Superman logo' drug dealer jailed: "Ashley Wiltshire, 31, led a gang which used presses to stamp images on the £50,000 blocks - also using 'F1' and 'Playboy bunny' symbols.
Police seized drugs with a total street value of £500,000 at a youth club in Poplar, east London, in April and at a house in Loughton, Essex, in June.
Wiltshire, of Romford, Essex, along with Larry Hammersley, 44, of Poplar, Jay Putinas, 25, of Woodford Green, Essex, and Daniel Vann, 32, of Ongar, Essex, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Hammersley was jailed for six years, Putinas for four-and-a-half years, and Vann for four years, following the investigation by City of London police.
Judge Martin Stephens told the men: 'You did it to make money quite unconcerned about the misery that the trade would bring to so many people.'
He said the operation to prepare and distribute cocaine across the South East on a 'very substantial scale' was 'sophisticated and professionally organised'."

Customs officials at Newark, JFK airports seize pounds of cocaine, heroin in separate drug busts | NJ.com

Customs officials at Newark, JFK airports seize pounds of cocaine, heroin in separate drug busts | NJ.com: "random check of a Costa Rican woman’s luggage by Customs inspectors at Newark Liberty International Airport on Oct. 30 revealed 30 pounds of cocaine concealed in wooden hangers and saturated into her clothing.
In a separate incident two days later, inspectors at JFK airport arrested two men arriving from Ecuador as they attempted to smuggle more than 16 pounds of heroin in six pairs of pants and five pairs of cargo shorts.
Customs officials said the men's clothing was 'unusually heavy.'
Both of these drug busts followed routine checks of luggage for which U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors need no probable cause to conduct, said John Saleh, a spokesman for the federal agency. The cocaine seized at Newark Liberty has a street value of more than $660,000, and the heroin is worth more than $744,000."

Three men accused of selling cocaine to undercover officers | Amarillo Globe-News

Three men accused of selling cocaine to undercover officers | Amarillo Globe-News: "46-year-old Raymundo Nava Palacios and 22-year-old Alejandro Amparan Nunez, were arrested after they, along with a third man who was not identified Friday, met with undercover officers of the Amarillo Police Department Narcotics Unit around 5 p.m. Thursday to sell them 1 kilogram of cocaine, police said.
All three were arrested in the 3800 block of Northeast 18th Avenue and booked into the Potter County jail, police said. About $80,000 worth of cocaine was seized. The Amarillo SWAT team, Randall County sheriff's office and the 47th District attorney's office assisted with the investigation, the release said.
Police said Palacios, Nunez and the third man were charged with manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance more than 400 grams."

large quantity of the class A drug was discovered in the property in Mallard Close, Croxteth, on Friday afternoon

BBC News - Three arrests after cocaine find at house in Croxteth: "Three men have been arrested on suspicion of supplying cocaine after officers searched a house on Merseyside.
A large quantity of the class A drug was discovered in the property in Mallard Close, Croxteth, on Friday afternoon.
A significant amount of cash was also seized, police said.
The men aged 30, 21 and 27 years, all from the Huyton area, have been arrested and are being questioned."

Wednesday 10 November 2010

seized $1 million worth of heroin from two suitcases before they were loaded onto a flight for Indianapolis.

Las Vegas police detectives say they seized $1 million worth of heroin from two suitcases before they were loaded onto a flight for Indianapolis.Metro narcotics officers say they arrested two suspects on suspicion of federal charges of distributing heroin and conspiracy.

Police say they were alerted to suspicious suitcases by routine surveillance at McCarran International Airport and found more than 12 pounds of black tar heroin inside, making it one of Las Vegas's largest heroin seizures.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced the seizure on Sunday. Police say the suitcases were checked in for a flight from Las Vegas to Indianapolis by way of Chicago.

TEENAGE girl claimed she was injected with heroin in her sleep just days before her death, an inquest heard.

TEENAGE girl claimed she was injected with heroin in her sleep just days before her death, an inquest heard.

Isha John, of Caerau, Bridgend, was 16 when she died in February this year.

DC Huw Evans, of Bridgend Police Station, told an inquest at Aberdare Coroner’s Court that on February 14, she moved into a bedsit with Carl Melbourne in Nantyffyllon.

DC Evans told the court Mr Melbourne was a known heroin addict and 16-year-old Isha also had a drug habit which included the misuse of valium.



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/11/10/teenager-isha-claimed-she-was-injected-with-heroin-days-before-death-91466-27629876/#ixzz14sMFhsAY

Drug bust: One Million in black tar heroin headed to Indianapolis from Vegas - wsbt.com

Drug bust: One Million in black tar heroin headed to Indianapolis from Vegas - wsbt.com: "Las Vegas drug investigators seized black tar heroine valued at $1 million inside two pieces of luggage headed for Indianapolis.

A drug dog sniffed out the bags containing the heroin at McCarron Airport Saturday around 3:30 p.m. The heroin was wrapped in plastic inside the luggage on a flight with a stop in Chicago. Jessie Gallegos, 47, and Jose Villarreal-Gazaviz, 31, had boarded the flight. Police say one of them paid cash for the tickets and checked the two bags.

When police discovered the first bag filled with heroin, they pulled the second bag that also contained more of the drug."

$20K In Heroin Found In Traffic Stop - News Story - WHIO Dayton

$20K In Heroin Found In Traffic Stop - News Story - WHIO Dayton: "Deputies in Preble County said they stopped a car on Interstate 70 over the weekend, and while searching the vehicle they found heroin with a street value of about $20,000.
The heroin was estimated at about four ounces.
Deputies said they believe that the driver may have bought the drugs in Dayton and was headed west to Richmond, Ind., to sell it."

Dumfries dealer jailed over anthrax heroin

BBC News - Dumfries dealer jailed over anthrax heroin: "court has heard how a woman ended up in hospital in Dumfries after buying heroin from a dealer who was unaware it was contaminated with anthrax.
Sheriff Kenneth Ross said he accepted Darren Scott, 24, had not known the drug was infected.
Scott admitted supplying heroin at the Lochside and Lincluden housing estates in Dumfries between September last year and the end of March.
He was jailed at the town's sheriff court for a total of four years.
Depute fiscal Pamela Rhodes said Scott's dealing came to light during a police operation following a number of anthrax cases among heroin users.
The court heard the total value of drugs passing through his hands had a street value of up to £20,000.
Solicitor Liz Dougan said that Scott, described as a prisoner in Dumfries, had developed a cocaine habit and had agreed to become involved with the heroin to write off a debt of about £1,000."

Saturday 6 November 2010

Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, alias “Tony Tormenta”, one of the top capos of the Gulf cartel, shot and killed along with four of his henchmen


Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, alias “Tony Tormenta”, one of the top capos of the Gulf cartel, shot and killed along with four of his henchmen in a battle in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

Cardenas had escaped capture this past September when a raid by Marines on a safehouse in Matamoros where he was staying was repulsed by his bodyguards, "Los Escorpiones".

Jose Luis Vergara, a spokesman for the agency, declared that Cardena’s death has dealt a major blow to the structure and organization of the Gulf Cartel organization.

Ezequiel Cardenas was the brother of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the former head of the Gulf cartel and founder of “Los Zetas”, who is now imprisoned in the United States.

Since August the Army and Marines have intensified the search for the leaders of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Los Zetas are lead by Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano “El Verdugo” “El Lazca” and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales “Z-40” who is in charge of the Nuevo Laredo trafficking corridor. The Gulf Cartel is lead by Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez “El Coss”.

San Diego-to-Tijuana drug tunnel uncovered; 25 tons of pot seized - ivpressonline.com

San Diego-to-Tijuana drug tunnel uncovered; 25 tons of pot seized - ivpressonline.com: "Federal authorities discovered a tunnel linking drug warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana that led to the seizure of more than 25 tons of marijuana, one of the largest-ever drug seizures in San Diego, officials said.

The 1,800-foot transnational passageway — roughly equivalent to six football fields in length — isn't the longest or the most sophisticated ever built, but it is one of the few instances in which authorities were able to seize drugs on both sides of the border.

The scale of the operation pointed to the work of a major Mexican drug cartel, authorities said, and comes two weeks after Mexican authorities discovered a record 134 tons of marijuana in an industrial area near Tijuana. Officials don't know if there is a connection between the two events, but called this week's discovery another significant blow against organized crime groups."

DEA: 45 Mexican drug cartel suspects arrested in Atlanta - CNN.com

DEA: 45 Mexican drug cartel suspects arrested in Atlanta - CNN.com: "Federal agents arrested 45 people in Georgia believed to be members of a top Mexican drug cartel and confiscated nearly $2.4 million in cash, authorities said Thursday.
The arrests were made by members of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Clayton County District Attorney's Office and other law enforcement agencies, the DEA said. The investigation, called Operation Choke Hold, started in May 2009.
The suspects are believed to be connected with La Familia Michoacana, which 'was responsible for the importation of bulk quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the metro Atlanta area,' the DEA said.
In addition to distributing narcotics in metro Atlanta, the drug-trafficking organization also shipped large quantities to Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois and North Carolina, the DEA said."

Cocaine and cash found in Co Galway search - RTÉ News

Cocaine and cash found in Co Galway search - RTÉ News: "Cocaine and cash have been seized in a raid on the Headford Road in Co Galway.
Gardaí recovered cocaine with an estimated value of €245,000 and €200,000 in cash.
The drugs and money were recovered in a search of a house at Annaghdown yesterday evening.
A high-powered Honda motorcycle was also seized. No arrests were made."

Police seize drugs worth £170,000

The Press Association: Police seize drugs worth £170,000: "Drugs worth an estimated £170,000 have been seized at two properties, police have said.
Officers found cocaine with an estimated street value of £60,000 at a house in Kirkhill Place, Maryhill, Glasgow at around 8am.
Two men, aged 19 and 21, and a 24-year-old woman were arrested in connection with the seizure."

Catya Washington, Reality TV Star Arrested For Possessing Drugs

Catya Washington, Reality TV Star Arrested For Possessing Drugs: "US reality TV star Catya Washington was arrested by the Pennsylvania State Police for possessing drugs. The star allegedly had cocaine in her possession when she was arrested on Thursday. She shot to fame after working in “Bad Girls Club: Miami” a reality show aired on Oxygen Network. She also had other narcotic stuff with her said the cops who arrested her. Apart from that the starlet also had a gun with her. The Elite Player as she was called in the reality show has been booked with no less than 5 counts which include possession of a firearm as well as illegal possession of drug. It is not clear if she has been released or not."

Adam Frantz, 28, and Ryan Gravlin, 28, both of 811 Chase Road, Lunenburg, were each charged with trafficking in marijuana (about 2,225 pounds)

Adam Frantz, 28, and Ryan Gravlin, 28, both of 811 Chase Road, Lunenburg, were each charged with trafficking in marijuana (about 2,225 pounds) and conspiracy to violate the controlled substances law. Mr. Frantz also faces a charge of a drug violation in a school zone.

He pleaded not guilty today in Worcester Central District Court and was ordered held on $100,000 bail by Judge Bethzaida Vega. He is expected back in court on Dec. 3.

Mr. Gravlin additionally was charged with illegal possession of a firearm. He pleaded not guilty today in Fitchburg District Court. He was ordered held on $50,000 bail by Judge Elliott L. Zide and is expected back in court on Nov. 16.

Authorities say the investigation began Wednesday when a tractor-trailer inspection at Lewiston Bridge, in Lewiston, N.Y., revealed about 225 pounds of marijuana among a cover load of televisions and fabric.

The load was then driven in the company of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents out of Buffalo, N.Y., to its intended destination, 150 Blackstone River Road in Worcester.

Last night, state police detectives assigned to Mr. Early's office, along with personnel from ICE and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, and detectives from the Worcester Police Department conducted a controlled delivery of the 225 pounds of marijuana to a man later identified as Mr. Frantz.

With the marijuana in the bed of his gray pickup, Mr. Frantz headed north. When he reached Reservoir Road in Lunenburg, he was stopped and arrested by state troopers with dogs and the Community Action Team.

A subsequent search of his home uncovered another 2,000 pounds of marijuana, packaging materials, scales, ledgers, numerous cell phones, about $100,000 and a small firearm. Mr. Gravlin was arrested at the house.

“This is law enforcement at its best,” Mr. Early said. “A lot of hard work and cooperation went into this effort. We're focused on using all available resources to keep our communities safe.”

Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of the Homeland Security Investigation office in Boston, said of the bust, “Keeping drugs off the streets is one of the most important missions of law enforcement, since drug smuggling and the resulting damage from drug abuse tears at the very fabric of our communities.”

The investigation is continuing.

Monday 1 November 2010

Kids get drunk for half the cost of a chocolate bar | The Sun |News

Kids get drunk for half the cost of a chocolate bar | The Sun |News: "YOUNGSTERS can get drunk for HALF the price of a bar of chocolate, a shocking new study has found.
Supermarkets and off-licences are selling cider for as little as 10p per unit of alcohol. Lager can be bought for just 26p a pint - equal to 2½ units. The average price of chocolate such as a Yorkie bar is 60p.
Teenagers and younger children who gain access to booze are at risk because they become drunk on fewer units than adults. The recommended daily allowance for a man is three units. It is two units for a woman.
Researchers visited England's eight biggest cities outside London to monitor booze prices. They found three-litre bottles of strong cider - containing seven per cent alcohol - on sale for just £2.25.
Doctors say that level of alcohol would be almost enough to KILL a small child."

'Alcohol worse than hard drugs' | The Sun |News

'Alcohol worse than hard drugs' | The Sun |News: "HEROIN, cocaine and Ecstasy are less dangerous than booze, experts have claimed.
Professor David Nutt, former Government chief drugs advisor, said that alcohol wreaks more havoc on health and communities than hard drugs.
And he argues The Lancet that Ecstasy and LSD are the 'least damaging' drugs.
The professor warned that its cheap price and wide availability made alcohol so risky."

Saturday 2 October 2010

‘Kitchen Nightmares’ Chef Joseph Cerniglia Allegedly Overdosed On Cocaine Before Taking His Own Life « Hollywood Life

‘Kitchen Nightmares’ Chef Joseph Cerniglia Allegedly Overdosed On Cocaine Before Taking His Own Life « Hollywood Life: "Joseph Cerniglia, 39, is now one of two troubled chefs who killed themselves, coincidentally after starring on one of Gordon Ramsay’s reality television shows. Joseph, who was featured on Gordon’s Kitchen Nightmares in 2007, was found dead Sept. 24 in New York’s Hudson River, after jumping from the George Washington Bridge. But new reports in the New York Post reveal that Joseph also tried to end his life in July after allegedly overdosing on cocaine.The Hackensack, NJ., police report states that Joseph was found “sweating profusely, shaking and in need of medical assistance.”
Joseph was immediately rushed to the Hackensack University Medical Center, and was later arrested for “being under the influence of narcotics.”"

Monday 5 July 2010

Australian faces Bali jail for cocaine use - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Australian faces Bali jail for cocaine use - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "Melbourne man Angus McCaskill faces as many as 12 years in a Bali jail after he was arrested and confessed to using cocaine.
McCaskill has been paraded in front of reporters at a press conference organised by the Kuta beach district police.
He says he made a 'silly mistake' and took the cocaine after getting drunk watching a World Cup match.
He says he is 'very sorry'.
McCaskill was arrested last week by police who say they found several packets containing around three-and-a-half grams of cocaine in his wallet.
Sniffer dogs searched his villa but did not find any more drugs.
McCaskill told police he is an investment broker and not addicted to cocaine."

Friday 4 June 2010

Rehab clinic lambasted after overdose death - Times Online

Rehab clinic lambasted after overdose death - Times Online: "sheriff has criticised one of Scotland’s leading private hospitals over the “entirely preventable” death of a young drug addict.
Kieran Nichol died after he was prescribed the heroin substitute methadone at Castle Craig Hospital in the Borders. A fatal accident inquiry heard that the dying 20-year-old patient was put to bed by staff and told to sleep.
Sheriff Gordon Liddle said in his Determination following the case that it was “difficult to identify anything that went significantly well”.
Castle Craig is one of Europe’s leading rehabilitation clinics, charging about £400 a day. The former leader of Glasgow council, Steven Purcell, and Peter Howson, the artist, have sought treatment there.
Mr Nichol, a valium addict, spent six weeks at the clinic in the autumn of 2005 before discharging himself that October. On December 9, suffering from depression and suspected drug abuse, he was readmitted. He died two days later.
Sheriff Liddle said a “different decision or choice by a number of individuals could have made the difference”."

Thursday 3 June 2010

Colombian ex-model faces drug-smuggling charges in Argentina | La Plaza | Los Angeles Times

Colombian ex-model faces drug-smuggling charges in Argentina | La Plaza | Los Angeles Times: "case involving the former 'Queen of Coffee' titleholder is riveting her native country and Argentina. Sanclemente has been wanted by police since December, when her boyfriend, also a model, was arrested in Buenos Aires. Authorities believe the two led the smuggling ring together but it began to unravel after one of their models was caught at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza international airport attempting to board a flight with 55 kilos of cocaine.
Sanclemente went before a judge Tuesday in Buenos Aires and pleaded to be released. She denied being 'Diamond,' her alleged pseudonym in the smuggling ring. 'For a few moments she cried,' reports La Nacion.
She remains in custody."

Heroin kingpin pleads for mercy at sentencing | recordonline.com

Heroin kingpin pleads for mercy at sentencing | recordonline.com: "Christopher Yeagley wept on Wednesday in federal court and begged a judge for mercy.
'I ask you not to look at me as an animal or some monster,' Yeagley told U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas before being sentenced to 19 years and 7 months, 'but as a father, a son, a husband.'
Yeagley was convicted in December 2009 on conspiracy and drug distribution charges. Prosecutors described him as a leader of an organization that flooded Newburgh with glassine envelopes of heroin stamped with Yeagley'insignia."s 'Take Two'

Sunday 30 May 2010

FOXNews.com - Dennis Hopper Dead at 74

FOXNews.com - Dennis Hopper Dead at 74: "Hopper then went on a colossal bender that he subsequently wasn't shy about discussing.

In 2001, the actor/filmmaker/artist talked about being sober for 18 years — and not only from booze. He did various hallucinogens and narcotics. 'I only used to do cocaine so I could sober up and drink more. My last five years of drinking was a nightmare. I was drinking a half-gallon of rum with a fifth of rum on the side, in case I ran out, 28 beers a day, and three grams of cocaine just to keep me moving around. And I thought I was doing fine because I wasn't crawling around drunk on the floor.'

In the wake of that, he was quoted as saying: 'I should have been dead 10 times over. I've thought about that a lot. I believe in miracles. It's an absolute miracle that I'm still around.'

Before he kicked his habits, Hopper offered a memorable performance as a nutty photographer in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.

The 1980s saw a comeback by a clean and sober Hopper — culminating with David Lynch's Blue Velvet, in which he played an off-the-deep-end criminal. In 1986, he played a sad alcoholic in Hoosiers, offering a performance that brought him an Oscar nomination for supporting actor."

Thursday 6 May 2010

Church of Sweden rocked by sex scandals - The Local

Church of Sweden rocked by sex scandals - The Local: The Church of Sweden has already been shaken by several sex scandals this year. Archbishop Anders Wejryd regrets the incidents, and maintains that transparency is the best policy.

Musician and estate agent charged over sex act on Swedish bus (28 Apr 10)
Centre-right pushes for web sex pic clampdown (27 Apr 10)
Swedish lifers are living as monks (26 Apr 10)
In April, the diocese boards in Stockholm, Växjö and Lund had to address several sex-related incidents, including a priest who slept with a grieving widow, another who maintained an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old and a third who hurled abuse at women on an internet dating site.

Wejryd regrets that the incidents occurred, but says it is positive the Church dealt with them.

“It is tragic, but I think that we have been successful in our ambition to get people to file reports,” Wejryd told news agency TT.

According to the archbishop, one of the Church's most widely distributed brochures provides the contact information for where to report sexual assault.

“It is available at churches and in parish offices. We don't want to foster a culture of silence. We want to require priests to take responsibility for their actions.”

Wejryd said he fully understood the media attention surrounding priests and sex?

“The combination of sex and an institution associated with morals is irresistible.”

A review of sexual assault reports filed against priests and deacons in the last several years shows that there have been a number of cases every year involving everything from porn-surfing priests to sexual harassment."

Sunday 25 April 2010

'Alabang Boys' spun more intrigues


'Alabang Boys' spun more intrigues

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Retired dentist charged with smuggling counterfeit Viagra, Cialis

Retired dentist charged with smuggling counterfeit Viagra, Cialis: "Canadian dentist and champion curler is facing drug charges in Seattle on allegations he tried to smuggle thousands of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills to British Columbia.
In a federal criminal complaint, authorities say customs agents intercepted a package of counterfeit pills meant for of Richmond, B.C. resident James P. Armstrong on April 7. Armstrong was arrested a week later retrieving a package from a Blaine post office box.
Charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods, Armstrong is accused of helping to distribute the Chinese-made pills labeled as Viagra and Cialis."

(ABC News) Exclusive: Skyrocketing Heroin, Opium Use Ensnaring Afghan Children - Democratic Underground

(ABC News) Exclusive: Skyrocketing Heroin, Opium Use Ensnaring Afghan Children - Democratic Underground: "Staggering levels of opium and heroin have been detected in Afghan children as young as 14 months by a team of researchers hired by the US State Department, revealing a fast-emerging problem that could cripple American efforts to bring stability to the war-torn country.'I think we've opened a can of worms,' said Bruce Goldberger, one of the University of Florida scientists heading up the study, who spoke exclusively with Brian Ross for a report airing on World News with Diane Sawyer and Nightline tonight. 'This was just totally unexpected. No one has ever seen this type of exposure in young children. It's never been documented. And it's laying a foundation for drug abuse for a whole generation.'
This first-ever look at household exposure to opium and heroin is not yet complete, but State Department officials and contractors shared preliminary findings exclusively with ABC News in hopes of drawing attention to a problem they say has been largely overlooked. The researchers said what they uncovered is both shocking and tragic."

Friday 16 April 2010

Dutch to raise minimum age for prostitutes to 21

Dutch to raise minimum age for prostitutes to 21: "Dutch government said yesterday it plans to raise the legal minimum age for prostitution to 21 from 18 as part of stricter permit rules for brothels and registration requirements for prostitutes.
Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has sent the proposal to Parliament as an addition to legislation which updates the law regulating prostitution and sex businesses. “People at the age of 21 can make a better judgment about working as a prostitute than 18 year olds; also they are better equipped to deal and negotiate with clients,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement.
Prostitution was legalised in the Netherlands in 2000 but authorities have toughened their stance on the business in recent years to fight organised crime and clean up inner city areas."

Tuesday 13 April 2010

allAfrica.com: Mozambique: Police Hunt for Gang Who Attacked Tourists

allAfrica.com: Mozambique: Police Hunt for Gang Who Attacked Tourists: "information that might lead to the arrest of a gang of thieves and rapists who attacked South African tourists last week to come forward.
Anyone who knew the whereabouts of the gang could report it to any police station, he said, during his weekly briefing with the Mozambican media.
Cossa confirmed that on 5 April, two armed men attacked a tourist resort in Zavala district in the southern province of Inhambane. They attacked a family of South African tourists, and stole their vehicle and possessions. One of the women in the group was raped. The tourists reported that they lost 70,000 rands (about 9,600 US dollars).
Cossa said that the vehicle, a Mitsubishi, was found abandoned in the neighbouring province of Gaza a few days later. He was unable to confirm reports that the two gunmen were part of a gang of four dangerous criminals who had escaped from the Maputo top security prison in March."

Why do Heroin users inject into their veins? | How Do I Get Off Drugs?

Why do Heroin users inject into their veins? | How Do I Get Off Drugs?: "veins are the quickest blood route to the brain. Injecting into a vein means the drug takes effect almost instantly. The drug is carried with the blood directly to the brain.The only other quickest way is to snort the drug, snorting heroin is nasty!
oh right you knew about how it’s quicker. Intramuscular injection would be too slow, the drug would slowly reach the blood stream, the hit would be very mild but would last longer. Once you have a tolerance injecting it into the muscle wouldn’t do any good."

Monday 12 April 2010

Drug smuggling earns five-year sentence for former Vancouver man

Drug smuggling earns five-year sentence for former Vancouver man: "Nen Angel Cruces, 23, was convicted in the same cross-border smuggling ring that saw North Vancouver's Krysta Edwards sentenced to five years late last month.
The pair and others were transporting the party drug BZP, as well as ecstasy, across the B.C.-Washington border where thety had a Bellingham storage facility rented and arranged shipments to the Chicago area by train.
BZP, which is often sold by B.C. gangs as ecstasy, is still legal in Canada, though it has been added to the banned list in the U.S., the U.K., New Zealand, Australia and other countries"

Sunday 11 April 2010

Briton attempting to sneak heroin onto a plane in Thailand is caught in the act. Locked Up Abroad: Thailand


Briton attempting to sneak heroin onto a plane in Thailand is caught in the act. Locked Up Abroad: Thailand

Angola man charged with heroin possession : Police Blotter : The Buffalo News

Angola man charged with heroin possession : Police Blotter : The Buffalo News: "Noel Merced, 38, of Wood Avenue was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. Police said they showed up at the restaurant after being tipped off and confronted Merced, who had a needle in his right sock and six packets of heroin in a pocket."

Saturday 10 April 2010

John Terry's dad charged with cocaine dealing - mirror.co.uk

John Terry's dad charged with cocaine dealing - mirror.co.uk: "Ted Terry, 55, due in court accused of supplying the class A drug in a winebar near his home last year.
Unemployed Ted was caught on camera allegedly setting up a deal to supply three grammes of cocaine to an undercover newspaper reporter.
He fixed a price of £120, making £40 profit, and was recorded saying: “The stuff’s all right. I get off on it.”
Ted then asked the reporter, who was pretending to buy the drug for his boss, not to mention where it came from. “This is between me and you. Don’t tell him I’m John Terry’s dad,” he said"

CBC News - Montreal - 25 men to move to Tanguay jail

CBC News - Montreal - 25 men to move to Tanguay jail: "women's prison in Montreal will soon be host to 25 male inmates as a temporary solution to overcrowding in mens' prisons.
Quebec's ministry of public security invested $2.7 million in renovations to the Tanguay Jail to house the male inmates in a separate section of the prison.
Stephane Lemaire, president of the union representing the province's correctional workers, said that the workers accept this decision, but that it's not a sufficient solution.
Lemaire said that the government will build four more correctional facilities in Quebec, but the construction does not begin until 2012.
This will be the first time the jail housed any men since former Hells Angels boss, Maurice (Mom) Boucher, was held there almost 10 years ago.
The ministry relased a report stating that 11 of 18 provincial prisons are overpopulated, and Riviere-des Prairies detention centre is the worst. It is 94 prisoners over capacity."

More women arrested as drug mules -  Singapore News - XinMSN News

More women arrested as drug mules -  Singapore News - XinMSN News: "15 women from Singapore were arrested last year for drug offences linked to West African syndicates. Three women were arrested for such offences in 2008.
MediaCorp spoke to one drug mule who managed to save herself in the nick of time.
Joanne, not her real name, got to know a man by the name of Hassan on tagged.com.
Joanne who is in her mid 30’s said a few months into their online relationship, Hassan asked her to bring some documents for him into China.
She met someone in Kuala Lumpur to collect the documents.
Joanne took the envelope to China but passed it to someone else as Hassan didn’t turn up.
Hassan asked her to carry some documents to China again.
She was alerted to her unusually heavy leather suitcase by a taxi driver who was ferrying her to the KL airport.
The taxi driver told her there was something suspicious about the suitcase.
She discovered a small package wrapped with black tape.
At that point, Joanne was overcome with fear as she suspected it could be drugs.
She left the suitcase in a hotel and made her way back to Singapore where she informed the police.
MediaCorp understands the Singapore and Malaysia police launched a joint operation to seize the drugs in the suitcase.
She said: 'I am lucky that I’m still alive. I hate him and I am angry with his lies and I don’t trust people so easily anymore.'"

Cocaine highway into R.I. a tempting route for police | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal

Cocaine highway into R.I. a tempting route for police | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal: "Brayanth A. Fernandez, 36, who lived in the apartment, was caught with more than four kilograms of cocaine and more than $96,000, according to the police, and he was charged with drug offenses in federal court.
Initiative and diligence make for successful prosecutions in Rhode Island’s war on drugs, the police say. And sometimes, they admit, luck plays a role.
Given Rhode Islanders’ large appetite for cocaine and other illicit drugs, and the ability of international distribution networks to keep the market well-stocked, it seems to be a war without end.
The conflict regained public attention in March with the arrest of three Providence police officers on drug charges.
In a joint state police/FBI investigation called Operation Deception, Detective Joseph A. Colanduono, Sgt. Stephen T. Gonsalves and Patrolman Robert J. Hamlin Jr. were charged with participation in a large-scale cocaine ring allegedly operated by Albert B. Hamlin, the patrolman’s younger brother. The state police also said Gonsalves tried to buy cocaine.
Four more officers under suspicion in the case were placed on restricted duty.
The Providence Police Department has been alive with rumors as officers cringe at the possibility that even more of their colleagues have gone rogue. The state police have charged seven people so far in the investigation, including Albert Hamlin and the three officers, and state police Supt. Brendan P. Doherty has said that other officers are under investigation."

2nd figure in cocaine distribution case gets 2 years in prison | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME

2nd figure in cocaine distribution case gets 2 years in prison | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME: "Tabitha L. Waddell, 31, of Augusta pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of cocaine and criminal conspiracy, which occurred Oct. 9, 2009; as well as three charges of violating conditions of release, which occurred between Jan. 20 and March 1, all in Augusta.
In exchange for her plea, a charge of aggravated trafficking in cocaine was dismissed.
Waddell was arrested Oct. 9, 2009, in a vehicle police say held more than a pound of cocaine. Also arrested at the time was Eric L. Prevost, 30, of Augusta.
Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey said the couple was selling the cocaine in Waterville.
Prevost pleaded guilty March 5 to aggravated drug trafficking and was sentenced in Kennebec County Superior Court to 15 years in prison, with all but almost five years suspended; and four years of probation"

Friday 9 April 2010

Mounties nab second Vernon, B.C., suspect in Western Canada cocaine run - Winnipeg Free Press

Mounties nab second Vernon, B.C., suspect in Western Canada cocaine run - Winnipeg Free Press: "Twenty-three-year-old Brock Palfrey was arrested Wednesday afternoon as he left his Vernon, B.C., home.
Palfrey has been taken to Swift Current, Sask., where another 23-year-old Vernon man, Troy Swanson, also remains in custody, awaiting a court date on April 14.
Swanson was stopped for a traffic violation on March 26 as he travelled west through Saskatchewan, and a search of his vehicle turned up 151 kilograms of cocaine.
RCMP say a combined investigation by the Mounties' federal drug section and members from southern B.C., Calgary, Regina and Swift Current led to the second arrest.
Searches carried out at three Vernon locations at the same time as Palfrey's arrest also turned up guns, a significant amount of cash, electronics and computers."

Massapequa Man Arrested for Dealing Heroin, Cocaine | Long Island Press

Massapequa Man Arrested for Dealing Heroin, Cocaine | Long Island Press: "David Estrella on numerous occasions possessed and sold a quantity of cocaine and heroin to another, according to Narcotics/Vice Bureau detectives.
He was charged with six counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Estrella will be arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead on Friday"

Vanceboro man sentenced for cocaine, firearm charges | cocaine, mims, grams - Local - Sun Journal

Vanceboro man sentenced for cocaine, firearm charges | cocaine, mims, grams - Local - Sun Journal: "Clarence Mims, was also ordered to be placed on five years of probation when he is released from prison.
Mims pled guilty to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base (crack) and more than 500 grams of cocaine and the unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
Court records show from October 2006 to November 2006, the Greenville Police Department arranged for several controlled purchases of crack cocaine with Mims totaling 36.5 grams. On Nov. 30, 2006, a controlled purchase of two ounces of crack cocaine was arranged. When Mims arrived at the agreed-upon location, police officers made a vehicle stop and searched the vehicle. A loaded Smith and Wesson .40 caliber handgun along with a set of digital scales and an eyeglass case with cocaine residue was found. Police got a search warrant and searched Mims' house.
Officials said they found 11.1 grams of powder cocaine and 7.4 grams of crack cocaine.
Investigators said that Mims had been selling illegal drugs since 1995. Police figured that from 1995 to 2006 Mims sold about 1,261 grams of crack and 3,425 grams of powder cocaine"

Thursday 8 April 2010

The Press Association: Taxi driver 'died after drinking cocaine-laced rum'

The Press Association: Taxi driver 'died after drinking cocaine-laced rum': "north London man given a bottle of rum as a gift died after he added a dash to his Guinness - unaware that the alcohol contained pure liquid cocaine allegedly smuggled into Britain, a court has heard.
Lascell Malcolm, 63, collapsed with a heart attack after drinking from the bottle, which was one of five smuggled into the country, each containing around 250g (8.8oz) of the Class A drug.
The unwitting father-of-two accepted the gift from an equally unsuspecting friend, Antoinette Corlis, after he collected her from Gatwick Airport, jurors were told.
Neither knew that Ms Corlis, who had flown back from a holiday in St Lucia, had been used as a drugs mule by Martin Newman, prosecutors said. Croydon Crown Court heard how Newman, 50, met Ms Corlis on the island where he was born and had asked her - along with another friend, Michael Lawrence - to carry some Bounty rum back to Britain.
Jurors heard that Newman approached the pair on May 24 last year, while they were waiting to check in. He claimed he had exceeded his baggage allowance and needed help transporting the drink. Mr Lawrence took two bottles in a yellow Veuve Clicquot box, agreeing to give them back on landing.
But the plan went awry when Newman was held up by Customs officers in London and Mr Lawrence, who was due to catch a connecting flight to Switzerland, had to depart. He took one bottle with him and handed the second to Ms Corlis, who was collected by taxi driver Mr Malcolm.
Mr Malcolm, who gave her a lift home, refused to accept payment. To thank him, Ms Corlis gave him what she believed to be a bottle of rum. Mr Malcolm died the next day from a heart attack caused by cocaine poisoning."

Karzai, Suspected of Heroin Addiction, Says He Has No Drug Problem, Insists That Everything is Really Cool, Man - Lying Dog News

Karzai, Suspected of Heroin Addiction, Says He Has No Drug Problem, Insists That Everything is Really Cool, Man - Lying Dog News: "President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has hit back at critics who say he has a drug problem.
“Problem? What problem?” said Karzai. “I live in the heroin capital of the world!”
Peter Galbraith, a former U.N envoy to Afghanistan on Tuesday questioned Karzai’s “mental stability” and suggested the Afghan president may be using drugs."

Whitney Houston interrupts tour - Were cancelled concerts caused by cocaine relapse - News - Bild.de

Whitney Houston interrupts tour - Were cancelled concerts caused by cocaine relapse - News - Bild.de: "Now Whitney Houston has interrupted her long expected European tour. The star cancelled her concert in Paris at late notice on Tuesday and she was taken into hospital on Wednesday, suffering from what has been described as an upper respiratory infection.
Has Whitney Houston relapsed into drugs? US magazine 'In Touch' claimed that she was caught sniffing cocaine on March 10. Self-professed eyewitness Marlon David said: “I saw her pull a plastic bag out, put a folded bill to her nose and discreetly snort a line from it of what to me certainly looked like cocaine. She’s extremely thin and looks like a disaster.”
The 'In Touch' informant claimed that he saw her with Bobby Brown in a bar at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. She has been divorced from Brown since 2007. Houston is said to have shouted: “I want a f***ing drink” to her ex.
Houston has described the claims as “ridiculous” to 'People' magazine and said that she is feeling “great” and is only suffering from some allergies."

Dutch mother uses toddler as drug mule | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Dutch mother uses toddler as drug mule | Radio Netherlands Worldwide: "33-year-old Dutch woman was detained for drug smuggling at the Swiss border in March.
Both the woman and a 29-year-old man from Sierra Leone had swallowed a total of 50 packages of cocaine. The man was also carrying cocaine in his pockets.
Packages of cocaine were found in the pockets of the woman's two children, who were accompanying her. The children, aged two and seven, have been put into care. The arrest took place during the night, the authorities said."

Friday 26 February 2010

Eight drug dealers are behind bars after police smashed a huge cocaine supply network.


Wayne Coleiro, 38, of Bryony Close, Walkden, was jailed for two-and-a-half years. They were jailed for between nine and two-and-a-half years at Minshull Street Crown Court and a ninth was due to be sentenced today.The men, who all admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs, were brought to justice following a huge undercover police operation.The gang was caught red-handed in March, with cops finding two kilos of cocaine and a blender to 'cut' the drug at a house in Miles Platting.After they were jailed, Det Chf Insp John Ogden, of the Serious Crime Division of Greater Manchester Police, said: “Our investigation unearthed a lucrative and widespread criminal network involved in selling drugs.“We have smashed a major drugs ring by disrupting the supply of lethal drugs onto our streets and it is very pleasing to see the main players behind bars.“Drugs are often contributing factors in other serious crimes such as robbery and burglaries, and dealers who feed people's habits simply to line their own pockets are helping to create this misery. The members of this gang clearly did not care about this - they had no qualms about selling drugs and taking a slice of the profits.“We targeted this ring because GMP is committed to clamping down on the illicit trade of drugs and I hope these sentences act as a warning to anyone who is currently involved in drug-related activity or who may be considering becoming involved in it.
“The message is clear: We are watching you and we are coming for you.”

Michael Kelly, 37, of Bollington Road, Miles Platting, was handed eight years behind bars.

Michael Johnson, 28, of Pollard Square, Partington was sentenced to three years in prison.

Gary Gairns, 29, of Layton Street, Ancoats, was caged for four years.

Andrew McCann, 26, of Hillman Close, Collyhurst was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Matthew Neale, 38, of Halton Bank, Irlam, was handed seven years behind bars.

Patrick Matthews, 41, of Rutland Street, Failsworth, was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Lee Anderson, 38, of Westleigh Street, Harpurhey, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Aaron Slaven, 23, of Andover Close, Warrington, is due to be sentenced today.

Police launched Operation Monza and officers finally smashed the network in March last year.

Undercover cops were watching Kelly's home in Miles Platting and spotted Anderson, Kelly and Matthews making arrangements to 'cut' the cocaine with adulterants to increase its weight and make it more profitable.

Matthews drove Kelly to buy a food blender that they were about to use to mix the drugs when police stormed the house.

A 1kg block of cocaine was found in the blender and a further 1kg block of cocaine was found wrapped up on the kitchen worktop.

Friday 12 February 2010

Anthony D. Singh ties to the Rollin’ 60 Crips street gang


Anthony D. Singh, 21, fired a bullet through a man’s right shoe after a confrontation in a downtown parking lot that police said stemmed from a dangerous culture of retaliation and intimidation common in gang life.
A jury convicted Singh of several felonies after a trial in December that included unusual testimony about Singh’s ties to the Rollin’ 60 Crips street gang.
Gang affiliations generally are considered inadmissible in trials, but prosecutors argued that Singh’s membership in the violent gang provided motive for the seemingly random shooting, which occurred near a downtown night club in July 2008.
“He has chosen this way of life, and it finally caught up with him,” said Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor on Wednesday.Singh’s father, Elvis Anthony Singh, urged O’Connor to show his son leniency in a letter mailed from a federal prison, where he’s been since 2002. He was sentenced to 10 years after federal drug agents busted a crack cocaine ring the quadriplegic was operating out of his Spokane home with his caregiver.“We missed those important teenage years,” Elvis Singh’s letter reads. “I regret that I was not there to be a positive influence on him.”O’Connor approved an exceptionally high sentence for Singh, ordering him to serve sentences for second-degree assault, drive-by shooting and unlawful possession of a firearm before serving sentences for witness tampering and conspiracy to commit assault, instead of serving the sentences at the same time.Singh’s court-appointed lawyer, Thomas Cooney, has said he’ll appeal the verdict, partly based on a Spokane police detective’s admission to jurors that Singh had previous convictions.Jurors were ordered to disregard Detective Michael Roberge’s statement, but Cooney said that made little difference.Singh, Cooney argued in court documents, “was convicted on his propensity to commit crime and for being a bad person who is a gang member, rather than on admissible character evidence.”Singh denies firing the bullet that hit Alex Tauala in his right shoe in a parking lot near Sprague Avenue and Stevens Street on July 26, 2008. Tauala didn’t identify Singh as the gunman during trial.
But police witnesses and Deputy Prosecutor Larry Haskell argued Singh shot at Tauala after Tauala confronted Singh and his brother, 25-year-old Jamal R. Singh, by saying “anyone else got any problems?”The brothers, prosecutors said, were driven to retaliate because of their ties to a gang where “respect is the center of the universe,” according to court documents.
Jamal Singh pleaded guilty to riot in August 2008 and was given a year probation and credit for 24 days served in jail.But police argued Anthony Singh was the shooter, and his extensive criminal history contributed to his lengthy prison sentence.That prison sentence was exactly what Singh’s imprisoned father hoped his son, a father of two, could avoid.“As he is now able to see, the greatest price for his mistakes will be paid by his children,” the letter says.

Stephen ‘Aki’ Akinyemi, 44,‘King of the Hill’ found shot dead


‘King of the Hill’ found shot dead in the Cheshire mansion of a controversial businessman Arran Coghlan.Stephen ‘Aki’ Akinyemi, 44, was said to be a prominent member of the notorious Cheetham Hill gang, which is believed to be behind major crime and the supply of drugs in Manchester.He was known for enjoying champagne and cruising Manchester’s clubland in his silver Porsche, with the private registration AKI.He had a string of previous convictions and most recently had been jailed for 13 months in 2006 for violent disorder.At the time of his death, he was on bail for allegedly attacking someone with a baseball bat outside the Lounge 31 nightclub in the city centre in November.He was found with serious stab injuries at Mr Coghlan’s Alderley Edge home on Tuesday afternoon. He was wearing a stab vest.But a post-mortem examination revealed he had died of a gunshot wound, not knife injuries.Mr Coghlan was also discovered with stab injuries at the scene and he was taken to hospital under police guard. He was later discharged although he remains in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder.Last night a tribute page to Mr Akinyemi on social networking website Facebook, titled ‘RIP AKI’, had more than 600 members.
Mr Coghlan was cleared in 1996 of murdering Stockport ‘Mr Big’ Chris Little, who was shot dead at the wheel of his Mercedes.In 2003, Mr Coghlan stood trial for the murder of drug dealer David Barnshaw, who was kidnapped and forced to drink petrol before being burned alive in the back of a car in Stockport in 2001.But the case collapsed when it was revealed police had failed to pass on important information about another possible suspect.

Thursday 11 February 2010

Julian Jose Garza, 28 reportedly a member of Caldwell’s East Side Locos gang

Julian Jose Garza, 28, of Notus was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge, the United States Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.Garza pleaded guilty to the charge in September, admitting that he had a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun during a confrontation with two men in Caldwell on May 14, 2008. Because Garza had been previously convicted of firing a gun into an occupied dwelling, he was prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law.Garza is reportedly a member of Caldwell’s East Side Locos gang and was prosecuted by the special assistant U.S. attorney hired by the Treasure Valley Partnership and Idaho State Police to address gang crimes. His sentencing on Tuesday concluded a string of successful prosecutions of Garza’s family and girlfriend, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports.His father, Gabriel Garza, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 12 months of prison last March. His mother, Maria Garza, . was convicted as an accessory to a felony in April, charged with assisting Gabriel, in possession with intent to distribute marijuana. And his brother, Alex Garza, was sentenced to five years in state prison last month for aiding and abetting witness intimidation in Canyon County District Court on January 7, 2010.

Julian Garza’s girlfriend, Chelsea Robbins-Gonzalez was convicted of perjury and sentenced in June to two years of probation for lying to the federal grand jury about Julian’s possession of a firearm.

Tacoma Hilltop Crips gang


gang sweep by local and federal agents in Tacoma.
Twenty-nine men, suspected members of the Tacoma Hilltop Crips gang, have been arrested in a series of raid since Tuesday morning.
One of the men arrested, Manuel Jose Hernandez, pleaded guilty to the Toews murder in 2000. Hernandez was 12 at the time. He was sentenced to state custody until he turned 21 in October of 2008.
Since then, prosecutors say, Hernandez has been an active gang member. He was arraigned Wednesday on charges including: conspiracy, robbery, auto theft and trafficking stolen property.
Cornell hopes Hernandez gets a longer sentence this time, but she said it won't do any good for her or Hernandez.
"I don't have any great hopes that prison's going to improve somebody's outlook on life," said Cornell.
Thirty-two men have been charged in connection with the investigation.
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Sweep against the Hilltop Crips

Sweep against the Hilltop Crips included serving a series of early-morning search warrants Tuesday. Officers arrested 11 suspected gang members without incident and confiscated guns, drugs and stolen property.
Investigators were still searching for five others. The remaining 16 were already in the Pierce County Jail on other criminal charges or serving time in state prison.
Prosecutors have filed 51 felony counts in the case. Charges include attempted murder, first-degree robbery and drive-by shooting. The 32 suspected gang members, ages 17 to 38, face various counts, but all are charged with one count of criminal conspiracy, according to court documents.
Among those charged are two third-strike candidates and Manuel Jose Hernandez, one of eight youths convicted of fatally beating Erik Toews, 30, as he walked down the street in 2000.
“We’ve got a big chunk of the group, and we’re not stopping,” said Steven Dean, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office. “We are looking at this group of gang members directly correlating to an increase in violent crime in the area.”
Filing conspiracy charges is a new approach in tackling gang violence, which has plagued the city since the late 1980s and left many dead and or wounded in drive-by shootings.
County prosecutor Mark Lindquist said this case marks the first time in Washington that the conspiracy statute is being used to prosecute gang violence. It’s being modeled after successful gang prosecution elsewhere in the country.
The charge usually is used in drug and identify theft cases. It’s being used against the gang members because prosecutors allege they joined the gang for the sole purpose of committing crimes – including robberies, drug dealing, shootings and car thefts.
In general, prosecutors say, a conspiracy occurs when two or more people get together and agree to commit a crime, and then at least one of them takes a substantial step toward carrying out the crime.
The others “can be legally accountable for the one person’s follow-through,” Pierce County deputy prosecutor Greg Greer said.
Those arrested Tuesday and previously booked into jail will be arraigned on the conspiracy and other charges today. Those in prison will return to Pierce County to face the conspiracy charges.
INCREASED VIOLENCE
Investigators say that the Hilltop Crips have increasingly flexed their muscle throughout the city during the last 18 months, targeting people who showed outward signs of wealth – including gold jewelry and fancy wheel rims on their cars – and working together to threaten or harm the victims to get what they wanted.
“They were active on a daily basis,” Tacoma police homicide detective John Ringer said. “Nothing slowed them down.”
Investigators contacted the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors researched different state statutes and found that the conspiracy charge worked with the facts and cases Tacoma police detectives presented, Greer said.
“The law is appropriate for the facts that we have in this case,” he said. “We want to be a little more proactive in addressing the gang problem.”
Most members of this targeted group have previously been convicted of felonies.
Hernandez was 12 in 2000 when he and seven other youths attacked and killed Toews on North Fourth Street.
Hernandez, the second-youngest person charged, was convicted as a juvenile of first-degree murder and three robberies in the days before the Toews beating. He was sentenced to juvenile detention until his 21st birthday.
Now 22, Hernandez was charged in connection with the gang conspiracy case and was among those arrested Tuesday.
FORMED IN LATE 1980S
About 15 teenagers formed the Hilltop Crips in the late 1980s after gangsters from Los Angeles moved into Tacoma and started selling crack cocaine. The gang was the first local black street gang, claiming South 23rd Street as its turf and recruiting other local teens to join their ranks.
Membership swelled to nearly 300 in the mid-1990s. Some of the original gang members were convicted of killing rival gangsters, while others were killed in gang-motivated violence. Some of the surviving original gang members remain in prison.
“Over the course of the past 20 years, the HTCs have been a powerful criminal force on the streets of Tacoma,” Ringer wrote in a search warrant affidavit as part of the recent crackdown. “They have been the strongest black street gang in the area and have dominated the local cocaine sales.”
Throughout the years, local and federal task forces have targeted the city’s gangs, which now total nearly 50. They’ve charged members with federal drug and gun charges and with shootings, homicides and an array of other crimes.
Among the crimes allegedly committed by the Hilltop Crips recently were burglaries at two secure facilities, including a Lakewood police parking lot where a member’s impounded car was rifled through for evidence.
NEW OUTBREAK OF CRIME
In mid-2008, Tacoma police and members of the South Sound Gang Task Force began to notice a new wave of crimes involving the Hilltop Crips, Ringer said.
Police reports detailed incidents in which victims were targeted for their financial assets, especially gold necklaces. Gang members stalked and jumped their victims around popular Hilltop Crips hangouts, police said.
Among the spots were a South Tacoma gas station, a South Tacoma convenience store, a South End restaurant and nightclubs that featured hip-hop music, police said.
Victims had necklaces ripped off in the clubs, faced armed robbers or were beaten on the sidewalk while others stole their car keys and wallets, court documents state.
The documents detail three incidents in which victims were critically injured. All survived, but one was paralyzed and another suffered permanent injury.
The gang task force focused on gang members who were still committing crimes. Many of the crimes had not been investigated, or charges had not been filed.
“These guys were off the hook,” Ringer said.
During the investigation, homicides involving Hilltop Crips were investigated separately, Ringer said. Other gang members were arrested in other cases.
In addition to interviewed witnesses and victims, investigators used informants, watched surveillance video of attacks and set up a surveillance camera in a Hilltop alley that was a favorite gathering spot.
They also sent shell casings and guns to the Washington State Patrol crime lab for analysis.
The lab matched casings from shootings in December 2008 at Oakland Playfield and in February 2009 at South 56th and Tyler streets to one Jan. 26 at a nightclub in Bellevue. A matching shell casing had been discovered in the car of one of the accused gang members.
Of the 28 shell casings collected after a shootout Dec. 2, 2008, outside a South End restaurant, one was matched with a casing taken from another member’s car during a search warrant.
“We were able to establish the conspiracy,” Ringer said. “When they join the group, they join the conspiracy.”

Valentino Sanchez, 33,allegedly high ranking member of the Latin King street gang


Valentino Sanchez, 33, whose last known address was 8105 White Ave. in west suburban Lyons, was placed into custody at 12:15 p.m. by Chicago Police in a secure area in a lower level terminal area at O’Hare, according to police.
Sanchez, an allegedly high ranking member of the Latin King street gang who also goes by the streets names of “Shorty” and “Devious” was found in Guadalajara, Mexico by an FBI gang task force and was transported by DEA and FBI officials to Chicago, police said.
A Feb. 2, 2009 U.S. Department of Justice and FBI release offered a $10,000 reward for the arrest of Sanchez, who has been the subject of nationwide manhunt since July 2005 when he was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago with violation of drug laws.
The release said Sanchez is allegedly a high ranking member of the Latin Kings and he is accused of overseeing the distribution of wholesale quantities of cocaine in the city and suburbs.
Sanchez remains in Chicago police custody early Wednesday but is scheduled to be turned over to federal authorities who will likely hold him in the Metropolitan Correctional Center pending an appearance in Federal Court, according to police.

They didn’t get the moniker ‘Body Snatchers’ for no reason


Dominique Finley, 34, was the highest-ranking member among the defendants with the lofty title “5-Star Universal Elite.” Eric Ollison, 26, who goes by the nickname “Murder,” was his second-in-command, officials say.

“They didn’t get the moniker ‘Body Snatchers’ for no reason,” said Chicago Police Deputy Chief Nick Roti of the Organized Crime Section, adding that the faction is suspected of dozens of killings over the years.The charges unveiled Wednesday don’t accuse any of the defendants of murder, but said they were involved in a vast drug business.Since September, though, Ollison has been locked up after he was caught on the West Side with a loaded gun in a car, police said. He pleaded guilty to being a habitual offender and was sentenced to six years in prison, court records show.
According to FBI affidavits, the Body Snatchers were peddling large quantities of cocaine north of the Eisenhower Expy., south of North Avenue, west of Laramie and east of Austin. Two informants were paid a total of $20,000 to help investigators, the FBI said. Electronic surveillance also was used.
Most of the defendants lived in Chicago, but Finley has a Bellwood address and Andre Beard, 29, lives in Glendale Heights. Betts had lived in St. Charles.
“A lot of these guys, when they get higher up, move out to the suburbs and come to the city to work,” Roti said.Ironically, “they feel a little safer there,” he said.

Suspected of being members or associates of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang

Suspected of being members or associates of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang. The men were arrested as part of Operation Snatched, a coordinated effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to target street gangs running drug distribution networks in the Chicago area, Grant said.The men were charged with attempted possession or possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, the FBI said. The charges are felonies and carry a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted, according to the FBI.Investigators electronically intercepted telephone conversations, used surveillance techniques and conducted undercover missions to investigate the network whose turf went from the Eisenhower Expressway to North Avenue, between Laramie Avenue and Austin Boulevard, officials said.The Chicago residents who were charged were Milton Bills, 32, of the 5800 block of West Ohio Street; Clarence Johnson, 45, of the 700 block of East 50th Street; Terrance C. Jones, 32, of the 1400 block of South Christiana Avenue; Damon Westbrook, 32, of the 100 block of East 49th Street; Frederick Taylor, 23, of the 1200 block of North Mason Avenue; and Eric Ollison, 26, whose address was not available but who is in state prison on an unrelated conviction.Also charged were Andre T. Beard, 29, of Glendale Heights, and Dominique Finley, 34, of Bellwood.The men appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole in Chicago and were ordered held without bail in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, according to the FBI.

Tuesday 9 February 2010

John Paul 'JP' Joyce, a vicious criminal and member of a heroin distribution gang, had been kidnapped in Coolock on Thursday, January 7, murdered

first gangland slaying of the year had originated in their district. John Paul 'JP' Joyce, a vicious criminal and member of a heroin distribution gang, had been kidnapped in Coolock on Thursday, January 7, murdered and his body dumped near the airport where it was found two days later.

Joyce, aged 30, was involved in a feud with a gang which has been establishing complete control over the drugs trade in an area stretching from the north inner city to north county Dublin and westwards to Ballymun, Finglas and Blanchardstown. It was responsible for murdering Joyce's brother, Thomas, in June last year and John Paul had vowed revenge. John Paul himself had already survived at least two attempts on his life.


The two murdered Joyce brothers, members of a settled Traveller family from Grove Lane, were notorious in north Dublin. John Paul was imprisoned for a terrible assault on an innocent man at a public house in Rush, Co Dublin on St Patrick's Day, 2006. The man's son had accidentally spilled a drink on someone in Joyce's company. He and another man dragged the man from the pub, beat him to the ground, jumped on him and slammed a door repeatedly on the man's head, causing severe injury. Joyce had only been released from prison last November.

three people yelling "T Block" and "BTG," cliques in the Crips gang. Someone in Maynard's group mentioned the Tre-Tre gang.

Ryan Daniel Jones-Adams, 16, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder committed in association with a gang.He is accused of fatally shooting Marvin Ray Maynard III, who was found Jan. 17 in the street on the 2600 block of James Avenue N. Maynard had his hands in the air when he was shot, according to the criminal complaint.A family member who declined to be named said Maynard was not a gang member and referred questions to his mother, who could not be immediately reached Monday.Police are not looking for anyone else in the case, said Sgt. Jesse Garcia, a spokesman.Garcia and the complaint gave this account:A witness who had been with Maynard and another male told police that they had been confronted by three people yelling "T Block" and "BTG," cliques in the Crips gang. Someone in Maynard's group mentioned the Tre-Tre gang.One male in the Crips group took off a skull cap and yelled a threat, the complaint said. The witness saw that the male, who ran past him, had a gun and that he fired twice at Maynard. The shooter and another male ran east between houses.A police dog tracking them went to a porch on the other side of the block, where police found a black hat with a loaded 9-mm handgun in it. On the gun were two latent fingerprints, one of which was identified as the right thumb of Jones-Adams, the complaint said.Police also found surveillance video of Jones-Adams and three others at a gas station six blocks from the shooting and taken about 90 minutes beforehand, the complaint said. Jones-Adams was wearing the same clothes in the video as the shooter was said to be wearing, Garcia said.

arrested Dandre Davaune Parker, 20, on charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of heroin


Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement Team officers arrested Dandre Davaune Parker, 20, on charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of heroin, possession of ecstasy, and manufacture of heroin and delivery of ecstasy within 1,000 feet of a school. He was lodged in the Jackson County Jail, where he remained Thursday evening on $100,000 bail.

Acting on a tip that members of the Crips street gang were dealing drugs near Jackson Elementary School, Medford police arrested a man on numerous drug charges Thursday morning.The arrest comes on the heelsof an unrelated investigation that led to three arrests and theseizure of an estimated $40,000worth of heroin and methamphetamine, team supervisor Medfordpolice Lt. Tim Doney said."We suspect Parker is associated with a Crips gang out of Stockton (Calif.)," Doney said.Investigators searched Parker's apartment in the 800 block of Summit Avenue at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday, armed with a warrant based on allegations of gang and drug activity, Doney said. They found about half an ounce of heroin, 28 ecstasy pills and seized $3,000 in cash.
Police initially detained three men and a woman, who were in an apartment across from the school and the Jackson community pool. Only Parker was arrested and lodged in jail.California street gangs have made their way into Medford over the years, Doney said."We have had dealings with the Crips and Bloods before, but they are not prevalent in this area," Doney said. "But when you find out about them, you certainly want to act on that information."

The Crips gang is one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the United States, with an estimated 30,000 members in more than 200 cities. It was founded in the early 1970s in Southern California and is well known for committing violent crimes, drug dealing and for its bloody battles with a rival gang, the Bloods.


Medford police arrested Parker's younger brother, Dante Deon Parker, on Monday after he reportedly robbed a man of his wallet in the Minute Market parking lot on Crater Lake Avenue. The younger Parker was lodged in jail on a theft charge and has since been released and cited to appear in Jackson County Circuit Court.The arrest of Dandre Parker was the second incident involving heroin in two days. On Wednesday, drug and gang investigators searched an apartment in the 3100 block of Juniper Ridge Drive in northeast Medford at about 5:45 p.m., Doney said.
They found about three-quarters of a pound of heroin and an ounce of meth. Investigators estimated the street value of the seized drugs at about $40,000. They also seized $10,000 in cash.Four men at the apartment were detained and three of them were arrested.Ricardo Alonzo-Martinez, 24, and Armando Javier Avila, 30, who both live at the apartment, each were arrested on charges of possession, manufacture, delivery of heroin and meth. Both were lodged at the Jackson County Jail without bail on those charges and immigration holds.Mario Castellanos-Arango, 24, of the 3600 block of Antelope Road, White City, was charged with possession of meth. He also is held in jail without bail because of an immigration hold.

Monday 8 February 2010

Crips street gang shots were fired in a fight between a group of black and Hispanic males.

Officers did find three shots were fired in front of 1161 Mazatlan Cir., but were unable to locate a victim.Just after 11 p.m., officers were called to St. Francis Medical Center to investigate a shooting victim. A 20-year-old victim admitted being involved in the earlier disturbance and having an affiliation with the Crip street gang.The victim's injuries are not life threatening.

Bulldogs are described by authorities as the nation's largest independent street gang.

Bulldogs are described by authorities as the nation's largest independent street gang. Police estimate there are about 12,000 members in this city of 500,000.
For most of their 20-year existence, the Bulldogs escaped serious law enforcement scrutiny, even as they taunted cops with barks and howls. Police looked upon them mainly as wayward youth. But the gang that grew out of fights at San Quentin prison over respect eventually showed itself to be a deadly criminal enterprise. The 2006 shooting of a cop became a tipping point.
Now police are trying to bulldoze the Bulldogs, before the next generation takes over.The Fresno police are engaged in year four of tactical warfare against the gang, sweeping through neighborhoods and making more than 12,000 arrests, including many juveniles, and even going after petty offenses such as loitering by seeking injunctions.It's called "Operation Bulldog."
In other cities, such police pressure might have killed the beast. But with the loosely organized Bulldogs, many are independent operators who will turn on one another over territory.
"When you have structure," Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says, "you can cut the head off the snake and it dies. You can't do that with the Bulldogs."
Although gang activity declined across America between 2001 and 2006, gang membership in Fresno County grew by 33 percent, studies show.
"We found that 10 percent of the people in our city were committing 50 percent of the crime," Dyer said. "If you're talking about robbery, that increases to 80 percent."
In July 2006, a motorcycle officer was critically wounded during a traffic stop by a gun-toting Bulldog, Joaquin Maltos Figueroa, 25, who was shot to death days later by police.
In Maltos Figueroa's car, officers found a magazine of bullets and a scanner tuned to police frequencies. They realized gang members were more sophisticated than they previously had believed.
That same summer, 16-year-old Courtney Rice, a prostitute whom gang members feared was snitching, was raped, tortured and murdered by seven Bulldogs and associates.
In November 2006, Chief Dyer went on TV announcing a 10-person "Operation Bulldog" tactical unit to make gang members' lives miserable. This January, he added 100 more officers to focus on intelligence gathering on the 10 percent who are most active and promised to seek longer, federal sentences when possible.
"We know the war on gangs can never be won," the chief said, "but we also know it can be lost."
Today, easily half of those incarcerated in the county jail on any given day are Bulldogs.
"The chief's directive is to arrest as many Bulldogs as we can," said Sgt. Alex Robles. "He doesn't want us to let up the pressure."
Four days a week for 10-hour shifts, Robles and his team swarm Bulldog territory, the scruffy neighborhoods on the city's east side. Armed with lists of names supplied by parole agents, they make unannounced visits.
Parolees have no right to privacy, and the officers take advantage, searching homes for drugs and alcohol — even inspecting cell phones for gang photos or insignias.
If life is made unpleasant, police figure they will either leave gang life or move away.
"I don't know if we'll ever get rid of them" says Robles. "I know the goal is to get rid of them."
In the first three years of Operation Bulldog records show that violent crime has decreased in Fresno by 14.3 percent, ahead of the 9 percent state average, and police attribute the statistic to pressure on gangs. Rape is down 43.5 percent, and there were 26.3 percent fewer vehicles stolen.
After recording 314 shootings in 2006; in 2008 there were 226 and 231 in 2009.
"Still, it is too many, but it's a far cry from 314," Dyer says. "At least we don't have them standing on the corners barking anymore. Our goal is to take away their neighborhoods."
The figures do not capture the uptick in shootings since July 2009, when the History Channel's Gangland series featured the Bulldogs and egos swelled, prompting a summer police sweep that netted 200 arrests and dozens of confiscated weapons.
On one sweep officers arrested Naomi Copple, 27, on parole from Chowchilla State Prison for Women, because her parole agent said she tested dirty for drugs. As they searched her house, she sat on the curb, hands cuffed behind her back. With a shaved head, she could not hide the two dog paw tattoos over her right eyebrow, or the 5150 — police code for crazy person — inked on the back of her neck.
About the tats on her forehead: "It's just some stupid s--- I did a long time ago. I was a kid."
Police see it differently. "It's like a billboard on their face saying 'Hey, stop me,'" Robles said.
On Thanksgiving Eve, a year-long police investigation netted Christopher Chavez, 26, the suspect in the 1999 murder of a transvestite, his two brothers and a 16-year-old. Awaiting trial, Chavez is accused of being the shot-caller of a small Bulldog "cell." He wore a bulletproof vest and carried automatic weapons, police said.
At the arrest scene, police reported finding 50 marijuana plants in a toddler's bedroom.
"You always feel bad for the kids," said Detective Tony Gates. "We always say they have no chance."
Investigators eavesdropping on conversations learned that Chavez, who joined the Bulldogs as a young teen, sold methamphetamine to his own mother, a street dealer, and used juveniles to move drugs and guns. The electronic surveillance reaffirmed the importance of tattoos.
"One of the juveniles had a gang tattoo on his body, and it subjected him to being involved in more crime," said Gates. "Chris Chavez told him, 'You have to back that up.' As investigators, we knew it, but it was surprising to hear it."
Children in Bulldog neighborhoods live amid prostitutes and parolees, surrounded by crime and violence, unemployment and poverty. The gang offers security, a sense of identity and, for many, a livelihood. In the worst Bulldog neighborhoods, drug dealers wear the nicest clothes and drive the newest cars.
"The middle class and upper class think about and do things to plan for the future," says C. Ronald Huff, a University of California-Irvine criminologist who studies gangs. "People who don't have those things are more fatalistic because they don't believe they have a future. Parents don't imagine anything will be different for their children."
The police gang unit has confiscated photographs of infants posed in Fresno State Bulldog onesies, cuddling semiautomatic handguns instead of bottles.
A survey of Fresno County school officials in 2007 found gang affiliations begin as early as kindergarten. And a school survey this fall showed the Bulldog gang with a steady source of new recruits: Fresno County 8th graders were almost twice as likely to join gangs if their fathers were involved.
"We're seeing third generation Bulldogs now, and it's not stopping," said Robles. "It's sad that these parents don't want something better for their children."
Whether Enrique Gonzalez is the kind of parent Robles describes will be decided in court; a hearing is set for Feb. 11. The Fresno County district attorney has charged Gonzalez and his friend, Travis Gorman, with mayhem — plus gang enhancements — for tattooing Gonzalez' 7-year-old son's hip with a dog's paw. If convicted, they could serve two decades or more behind bars.
Police say the boy was an unwilling participant, held down and marked against his will. Gonzalez' estranged wife discovered the tattoo and took her son to police.
Defense attorney Douglas Foster said the tattooing was only a case of poor judgment, not a crime. He denied it was forced, saying the boy made that claim only because he was intimidated by police and upset by his angry mother.
According to the lawyer, friends who were there said the child begged for a tattoo. They quoted him as saying, "Daddy, I want to be like you."

Six Florencia 13 gang members life in prison sentence

six Florencia 13 gang members life in prison sentence appears to bring to a close a prolonged and terrifying spate of violence in the Florence-Firestone district allegedly brought on by orders from a prison gang member in solitary confinement 700 miles away.Beginning in 2004, the unincorporated Los Angeles County area north of Watts was the site of one of the region's worst gang sieges since the early 1990s, evolving into what some residents felt was a race war.The violence left dozens of people dead, including many with no gang affiliation, and required enormous county resources to combat."Things have gotten a lot better," said Chris Le Grande, pastor of Great Hope Missionary Baptist Church on Compton Avenue in Florence-Firestone.
U.S. District Judge David Carter sentenced Florencia member Francisco Flores, 24, to life in prison on Wednesday, saying that he "preyed on victims because they were black and for no other reason," according to a U.S. attorney's office news release.
Earlier this year, Carter had handed out life sentences to Florencia members Jesse Vasquez, 36; Alberto Hernandez, 28; Gilberto Oliva, 41; Manuel Hernandez, 27; and Noe Gonzalez, 28. Arturo Cruz, 34, was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Jose Gonzalez, 36, received a 20-year sentence. Two more gang members are scheduled to be sentenced later this month. An 11th defendant, Alejandro Rincon, will be retried in April.
Their trial, which took place in federal court in Santa Ana in 2008, grew from an indictment of 104 Florencia gang members on charges that included racketeering, conspiracy to sell drugs and murder.Of those indicted, 94 have pleaded guilty or have been convicted. Four more await trial; two have died and four are fugitives.The case showed the remarkable power the Mexican Mafia prison gang holds over Southern California Latino street gangs. Prosecutors alleged that Mexican Mafia member Arturo "Tablas" Castellanos essentially created a crime wave in the Florence-Firestone district.Castellanos was not indicted because he is already serving a life prison term in a maximum security cell in Pelican Bay State Prison. He hasn't been on the streets since 1979.Yet he wrote letters, introduced as evidence at the trial, that presumed to control a street gang, most of whose members had never seen him.Castellanos ordered gang members to stop rampant infighting; to tax drug dealers in their neighborhoods, as well as prostitutes, fruit vendors and vendors of phony ID cards in nearby Huntington Park; and to funnel the proceeds to him and other mafia members. He also ordered the gang to attack the local Crips gang, whose members are black."The Mexican Mafia has a powerful grasp on these [Latino] gangs," said Peter Hernandez, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case.
"The prison system is a segregated place. Those rules and letters from Castellanos attempted to adhere those prison rules to the street," he said.
As Castellanos' letters appeared on the street in the fall and winter of 2004, Florencia 13 erupted in a spate of violence against African Americans.
"They just went out and started shooting" at black people, Hernandez said.
East Coast Crips responded with shootings of their own, often targeting Latinos who were not gang members.Few actual gang members died. Instead, residents said, they lived amid a race war.

four accused - Nicola Ciconte, 54, of Rowville, Michael Calleja, 51, of Kew, Vincenzo Medici, 45, of Mildura, and Carmelo Loprete, 41, of Adelaide

four accused - Nicola Ciconte, 54, of Rowville, Michael Calleja, 51, of Kew, Vincenzo Medici, 45, of Mildura, and Carmelo Loprete, 41, of Adelaide - will be tried in absentia in the town of Vibo Valentia in Calabria after a failed attempt by the Italian government to extradite them from Australia.Anti-mafia prosecutor Salvatore Curcio has told The Age the prosecution will use testimony from a Mafia turncoat, whose name has been suppressed, to corroborate phone taps, photographic and video evidence allegedly linking the four to a multimillion-dollar drug smuggling network that stretched from Colombia through Spain and Italy to Australia.According to court documents, the turncoat has confirmed the alleged link between the Calabrian Mafia and what prosecutors have termed ''leading crime figures operating in Australia''.
He has told prosecutors the four Australians made several trips to Italy to arrange the shipment of large quantities of cocaine while members of the elite Carabinieri special operations group filmed their alleged meetings in Calabria.
''The essential nucleus of the investigation with which we are dealing can, without any doubt, be confirmed in the statements and accusations made by [unnamed turncoat]; through the taps of telephones and public places; in international documents; and as a result of searches and seizures carried out in identifying assets,'' prosecutors said in one document.Security is expected to be tight at the trial after a bomb attack outside a court building in nearby Reggio Calabria and the discovery of explosives during a visit by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in January.
Court documents allege the four Australians conspired with the Calabrian Mafia in the ''transportation and importation'' of 500 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of $35-$50 million from South America via Italy to Melbourne between 2002 and 2004.
The trial is the latest in a series of cases that arose from an investigation into a vast Mafia drug-smuggling network that sought to ship enormous quantities of cocaine inside slabs of marble, plastic tubes and canned tuna across four continents.
Italian court documents obtained by The Age allege that Nicola Ciconte played the lead role in negotiating with the Italians in setting up the operation.
Prosecutors are expected to present detailed transcripts of long-distance telephone conversations allegedly between Ciconte and Vincenzo Barbieri, a senior Mafia figure who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2005.The four Australians are charged with criminal association aimed at international cocaine trafficking and attempted importation of cocaine. If convicted, they would face lengthy prison terms if they set foot on Italian soil.Arrest warrants for them were issued by anti-Mafia prosecutors and Italian police in January 2004.While the Australians are not expected to appear at the trial, a court lawyer will be appointed to represent them.When approached by The Age, the Italian Ministry of Justice declined to comment on the status of the extradition request or whether it had ever been formally put to the Australian Attorney-General's department or the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Wednesday 3 February 2010

James Bucheger told deputies -- he's a Juggalo. The Juggalos claim they're just extreme fans of the band "Insane Clown Posse".

James Bucheger of Oakhurst, is in jail -- accused of breaking into two cabins near Bass Lake. Bucheger told deputies -- he's a Juggalo. The Juggalos claim they're just extreme fans of the band "Insane Clown Posse". But many law enforcement agencies consider them -- a violent street gang. Deputies found the suspect covered in blood at a third home where a party was taking place. The two burglarized homes had smashed windows and blood splattered throughout them.

seven Latin King members were arrested

seven Latin King members were arrested, the FBI said: Rene Ramirez, 27, of Orlando; Ricky Montesino, 26, of Orlando; Frederic Salizan, 28, of Orlando; Kevin Sullivan, 29, of Orlando; Derrick Hester, 21, of Davenport; Rafael Rodriguez, 35, of Davenport; Emilio Rosa, 37, of Davenport.Four others were already in state custody: Jose Santana, 28; Jason Rohena, 22; Jose Garcia, 23; and Vic Melendez, 22.Authorities are still looking for Luis Gelpi, 20, of Park Manor Drive, Orlando. Gelpi is considered armed and dangerous.The Latin Kings are one of the largest gangs nationwide, said Orlando police Sgt. Jose Velez. They’re very well organized, and each city or geographic area has a leader who reports to a nationwide leader.

“They are dangerous. They are criminals. They sell drugs. They fight for territories. They threaten people. They shoot people if necessary,” Velez said. “Anytime you can put people like this away, it makes the community a lot safer
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