Italian shopkeepers pay about 250 million euros (203 million pounds) a day to Mafia protection rackets and loan sharks and fear the current downturn could allow the mob to further tighten its stranglehold on the vulnerable economy.The warning came on Tuesday from the Italian shopkeepers' association Confesercenti, many of whose members are frightened into paying the "pizzo" -- as protection money is known -- to the various regional crime groups in southern Italy."The economic crisis makes the Mafia even more dangerous," said Confesercenti Chairman Marco Venturi, presenting a study called "Crime's Hold on Business.""Mafia businesses threaten to use the economy's weakness and uncertainty to strengthen their position," he said, urging banks and government to secure credit so that desperate firms do not turn to loan sharks, though an estimated 180,000 already have.The four biggest mafias -- Calabria's 'Ndrangheta, Sicily's Cosa Nostra, Naples' Camorra and Puglia's Sacra Corona Unita -- make up "a huge holding company with total turnover of about 130 billion euros and profits approaching 70 billion euros."This chimes with recent data suggesting that these groups' combined earnings would make them the biggest company in Italy, equivalent to a large chunk of the country's economic output.Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said last month that the 'Ndrangheta alone, which, with its hold on the European drugs market, has outgrown the Cosa Nostra, makes 45 billion euros a year, which he said was "almost 3 percent of GDP."The new study focussed on Mafia activities directly relating to the business world, from protection money and usury to night clubs, restaurants, building, butchers, fish markets, bakeries and even funerals -- a commercial empire worth about 92 billion euros a year or 6 percent of the economy, the association said

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Joseph 'Benbow' Barrett, alleged leader of the Jones Town-based Joe Benbow gang, and his three co-accused, held for the recent seizure of four illegal guns, appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday. Barrett was charged by police early last week following investigations into the seizure of the guns and more than 20 rounds of ammunition. Also charged are Trudy-Ann Warren, 31, of South Anderson Crescent in Kingston, Marsha Marie Alexandria Johnson, 24, and Wayne Johnson, 35, also called 'Howard Johnson', a taxi operator, both of Benbow Street in Jones Town, St Andrew. All are charged with conspiracy to deceive customs, importation of firearms, conspiracy to import prohibited goods, conspiracy to import firearms and ammunition and conspiracy to import restricted goods. Allegations are that Warren went to the Norman Manley International Airport to collect a package. She declared the package contained baby clothes, but police already knew that it contained four 9mm pistols and 26 rounds of ammunition. A sting operation was set up and Warren was seen entering a vehicle occupied by Marsha and Wayne Johnson. The car was intercepted and they told police the package was to be delivered to Barrett in Port Royal. One Glock-40, one 9mm Browning, one Springfield 9mm and one .45 Ruger pistol and ten .45 rounds and sixteen 9mm rounds were seized. Subsequent investigations led to a search for Barrett who surrendered to police the same day in his attorney's presence. Barrett is also charged with breaching the conditions of bail he received in connection with a murder and shooting. The police say he allegedly failed to obey the conditions of the house-arrest order. The matter returns to court on November 21.

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Gang leader, identified as Dave Sterling, alias 'Machine Man', was shot dead when he allegedly pointed a firearm at the police along Collie Smith Drive in Trench Town.
Among the 53 detained in the early morning raids by the police on Thursday was a man who the police said was earlier this week 'installed' as head of the Rat Bat gang, less than a week after the death of Machine Man.Police did not release the name of the reputed gang leader but said he was behind a series of criminal activities in Kingston, including murder, rape and extortion.The detainees, which include two women, were still being processed late yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday, the placard-bearing demonstrators accused the police of targeting their communities, even as a group of officers kept watch from the opposite side of the road."Them a terrorise we and we not warring with anybody," a lanky youngster said. "Machine Man take care of we; is him send whole heap of people pickney go school and them kill him, for what?" a bleached-out face woman asked.
"Them come lock up the people them from yesterday (Thursday) and is them same people keeping the peace in the place," said another woman, clad in a skimpy outfit as she stood at the entrance to Delacree Park.Sections of Spanish Town Road, Crescent and St Joseph Roads and Coral Lane, where the raids were carried out on
Thursday morning, have been tense since Machine Man's death last Friday.According to the police, the Rat Bat gang and men from other sections of the community located between Spanish Town and Waltham Park roads have been involved in an ongoing fight for turf.More than a dozen people have been murdered in the bloody rivalry since the start of the year, the police said.

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Robert Myers, who was convicted in August of first-degree murder, attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle, received two sentences of life without the possibility of parole and other life terms on Thursday. 22-year-old man accused of hunting down rival gang members has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in a three drive-by shootings in 2004. Myers is one of three people charged in separate shootings in the San Diego communities of Linda Vista, Mission Valley and Skyline. The others are brothers Dejon Satterwhite, 19, and Edward Eugene Thomas, 21, both of whom are scheduled to go to trial Nov. 17. All three were juveniles at the time of the shootings but were charged as adults. Prosecutor Michael Runyon has said the defendants were on a “hunting trip” to find and kill rival gang members over a weekend in August 2004. Killed were Richard Wilson, 22, of Lemon Grove and Lee Smith Jr., 16, a Morse High School junior. Others were injured. Runyon said there was no evidence the murder victims were gang members

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Three key leaders of two violent Southeast Asian street gangs were arrested Thursday in a series of raids in San Diego and Riverside County, the state Attorney General's Office announced yesterday. Two of the three were arrested in San Diego. Their names were not released. Agents seized rifles, a sawed-off shotgun and a Tec-9 machine pistol while serving seven search warrants Thursday morning. Ammunition and night-vision equipment were found. The San Diego police gang unit and Mid-City officers assisted in the raids. Although the two gangs are based in San Diego, many members have relocated to the Temecula Valley, according to the state Department of Justice gang unit. Before Thursday's raids, police had arrested 27 gang members and associates on suspicion of murder, robbery, burglary, identity theft and other crimes. Last year, one of the gangs was involved in a shootout with agents and police in City Heights. Authorities said Tri Minh Vo and a companion, Cao Lam, entered an apartment and shot six people, killing one of them. Agents who were conducting surveillance on Vo at the time heard the shooting and pursued the gunmen.
In a shootout that followed, a Department of Justice agent was injured and Lam was killed. The agent has since recovered.

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Minoru Nozaki, who is currently being held on suspicion of robbery, has reportedly submitted a written confession to the Metropolitan Police Department admitting to the murder of Masaharu Tochino. The MPD suspects Nozaki, 50, a former high-ranking member of a group associated with the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, and two of his associates committed the murder. Tochino went missing after visiting a Tokyo legal office for work reasons on Sept. 7, 2006. His body was found near a mountain path in a Japanese cypress forest in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Oct. 1 that year. The MPD had been investigating the matter as a case of abandonment of a body.

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Jorge H. Arbaje-Diaz, 30, and two other men, Felix Rodriguez and Alfredo Antonio Acosta, were added as defendants to an indictment that charged that a “violent robbery crew” carried out more than 100 armed robberies of drug traffickers over a five-year period and took more than 750 kilograms of cocaine and $4 million.
The indictment adds the names of Officer Arbaje-Diaz and the two others to an indictment originally unsealed on May 6. With the indictment unsealed on Friday, 13 people have now been charged in the case. Eleven of those, including Officer Arbaje-Diaz, have been arraigned and have pleaded not guilty. Two will be arraigned next week.The group operated between May 2003 and August 2008 in at least six states, including New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, prosecutors charged. They said the group used torture and death threats to get information from the drug dealers.
Officer Arbaje-Diaz used his position to gain access to the victims’ homes, where he and other defendants handcuffed them at gunpoint and threatened to arrest them if they did not say where their drugs and money were stored, according to a statement from the United States attorney’s office. Officer Arbaje-Diaz, 30, took part in robberies that netted thousands of dollars and multiple kilograms of cocaine, heroin and marijuana valued at $200,000, the statement said. On at least one occasion, the officer, a three-year veteran assigned to transit duties in the Bronx, wore his uniform and carried his badge, weapon and handcuffs, the statement said. The new indictment charges Officer Arbaje-Diaz, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Acosta with conspiracy to violate the Hobbs Act, which outlaws the obstruction of commerce “by robbery or extortion”; possession of and conspiracy to distribute cocaine; and firearms charges. If convicted on all counts, they would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.At his arraignment on Friday, Officer Arbaje-Diaz was ordered held without bail, and his next court appearance was set for Dec. 15, said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the United States attorney’s office. The officer’s lawyer, Gregory Cooper, was not immediately available for comment. The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, called Officer Arbaje-Diaz’s alleged actions “despicable” and “the highest form of betrayal.”“It is a huge disappointment, to say the least, to the department,” Mr. Kelly said in a news conference. He said the department would examine the background checks that were done before Officer Arbaje-Diaz joined the force. He has been suspended without pay.

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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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