Omar Guerra-Neri, 35, was one of 29 people indicted in November 2007 for transporting and selling cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, said Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey. His ring sold more than 360 pounds of heroin and up to 200 kilograms of cocaine annually in Colorado and other parts of the United States, according to investigators. "If we are going to make headway, as far as a deterrence goes, you have to try to chop off the head as much as possible," Storey said. "He is in the top echelon of this drug organization, as we know it."
Guerra-Neri and others brought cocaine, heroin, meth and other drugs into Colorado from Mexico using "drug mules" and specially modified cars, Storey said. From here, some of the drugs were smuggled to other parts of the country. Between June and November 2007, authorities uncovered several pounds of drugs, a number of guns, and tens of thousands of dollars in cash from Guerra-Neri's ring. One raid in November netted 1,343 grams of heroin and 852 grams of cocaine at a "stash house." In other raids, about $32,000 in cash, 16.5 grams of cocaine and more than 850 grams of meth were seized in Denver and Thornton. Guerra-Neri was out of the country when the indictments were handed down in November, but he was arrested when he returned in April. Guerra-Neri has told investigators he's been illegally coming and going between the U.S. and Mexico for 20 years. On Sept. 26, Guerra-Neri pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and violation of the Colorado crime-control act. Of the 29 people indicted with him, 25 have pleaded guilty

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DIONNE E. BEVERLY, 36, of Hurricane, West Virginia, 10 years in federal prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release;
LAMAR K. FIELDS, 40, of Atlanta, 5 years, 10 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release;
DERON HALL, 32, of St. Louis, Missouri, 7 years, 6 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release;
VICTOR D. HAMMONDS, 44, of Conyers, Georgia, 4 years in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release;
BARIMA P. McKNIGHT, 30, of Las Vegas, Nevada, 5 years, 4 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release;
JAMAL S. MITCHELL, 39, of East Orange, New Jersey, 5 years, 3 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release;
FRANKLIN D. NASH, 57, of Decatur, Georgia, 6 months to be served in a halfway house; DERREK Q. PITTS, 34, of East Orange, New Jersey 16 years, 8 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release;
BRYANT SHAW, 28, of Atlanta 10 years in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release; and
DARRYL C. TAYLOR, 48, of Rex, Georgia, 7 years, 3 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release.
According to Nahmias, court records, and other publicly-available information: The defendants were members or associates of the Black Mafia Family, a nationwide gang that distributed thousands of kilograms of cocaine during 2002-2005. Federal authorities first struck a blow against the BMF in October 2005 with multi-defendant cocaine conspiracy indictments returned in Detroit, Louisville, and Orlando. Dozens of other defendants were subsequently arrested as a result of related BMF investigations in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Greenville, South Carolina. In the Atlanta case, 16 defendants were indicted in July 2007.The lone Atlanta defendant who went to trial, FLEMING DANIELS, 36, of Roswell, Georgia, was convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced next month. One defendant in the case, VERNON M. COLEMAN a/k/a “Woo,” 32, of the Atlanta area, remains a fugitive.At its peak during 2003-2004, the BMF was moving hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into Atlanta, Detroit, and other distribution hubs every month. The drugs would arrive in vehicles – often limousines – with secret compartments or “traps.” These same trap vehicles would then be filled with cash (the proceeds from drug sales) to be sent back to the Mexican sources of supply.Along with these massive amounts of cocaine, the BMF brought violence to the streets of Atlanta. In one incident, Rashannibal Drummond, 23, was beaten, shot and killed in the parking lot of the Midtown club Velvet Room during the early morning hours of July 25, 2004. The murder was the culmination of a one-sided brawl that was alleged to have been precipitated when the unarmed Drummond slapped one of the BMF’s prized luxury vehicles to alert its driver not to back over him. Defendant FLEMING DANIELS has been indicted in Fulton County for that murder.
DEMETRIUS FLENORY and much of the BMF fled Atlanta in late November 2004 after an expensive BMF drug stash house in northwest Atlanta was raided by Atlanta Police and DEA agents. Although no arrests occurred at the unoccupied house, officers discovered three firearms, fictitious identifications, BMF paraphernalia, and marijuana.They also confiscated two vehicles, including a 2003 Hummer H2 stretch limousine that was suspected to have been used by the BMF as a drug transport vehicle. A search of the limo produced no contraband; the vehicle was later forfeited and sold at public auction.Subsequently, agents received a tip that the Hummer limousine contained concealed compartments that had not been discovered during the previous search. In August 2008, agents re-located the limousine, which was then in the possession of its fourth innocent owner since its sale by the government in November 2005. With federal search warrant in hand, agents again searched the limousine, finally discovering the compartments, or “traps,” and removing from them seven semi-automatic firearms and nearly $900,000 in cash, believed to be proceeds from one of the BMF’s last major cocaine transactions.
DEMETRIUS FLENORY and his brother and co-leader of the BMF, TERRY LEE FLENORY, 38, were named in the cocaine and money laundering indictment issued in Detroit. Both were convicted and sentenced last month to 30-year prison terms.
This case was investigated by Special Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, assisted by the United States Marshals Service; the Internal Revenue Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Atlanta High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force; the Tennessee Department of Safety; the Atlanta Police Department; the DeKalb County Police Department; and the Henry County Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Cassandra Schansman and Robert McBurney prosecuted the case.Federal judge has sentenced 10 of the 16 defendants indicted for their participation in the cocaine distribution activities of the “Black Mafia Family” (BMF), a violent drug gang that has been the focus of federal prosecution in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Louisville, Orlando, and elsewhere.United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “These sentencings help bring to a close the Justice Department’s successful dismantling of the Black Mafia Family, a coast-to-coast drug empire once so brash and powerful that it purchased freeway billboards proclaiming that the world was theirs. Their ‘world’ – one built on illegal drugs and gun violence – has crumbled, thanks to the hard work of many law enforcement agents and prosecutors. Now all that is left for the BMF criminals is prison time.”SAC Rodney G. Benson of the DEA Atlanta Field Division said, “The government has successfully dismantled a violent and notorious drug trafficking organization. The Black Mafia Family wreaked havoc from coast to coast by distributing cocaine and leaving a destructive path of violence along the way without regard for public safety. Their bold image once propelled them into the media spotlight. Today they are again in the spotlight, this time for the right reason. These defendants are deserving of the sentences that were handed down today. Through the concerted efforts of our federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts, we were able to successfully investigate, prosecute and remove these violent criminals from the street.”The defendants sentenced yesterday and today, and their terms of incarceration, are:

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Blinkx Video: Crips and Bloods - Gang Fight

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Miquel Demucha, of 707 Burchfield Ave., and Maure Esparza, of 304 Rowena St., are charged with fleeing to elude, possession of weapons on school property, possession of alcohol on school property, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and violation of the Street Gangs Act. Both were being held in the Whitfield County Jail without bond Tuesday night.They told deputies they were at the school to meet some students for lunch. They drove away from the school, at 2818 Airport Road, in a black Ford Expedition shortly after noon, according to a report from the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office. They were stopped at a car wash at the intersection of Airport Road and West Avenue and told deputies “there was more room behind the car wash” when asked why they left the parking lot.Deputies found a handgun, a knife, a can of beer and .22 caliber bullets in the car. Detectives also found “several pieces of paper with gang writing on them,” the report said. A “roach” tested positive for marijuana. Esparza was carrying an unwrapped razor blade, the report said.

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Wayne Ordakowski, also known as “Lumpy,” is charged with assisting fellow gang members and preventing agents from apprehending his alleged co-conspirators. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. Ordakowski, 48, a member of the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, was indicted by a federal grand jury in August and arrested Oct. 21 in a nationwide sweep, which included 10 other arrests in Denver.Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives said Mongols gang members Benjamine Maestas and Leonard Martinez executed a scheme in August 2007 to defraud Loud Financial LLC by using false representations to illegally secure a $25,000 loan for a 2006 chopper at Hacienda Harley-Davidson in Scottsdale, Ariz.Shortly after law enforcement officers began their investigation into the wire fraud, Maestas sent several text messages to Ordakowski, who had direct knowledge of the scheme. Maestas allegedly told him to “act stupid” if the “cops call,” and promised Ordakowski a post as vice president of the Okane Park Chapter of the Mongols for withholding vital information from authorities. Maestas also offered three chapter prospects to work free “hard labor” for Ordakowski, the indictment says.Mass arrests of Mongols members were made in Los Angeles, where 79 defendants are being prosecuted, 73 of which face racketeering charges, a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver said. Federal search and arrest warrants were executed in seven states, including Colorado, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Florida and Ohio.In addition to the California arrests, agents served six federal search warrants throughout the Denver area and confiscated a stolen .25 caliber pistol, Colt .38 revolver, shotgun, Taurus .380 pistol, ammunition, Mongols paraphernalia, cell phones and a computer. The Parker Police Department and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation.
The Denver area gang members face charges of drug trafficking, federal firearms violations, wire fraud, witness tampering, and trafficking in vehicle parts with serial numbers removed. Some higher-ranking members in Los Angeles face up to 40 years in prison and $2 million in fines.“These types of investigations are part of the ATF’s overall enforcement strategy to target the most violent offenders within our communities,” said ATF special agent in charge Richard Chase. “[Last week’s] success is the result of a combined federal, state, and local law enforcement effort and good police work.”The Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, formed in Montebello, Calif. in the 1970s, claims 600 members nationwide. Many of the Mongols were allegedly recruited from some of the most violent street gangs.The name “Mongols,” which is emblazoned on a patch that members wear on their motorcycle jackets, was trademarked by the gang. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California obtained a court order last week that immediately prevents gang members from using or displaying the Mongols name or logo.Ordakowski’s next scheduled court date was not immediately available.Parker man withheld information from feds
Ordakowski faces 15 years in prison

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The racketeering trial against three alleged members of the Crips -- Tracy Harris, Clinton Knight, and Chester Randall Jr. -- continues in a federal court in Wichita, Kansas, two gang leaders -- Armand Little and Trena Ridge -- testified for the government on its organization and mission:Little, who has the street name "Clown" and was a leader of the 357 Crips, said robberies, murders, drug sales and clashing with rival gangs were routine components of life in a gang. The gang had its own internal security, handing out beatings to members who missed meetings or who were "not doing stuff," including fighting rival gangs such as the Bloods, Little said. In his second day of testimony, Ridge told the jury he joined the Crips as a young teenager and helped form a subset called the Duece-Trey Crips, which drew its name from the fact that its members spent most of their time on 23rd Street. * * * Ridge testified that he walked into a back room of a hair salon at 13th and Hillside and saw Harris and another man with eight or nine bricks of cocaine that had been pulled out of a duffel bag. The cocaine had a street value of between $140,000 and $180,000.

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Pavel Kulisek was arrested in Los Barriles on March 11 and remains behind bars in a maximum-security Mexican prison, charged with promoting drug trafficking and organized crime.Friends and family are urging the Canadian government to help a B.C. man jailed in Mexico.About 50 people gathered in front of the Mexican consulate in Vancouver Tuesday to demand help for Pavel Kulisek.His family and lawyer say he was swept up in the arrest of Gustavo Rivera Martinez, an accused drug kingpin and an acquaintance Mr. Kulisek knew only through dirt biking.They say Mr. Kulisek, who lived in North Vancouver before temporarily moving to Mexico with his wife and two young daughters a year ago, was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mr. Kulesik's wife, Jirina Kuliskova, says her husband's health has deteriorated, leaving him suffering from constant stomach pains and unable to sleep."They spent a few casual bike rides in the town where we lived," Kulisek's wife, Jirina Kuliskova, said."And one night when they were having a hot dog in this little hot dog stand, they were arrested."Kulisek, his wife, and their two young daughters temporarily moved from North Vancouver to Mexico a year ago.In December, Kulisek's lawyer said he was introduced to Martinez, who identified himself as Carlos Herrera, at a motocross race." Martinez was well-respected. He had four little kids that everybody adored. Just a normal family," Kuliskova said.Kulisek's lawyer, Guillermo Cruz Rico, said that was far from the case.
" Martinez is one of the most wanted by the FBI and other American agencies. And apparently this guy was involved in a drug cartel," Cruz Rico said at the rally Tuesday, which drew about 50 people urging the federal government to help.Cruz Rico said the only evidence against his client is a statement made by a former police officer who was arrested with Kulisek, Martinez, and two other men.That former officer, Cruz Rico alleges, accused Kulisek of being in charge of buying real estate properties for the cartel."That is not concrete evidence, and that is not good enough to put somebody under a criminal process in Canada and in Mexico as well," Cruz Rico said."I believe that in order to make a deal he produced this kind of information."Foreign Affairs spokesperson Eugenie Cormier-Lassonde said consular officials, including Canada's ambassador to Mexico, have met with Kulisek and are in contact with Mexican authorities to ensure Kulisek's right to due process is protected.Cormier-Lassonde was unable to provide further details due to privacy concerns.A call to the Mexican embassy in Ottawa was not returned.Cruz Rico was also the lawyer for Brenda Martin, who returned to Canada in May after serving more than two years behind bars in Mexico.Martin was arrested in February 2006 in connection with an Internet fraud scheme run by her ex-boss, Alyn Waage.Kulisek has no criminal record in Canada or the Czech Republic, from where he emigrated in 1990.Cruz Rico said the stress of Kulisek's incarceration appears to be weighing on him more and more."He's in pretty bad shape. When I had the opportunity to meet him for the first time, I thought that he was an optimistic guy," Cruz Rico said."After a few months, he was completely different. He was shaking, he was crying. He said that the worst could happen."Kuliskova said her husband's health has deteriorated since he was arrested."We need help. We need government to help us," Kuliskova said.

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Eduardo Arellano Felix, one of seven brothers who founded the notorious Arellano Felix drug cartel in the 1980s, was arrested in his unwashed jeans and tracksuit after a weekend gunfight in Fraccionamiento Pedregal, a hillside suburb of Tijuana, the Mexican border city where his empire was built.It marked a suitably dramatic end to the career of a man known locally as El Doctor, thanks both to his previous life as a medical student and the famously clinical manner in which he despatched anyone unfortunate enough to land on the wrong side of his massive cocaine smuggling network.Eduardo has always has been considered the most secretive and reclusive of the seven. His low profile within the cartel stemmed partly from his alleged role in the 1993 killing of Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, the Archbishop of Guadalajara. "That was a pivotal moment in how the Arellanos were perceived in Tijuana and in Mexico in general," said John Kirby, a former US federal prosecutor who co-wrote the original indictment against him. "All of a sudden, everybody was their enemy."
Even before his arrest, Eduardo Felix had a turbulent private life. In 1998, he was badly burned in a propane gas stove explosion that killed his infant son. Soon afterwards, his estranged wife Sonia – the mother of his 11-year-old daughter – was killed by Arellano gunmen who suspected her ofco-operating with US officials. Photographs released yesterday show he has aged significantly from the dark-haired figure on two decades of "wanted" posters (
A captured informant codenamed Felipe admitted to Mexican prosecutors that he used his job as an Interpol agent working at the US Embassy in Mexico City and at the international airport in the city to feed classified information about anti-drug operations to the feared Beltrán-Leyva cartel. The revelation came as prosecutors also admitted that two staff in the Mexican Attorney-General's Office for Organised Crime - a government unit that fights the drug mafia — had been found to have been in the pockets of the cartel for four years, as were at least three federal policemen with inside information on surveillance targets and potential raids. Each were paid between $150,000 (£97,000) and $450,000 a month by the cartel.
It was the worst known case of law enforcement in Mexico being compromised by drug lords since the arrest in 1997 of General Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo, the head of the country's anti-drug agency, who was convicted of assisting Amado Carrillo, a kingpin.
“This doesn't say much for US security — it's as embarrassing as hell for this to come out and I suspect heads will roll within the DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration],” said Bruce Bagley, an expert in Latin American drug trafficking, from the University of Miami in Florida. The scandal came five days after Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, travelled to Mexico City to discuss the $400 million Mérida Initiative, a package to help Mexican and Central American law enforcement agencies to fight organised drug crime. “We've already achieved an outstanding level of co-operation in our efforts to fight drug trafficking and organised crime... the United States considers this important initiative and its implementation an urgent task,” she said.

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Jamie "The Iceman" Stevenson is serving 12 years and nine months for laundering more than £1million of drug cash.grinned yesterday as he agreed to hand over £747,000 - his proceeds of crime.Houses, cars, a caravan and jewellery are among the haul that makes up Scotland's second highest confiscation order against an individual.
And it comes on top of £204,000 cops seized from the gangland boss when he was arrested for running a money laundering scam.Stevenson, 43, is serving 12 years and nine months for laundering more than £1million of drug cash.At the High Court in Edinburgh, prosecutor Barry Divers told Lord Uist that the proceeds of Stevenson's criminal conduct amounted to s1.02million.The Crown said they could identify £747,080 of realisable assets.They include £389,000 in cash, a house in Campsie Road, East Kilbride worth £142,000, and another property in Portland Street, Troon, valued at £52,000.His other assets include £25,000 in bank accounts, £8000 in share dividends and £13,445 worth of jewellery. total of 56 watches worth £60,000 were listed, including Rolexes, Breitlings and a £10,000 Juan Pablo Montoya Royal Oak.Stevenson will even have to give up his £16,600 caravan.Also included in the order were 12 Skoda Octavia cars worth a total of £36,000 which Stevenson used to run a taxi firmto front his illegal operation.Last year, Glasgow City Council suspended CS Cars' licence to operate, claiming Stevenson's wife Caroline, who was in charge, was "not a fit person" to run the firm.Stevenson has been given six months to pay up.
His stepson Gerard Carbin, 29, the son of one-eyed heroin dealer Gerry "Cyclops" Carbin, was jailed for five-and-a-half years for his role in the money laundering fiddle.He has already agreed to hand over £44,000 as his proceeds of crime.
Scotland's biggest confiscation order of £1.3million was made against businessman Michael Voudouri, 37, of Bridge of Allan, Stirlinghire, who was jailed for four years in 2004 for a £3million VAT scam.Stevenson - a suspect in three gangland murders - was regarded as one of the most cunning and ruthless crooks ever to rule Scotland's underworld.He had no scruples about using violence to build his empire, and his cold-hearted nature earned him the nickname "Iceman".In 2000, he was a prime suspect in the murder of former best pal Tony McGovern, leader of an infamous Glasgow crime clan.McGovern, 35, who had been best man at Stevenson's wedding, was shot five times outside a pub in the city's Springburn district.Stevenson was charged with the killing but the case never got to court.The Iceman was also a suspect in the 2001 murders of drug dealers John Hall and David McIntosh in Larkhall, Lanarkshire.The victims were tortured and shot in the head over a £120,000 cocaine debt. The killers torched their bodies.Stevenson was never charged with the murders and as his empire continued to grow, so did his confidence.By 2003, Stevenson was labelled Scotland's most wanted drug lord.When he felt under pressure from police, he would head to a bolthole in Amsterdam and lie low for a while.But in May 2003, police finally found a way to snare the Iceman.Stevenson left his modest flat in Burnside, near Glasgow, unattended while he joined 90,000 other Celtic fans in Seville to see the Hoops take on FC Porto in the UEFA Cup final.Cops sneaked into his home and planted listening devices.These bugs allowed detectives to eavesdrop on thousands of hours of conversations between Stevenson, Carbin and their associates.The evidence they gathered played a vital role in bringing the pair to justice, and helped prove Stevenson had laundered drug cash.His conviction completed Operation Folklore, the biggest surveillance effort evermounted by Scots police.Officers worked with colleagues in Holland, Spain and Portugal to target the vast criminal enterprise headed by Stevenson.The huge anti-drug offensive led to 71 arrests and took more than s61million worth of drugs off the street.One senior detective said: "He believed he was untouchable."

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Man has been injured in a shootout at a gas station in the turbulent southern Russian republic of Daghestan, local police said.The incident occurred on the road linking the republic's capital Makhachkala and its second city Derbent late on Wednesday. It is not yet clear what provoked the shooting. A car laden with grenades and other ammunition was discovered at the scene, police said.Daghestan and Russia's other North Caucasus republics have seen a rise in violence recently linked to militants based in neighboring Chechnya and internal fighting between criminal gangs.

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20 incidents since November last year where victims have been shot while in the street.A number of these incidents have only come to police attention after the victims have arrived at hospitals for medical assistance.Police said officers had been investigating the shootings on an individual basis and recognised the need for a more thorough approach.About 20 people will staff the taskforce, including trained detectives and intelligence support. They will also be assisted by officers from other existing squads.
Detective Superintendent Paul Hollowood from the Crime Department said the major focus of the taskforce was to look at the patterns of shootings and attempt to deter and prevent further attacks.``We believe these incidents are possibly linked with drug-related crime activity and want to send a message to those people involved that we are aware of the links and will be concentrating heavily on prosecuting those involved,'' Det-Supt Hollowood said.He said the taskforce would work like the Purana gangland taskforce and said one of the reasons it was formed was the level of co-operation from alleged victims was not very good.Det-Supt Hollowood said Victoria did not need a specialist bikie taskforce as there was already a group monitoring motorcycle gangs.

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Toronto Police say officers were up at the crack of dawn executing warrants at six homes and six related vehicles.Series of early morning raids targeting guns and drugs at locations across the city have landed numerous people in custody.
Exact addresses were not immediately available but sources confirm some of the locations include Bathurst St. and Wilson Ave., Eglinton Ave. W. and Marlee Ave., and Port Union and Kingston Rds.A quantity of crack cocaine and marijuana has been seized, but it's unclear how many, if any, firearms were found.Police are being tight-lipped about the raids so far, so it's also not known how many people have been arrested.However, it's believed several people are being held at 32 Division in North York."The investigation is ongoing," Const. Tony Vella said.Exact addresses were not immediately available but sources confirm some of the locations include Bathurst St. and Wilson Ave., Eglinton Ave. W. and Marlee Ave., and Port Union and Kingston Rds.A quantity of crack cocaine and marijuana has been seized, but it's unclear how many, if any, firearms were found.Police are being tight-lipped about the raids so far, so it's also not known how many people have been arrested.
However, it's believed several people are being held at 32 Division in North York."The investigation is ongoing," Const. Tony Vella said.

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Mongols formed in the 1970s in Montebello, CA and has since grown to nearly 600 members, with 400 members in Southern California. It has long been a rival to the motorcycle gang Hells Angels and competes with streets gangs like the 18th Street Gang, Maravilla, as well as gangs in Montebello and the San Gabriel Vallley, according to the affidavit.The organization has also started to spread overseas, according to law enforcement officials. “During the course of the investigation, agents learned the Mongols had reached out to recruit members of the latino street gangs, and fortified its presence across cities in America, and even established a foothold in Europe,” O’Brien says.Even though the Mongols described itself as a recreational group on its trademark application, officials say that the firearms and drugs seized in the raid, as well as the allegations listed in the indictment go far in showing that the organization, which has members answering to nicknames like Sick Boy, Suicide, and Sinner and who wear tattoos warning “God Forgives, Mongols Don’t,” was engaged in violent and illegal activities.

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Four men were shot dead in front of a crowd at an amusement park, a toddler died after the car he was traveling in wrecked during a gunbattle, and a businessman was killed after leading a protest against violence, officials said yesterday.In all, 21 people died in 24 hours across Mexico, which is waging a battle against drug traffickers and other criminal gangs.In Ciudad Juarez, the four men were shot inside a go-cart rental at the Xtreme amusement park Wednesday night, said Alejandro Pariente, a spokesman for the local prosecutor.Elsewhere in the city, a used-car salesman was shot to death while driving down a main boulevard hours after leading hundreds of other business owners in a protest against kidnappings and extortion, Pariente said.In Tijuana, a 1-year-old boy was killed when the car he was riding in wrecked as the driver tried to flee a gunfight late Wednesday between police and three armed men, the state prosecutor's office said.

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Severed heads of four men have been delivered by a courier service to a police station in northern Mexico, according to the local authorities. The heads, all of men believed aged between 25-35, arrived last week in an icebox marked as containing vaccines. Police thought the package was meant for a local hospital - they only opened it on Monday, revealing the four heads. Police are investigating if the heads belong to any of the 10 local people who were kidnapped last week by gunmen.
The gruesome delivery was made in the town of Ascension, not far from Ciudad Juarez, close to the US border. Ciudad Juarez has a reputation as one of Mexico's most violent cities, with more than a quarter of the country's 3,800 drugs-related murders reported to have taken place there since the start of the year. The authorities have discounted reports that one of the heads may have been of a police commander who was kidnapped on 18 May this year.

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Edward Winterhalder, who was with the Bandidos for seven years and part of motorcycle clubs for 30 years, said bikie gangs were full of "loose cannons".
He said the person who killed Geelong Bandidos' member Ross Brand did not need authority from anyone to carry out the execution."If there is meth-amphetamine in the mix there is no telling what's happening next," he said."The only thing for sure is there will be more and more law enforcement and that's not good for any club long-term."At some point in time clubs will need to police themselves because it's inevitable the police and government will do it for them."They have to remove the loose cannons and drug dealers and remove crime from ranks of the motorcycle clubs, and that's worldwide."Mr Winterhalder left the bikie gang culture in 2003 to spend more time with his daughter, who is now aged 16, and concentrate on his construction company.The 51-year-old was the man who assimilated Canadian motorcycle club Rock Machine and turned it into the Bandidos after a bloody war with rival gang from Montreal the Hells Angels.Mr Winterhalder said Brand's murder at the Bandidos' Breakwater clubhouse on Wednesday could have been a scare tactic from a rival gang member who was more than likely drug-affected."It is disorganised crime, it's not like the mafia, whoever shot him (Brand) didn't have to have permission," he said. "It will be an individual making a decision on their own terms."You can't get in these guys' minds; most are whacked out on amphetamines." Mr Winterhalder said some joined bikie gangs to pursue their own criminal agendas and once inside conspired to build factions within the club."It's not a requirement to commit crimes (to be a Bandido) and a majority don't. The only thing they are guilty of is having too much fun at the weekend," he said.Mr Winterhalder said there was tension between members of the same motorcycle gang.He said when he was the head of the Bandidos' Oklahoma chapter kicking people out was not always possible."We tried to get rid of people but they are protected by other people and then it becomes difficult," he said.Mr Winterhalder said bikie gangs were usually tight knit and Brand's death would have a major impact in their club but pleaded for no revenge attacks."If they don't stop as a whole it's inevitable they will become extinct. The world is tired of bikies fighting with each other," he said.

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Alleged senior leaders of the city's faction of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13, were among 26 arrested in the city's Mission District and across the bay in Richmond, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Two others were charged separately, and 15 were in custody already in separate cases. Three are being sought. Racketeering charges were filed against 22 suspects accused of murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery, extortion, witness tampering, narcotics trafficking, transporting stolen vehicles. The indictment followed a three-year undercover investigation.“This investigation and the ensuing arrests have dealt a serious blow to what is arguably one of the most ruthless gang cliques currently operating in the Bay Area,” said Marcy Forman, director of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello called it a "major takedown." He said suspects include U.S. citizens, legal residents and illegal immigrants.
“There can be no doubt that the greatest threat to the peace and well-being of so many of our communities in this district and throughout the country, for that matter, is the lethal cocktail of drugs, gangs and guns. And among the gangs we in law enforcement are determined to bring to heel, none is more vicious, dangerous and indifferent to the rule of law than MS-13. They may see themselves as heroes, may try to recruit members by emphasizing their ‘machismo’ and terrorize the community by engaging in acts of wanton violence, but they are neither invisible nor invincible,” said United States Attorney Russoniello. “This coordinated effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies is but one more steady step in the process of taking back our communities and giving young people the chance to make meaningful good long-life choices... alternatives to the often short-term gratification that membership in a gang at best, offers.

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Rebels motorcycle gang has denied any involvement in the fatal shooting of a rival Bandidos gang member in Geelong.One Rebels gang member who answered the door at their clubhouse on an industrial site in north Geelong said the club was not involved in the murder of senior Bandido Ross "Rosco" Brand."We had nothing to do with it," he said.The gang member, sporting a tattoo of the American Confederate flag on his neck, also said the club had not yet been visited by detectives working on the case."No mate, we haven't seen them," he said.
Geelong is rife with rumours that a revenge attack is imminent following the death of Brand, who was shot in the head as he left the Bandidos clubhouse in the Geelong suburb of Breakwater on Wednesday night.The rumours also name the alleged murderer and say he won't live past the weekend.But investigating police, under the command of experienced Homicide Squad detective inspector Steve Clark, say they are not aware of any particular suspect.The Geelong chapters of the Bandidos and Rebels have waged a long running bloody feud.In recent years, Geelong police have investIgated a string of attacks on Rebel and Bandido members, while the Bandidos clubhouse has been shot at and the Rebels headquarters was firebombed.
Police suspected five Rebels gang members over a gun attack on Mr Brand's Torquay home last year.Det Insp Clark said police believe Mr Brand was targeted on Wednesday night.Floral tributes continued to be added outside the Bandidos' club at the Breakwater industrial site in south Geelong today with one describing Mr Brand as an "angel" and another saying "lost but not forgotten". A knock on the high security door that was guarded by a CCTV camera went unanswered.
Police are remaining tightlipped about the progress of their investigation saying they have a whole range of inquiries they are yet to make.Det Insp Clark said police are keeping an open mind on the shooting and are not necessarily assuming it was carried out by a rival gang.The 51 year-old bikie had prior convictions for violence, firearms and weapons.A volley of shots was fired from a white twin cab ute parked outside the clubhouse at the men as they left the premises just after 6pm

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Members of 20th Street clique, have been tied to at least five slayings in the city, including the June 22 killings in the Excelsior district of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. Police say the killer was trying to avenge a gang shooting from earlier in the day and mistook the Bolognas for rivals.An alleged MS-13 member, Edwin Ramos, has been charged with three counts of murder and has pleaded not guilty.The indictment ties members of the gang to two other San Francisco slayings: the July 31 stabbing death of 14-year-old Ivan Miranda during a robbery in the Excelsior involving an iPod, and the July 11 shooting of Armando Estrada, 30, of Rodeo, at 20th and Mission streets, officials said. Guillermo Herrera, 20, was identified in the federal indictment as the gunman in that killing, which occurred on turf the gang claims as its own.Walter Chinchilla-Linar, 22, and Cesar Alvarado, 18, reputed members of the gang, face federal charges in Miranda's death. Two juveniles, ages 16 and 17, also were charged Thursday in state court with Miranda's killing, the district attorney said.The latest arrests culminated a three-year investigation dubbed "Operation Devil Horns" - a reference to MS-13's gang sign - in which federal authorities set up an export warehouse in Richmond where undercover agents bought several guns and 16 vehicles allegedly stolen by gang members and their associates, prosecutors said. U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello, who alternatively referred to the suspects as hoodlums and thugs, hailed the arrests as a major takedown of gang members during a press conference Thursday at which he was joined by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and Police Chief Heather Fong. Twenty-two of those indicted face federal racketeering charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. The other seven are accused of committing 17 separate violent crimes, including one count involving murder, to assist racketeering. Prosecutors will seek "maximum possible penalties so we don't have to play cat and mouse in the future," Russoniello said. All told, 31 people with suspected ties to the gang have been charged in the recent sweep. Two others were charged separately from the 29 suspects who were indicted. Of the total, 15 were already in custody in separate cases, while three remain at large, federal authorities said. One suspect, John Briez, was arrested in Guam after boarding a flight bound for the Philippines Tuesday evening, said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Briez had more than $10,000 cash on him when he was arrested by federal agents, Kice said. Most of the arrests were made in raids Wednesday in San Francisco, Richmond, South San Francisco, Reno and elsewhere. The raids were denounced as heavy-handed by immigrant rights groups. Some San Francisco supervisors and candidates for supervisor seats also were critical of the raids.
Supervisor Tom Ammiano's office issued a statement saying federal agents brutally attacked a woman during one raid, "causing her to lose consciousness and require hospitalization."ICE agent Mark Wollman disputed that account, saying the woman fainted, was treated by medical personnel already on call, and released.

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500 youngsters are training in several military boot-camps. The FF+ warned that this was a 'volatile sign', noting the growing political unrest in South Africa and noting the great many inciting statements made by ANC leaders such as Ancyl secretary-general Isaac Mahlangu's call for members to 'murder the cockroaches that stand in our way". Incendiary speech and personal abuse have become the languages of discourse of the ANC alliance - and not being nipped in the bud by the leaders
The Natal Witness warned this week that 'this reluctance to act upon that first breach of discipline and good sense may yet cost the ANC dearly. Recent attempts by ANC greybeards to put the genie back in the box have had no effect. That is hardly surprising. As any parent knows, children are adept at reading the subtle clues as to how far they can go. The children of the ANC have read the signals and know that they have an unspoken licence to run riot...' The FF+ also warned that these sort of dehumanising descriptions of political opponents were very reminiscent of similar outbursts over the Hutu-radio stations during the horrible Rwanda genocide in 1994 - and warned that this was the result of 'years of muffled conflict and did not just happen on an impulse, it was well-planned...'ANCYL leader Julius Malema also recently said the group 'would kill for (ANC Party leader) Jacob Zuma..." the FF+ warned in its statement, also noting that Zuma himself is infamous for his incitement to violence by singing 'Bring Me My Machine Gun' at rallies. It's very popular in black SA youth culture, seeing Zuma as 'a revolutionary who will bring the LAND resources back to its indigenous owners'....

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Jesus Zambada Garcia is captured after a gun battle in Mexico City. He commanded one of four branches of the Sinaloa cartel, officials say.
Mexican authorities said Wednesday that they arrested a leading drug figure known as El Rey after a shootout in Mexico City early this week.
Jesus Zambada Garcia, the brother of a suspected drug kingpin in the western state of Sinaloa, was among 16 people captured Monday, Atty. Gen. Eduardo Medina Mora said.
The attorney general said Zambada, whose nickname means "the king," commanded one of four branches of the so-called Sinaloa cartel, leading its operations in central Mexico. Zambada is the brother of Ismael Zambada and an associate of Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the most-wanted trafficker in Mexico, officials said.
Jesus Zambada controlled smuggling of cocaine and chemical ingredients for the production of methamphetamine through Mexico City's airport, Medina Mora said. Authorities have focused attention in recent months on drug smugglers' use of the country's largest airport.Zambada has also been linked to gruesome drug killings in central and western Mexico, prosecutors said."The arrest of Jesus Zambada Garcia, the King, stands out, without a doubt, as one of the most significant by President [Felipe] Calderon's government to date," Medina Mora told reporters. "It is not the only one in recent months, nor will it be the last in the months to come." Investigators are looking into Zambada's possible role in the assassination of acting federal Police Chief Edgar Millan Gomez. The police commander was ambushed in May by a gunman in his Mexico City home, and authorities have long suspected that Sinaloa cartel traffickers were behind the slaying.Marisela Morales, who runs the organized-crime unit of the attorney general's office, called Zambada "one of the most important" smugglers of cocaine and methamphetamines into Mexico.
Zambada's arrest offered officials a much-needed chance to claim progress in their uphill battle against drug traffickers.Calderon declared a crackdown nearly two years ago, but drug-related violence has worsened despite some high-profile arrests and hefty drug seizures.The death toll this year has exceeded 3,500, according to unofficial tallies in the media, amid a wave of killings that has included decapitations, scorched bodies and a growing list of innocent victims.A grenade attack that killed eight civilians last month in the western state of Michoacan fed an increasing sense among Mexicans that their government is losing its war with well-armed drug gangs.In Monday's incident, police came under fire after being led to a house in northern Mexico City by a resident's tip. Police rounded up the 16 suspects but were not able to immediately confirm Zambada's identity, Morales said.
Prosecutors said Zambada's 21-year-old son, Jesus Zambada Reyes, and a nephew were among those arrested. On Wednesday, authorities lined up suspects and their seized weapons before news cameras, and police searched the house where the shootout took place.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday began a two-day visit with Mexican officials in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta that was to include discussion of Mexico's battle against traffickers.Mexican officials are eager for the release of a $400-million package of U.S. training and equipment, known as the Merida Initiative.

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Security forces in Abudwaq in central Somalia have shot dead two gang men in an operation against robber men pilfer the civilian vehicles use the roads in the town.
Reports from the town further say that the troops have met with the bandits while they were rummaging around the passengers of civilian vehicle in the town on Wednesday.Two other gangs were also injured in the attack while others escaped.
Authorities blame many attacks on armed militiamen, and evidence signalled involvement in recent killings.This comes following unidentified militiamen have killed four people in the central Somali town of Abudwaq on Sunday night in the first fatal attacks since the Islamist fighters left there.The late civilians were killed when six armed men have opened fire on the while they were sleeping in Dhabad village in Abudwaq of Galgadud region.Three other people were also injured in that attack.It's yet unknown groups/motives behind that killing but some reports say that It was clannish linked killing.The residents of the town have expressed additional concerns on the killing of the civilians.Islamic fighters who wrested control of the town from the tribal militiamen said they would track down the assailants although they've abruptly escaped from the scene after the killing.According to Islamists officials they set up in the town a militia force to enforce their interpretation of Islam and formed a court system that helped desperate Somalis settle disputes.

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Ross Brand, 51, of Torquay, was a Bandidos enforcer whom the Rebels gang blamed for a firebomb attack on their clubhouse last year.They also believe he was responsible for a series of assaults against Rebels members in a 2007 turf war.Police sources say Rebels bikies raided his house last year in a planned ambush but Mr Brand was not at home.Police say Mr Brand often carried a gun and they received reliable information last year that he had access to hand grenades. "His card has been marked for a couple of years," a local investigator said.Police say they have yet to establish a motive for the killing but are investigating inter-gang rivalry as a possible reason.A group of younger Rebels members known as "DBD" - Death Before Dishonour - are believed responsible for a series of attacks on the Bandidos.
Mr Brand was shot, possibly with a .22 semi-automatic, when he left the clubhouse with three other men about 6.10pm on Wednesday.He was taken to the Geelong Hospital and later flown to The Alfred hospital, where he died from a head wound at 1.50am yesterday.A second man, 34, who was also shot, had surgery yesterday to remove shotgun pellets from his arm, buttocks and leg.The attack was on Geelong Cup race day, a public holiday, which meant the industrial estate around the Bandidos' clubhouse was deserted at the time of the shooting.Police have yet to establish whether the shooting was planned or an opportunistic drive-by attack. A white utility was seen speeding from the scene.It is known that members of the Bandidos and Rebels had been drinking during the day.Homicide detectives yesterday were scanning closed-circuit television tapes from cameras mounted at the clubrooms

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Drug cartel leader who directed cocaine trafficking through Mexico City’s international airport was arrested after a shootout in the capital, prosecutors said Wednesday.Jesus “The King” Zambada was among 16 Sinaloa cartel members arrested Monday after a gunbattle with police in which an apparent grenade explosion destroyed a car, Attorney General Eduardo Medina said. Zambada’s son, his nephew, two federal police officers and one state police officer were also among those arrested.Zambada was identified as the brother of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who allegedly heads the cartel along with one of Mexico’s most wanted men, Joaquin Guzman.Medina described Jesus Zambada as one of the top four leaders of the cartel. He was allegedly in charge of operations in central Mexico, including cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking through the capital city’s international airport. He is suspected in the death of several people found decapitated around the airport in 2007, Medina said.“He is one of most important importers of cocaine and methamphetamine to this country from South America,” said Marisela Morales, head of the organized crime division at the Attorney General’s Office.The Sinaloa cartel has suffered several blows since President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of federal troops and police across the country two years ago to seize back territory from drug gangs.
In January, police arrested Alfredo Beltran Leyva, one of five brothers believed to have been top lieutenants of the Sinaloa cartel, based in the northwestern Mexican state of the same name. Federal officials say Beltran Leyva brothers have broken away from the Sinaloa cartel.“The arrest of Jesus Reynaldo Zambada Garcia stands out, without a doubt, as one of the most significant of the government of President Calderon,” Medina said.He said authorities have arrested nearly 48,000 drug cartel members since Calderon took office in December 2006, seized nearly 69 tons of cocaine and recovered more than 24,000 illegal weapons.Despite high-profile drug arrests, homicides and shootouts linked to the drug trade has surged across Mexico, particularly along the northern border with the United States. Fighting between drug gangs have become increasingly brutal, with piles of bodies — sometimes decapitated — turning up in public. Cartels have stepped up attacks on police, gunning them down in their homes or headquarters.Prosecutors said Zambada was suspected of having a role in a failed bomb attack against a Mexico city police commander in February and in the May 8 assassination of acting Mexican federal police chief Edgar Millan.
Millan was shot inside his Mexico City home five months after announcing the arrests of 11 alleged hit men linked to the Beltran Leyva brothers.El Universal newspaper reported Wednesday that, by its count, at least 4,000 people have been killed across Mexico this year, a record number. Federal authorities have acknowledged that homicides have surged, though they do not regularly release homicide figures.Zambada gave a false name upon his arrest, and it took several days for investigators to confirm his identity, said Morales. The 16 suspects were lined up in front of reporters Wednesday, standing behind a table cluttered with weapons seized after the shootout.None of the 16 suspects have been charged. Morales said prosecutors would ask a court to order them jailed while investigations continue.

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Stuart Hannan appeared in the witness box at Teesside Crown Court to give evidence against the man who allegedly attempted to murder him on August 5 last year - Mark Bennett.But under cross-examination yesterday by Bennett’s defence barrister, Tom Mitchell, the court heard allegations Mr Hannan was trying to make himself the “boss” of Grangetown.Mr Mitchell told the court how Mr Hannan’s cousin Lee Hannan was killed on Tennyson Avenue in Grangetown on December 29, 2006, by Shaun “Wellard” Martin.The barrister explained to the jury how the death had occurred following an arranged street fight between Stuart Hannan and Martin.He asked Mr Hannan if he blamed himself for his cousin’s death and if he was keen on revenge when Martin was found guilty of manslaughter but not murder.“The fact is since that day you have pursued a mission to get back at anyone who had anything to do with the Martin camp, is that right?” said Mr Mitchell, “No,” replied Mr Hannan.
“You have spent the last, nearly two years, trying to destroy everyone for who, in part, is responsible for Lee Hannan’s death, is that right?” “No,” came the response.
Mr Mitchell went on: “Is it true that you yourself had a hit list of people to sort out after the trial ended?” asked Mr Mitchell, to which Mr Hannan replied: “No.”
The barrister said the list included “anyone who had ever said the words Shaun and Martin in the same breath,” which 27-year-old Mr Hannan again denied.“That, of course, put Mark Bennett on your shopping list as well, didn’t it?” said Mr Mitchell, “no” came the response.The barrister went on: “There are any number of people out there you hate, true?”The witness said: “Just associated with the Bennett gang, yes.”“And any number of people out there who you have had a really good go at, true?”“No,” was the reply.Stuart Hannan told the court he had been arrested “about 20 times” in the last two years and had his house searched “about ten times”.
Among the items found in his property on St Patrick’s Road in Grangetown were Samurai swords found under his bed, which he insisted were “ornamental”, and on another occasion an axe and walkie-talkies.Mr Mitchell also accused Mr Hannan of being a “car ringer”, of planning post office robberies, shooting at people with a sniper rifle out of the door of his parents’ pub - The Magnet - stealing, burning out cars, violence and other criminal activities.“Do you consider yourself to be a tough man?” Mr Hannan was asked. “No,” he replied. “Do you in fact consider yourself to be the hardest man in Grangetown?” “Not one bit.”Despite the extensive cross examination of Mr Hannan, the matter the jury have to decide on is whether Mark James Bennett, 31, of Bolckow Road, is guilty of trying to kill Mr Hannan in a drive-by shooting.Bennett is alleged to be the gunman who fired two shots from a car outside Mr Hannan’s home in St Patrick’s Road, Grangetown.Bennett denies charges of attempted murder, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

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Convicted 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas and New York Magazine charged they were libeled by Lucas' assertions that the narcotics officers stole "9 to 10 million dollars" during a search of his posh home in 1975. Former Drug Enforcement Administration agents and New York City detectives have filed a libel suit against convicted drug lord 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas and New York Magazine.
This is the second attempt the agents have made to sue over Lucas related allegations. An earlier suit against NBC Universal was dismissed by the federal court in New York. It charged the agents were defamed in the closing credits of the movie "American Gangster" which asserted that the narcotics cops involved in the Lucas case were corrupt. The suit is currently on appeal.

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Joe Krantz was killed just after 9 p.m. at his club, within the Simba Centre mall in the 2100-block of Clearbrook Rd., just off the Trans-Canada Highway. Krantz, an accused trafficker with the Independent Soldiers' gang, was gunned down in Abbotsford Monday at the extreme fighting club he had been running for two years.His friends continue to praise him online as a great dad to the little girl.
But the document prepared after a police raid on their home six months ago tells a different story.The young child said her dad "has a backpack full of money" in the girl's laundry basket."He gives it [the backpack] to his friends and they bring it back in the laundry basket," she said.The girl drew pictures for the social worker of two backpacks in the apartment - one blue and one pink - with coins in the top one and little tied-up bags in the other."The blue one has money in it and the pink one has cut up white rocks," she said.She also drew her own face in a heart shape with a ragged line running down the middle.She described "how dad had a large flat white rock. It is soft, dad cuts it up; makes them into pieces of dust; puts them into cute little bags; puts them into the backpack and sells them or has friends sell them."She said she often went on errands with Krantz."They go to his friend's house with the white rocks," the report said. "One girl that sells for dad lives in their old house."Krantz was arrested April 15 and charged with nine gun and drug trafficking charges after a one-month Abbotsford police investigation into an alleged dial-a-dope ring.In the apartment where his daughter slept, police found 4.5 ounces of powder cocaine packaged in 133 baggies; 8.7 oz. of crack cocaine packaged in 251 baggies; 2 oz. of heroin packaged in 456 flaps, a loaded 9 mm handgun with spare magazine; a loaded .380 calibre handgun; six cellphones and a BlackBerry; two sets of brass knuckles; about $8,000 in cash; body armour; score sheets; day and night shift schedules for drug runners and product inventory sheets with codes for cocaine and heroin.There was gang paraphernalia with both the Independent Soldiers logo and that of the Hells Angels Nomads chapter.Both loaded guns were on the kitchen counter.The girl is quoted in the report as saying she had not seen guns or bullets at her dad's house.But she did say Krantz also had a machine to "grind up the green moss," 1,000 lighters and "flavoured paper that dad puts the green tobacco in.""Dad says it is for his friends, but one day she saw them outside sharing the cigarette. The girl that lives at their old house does it too - her house stinks."
The child said her dad made his girlfriend "take the rocks to his friend's homes."
She said her dad is really rich and bought her a queen-sized bed and a plasma TV."[His dad's girlfriend] and dad always get really mad at her when she talks about money. They yell at her and send her to her room," the report says. "Dad screams at her 'Don't talk about my money to other people.'"She said she "remembers talking about how rich her dad was, he got so mad and grounded her, hit her and took away her Nintendo DS."The girl "never told anyone about dad hitting her because she thought he would get mad at her again."The report says the child only stayed with her dad on the weekends.It quotes the girl saying Krantz spoke a lot about "hockey equipment" though she didn't know why.But the drug inventory sheets seized from the residence list crack cocaine, powdered cocaine and heroin as "small helmets," "large helmets," and "shin pads."Investigators probing Krantz's slaying made a public plea Wednesday for potential witnesses to come forward."Through inquiries, investigators have established that there were a number of potential witnesses to activities that were going on in the area on the night of the murder," said Cpl. Dale Carr, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. "Often times witnesses have seen something that they are not aware is a linking piece of information."

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Ross Brand, 51, of Torquay, who died after he was shot in the head outside the clubhouse in the Geelong suburb of Breakwater.A 34-year-old Geelong West man, who was walking with Brand at the time of the attack, was wounded. He has spoken to police and was expected to be operated on today.Individual mourners and small groups of grievers have been leaving tributes at the scene of the shooting, almost all refusing to speak to waiting media.A man and a woman in their 20s and a boy who appeared to be about 11 arrived mid-afternoon. The adults sat and drank from pre-mixed alcohol bottles. They left one of the drinks, as well as a teddy bear with a cigarette tucked in its collar and a card addressed simply: "To Dad".
Another card read: "Dad, I really don't know what to write. I wish I didn't have 2 write anything but here we are ... we're all going to miss you so f---king much. You were one of a kind that's 4 sure. You'll always be with us. Love you so much, so very much, xxx, love always ...". It was signed with three names.Another card, carrying one of the same names, read: "Rosco maybe lost but not forgotten ..."Floral tributes for Brand have been also left at the clubhouse.One woman, who said she was the deceased bikie's niece, left a bouquet and a pre-mixed alcoholic drink.
Meanwhile, police said the shooting might have been captured on security cameras at the clubhouse. Homicide detectives said Bandido members were co-operating with police and had provided security video footage from cameras on the roof of the club house.

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The Calgary gangster with a deportation order hanging over his head remains behind bars despite an Immigration decision releasing him on bail, a government spokesman said yesterday. Derrick Pieters, with the federal department of justice, said Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen has not been able to come up with suitable individuals to post two $10,000 bonds. Nguyen was ordered released by an Immigration division member on Oct. 2, a decision initially appealed by the government before it was abandoned last Friday. The reason for the abandonment is not known. But Pieters said a condition of the release order, that Nguyen find someone suitable to post his bail, has not been met. "He has to come up with the $20,000 in bond, providing it is someone who meets the criteria ... of an acceptable bondsperson," Pieters told the Sun. He said the Canada Border Services Agency has guidelines which have to be met for that to happen. "There must be proof that the money was obtained by legitimate means," Pieters said. Nguyen, who is also known as Jackie Tran and Nghia Trong Nguyen-Tran, has been in custody since his arrest Jan. 10 on a CBSA warrant.The warrant was issued after he failed to show up for an appeal earlier that day of his deportation order. Nguyen, 26, was initially ordered returned to Vietnam on April 20, 2004, after he was convicted in March 2003 of assault with a weapon and trafficking a narcotic the previous June. Police and CBSA officials say Nguyen is a known gang member and his presence in the community would put the public at risk. But Immigration official Paul Kyba said the agency knew of Nguyen's criminal organization affiliation before the Jan. 10 hearing, but never tried to have him detained for that until he failed to show up for his appeal. Since then a federal court judge has ordered a new appeal, meaning Nguyen can't be booted from the country until at least that second hearing, currently scheduled for next week.

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The dead man has not been officially named, but was named by Garda sources as Gavin McCarthy, with an address at Oriel Street, close to where he was gunned down. The shooting took place outside a pub in Dublin's north inner city.It was the 16th gun murder of the year, with two other men missing and presumed shot dead.The victim was one a group of people standing outside Noctor's Pub, Sheriff Street, Dublin 1, when a gunman opened fire, wounding him in the face a number of times.The victim was immediately put in the back of a car and taken to the Mater Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.The scene of the shooting was sealed off and a murder investigation was begun.The attackis believed to be linked to a long-running feud between criminals from the north inner city.Last night's killing was the third gun murder to take place in the area in two years, despite an intensive policing operation put in place there to help stem the violence.The latest attack will increase fears that the feud, which has now claimed four lives, is escalating after a period of relative calm in recent months.That feud began when well-known drug dealer and armed robber Christy Griffin, who was jailed for life in April 2007 after being convicted of raping a young girl, was first accused of the crime.Griffin (38), Ridgewood Green, Swords, and formerly of Canon Lillis Ave, Dublin 1, was the leader of a major criminal gang which split when he was accused of rape.One faction supported Griffin, while the other faction believed his victim's account and formed a faction opposed to Griffin and his associates.Both sides have targeted each other through shootings and grenade attacks. While the incidents have mainly taken place in the north inner city, the violence has spread as far as Swords and Finglas.
Before last night's killing three other men had lost their lives in violence related to the feud.In December 2006, as Griffin's rape trial approached, two men - Gerard Byrne and Stephen Ledden - were shot dead in feud-related attacks.Ledden (28), was shot in the head at Oriel Street, Dublin 1, on December 27th, 2006. Byrne (25), of Ferryman's Crossing, Dublin 1, was shot dead in the IFSC on December 13th, 2006

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Delphon Nicholas, 29, arranged for his former childhood friend Andrew Wanoghu to be shot in the back by a hired assassin.Nicholas was convicted of murder in one of the first cases of its kind to be successfully prosecuted.Delphon Nicholas, left, is facing a life sentence after arranging for hitman Trevor Dennie, right, to shoot Andrew WanoghuWhile mobile phones are banned from British jails, many are smuggled into prisons.Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee told jurors that Nicolas 'orchestrated the execution from inside Belmarsh security prison by using a mobile telephone he had access to'.He added: 'He had been set up for execution. It is a world where grievances are met with lethal firearms, no matter how disproportionate.'
Wanoghu was no stranger to the criminal justice system - and was once charged with murder - for the 2002 shooting of Damien Cope, 22, whose mother Lucy went on to form the charity Mothers Against Guns, but the case collapsed due to lack of evidence.
Andrew Wanagho was shot after being lured into a trap
Nicholas fell out with Wanoghu over a drug deal that went sour and the two had a fist fight which Wanoghu won. In revenge, Wanoghu robbed Nicholas' father on Valentines Day 2006.Nicholas enlisted another childhood friend, Trevor Dennie to carry out the 'hit'. Dennie had fallen out with the victim after his mother Susan gave a statement to police about Damien Cope's murder. Dennie was heard telling a friend: 'I have had enough of Andy. he's gone too far.'The chance for revenge came on the night of April 7, 2006, when a friend of Nicholas', Michael Williams, got into a row with the victim in a nightclub in Lewisham, south-east London.
Williams was threatened with a beating for calling Wanoghu an 'idiot.'
Over the next hour mobile phone records showed Dennie repeatedly spoke to Nicholas, behind bars a few miles away, on a mobile phone that had been smuggled into his prison cell.It was claimed that Nicholas persuaded an ex-girlfriend, Sereata Barrie, 29, to lure Wanoghu to an ambush outside her house in Brockley, south-east London.



At 1.30am on 8 April 2006, Dennie fired the bullet that passed through Wanoghu's heart.Nicholas denied murder, and said of Wanoghu: 'It would be hard for you to find someone with more enemies than him in the whole of London. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.'Barrie, an aspiring rapper who described herself as 'La Femme Nikita' in a lyric after a film in which a female assassin lures a man to his death, was cleared of murder by a jury, as were two other men allegedly involved in the killing.
Nicholas, of no fixed address, and Dennie, of Deptford south-east London were both convicted of murder, which they denied, and will be sentenced on Friday at the Old Bailey.To combat the menace of mobile phones in jail, the prison service has recently begun trials in training sniffer dogs specialised in detecting them.
Nicholas and Dennie began life sentences for the murder of Wanogho yesterday, closing the final chapter on the story of a gun that ended the life of one veteran gangster before initiating a young boy to follow in his footsteps.

This gun was used in at least seven shootings, including one murder, as it was passed between hoods, rented out or stolen by rival street gangs in the UK. Its discovery has added much needed information to senior police officers who admit there is a significant intelligence gap on criminal weaponry.Unlike many firearms used in London, Manchester and Birmingham, cities that account for 60% of serious gun crime by gangs, RS1 is a real weapon, not a converted replica. Its magazine held commercially manufactured ammunition, rather than "homemade" bullets - something often seen by detectives - and the ageing weapon was probably purchased for between £500 and £1,000.The trail left by the firearm can be reported following the life sentences handed down yesterday to two street gangsters for murder.It was discovered on a November morning in 2006 when a teenage boy set off for school telling his mother not to look in his room. Whether it was something in his tone, or just a mother's instinct, she ignored him. In his bedroom he kept a toy safe for his belongings, and inside she found the gun. She called the police and the firearm was taken away to a forensics laboratory where it was identified as a CZ .32 Colt Model 1927, manufactured by Ceska Zbrojovka of Strakonice, Czechoslovakia. The gun was loaded, with three live rounds in the magazine. A bullet was lodged in the barrel.
A few weeks later Detective Inspector Dave Manning, of the Metropolitan police's Trident unit, received a telephone call. After more than eight months investigating the murder of a notorious drug dealer, killer and kidnapper called Andrew Wanogho, he had all but given up on receiving such a contact.His inquiry was fraught with difficulties. At 26, the victim was running a syndicate of teenage armed robbers who would also do his drug running. Shortly before his murder Wanogho complained to the woman he called his "baby mother" - the mother of his child - that he did not have a friend left in the world.His killing was, on the face of it, just another inner city gangland shooting; the sort officers from Trident deal with all the time but which pass almost un-noticed by the media.But this inquiry opened a window on to a criminal subculture which exists cheek by jowl with ordinary families in ordinary neighbourhoods; the class A drug dealing, the incredible reach of the criminal networks, the threatening and taking of lives, the kidnappings, sexual violence, extortion and witness intimidation. And at the heart of it all, the tool used to enforce and protect: the gun.Wanogho, known as Sparks, was a powerful amateur boxer who had fought successfully in the United States. Held in awe and fear in equal measure by his peers, he was seen as a protector by some but a mercurial and extremely violent man by others. A Pentecostal pastor described to the 350 people at his funeral in Brockley, south London, how he would push his disabled brother to church each week in a wheelchair. Less was said of his history of violence.
"He was a formidable boxer and would beat people to a pulp and get pleasure out of it," said one source. He once kidnapped and tortured a bus driver whose brother was a rival drug dealer. The man was driven to a flat and chained to a radiator before Wanogho held a hot iron against his face. It was all done to intimidate the man's brother into giving up his drug stash. Four years before his murder Wanogho was charged with the murder of a man shot dead outside an east London nightclub. He escaped conviction after two witnesses withdrew their evidence because they were in fear of their lives.In August 2005, Wanogho survived an assassination attempt as he left a courtroom where he had watched a girlfriend plead guilty to possession of one of his guns in order to save him from jail. Eight months later he was not so lucky.
Manning was convinced the hit on Wanogho in April 2006 had been organised by an inmate at HMP Belmarsh on a mobile phone that was smuggled into the prison system and which, investigations revealed, had made 17,000 calls in seven months. But facing a wall of silence, Trident officers spent months scanning thousands of pages of mobile records until a pattern emerged. The inmate, Delphon Nicholas, had made a flurry of calls in the hours before the killing to his best friend, a gunman, rapist and drug trafficker called Trevor Dennie.Both men had fallen out with Wanogho over drugs and women and Dennie was heard telling a friend: "I've had enough of Andy, he's gone too far. He's barred from the ends." At 1.30am on April 8 2006 Wanogho stepped out of a car outside the home of Nicholas's former girlfriend. He told Sean Albert, who had driven him, that he was "up for a bit of a shagging".
Albert drove a discreet distance away to wait until he was called again. But Dennie was lying in wait and as Albert pulled up a few houses down the road he heard a series of gun shots in rapid succession. He looked in his rear view mirror and saw Wanogho, head down, sprinting towards him. But just as he reached the car he crumpled to the ground, hit in the back by a bullet that pierced his heart.
On Wanogho's body police found the incongruous possessions of a Class A drug dealer and gangster - a £17,000 diamond encrusted Cartier watch and £1.11 in cash. They also recovered two of the four bullets fired, including one that had ricocheted off a parked car and landed in a front garden.The closest they got to the gun, however, was a witness who described seeing Dennie brandishing it over his head at an east London nightclub a few hours later and boasting that he had killed Wanogho.Eight months on Manning was told that the gun found in a 14-year-old boy's bedroom was his murder weapon. Somehow it had passed from Dennie through several hands to being stored by the boy on the orders of an older hood, probably as some kind of initiation rite. Ballistics tests showed that the .32 caliber handgun had been used in at least seven shootings in less than two years, six in south London and one in Sussex.On New Year's Eve in 2004 a police officer was responding to a 999 call from a victim of a robbery in Brockley Cross, in the heart of what Dennie described as his "manor". He arrived to find three men nearby, and as he walked up to speak to them, the trio ran. But one man turned, pulled a gun and shot at the constable as he fled.This time the bullet missed its target. Police made inquiries but never made any headway. No arrests were made and the firearm disappeared back into the shadows.
It emerged 10 months later at the Cube nightclub in Camberwell Green, south London, in a petty dispute. The victim happened to bump into a man as he went to the toilet and was shot in the thigh for his clumsiness.In April 2006 the handgun reached its zenith with the murder of Wanogho, leaving a bullet lodged in his heart and two others at the scene which provided the vital link. Three weeks after the murder the firearm emerged once more at M-Blax nightclub in Peckham. At around 5.40am in the final hour of clubbing, a group of young men from a north London gang burst into the venue carrying weapons, intent on shooting up their south London rivals. Clubbers screamed and ran as a gunfight broke out in the crowded club. At least 21 shots were fired and three men were taken to hospital. Cartridges found at the scene matched the firearm found in the boy's bedroom.By June 2006 the gun had been passed on or stolen once more, its value by now diminished because of its use in a murder. It appeared again at the unlikely venue of Pontins in Camber Sands, when a group of teenagers from the capital travelled to the Sussex holiday camp for an urban music weekend. Large crowds gathered on the Sunday at the main hip hop stage, but in the midst off the rave the sound of gunshots sent young people running for cover. By the time local police arrived with firearms teams the elusive weapon had melted away into the background once more.A month later it was back in south London again, when shots were fired at a car. The gun was probably last used in the autumn of 2006 when it was accidentally fired by a would-be gangster.In the remaining four weeks of its criminal life the firearm was passed into the hands of the teenage boy, who according to sources, was bullied by the hoods because he suffered from Asperger's syndrome.It provided a forensic treasure trove. "It is quite rare to recover guns at all, so to recover a weapon that is linked to seven shootings is unusual," said Manning. "Everyone talks about guns being available on street corners, but it's not quite as easy as that to get hold of one. It's even more difficult to get hold of real ammunition."The boy's experience gave credence to anecdotal evidence that criminals are forcing younger boys to store their guns to test their metal and once the gun was found the teenager was said to be terrified of repercussions. But his mother's actions in calling the police perhaps saved him from being sucked into a life of crime.

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Chin Kok Wah, 33, owned a unit in the same block and had rented the snooker centre located on the second floor as a hideout over the past year for his gang to carry out drug trafficking, armed robbery and loan sharking activities.Kuala Lumpur police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Muhammad Sabtu Osman said the man had opened fire at a policeman and three officers from the Serious Crimes Investigation Department (D9) as they entered the premises at 10.40am yesterday.“He shot once, but missed. My men returned fire and instantly killed him.“A check later revealed that his Colt .45 automatic pistol had a bullet jammed in the chamber,” he said.The man is believed to have been under surveillance for a week before police moved in on him and investigations show that he had been robbing cash from security vans in Selangor.
“Also recovered were five bullets of the same calibre, two pump gun shells, two machetes, a handcuff, a light baton and a taxi believed to have been used when he carried out his criminal activities to avoid detection,” DCP Sabtu said.DCP Sabtu said police were on the lookout for at least six other group members aged between 25 and 30.Meanwhile, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok who lives in a condominium nearby was shocked when told a shooting had occurred near her home.“I will immediately contact my condominium’s resident association to discuss installing CCTV and beef up security,” she said.

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Ronald Costello testified that when a former cohort threatened to tell the FBI about his loan sharking activities unless he paid him some money, he immediately reached out to two of Boston's most notorious gangsters, James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi.Costello said he told the mobsters that Edward "Brian" Halloran, a loan shark awaiting trial for murder in Boston, sent a friend to warn him that he "was going to the feds if I didn't give him money."He admitted that he could not remember exactly when he told Bulger and Flemmi that Halloran was threatening to cooperate, but thought it was about a month or two before Bulger shot Halloran and another man to death during a drive-by shooting on Boston's waterfront in May 1982.Costello, who said he now works for the MBTA and lives in Winthrop, was called by the defense at the murder trial of retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr. in an effort to cast doubt on claims that Connolly instigated Halloran's death by warning Bulger he was cooperating with the FBI.Sixty-eight-year-old Connolly, who retired from the FBI in 1990, is on trial for a different murder, the August 1982 slaying in Florida of Boston business consultant John B. Callahan. He is accused of warning Bulger and Flemmi, both longtime FBI informants, that Callahan was being sought for questioning by the FBI and would probably implicate them in the slayings of Halloran and a Tulsa businessman.However, prosecutors have been allowed to present additional evidence in a bid to prove that Connolly had a corrupt relationship with his informants, including allegations that he provoked Halloran's slaying.During cross-examination, Costello testified that he met Connolly at a bar in Faneuil Hall in Boston sometime in 1982 and the agent told him that Bulger and Flemmi liked Costello."Did you think it was unusual for an FBI agent to be telling you at a bar that two known criminals liked you?" asked Miami-Dade assistant state attorney Michael Von Zamft."No," Costello said. "I was drunk, coked up, I was crossed up. Everybody was my friend, except for Halloran."The defense also called two police officers who investigated prior attacks on Halloran, in a attempt to show that he was targeted long before he was killed.Boston Police Detective Timothy Lynch testified that he responded to a call of shots fired near a union hall in Dorchester on June 6, 1981, and found Halloran sitting in a parking lot uninjured in his Cadillac, its rear window shattered by bullets.Retired Quincy Police Detective David Schofield testified that he investigated a report that a gun was fired at Halloran's Quincy condo in April 1981. He said he found a bullet mark on the building, and that Halloran told him he suspected it was fired by one of his loan shark victims, whose leg he had broken.Yesterday, before the jury came into the courtroom, Connolly had an emotional reunion with his 17-year-old twin sons, who came to court for the first time since testimony began five weeks ago. He had not seen them in more than four years and remarked over how tall they were.Connolly, who is serving a 10-year prison term for a 2002 federal racketeering conviction, hugged each of the teenagers and chatted for several minutes, separated by a railing that divides the spectator section from the interior courtroom. He took off his eyeglasses and wiped tears from his eyes.

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Nghia Trong Nguyen-Tran, known as Jackie Tran, was granted approval to be released. No other details of the ruling were available yesterday. Tran, 25, has been at the Calgary Remand Centre since January when he was picked up by police on an immigration warrant while at a viewing for slain gangster Mark Kim. One day before his arrest, he failed to show up for his appeal of his deportation order. Given Tran is a convicted criminal, tagged by cops as a gangster, many are baffled by the latest development. "I think, like most Calgarians, I shake may head in disbelief and disgust," said Mayor Dave Bronconnier."Our police are working around the clock, rounding up bad guys and this becomes this turnstile justice system that costs us an absolute fortune as taxpayers. "We should take all measures to ensure that those who pose a danger to Calgarians remain confined." Calgary Police Association president John Dooks said the newest twist in the Tran case puts public safety on the backburner and underscores the need for legislative changes to close such loopholes.
"It's ridiculous -- a potential dangerous offender ordered for deportation has enough avenues of recourse to prevent that deportation for four years," he said. "Any time there's a potential dangerous offender released ... we have to expect acts of violence to follow." In January, Tran pleaded for his release, saying he's a hard-working immigrant not a gangster. But a federal official, citing his links to gangs, ordered him detained until his deportation to Vietnam.
A Canada Border Services Agency hearings officer ruled him a flight risk, a threat to public safety and at risk of rival gang violence. Organized Crime Operations Centre Staff Sgt. Gord Eiriksson said yesterday police will "do their best" to ensure Tran abides by his conditions while in the community. He said the case is disappointing and spawns fears of potential violence. "It's frustrating to think of how many hours and resources and money is spent putting people behind bars," he said. "When you feel you have reached a successful conclusion, having someone involved in criminal activity actually deported from the country -- to find they are being released after four years, it's difficult to understand. "Once again ... we don't realize the fruits of our labours. "He's concerned for his safety and we're concerned for his safety and for public safety." CBSA spokeswoman Lisa White said removal orders are acted on as quickly as possible while respecting available avenues of appeal. CBSA "has an obligation to remove any person that has been issued a removal order ... as soon as possible," she said. "However, everyone who is ordered removed from Canada is entitled to due process before the law and all removal orders and decisions are subject to various levels of recourse and appeal."
Tran, who came to Canada in 1993 and was ordered deported in 2004, was a member of a gang involved in at least eight homicides in Calgary.

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Nicolo Rizzuto was smiling and waving to family members after the 84-year-old father of the reputed head of the Montreal Mafia was given a suspended sentence and probation on yesterday.The Crown acknowledged police were not thorough enough in following the money trail in their investigation of Rizzuto, the father of alleged Mafia kingpin Vito Rizzuto.Nicolo Rizzuto pleaded guilty last month to two charges -- possessing goods obtained through criminal gains and possession of proceeds of crime for the benefit of a criminal organization.Crown prosecutor Yvan Poulin noted that Rizzuto had already served two years and the court decided that would count as four years."So, today he's gonna be on probation for three years,'' Poulin said.
Poulin said evidence gathered by the RCMP during a four-year investigation showed Rizzuto possessed an unknown amount of proceeds of crime.Rizzuto was arrested as part of a large police sweep in November 2006 dubbed Project Colisee.Rizzuto's grandson and other close family members were among those who packed the courtroom for the sentencing.Poulin said the prosecution decided to suggest a sentence of four years after considering Rizzuto's age and fragile health.They also took into consideration the limited role he played in the organization which was involved in importing and exporting drugs through Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.A total of $4 million was seized during the 2006 police operation but Poulin said no money was confiscated at Rizzuto's home.Rizzuto was expected to be freed from prison last night.Four other alleged Mafiosi who also pleaded guilty to various charges, including gangsterism, were sentenced along with Rizzuto and were given prison terms of between six and 15 years.

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Delphon Nicholas used a smuggled mobile phone to order hitman Trevor Dennie to shoot a hated rival. The pair were convicted of murder at the Old Bailey and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years.The court had heard how Nicholas, 29, of Sydenham, was in Belmarsh after an arrest on firearms charges later dropped when he arranged the killing of Andrew Wanoghu. Wanoghu, 26, a former boxer who fought under the nickname "The Assassin", was a drug dealer involved in a long-running dispute with the gangster.In April 2006 Wanoghu went to Brockley for a drugs deal and was shot dead in Pendrell Road by hooded gunman Dennie, 33, of Deptford.Passing sentence, Judge Richard Hone said: "You are two cold blooded killers. You both exude an aura of violence. There is no mitigation."He added nine months to Nicholas's term after the thug started beating up his girlfriend, Sereata Barrie, in the dock as the jury retired to consider their verdict. Barrie, 29, Erron Cato, 25, and Michael Williams, 28, were cleared of involvement in the murder.Wanoghu had been prime suspect in the shooting of Damien Cope, 22, whose mother Lucy went on to form the charity Mothers Against Guns.

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