Southside Criminals and the King Hill Posse. City misdemeanor charges were filed Tuesday against the alleged rock fighters.“This is not the first time we have had trouble with the people using those names as the guise with which they were doing things,” said Cmdr. Jim Connors of the St. Joseph Police Department. “Some of them are largely responsible for some of the graffiti that we are seeing around.”Mr. Connors said the two gangs were not fighting each other but were throwing rocks at a third party. There were no injuries in the incident, which occurred Monday on Carnegie Street at about 7 p.m.Witnesses reported 12 to 15 individuals at the rock fight. Police arrested six, including one who was taken into juvenile custody.
Chad Reigenborn, 17, Jeffery Johnson, 24, Darin Dudley, 17, and Jeremy Johnson, 19, each were charged with a misdemeanor of disorderly conduct by fighting.
City misdemeanor charges of assault and resisting arrest were filed against Tyler J. Ortega, 18.Police had to use a Taser on Mr. Ortega, Mr. Connors said.
Mr. Connors said police are keen to squelch the gang activity before it gets out of hand and escalates from rocks and spray paint to weapons, turf battles and other serious problems.“We delivered the message last night, we’re not going to tolerate it,” Mr. Connors said. “If we have to bring six people to jail every night, we’ll do it.”

The Maverick Steak House Sunday night shooting in which two customers were wounded.
It is the second incident involving gunshots at the restaurant. The first was in December 2005, when three people, including a Norco firefighter, were hurt in a confrontation between two rival biker gangs during a toy drive in front of the restaurant and bar. Sunday's shooting had no connection to any biker gang, said Lt. Ross Cooper of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputies arrested two Corona men Sunday night on suspicion of firing several shots at Maverick's, striking two customers inside. Deputies booked Isaac Flores, 26, and Robert Taylor Jr., 25, into Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The shooting comes just months after the city and restaurant owner Rob Koziel reached an agreement on operating conditions for the restaurant.
The latest incident has city officials questioning the restaurant's fate. "We thought things were getting better, and then this happened," said Norco Mayor Frank Hall. Koziel could not be reached for comment. Cooper said there is a possibility that the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control could suspend or revoke Maverick's liquor license. "Right now, it is still too early to say. We're in a fact-gathering mode," said John Carr, public information "The report will help determine if there needs to be any disciplinary action," Carr said. Carr said the department needs to investigate whether the incident is the fault of Maverick's or if it was an isolated incident. Deputies said Flores and Taylor had a disagreement with other patrons at the bar. The pair left the bar in the 3800 block of Hamner Avenue shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday. When they returned a few minutes later, they opened fire in front of the business, deputies said. Paramedics took the victims to hospitals. Their wounds were not believed to be life-threatening. Deputies arrested the suspects after broadcasting a description of the vehicle the shooters left in. Officers stopped the pair on the 60 Freeway at Archibald Avenue. On Tuesday, Hall said he was not aware of all the circumstances of the shooting and was waiting for the sheriff's report. Hall said the city will then determine if the Planning Commission should consider any changes to Maverick's operating permit or if deputies should deal with the situation. "We don't like to see this happen in our city," Hall said.
The council is expecting to receive an update on the recent modifications from Koziel within the next month.
"It (the shooting) indicates that, maybe the Maverick is still attracting a fairly rough element," he said. "It's concerning, but you can be sure we'll be addressing it."

Investigation head detective inspector John Tims says the arrests are the culmination of a six-month investigation targeting the Killer Beez and Tribesmen gangs. More than 100 police took part in the Operation Leo raids around Otara and Papatoetoe with the armed offenders squad also involved in Tuesday’s searches.More than 20 people are facing drugs charges after a police crackdown on the Killer Beez and Tribesmen gangs.The arrests came after police raids on Monday and Tuesday on 19 south Auckland properties, including Colourways Records run by the Killer Beez.
Seventeen people charged with supplying methamphetamine or P, a class A drug, were remanded in custody until June 11 when they appeared in the Manukau District Court on Tuesday.One of those was Joshua James Masters, 30, the head of the Killer Beez gang. Another was a minor who appeared in the youth court.Two women on non-drugs charges were remanded on bail until June 11.Another 10 people, including two women, were to appear in court on charges mostly relating to the manufacture, supply and possession of methamphetamine.Those arrested range in age from 16 to 58.
The raids in south Auckland and two in the Waikato netted $500,000 worth of methamphetamine and more than $200,000 in cash, plus stolen property including vehicles, and two firearms.The proceeds of crime unit also seized assets including vehicles and motorcycles. Mr Tims says the arrests should go a long way to dispelling some myths about the true nature of the groups’ activities."They’ve tried to portray themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods through their music videos and CDs. But in simple terms they’ve been supplying drugs to our communities."Mr Tims says he’s confident the crackdown has had a "significant impact" on the sale and distribution of methamphetamine in Auckland.Manukau mayor Len Brown has congratulated the police for making inroads into local drug and gang operations."Their focus on groups like the Killer Beez gang is particularly welcome. It’s about time the true nature of groups like this saw the light of day."The Killer Beez was formed in Otara five years ago as a ‘feeder’ gang for the Tribesmen gang and has expanded its influence through Auckland and Northland.In the Waikato, two men face charges of unlawful possession of firearms after Operation Leo raids. One man was to face further charges of conspiracy to supply methamphetamine and receiving stolen property.Police say they are sending a clear message that members of the Killer Beez , a feeder youth gang to the Tribesmen, are not the hip hop heroes being portrayed in music videos."In simple terms they are drug dealers who are causing destruction and chaos by their actions," says Detective Inspector John Tims from Counties Manukau Police.
Meanwhile, some of the 18 gang members arrested earlier on Monday have appeared in the Manukau District Court amid tight security.

"You've got three vehicles in a popular nightspot with each of those vehicles carrying people armed with semi-automatic weapons. One shot is frightening, let alone 15."Middle East Boys street gang shootout with semi-automatic weapons on Adelaide's most popular restaurant strip forced dozens of bystanders to dive for cover early yesterday.At least 15 shots were fired in the gun battle among about a dozen men in three cars.Security vision shows some of the men chasing each other on foot while firing and bystanders diving clear of a speeding car on a footpath.
Police were investigating if the suspects were linked to the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang and the Middle East Boys street gang.The shooting has sparked a political debate over anti-bikie laws that the Government says are being delayed by "Mickey Mouse" amendments.Four other shootings in the city in the past year have involved 10 victims but no one was injured in yesterday's shooting, on the busy Gouger St restaurant strip at 1.20am.
Four other shootings in the city in the past year have involved 10 victims but no one was injured in yesterday's shooting, on the busy Gouger St restaurant strip at 1.20am.Detective Superintendent Des Bray said it was lucky no one was caught in the crossfire. He could not rule out revenge as a motive."It was only good luck no innocent members of the public or bystanders were killed or seriously injured," the Crime Gang Task Force chief said.

Hussein El-Hajj Hassan told people he was going to meet an influential Hells Angel member the night he died, to work out a problem over drug-dealing territory, the biker testified yesterday that he was never aware of any such meeting.Paul "Sasquatch" Porter testified briefly yesterday at the trial of Shant Esrabian, who is charged with first-degree murder in Mr. El-Hajj Hassan's 2004 death.
Mr. Esrabian has pleaded not guilty.Earlier this week, Mr. El-Hajj Hassan's widow, Soumia Labrouki, testified that her husband told her on Aug. 20, 2004 that he was going to meet Mr. Porter in Cornwall to discuss a territory problem that one of Mr. El-Hajj Hassan's dealers had been havingAccording to Marwan Sablani, another associate of Mr. El-Hajj Hassan's who testified this week, Mark Yegin, was going to pick Mr. El-Hajj Hassan up and drive him there.Though Mr. Sablani said Mr. El-Hajj Hassan went to meet Mr. Yegin just before 8 p.m. that August night, he never made it to Cornwall.His body was found almost a year later in a shallow grave in Ottawa's west end. He had been shot twice and his right hand had been cut off.Yesterday, Mr. Porter sat on the witness stand, guarded by a member of the Ottawa Police Squad's tactical unit, and told the jury he had only met Mr. El-Hajj Hassan once, in a restaurant."Was there a meeting planned for you to meet Mr. El-Hajj Hassan on Aug. 20, 2004?" asked assistant Crown attorney Julie Scott."Nope," the 400-pound biker replied."Did you know about any meeting?""Nope," he replied, completing his brief testimony.Mr. Porter then ambled out of the courtroom, whispering, "Say hi to Fadi," as he passed Mr. Esrabian in the prisoner's box.Fadi Saleh and Mr. Yegin are also charged with first-degree murder in Mr. El-Hajj Hassan's death. Over the course of the week, the jury has heard that Mr. El-Hajj Hassan was an Ottawa cocaine dealer who got most of his supply from Mr. Saleh.However, various associates have testified this week that Mr. El-Hajj Hassan grew frustrated with Mr. Saleh's organization in 2004 and decided to start dealing directly with his supplier in Toronto, Rafei Ebrekdjian."He wanted to give the money directly to me," Mr. Ebrekdjian testified yesterday. He said after Mr. El-Hajj Hassan approached him about dealing directly with him, he told Mr. Saleh about it."He didn't like it. He was upset," Mr. Ebrekdjian said when he was asked how Mr. Saleh responded to that news.
"People shouldn't cross other people."

"There is this mystique that the Hells Angels are bad people and we need to get these bad people," he said, "when in reality, it's mostly a bunch of old guys riding their motorcycles around."
County officials said they spent about $2 million on the 2001-02 case against the Hells Angels, but some think the figure is closer to $6 million.
"I think (former District Attorney Mike) Bradbury spent $6 million to get George on probation," said Sheahen. "Maybe (current District Attorney Greg) Totten can spend $6 million to get him on derision."
George Christie Jr., and his attorney said the delay was evidence of a weak case stemming from years of vindictive, costly intimidation against his client."This continues a pattern of harassment," said Los Angeles defense attorney Robert Sheahen.Delays in filing charges, however, are not uncommon, and people shouldn't read too much into it, Senior Deputy District Attorney Derek Malan said. The office has three years to file, he said."We expect to file felony charges against Mr. Christie once our investigation is complete," Malan said, declining further comment.
Christie was arrested last week — the day before his 61st birthday — after members of a Sheriff's Department gang unit found less than 2 grams of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine in his Ventura home, police said. A gram of cocaine can sell for $50 to $100 on the street.The substances were discovered after one of three search warrants was served at Christie's home in the 400 block of Ventura Avenue. Deputies also determined Christie was under the influence of cocaine and methamphetamine, officials said.A second search warrant was served at the home of Joe Cerezo, 34, who deputies said is a member of the Hells Angels. Cerezo, who lives in the 2900 block of Apache Avenue in Ventura, was arrested after deputies found a stolen shotgun in his bedroom, authorities said. Cerezo also has not been charged yet.A search warrant was also served at the Hells Angels clubhouse at 65 Fix Way, Ventura. Several members were detained at the site, but no arrests were made.Wearing a black sweat suit and glasses, Christie stood at his court appearance Friday, which lasted less than a minute because prosecutors said they needed more time to investigate. Christie agreed to return to court May 16.It was his first time back in criminal court since 2004, when a judge denied a request to reduce his probation in a previous case so he could pursue a career in film and television.Christie declined to comment on the new case. But Sheahen said in interviews this week that Christie has relinquished his role as president and unofficial spokesman for the Hells Angels motorcycle club.Sheahen said authorities are wasting taxpayers' money going after Christie. The father of a 4-year-old boy, Christie spends most of his time at home, particularly since a motorcycle accident last year put him under a doctor's care, the attorney said."All of this stuff is loony. It's nonsense," Sheahen said, speculating any drugs found in Christie's system likely were prescribed. "He's been a perfect probationer" since a massive 2001 drug and racketeering case that made national headlines, Sheahen said.Christie was accused of being the leader of a prescription drug ring that targeted schoolchildren and was one of 28 people indicted by a Ventura County Grand Jury in February 2001. Many of the defendants, including Christie, later reached plea bargains and pleaded to lesser charges.
Prosecutors ultimately dropped 57 of 59 counts and enhancements filed against Christie. He pleaded guilty in 2002 to one count of conspiracy to possess the prescription drug Vicodin for sale, and no contest to a count of filing a false income tax return. He received three years' probation and time served for the 390 days he spent in jail.Authorities released few details about last week's arrest, citing an ongoing investigation. The search warrants were sealed. But authorities said they were not buying that Christie is a reformed man.
"He admitted to the drugs" found in his belongings, sheriff's Sgt. Dave Murray said Friday.Deputies searched his house for evidence of a possibly stolen motorcycle, Murray said. Christie cooperated and later agreed to a urine test, which "came back dirty for cocaine, meth and opiates," Murray said.Sheriff's Capt. Mike Aranda, who leads the county gang unit, described the Hells Angels as an active criminal street gang worth the time and taxpayer expense to monitor."The Hells Angels are absolutely a street gang. We've made a number of arrests of Hells Angels members," mostly on assault and drug-related charges, Ventura police Lt. Quinn Fenwick said. "And I believe we will continue to have problems with them."

John Napoli took a "scruffy, disorganized" outlaw biker gang and turned it into a well-organized $6 million crystal-meth-trafficking organization.
And, like the head of a crime family, Napoli, 35, president of the Breed Outlaw Motorcycle gang, used violence to keep bikers in line in the Bristol-Levittown area, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Foulkes said yesterday, urging that the defendant be sentenced to life in prison. Napoli, among his violent attacks, used an electric drill to bore into Thomas Burke's arm, and nearly crushed his face and dislocated an eye. He put a severely beaten rival in the hospital for four days. And he warned bikers who cooperate with law enforcement: "You'll be killed.""What you did was uncivilized," said U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III yesterday before sentencing Napoli to 36 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.His treatment of Burke, who refused to sell drugs, was "horrendous, to say the least," he added.Despite Napoli's reign of terror distributing 125 pounds of methamphetamine to mid-level dealers between 2003-2006, he apparently had a domesticated side - to which his common-law wife, niece and two neighbors attested.
In an impassioned plea, defense attorney Hope Lefeber asked Bartle to consider "the other side of Napoli" in fashioning a sentence."How can it be that a man who is capable of acts of brutality led an almost completely different life?" she asked.Napoli took in three children of his crack-addicted sister, enrolled them in school, set a 9 p.m. curfew and and "would not tolerate drug use," said a niece, Jessica Lenugan, 18. "He was like my second dad.""John has been nothing but good to me - never laid a hand on me or our son," said Sadie Kinney, 30, Napoli's common-law wife of 9 1/2 years. "He was not a crazy outlaw all the time. We lived like everyone else, and we treated everyone with respect."Two neighbors, Kelly Hood and Laura McDonough, both testified that Napoli had cared for them - Hood when she was seriously ill, and McDonough when her heater exploded, among other times.Instead of life in prison, as calculated under advisory sentencing guidelines, Bartle gave the construction worker six more years in prison than the 30-year sentence he gave Napoli's top aide and co-defendant, William "Tattoo Billy" Johnson, last Friday.
Another co-defendant, Thomas "Fuzzy" Heilman, earlier received a 19 1/2-year sentence in federal prison.With time off for good behavior, Napoli will serve more than 30 years in federal prison, and be 65 years old when he gets out.The government is seeking a $6 million judgment against Napoli - the wholesale value of illicit drugs sold.To prevent his Levittown home from forfeiture, Napoli agreed not to contest the government's seizure of three motorcycles, four vehicles, 20 firearms, including a machine gun, and $223,500.Last Oct. 4, Napoli was convicted of conspiracy to distribute crystal meth, violent acts in the aid of racketeering, extortion, three counts of possession of firearms, including a machine gun, and ammunition by a convicted felon. *

Violence in Salinas returned to the area of Hartnell College late Friday night with the slaying of one man and serious injury of another.
Witnesses say a fight broke out about 11:15 p.m. at a party on the 700 block of Archer Street, leaving one man fatally shot and another stabbed. The injured man ran into a nearby apartment complex to hide until police arrived, then was taken by helicopter from the soccer fields at Hartnell College to a Bay Area hospital.
Police are not releasing the names or ages of the two men or saying whether the homicide and assault were gang-related.
The shot man became the city’s ninth homicide of the year and second homicide of the week.The day before, Martin Santoya, 21, was fatally shot near North Salinas High School minutes before school let out while arguing with someone in another car. Salinas police arrested Robert Sanchez, 18, Friday on suspicion of Santoya’s death — the year’s first arrest in a gang-related homicide in Salinas.This year the area around Hartnell and Central Park has seen an unusual amount of violence.On March 4, Gabriel Mendoza, 17, was fatally shot while walking through Central Park at night with his 14-year-old brother, Juan. This homicide, the city’s fifth of the year, is believed to be gang-related, police said.Four weeks later, Ivan Zamora, 19, was shot multiple times April 2 on the 600 block of Central Avenue and transported to a Bay Area hospital. Police said the shooting was gang-related.Central Avenue historically has been known as an area controlled by members of Norteño-affiliated gangs, said Monterey County Gang Task Force Cmdr. Dino Bardoni.About eight years ago, Bardoni said, the neighborhood experienced similar violence. He compared the rise and fall of violence in the area to a roller coaster, but declined to link it to any particular cause. “It is not a simple thing,” he said. “There are a lot of variables that we need to take into consideration to explain the spike in violence.”Bardoni did not comment on the ongoing investigation of this year’s homicides in this area.Some neighbors are taking safety precautions.Yvonne Jimenez,who has lived on Archer Street for four years, said she is concerned about the safety of her three children, 8, 11 and 15.Jimenez said that since Friday’s slaying, her children are not allowed to play outside. While they’ve always walked to and from school she said she now plans to pick them up during the afternoon, when gang members may be active. “It’s scary to know how the area has changed,” Jimenez said.
Central Avenue resident Richard Littlefield, who lives two houses from the April 2 shooting, said the violence would probably continue.“The retaliation will continue, and there’s only so much that police can do,” he said. “This was a lovely, quiet side of town, but now (violence) is filtering in.”

Inmates of Asia’s largest prison, the high-security Tihar in the capital, are on a knife-edge, or shall we say blade-edge. The prison with over 10,000 inmates, including several high-profile ones, has been held hostage by a handful of criminals who harass fellow prisoners with blades.Though the presence of the “bladebaaz gangs”, as they are known, in the jail has been long speculated, a petition filed in a local court seeks to confirm it.
Such is the fear of these gangs that even high-profile prisoners hope they don’t have to face them. Not so long ago, former Congress member and Dawood henchman Romesh Sharma and former cop SS Rathi (serving a life sentence in the Connaught Place shootout case) had claimed threat from the gangs.Nearly 26 Tihar inmates recently wrote to the chief justice of the Delhi high court and Patiala House, alleging frequent attacks by the gangs. They gave various reasons for the attacks, from extortion to refusing menial jobs. The petitioners include Tariq Ahmed Dar, charged in the Delhi Diwali blast case, and mafia don Fazlur Rehman, accused of murder, extortion and kidnapping. The petition alleges the gangs operate with the help of certain jail officials. “Jail inmates cannot possess blades, knives, surgical blades and other such sharp weapons. But several instances of attacks on some inmates by these gangs have been reported. It’s obvious some prison officials are allowing banned items into the jail for these gangs,” M Khan, the petitioners’ lawyer, said.

The Jungle, roughly between La Brea Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, south of Rodeo Road and north of Santo Tomas Drive in Southwest Los Angeles, was named a gang reduction zone in November.The area's name came from the lush plantings of the pool apartments but has come to signify the gang warfare that emerged from the tropical facades. Although city officials re-christened it Baldwin Village years ago, many residents still call it the Jungle -- P. Stone Jungle, as it has been ruled by the Black P. Stones, a sect of the Bloods, for more than three decades.The gated courtyards and carports of some 560 apartment buildings present a maze into which gangbangers can slip, and the area has some of the highest crime in the city. For years, the P. Stones have been at war with the Latino 18th Street gang to the north.
As casualties mounted, LAPD assigned Whiteman and two other gang-detail officers to the area in 2004. The next year, the FBI and LAPD swept through the area with federal drug indictments for 16 P. Stone leaders. And the year after that, the city attorney filed a gang injunction against the P. Stones, prohibiting them from congregating in public.Police said the P. Stones had been involved in 1,500 aggravated assaults and 28 murders between 2000 and 2005.Now eight gang officers focus solely on the nearly mile-square turf, rolling down the same streets over and over, using the injunction to conduct more searches and arrests, working directly with gang prosecutors.With this level of contact in the neighborhood, they get to know the spectrum of faces, from upstanding residents to hard-core gang members.

Raids carried out on a drug trafficking network operating in the west end of the city produced evidence it was controlled by one of the most powerful Hells Angels' chapters in Canada. While executing search warrants at 13 addresses in points west of the downtown core like Verdun, Point St. Charles and Little Burgundy, Montreal police officers found clothing with the biker gang's tell-tale paraphernalia.
"We have seized clothing with the emblems of the Sherbrooke Hells Angels," said Commander Françe Théoret, head of the Montreal police youth and street gang prevention squad for southern Montreal.
The raids were carried out Thursday as part of Operation Scirocco, an investigation of drug trafficking in southwestern Montreal. Théoret said the investigation began a couple of months ago and Thursday it produced the arrests of 17 people, including five women. She said some of the people arrested were more known to police than others. "But they are people who are tied to an outlaw motorcycle gang, the Hells Angels," she said. "It was a network that sold drugs to certain street gangs that we are aware of." Théoret was unable to say how long the drug trafficking network is believed to have operated before it drew the attention of police investigators this year. The investigation was initiated after Montreal police received a series of complaints from citizens ranging from reports of frequent comings and going at residences to violent crimes like assault and attempted murder. Arrests and search warrants were carried out in St. Henri, Point St. Charles, St. Paul Ville Émard, Verdun and Lachine. Officers seized 1,000 rocks of crack cocaine, 500 marijuana plants and $25,000 in cash. The biker gang's Nomads chapter fought a bloody war and took control of drug trafficking turf in the same area in the late 1990s. But most of the members of the Nomads chapter are behind bars and serving lengthy sentences for crimes committed during their war with organized crime groups like the Rock Machine. Thursday's police operation indicates the biker gang is still present in southwestern Montreal. The Sherbrooke chapter has operated quietly for years even though some of its members have been recently investigated for financial crimes. According to a recent police estimate, the chapter, which has a bunker in Lennoxville, next to Sherbrooke, has 27 full-patch members, making it one of the biggest in Canada. And while the gang's five other chapters in Quebec were hit hard by police operations in the past decade, the Sherbrooke chapter went through the period relatively unscathed. Evidence heard in recent trials suggests the Sherbrooke chapter also has considerable influence over at least two of the gang's chapters in Ontario.The people arrested Thursday are expected to be charged at the Montreal courthouse on Friday with possession of drugs with intent to traffic and drug possession

Notorious Iron Horsemen motorcycle gang has been linked to a ruthless unsolved bikie execution in Melbourne. The Herald Sun can reveal police have credible information connecting the club with both the victim and the suspects in the March 2005 killing.
Armed Crime Taskforce detectives yesterday searched a factory in a remote industrial estate in Epping where they believe the man was executed. The factory has previous links to the club. Forensic police last night used chemical tests to check for traces of blood. Despite the release of a detailed face image of the victim, police have yet to establish his name or find his body. The man, described as thin with broad shoulders and in his late 40s, is believed to be from South Australia.
Those involved in the killing are not thought to be formal "patched" members of the club but informal associates. Police say they may have been cut loose from the club after the killing. Victoria has two Iron Horsemen chapters. Formed in Melbourne in 1969, the outlaw gang prides itself on its club colours and its "brotherhood". Bikie gangs are known to lash out at members who attract unwanted attention, those who try to defect to other clubs or those who try to opt out of the scene altogether.
In Melbourne 10 years ago, an Iron Horsemen member bashed a parking inspector, shattering his eye socket. Seven years earlier, gang members belted a man they say shot one of their members during a camping trip. Det Sen-Constable Graeme Simpfendorfer described the case as baffling.
"The primary focus is to identify the victim which will open up motive," he said.
"We are forensically investigating but without a body or name to the face, it's difficult."

The FBI and numerous other local police agencies arrested several suspected members from "The Almighty King and Queen Nation Gang" during a city wide raid Tuesday. Investigators say this is a very violent Latino street gang based in Chicago.
Buffalo FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Laurie Bennett said, "This is the first time that we've seen a national gang actually with a hierarchy here established in western New York." Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson said, "They're a very, very violent street gang. They had their tentacles stretched throughout the City of Buffalo and indeed throughout the nation." The suspects face charges including drug trafficking, weapons possession and money laundering.
Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies raided several locations early Tuesday morning. Their target - members and associates of the Latin and Queen Nation gang which is based out of Chicago. James Jancewicz (FBI Buffalo) said, "...probably the most violent Hispanic criminal gang in the country right now."
According to the FBI, the gang moved to Buffalo in the last couple of years with the exclusive purpose of committing crimes. Jancewicz said, "...primarily drug trafficking, but they're also involved in weapons violations, money laundering, gambling even, even murder." About 40 arrest teams were assembled for the early morning raids that happened at different locations across the City of Buffalo, including one on Potomac. Cutting edge investigative techniques were used against the gang, which has been under investigation in Buffalo for two years.
Jancewicz said, "It's run similar to a Fortune 500 company at times. They report back to the leadership in Chicago. There's different levels of responsibility that members have. They have regular meetings. And clearly it's very much organized."

Portland police responded to a shooting after a man walked out of a house bleeding from a gunshot wound Wednesday night. Police said another man shot the victim inside a house on the corner of 91st Avenue and Duke Street. It's unclear if the shooting was accidental or intentional. The shooting happened at around 8 p.m. When officers arrived to investigate, they found walls inside the home covered in gang graffiti. They said both men may be members of a Hispanic gang.

30-year old Norteno gang member named Jesse Chinchuretta was shot once in the back and died a short time later at a Yakima hospital.
Yakima Police say a argument broke out between rival gang members in a apartment parking lot at 204 South Fair Avenue. The suspects in a vehicle opened fire hitting the victim and one of his friends. The friend is expected to survive his injuries.
At this time YPD has not made an arrest yet. Mr. Chinchuretta's death was the city of Yakima's 3rd homicide of 2008. The city had 6 homicides in 2007.

Brian Wright is being chased for £45million in profits from his billion-pound cocaine smuggling operation, a court heard.The 61-year-old godfather — who was known as The Milkman because he always delivered — is serving 30 years in jail after being convicted last year. In 2004 he was said to be worth £600m and prosecutors have this week been trying to claw back the proceeds of his crimes at Woolwich Crown Court.But Wright, who had a house in Frimley, claims he has no assets left. He is refusing to attend the hearing despite being brought from Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire to the high-security Belmarsh jail in south London.His barrister Jerome Lynch QC told the court: “His position is he has nothing and no matter how much he says it, that will not be accepted.“Everything he paid for was paid for in cash and rented.“The approach the Crown has taken is so unrealistic that it is pointless engaging and he takes the view that it almost doesn’t matter.
“He is nearly 62 years of age, and is serving 30 years. He will not see the light of day.“One can understand a man of his age taking that approach when it is likely he will die in jail.”Mr Lynch said Wright’s wife died last year and added: “Is it really supposed that this man who allowed his wife to die in a rented apartment in Spain is the holder of £45million?’But Wright is refusing to give evidence in court to back up his claims he has no money left.“He has no intention of going into the witness box to give any further evidence other than that which he gave in the trial,” said Mr Lynch.
Brian Wright led a double life as a notorious horse-racing punter and a major league gangster before his arrest in Spain 2005.He rubbed shoulders with royalty, boasted a celebrity lifestyle.He laundered his drug money by making huge wagers on horse racing.Wright, married for 43 years, even boasted of meeting singer Frank Sinatra and film star Clint Eastwood.His wealth afforded him a house in Frimley, his rented luxury apartment in Chelsea Harbour, and a £2m villa — named El Lechero, the Spanish for The Milkman — in Spain.He had a box at the Royal Ascot race meeting for 14 years and was a member of the exclusive clubs Tramps and Annabels in London.
Wright was finally nailed by a Customs and Excise operation which began after a boat named Sea Mist was boarded by Irish Police at Cork Harbour on September 29, 1996.
Officers found 1,230lb of cocaine — valued at more than £50m — hidden in the dumb waiter of the yacht.The shipment was meant to have been smuggled into the UK and stored at a safe house in Lymington, Hampshire, but the gang fled the property after hearing of the arrest of the crew.Left at the house was Brian Wright’s Channel 4 Racing Diary containing contact numbers for other members of his cartel, as well as dozens of famous names in horse racing and TV. In 1997, police began bugging Wright’s exclusive riverside flat in Chelsea Harbour and following him and his friends, including right-hand man Kevin Hanley.The next year, as three more shipments successfully arrived in the UK via Poole, Dorset, and Salcombe, Devon, Wright was arrested over horse-fixing allegations.
He was released on bail and in December 1998 he left the UK for Spain after having a heart bypass operation.But on February 12, 1999, Wright’s son Brian Anthony Wright and son-in-law Paul Shannon were among 15 people arrested in connection with the smuggling investigation. Five days after his son’s arrest, Wright Snr paid £20,000 through his daughter Joanne for a private jet to take him and jockey Declan Murphy to Northern Cyprus.Because the territory had no extradition treaty with the UK, he was effectively safe from arrest until he moved on to Spain in 2002.
It was only in the spring of 2005 that Wright Snr was arrested in Marbella and flown back to Britain to face trial.The same year, police arrested Hanley’s girlfriend Anni Rowland for laundering drug money and found nearly £70,000 at her home in Great Burford, Oxfordshire.
Wright, whose last known address was in Cadiz, Spain, denied one count of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy to supply drugs.
His only previous conviction is for dishonesty, obtaining property by deception, in the late 1970s.
Wright Jnr, now 40, of Ridgemount, Weybridge, Surrey, was found guilty of drugs importation and jailed for 16 years.
Paul Shannon, now 42, of Lockier Walk, Wembley, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply and jailed for five years.
The hearing continues.

If the dog thinks a person is carrying drugs they will sit next to them. Officers then have a power to search that person to look for drugs. One of the PANDA dogs scanned people waiting in queues for nightclubs and bars on Friday night.
Although there were no arrests made on this occasion it sent out a warning to revellers that police would be carrying out regular operations throughout the summer. Every weekend police put on additional patrols to meet the needs of Newcastle's popular social scene.City centre officers work closely with licensees and door staff every day of the week in an attempt to curtail disorder and the use of drugs. This operation was the first of a series of PANDA dog patrols which will continue throughout the summer.It's aimed at reinforcing the good work already being done by door supervisors who randomly search customers as a condition of entry into pubs and clubs. Over the past four months, more than 100 people have been arrested as a result of spot checks on entry by door supervisors and drugs including cocaine, heroin and amphetamine have been seized.
Neighbourhood Sergeant Claire Lawson said: "People who come to Newcastle just want to enjoy themselves and our job is to make sure they do just that.
"However, we won't tolerate the small percentage who bring drugs into the city centre, or whose bad behaviour starts to impact on other people's enjoyment, and the PANDA dog is one of many pro-active tactics we use. "We'd like to reassure people we are listening to their concerns and will continue to do all we can to tackle this issue so the city centre remains a safe and vibrant place for everyone to enjoy an evening out." The city centre becomes a popular venue during the summer for stag and hen parties, and also birthday celebrations. Sgt Lawson added: "It can be on these occasions when people may try drugs for the first time and it's those people we will catch out during these operations. Don't celebrate your birthday with a conviction.
"The city centre also has a successful Pubwatch scheme - where premises work together to share information instantly - which is supported by door staff.
"It demonstrates that by working closely with our partners and the community we can continue to be successful in reducing crime and disorder in Newcastle."

Dealers’ homes were targeted in police swoops after months of intelligence gathering by police.Nine targets were arrested and suspected drugs were seized in Operation Pembroke last September.Now, after the suspects have been dealt with by the courts over the past few months, police have revealed how their arrests have brought a drop in crime.The figures were given by Chester-le-Street community Insp Paul Anderson as he welcomed the last of the sentences handed out to people arrested during the operation.He said: “Since Operation Pembroke we have seen a sharp drop in crimes such as shoplifting, purse thefts and street robberies.“We believe most of these crimes were connected to the supply of drugs in the town.“In one incident an elderly woman suffered a broken arm during a robbery.”Insp Anderson said in August last year, before the raids, there were 352 crimes reported in the whole district, compared to 294 in October – a month after the arrests.In January this year there were 302 reported crimes, compared to 401 in January last year.
Eight people admitted being concerned with the supply of the Class A drug heroin, while a ninth admitted offering the drug.Sentences ranged from a nine-month suspended jail term to six years imprisonment.Durham Crown Court was told in February that Malcolm Pentland, 28, had allowed his house in the town’s Tuart Street to become a safe haven for drug taking and dealing.He was jailed for six years.
During Operation Pembroke, police recorded 217 visitors to the house, including regular visits by 20 known heroin users.
Undercover officers made 15 separate test purchases and were supplied £10 wraps of heroin.Last week Darren Turnbull, 23, of Arthur Street, High Handenhold, near Pelton, was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years with 100 hours of unpaid work.Kevin Watson, 48, of John Street, Beamish, was sentenced to serve 12 months, in addition to 138 days left from his last sentence.Richard Kaye, 25, of Windsor Terrace, Great Lumley, Chester-le-Street, was jailed for 12 months.
Insp Anderson said: “I am pleased with the sentences which have been handed out to criminals.“We are not resting on our laurels and want to reassure the community that we will act on all information that we receive.”

killing of Richard Petty over a mere £80 sheds a harsh light on the perils of Teesside’s drugs underworld, even at its lower levels. CCTV captured the murderers’ movements with chilling precision. Into the lift, up to the seventh floor, back down, then out - in four minutes.
CCTV captured the murderers’ movements with chilling precision. Into the lift, up to the seventh floor, back down, then out - in four minutes.“They had at the most 90 seconds in that flat,” says Detective Inspector Andy Greenwood, above, from Cleveland Police’s murder investigation team, who retraced their steps at the Melsonby Court flats.Mark ‘Peo’ Pearson and Joe Tingle were hardly sophisticated drugs kingpins living in high-rolling opulence.As heroin users themselves, they had advanced up the food chain to using at least one “lieutenant” to sell drugs for them and share the profits.But their savage execution of Richard Petty in his Billingham home between 2.36 and 2.40pm on March 25 was every bit as vicious and ruthlessly efficient as any gangland ‘hit’.With heroin and half a bottle of vodka inside him, Pearson walked silently into the living room and spoke to Mr Petty.Without giving him a chance to reply, Pearson was seen swiping and lunging at him with a large kitchen knife, twice thrusting the blade into his body up to the hilt.Richard Petty was left lying on his back, dying in a pool of blood with seven stab wounds, one into the heart.“It was a totally unprovoked attack on a man who was sitting in the living room of his flat, unprotected,” says Det Insp Greenwood.

Adam Greener was armed with a silver revolver when he got into a woman’s car at the junction of Roman Road and Rockliffe Road in Linthorpe and said, “Drive or I’ll shoot you.”Under the influence of drugs, he tried to snatch the driver’s handbag from the passenger seat of the Peugeot 206, which was stationary in traffic.Greener, 20, of Westbourne Road, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.He pleaded guilty to attempting to rob 46-year-old mum Kay Cotton, from the Eston area, of her handbag on January 15, and possessing a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery.Prosecutor Ian West said: “She describes going back to her car after going to the shop.“A man, the defendant, gets into the passenger seat of the car. He says, ‘Drive.’“When she doesn’t immediately do that, he produces this weapon and says, ‘Drive or I’ll shoot you.’“The defendant accepts what Mrs Cotton says he said when he got into the car.”The hooded raider fled empty-handed, while Mrs Cotton got out of the car and was shaken but not injured.She was taken into a nearby shop and given a cup of tea to calm her nerves until police arrived and sealed off the area in Roman Road.Greener had been accused of attempted kidnap, but the Crown are no longer proceeding with that charge because of his guilty pleas.He had no previous serious crimes which would classify him as a dangerous offender.But if it is discovered that he had a prohibited weapon, he could face a minimum sentence of five years in prison.It has still not been confirmed for certain whether the weapon, found in Mrs Cotton’s car, was an imitation or real firearm.“There were apparently bullets in the chambers of this revolver, but the barrel was blocked at the bridge,” Mr West told the court yesterday.It is not certain whether it could be adapted to fire a lethal missile, he added. Experts are to be consulted, and there may be a court hearing to decide the issue.
Peter Sabiston, defending, said Greener was under the influence of Class C drugs at the time.
The judge, Recorder Michael Slater, adjourned sentencing until April 11 for reports to be prepared on Greener, who was remanded in custody. The attack was described as an “isolated incident”.
But it prompted Cleveland Police to urge drivers to take extra care when stationary in built-up areas, to lock doors while travelling, sound horns if in danger and not to leave bags on seats or in footwells.