Far South Side man was fatally shot Saturday evening in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, Chicago police said.Witnesses saw Marcell Castle, 19, of the 300 block of West 118th Street riding in a van in the 7500 block of South Wabash Avenue shortly before 7 p.m. when an unknown man fired several shots at the vehicle from the street, Officer Laura Kubiak said.

After a three month investigation, police searched a home in Knox Village Apartments and found more than 15 ounces of cocaine, as well as pills, cash and weapons. The residents, Carlos M. Mansilla, 36, and Michelle Kipp, 40, are charged with multiple felonies.Police arrested two people Friday in connection with what may be the department's largest ever cocaine seizure.Police estimated the street value of the drugs at about $30,000 and said they believed the amount was about a two-week supply for area customers. In addition to the cocaine, there were about 350 OxyContin pills, 250 ecstasy pills, 13 bottles of methadone and more than 18 grams of marijuana.The department is still pursuing several leads related this bust, including burglaries and thefts they suspect were committed by youth in order to purchase drugs from the couple. Mansilla and Kipp were arraigned before the town judge and remanded to Orange County Jail without bail.

A scuffle involving rival gangs erupted in a hallway at a Lower Manhattan courthouse.
Dozens of armed court officers rushed to control at least two dozen people on Tuesday after angry shouting, shoving and swinging broke out in Manhattan Criminal Court.It occurred outside the trial of a 16-year-old who's charged with attempted murder. The case involves a shooting at a popular Harlem park last Memorial Day.
Authorities said the clash involved gangs called 2 Deep and MSH -- which stands for "Money Stacked High."

Vancouver police identified a man shot in a targeted hit in a Nanaimo Street basement suite last week as 24-year-old Nicholas Gordon Smith. According to court files, Smith has faced production of narcotics and trafficking charges over the last two years. He won acquittals on several of those charges in the fall of 2007.

Funeral service was held Saturday for gangster Raphael Baldini, who was gunned down in a daylight shooting in a Surrey mall parking lot.At least three marked police cruisers surrounded the Burquitlam Funeral Home for the event, attended by dozens of family, friends and associates.The gathering then moved to Coquitlam's Robinson Memorial Park cemetery.Afterwards, Baldini's aunt, Stella Hubert, thanked everyone for attending the service, to which reporters were not invited."I got to see a little bit of who Raph had as friends. . . . He was a very, very special nephew and a very, very special friend to all of you," she said on his Facebook tribute page. "Once again I am very happy for all that showed up."Baldini, 21, was shot to death in a friend's leased Range Rover in the crowded parking lot of Surrey's Guildford Town Centre just after 5 p.m. Feb. 3.The young gangster was on bail for an assault charge laid in Vancouver last October. His co-accused in that case, Jaspreet "Justin" Chahil is also charged with several others in a Surrey drug-trafficking ring.Baldini was the person who rented the penthouse in Surrey's Balmoral Tower where gunmen burst in Oct. 19, 2007 and executed six people, including two innocent bystanders, in what has become known as the Surrey Six slaughter.Four of Baldini's friends -- among them drug-dealing brothers Michael and Corey Lal -- were targeted in the shooting.The Lal brothers' sister Jourdane paid tribute to Baldini on his online memorial page:"No words can explain how our family will miss your smiling face, you are one of the few who truly cared, who cried tears not for us, but with us," she wrote. "I can only hope to show the same love to your family as you always showed for us."Baldini's mother Cindy warned in a phone message to The Sun last week to stop referring to her youngest child as a gangster despite his link to the infamous Surrey apartment and a series of gun and assault charges.
On Facebook, she said her son "loved so many people and he gave so much of himself to everyone and asked for nothing back. I wish I can hold in my arms right now."Baldini had left Vancouver Provincial Court Feb. 3 after making an appearance in his assault case and heading to Surrey to pick up a new cellphone at the mall. It is not known if the killers were tailing him.He was not cooperating with police in the Surrey Six investigation before his murder.

In fact, just a month after the slayings, Baldini was charged with a number of firearms offences when he was stopped in a vehicle with a 9-mm Glock and a Walther p22c semi-automatic. Both were loaded.

Two alleged Pomona gang members have been ordered to stand trial for the December murder of Miguel Martin.Jose Luis Gutierrez, 16, is accused of shooting and killing Martin on Dec. 5 in the parking lot of Guadalajara Market, 1134 W. Mission Blvd. Prosecutors have charged Gutierrez as an adult.Albert Matthew Sandoval, 21, is accused of dropping off Gutierrez near the market for the purposes of killing Martin, 24.After hearing testimony from five witnesses on Wednesday during a preliminary hearing in Pomona Superior Court, Judge Charles Horan ruled that Gutierrez and Sandoval must stand trial on murder charges.

arrested a wanted gang member in the 900 block of Orange Street, the department said Saturday.Members of the Special Enforcement Team and a California Highway Patrol officer saw Angel Antonio Angeles, 21, of the 1300 block of Maple Street, Marysville, sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle around 2 p.m. Friday.
They knew Angeles was wanted on a felony warrant out of Sutter County and arrested him for the outstanding warrant, as well as possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance and participating in a criminal street gang.When officers searched him, they found more than one ounce of suspected methamphetamine and distinctive gang markings, the department said. Angeles is a suspected Sureño gang member out of Yuba City.Officers also arrested the vehicle's driver, Stephanie Aranda, 23, of the 800 block of Allen Way, Yuba City, on suspicion of transportation of a controlled substance and participating in a criminal street gang.Bail for Angeles was set at $20,000 in Yuba County Jail. No bail information was available for Aranda.

Gerda Lienga, 42, was arrested at Belfast International Airport last June after getting off a flight from Paris. She was taken to a local hospital where 110 small packages containing more than a kilo of cocaine were recovered. She was jailed on Friday at Ballymena Crown Court and will be deported on completion of her sentence.
Officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), who arrested Lienga, said the purity of the cocaine was above normal and "could pose higher risks to the courier and users".
Senior HMRC officer John Whiting said: "Criminals dealing in drugs with high purity levels are thinking solely of increased profits, to further fund their illegal activity. "They show utter disregard for the damage drugs do to individuals and communities."

Juan Jose Larez, 40, of The Cloisters, Leyland, was jailed for his part in trying to smuggle six kilos of the class A drug into the UK through Manchester Airport. He was identified as ringleader of a five-strong gang behind the attempted plot. The jail terms follow a major investigation by HM Revenue and Customs which brought the gang down. His Honour Judge Henshall explained in his summing up at Manchester Court that he believed Larez - who also has an address in Venuzuela and is believed to spend most of his time there - was the main mover behind the plot.Officers from the UKBA originally detected the drugs on September 18 last year when a party of five people arrived on a flight from Paris to Venezuela.Officers searched baggage and discovered the class A drugs, which have a street value of £500,000, concealed within suitcases. Nick Shaw, of criminal investigations HMRC, said: "Working with our colleagues in the UKBA and prosecutors from RCPO, we will take every action to detect, seize and bring those smuggling drugs into the country before the courts.

Danny Hockenhull, aged 24, of Hawkshead Road, Grimesthorpe, and Curtis Goring, 27, of Rolleston Road, Firth Park, were yesterday convicted of murdering 23-year-old Brett Blake after a four week trial.Today they were told they must serve a minimum of 21 years behind bars before being considered for parole.Hockenhull stabbed the father-of-one in his neck before Goring plunged a knife into his stomach in Uniq on Carver Street in Sheffield city centre last June in a pre-planned attack following a series of violent tit-for-tat assaults.Brett, from Longley, who was also armed with a knife himself on the night of the attack, died a short time later in hospital.
Police claim all three men were members of the notorious S3 postcode gang, associated with Burngreave and Pitsmoor, and the death was a result of in-fighting between members.The feud started when Brett was slashed by another gang member and took offence when Hockenhull and Goring failed to take his side.Brett's grieving relatives hugged each other and burst into tears when the killers were convicted. They were told they face life in prison and judge Justice Beatson will set the minimum term they must serve at Sheffield Crown Court today.Speaking outside Sheffield Crown Court they said justice had been done - but nothing could bring Brett back and life for his family would never be the same.His mum Jacqueline Nicholson, 45, said she could not believe two men she had known since they were babies had taken her son's life."Words can't describe how I feel about them - I have known them since they were babies, they were friends with Brett all their lives," she said."It's not hate I feel but contempt, and I just don't know what they were thinking when they pulled out their knives because they not only robbed me of my son and a little girl of her daddy, but they themselves have no lives now either and their mothers have lost their sons - it was a stupid thing to do over a bit of respect."She said she wants people who know of others carrying knives to come forward and report them."Knives come out because people think they can get away with it, there also seems to be this culture where nobody ever speaks up and says who is responsible for these kind of attacks - if more people did start coming forward then people might think twice about carrying them," she added.Natalje Gordon, Brett's partner and mother of his three-year-old daughter, said: "I am happy that they were found guilty because at least we won't have to see them on the streets and we can try to move on, but they are pure evil."At the end of the day they were all friends, for them to turn on him like that is evil."They have never shown any remorse for what they have done."Brett's dad Patrick, who has his son's face tattooed on his chest with the words 'Pain is Love' underneath, said the murder conviction was a hollow victory."This is not a happy day," he said."There are no winners in this, our son is never coming back."Justice has been done but it doesn't alter the fact that Brett is not with us."In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Mr Blake described his son as "a loving person who looked out for his family". He said he was missed by everyone.Detective Superintendent Richard Fewkes, who led the murder probe, said: "The murder of Brett Blake was born out of a gang related dispute."Those involved decided that they would turn to extreme violence and the use of weapons to resolve what was a very minor disrespect issue. This was a complete was of a life."He said Hockenhull and Goring were "chaotic young men leading chaotic lives, with no respect for life".Hockenhull's girlfriend at the time of the murder Carly Lowe, 20, of Farm View Road, Kimberworth, Rotherham and the killer's pal Jamie Dyer, 24, of Parson Cross, Sheffield, were both convicted of assisting an offender.
Lowe got Hockenhull new clothes, a new mobile phone and around £3,000 in cash while he was hiding at her grandmother's house in Wickersley, Rotherham, after the nightclub attack. He was planning on running away to London.Dyer, who worked for Hockenhull and Goring at a car wash they ran, helped Hockenhull by disposing of the clothes he was wearing and the phone he had on the night of the killing.The pair are to be sentenced at a later date once background reports are carried out, with both warned to expect jail.

Matin Pouyan, 28, who police believe has ties to the United Nations gang (a known rival of the notorious Red Scorpians gang, that police have tied to Abbotsford's Bacon brothers Jamie, 22, Jarrod, 25, and Jonathan, 27) is shot six times in a Safeway parking lot in Kitsilano. Pouyan has refused to cooperate with police with information that may help identify the shooter. Pouyan has a history of gun-related charges. He served time in jail for firing a 9-mm Glock handgun inside the City Limits Cabaret in Abbotsford in 2004, and was linked to a Richmond shootout in 2007 that saw more than 150 bullets fired in a quiet suburban park.

Afghanistan produced 6000 tons of opium in 2006, 8200 tons in 2007 and 7700 tons in 2008. On average, the world demand of opium-based narcotics, including heroin, is only half of this production. Where is the rest of opium going? Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UNODC is convinced that is the only explanation. In a recent bulletin he issues an urgent order: 'Find the missing opium.' "As a priority, intelligence services need to examine who holds this surplus, where it may go, and for what purpose" he says. "We know little about these stockpiles of drugs, besides that they are not in the hands of farmers."

Dublin boy (17) has been received a seven year sentence after being found in possession of heroin worth €150,000.The boy pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply at his guardian’s home on December 9th, 2007. He had 19 previous convictions for a range of offences including public order and assault.Garda John Griffin told the court the drugs were found in the teenager’s bedroom which he shared with his uncle and he admitted to gardai that they belonged to him.Garda Griffin agreed with defence counsel Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha that the boy’s life “would have been at risk” had he identified the source of the drugs.Mr Ó Lideadha told the court his client was under his grandaunt’s care after his father had to be hospitalised following an accident and his mother had “her own difficulties to deal with”.

He said that the teenager was a drug user at the time and that he appeared he had “been under instruction” in this offence and was to receive a small amount of money for his involvement.

Home Office officials have admitted that the street price of class A drugs, cocaine and heroin, has fallen by almost 50% over the past decade.Widely recognized as the most dangerous illegal drugs, heroin and cocaine are currently cheaper than they have ever been.

Home Office has admitted that the street price of both cocaine and heroin has fallen by nearly half in the last ten years, making the most dangerous illegal drugs cheaper than they have ever been.Based on reports from police forces, the Home Office said that cocaine is now being sold for as little as £20 a gram in some parts of the country.The most common price for the drug is £40 per gram. Home Office figures for 1998 show the average price was £77.A gram of heroin can now be bought for as little as £25, with the average price somewhere between £40 and £50 per gram. In 1998, the average was £74.The Home Office figures are based on data collected from police forces and the Serious Organised Crime Agency.According to DrugScope, a charity that provides research and advice on drugs policy, gram of cocaine can make between 10 and 20 lines for snorting, depending on its strength.That means a line of cocaine can cost as little as £1, with an average price per line of between £2 and £4.The average price of a pint of lager is around £2.75, although some pub chains have reacted to the credit crunch by cutting the price of a pint as low as 99p. A glass of wine typically costs £3.50.The figures were uncovered by the Tories, who said they proved that Labour had failed to stem the flow of Class A drugs into the UK.
James Brokenshire, the Conservative shadow home affairs minister, called the figures "startling."He said: "These startling figures show the reality of drug use in Britain. Price falls of this nature indicate that the supply of hard drugs into this country has jumped. It's a serious indictment of Labour's failure to combat drug crime and stem the flow of drugs onto our streets."Less cocaine is being intercepted on Britain's borders. The Home Office figures last year showed that the total weight of cocaine seized actually fell by 15 per cent a year, and it has halved in five years.In 2003, 6,813 kg of cocaine was seized by police and customs officers in England and Wales. In 2006/07, it was 3,191kg. The last time cocaine seizures were smaller was 1999.The Home Office suggested that drug prices may be falling partly because fewer people are buying drugs.A spokesperson said: "A reduction in price may be associated with increased competition or reduced demand, not just increased availability.
"The British Crime Survey data shows that among 16-59 year olds Class A drug use in the past year declined from 3.4% in 2006/07 to 3.0% in 2007/08.
"In relation to cocaine the average purity at street level has declined continuously for a number of years, from 51% in 2003 to 34% in 2007."

Latvian Diana Sosnovska, 25, and Freddy Quintero-Mendoza, a 49-year-old Venezuelan cook, were both sentenced to four years behind bars. The pair, who appeared to be travelling together, were arrested at Stansted Airport on June 16 2008 after arriving on a flight from Milan.Maddy Ratnett from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said: "This case demonstrates the great lengths that smugglers will go to in an attempt to conceal illegal drugs. The sentences handed down today to these couriers should send out a clear message that you will pay the price."Sosnovska, who lives in north London, was stopped and searched by officers from the UK Border Agency. Three drug packages were discovered in her briefs and a further three were concealed in her bra, including one in the padding. In total officers recovered 638 grams of crack cocaine with a street value of £46,000.Mendoza from Brentwood was also stopped by officers but refused to be searched until a warrant was obtained. The case was passed over to officers from HMRC for further investigation. Later when Mendoza was searched, a package was found strapped to his groin area, kept tightly in place with cling film. Both Sosnovska and Mendoza were charged with smuggling offences and remanded in custody.X-rays taken later revealed that Mendoza had a number of packages in his stomach that he had swallowed. He eventually passed 17 small pellets each one approximately 3cm long and under went surgery to remove the last two pellets. In total approximately 498 grams of cocaine was recovered from Mendoza with a street value of £50,000.Ms Ratnett said: "We always pursue those who mastermind and finance this type of illegal trade and would urge anyone with information about drug smuggling to call the Customs' Hotline on 0800 59 5000." Both were charged with being knowingly concerned in the importation of cocaine and both pleaded guilty to the offences.

Heroin was discovered when police raided Alexander Skelly's house in Craigmore Street on 2 April last year. Officers also discovered £1,350 in cash in the bedroom and a further £180 after searching Skelly, 42. Sentence on Skelly, who has previous convictions for drugs offences, was deferred until next month. The High Court in Edinburgh heard that when police arrived at Skelly's house they asked if there were drugs in the property. He replied "just that smack there," indicating a bedside cabinet. Officers found a bag containing 37g of the drug on top of the cabinet, but then discovered another 17 wraps of brown powder each weighing about 27g within drawers. The prosecutor said a total of 507g of heroin were recovered in the raid, which police experts estimated had a wholesale value of £18,300 but could be worth £50,700 when broken into street deals.

"Local authorities need to pay attention to the emergence of synthetic drugs, they are the drug of the future," said Vitor Cesar Carvalho dos Santos, head of the narcotics department in the Rio police department. "This is a health problem."
Brazilian police said Thursday that it arrested 55 people in nationwide operations to crack two crime rings that were smuggling ecstasy, LSD and other synthetic drugs into the country from Europe.The police nabbed the suspects in eight Brazilian states, 47 of them in Rio de Janeiro, said Chief Enrico Zambrotti, the Federal Police coordinator of Operation Knockout, one of the two police operations.
Most of those arrested were people in their twenties from middle-class families with no prior criminal histories, Zambrotti said.

The trafficking rings earned several hundred thousand dollars a month in a scheme that involved using drug "mules" to smuggle cocaine to Europe and then return to Brazil with synthetic drugs, the police said.

The operations began 10 months ago, investigators have arrested some two dozen drug mules that were suspected of carrying the drugs in from Europe and seized more than 100,000 ecstasy pills, the police said.

Arrested 10 members of the Riverside 500 Bloods gang Thursday after an indictment was handed down earlier this week against 13 of the gang’s members. Police said they have identified at least 36 people affiliated with the gang.Police have seized tens of thousands of dollars in cash, drugs and weapons over the last several months as they investigated the gang. Charges against the gang members indicted include assault, drug trafficking and attempted murder.The gang is known for wearing red bandanas and spray-painting the moniker “500” on fences and walls around the city of Hamilton. Many of the members also have tattoos of a five-point star with "500" written across it.Hamilton police said that anyone who sees "500" appearing on walls in their neighborhood should call police, as that's a sign the gang has claimed the area.

South Africa's brutal crime wave struck a popular Cape Town tourist district yesterday when the owner of a gay massage parlour and seven of his employees were killed.South Africa's brutal crime wave struck a popular Cape Town tourist district yesterday when the owner of a gay massage parlour and seven of his employees were killed.The victims were tied up with tape, shot in the head and some had their throats cut. Six died at the scene, while two others died in hospital. Two more were seriously wounded.Police spokesman Etienne Terblanche described the scene at the Sizzlers massage parlour and escort agency as "horrendous".South African police are investigating links to organised crime, gangs and drug dealing. But the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) said they feared yesterday morning's massacre in Cape Town's Sea Point district was a hate crime."We have been very concerned about threats issued by various fringe groups in society over recent months," said the director of the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project.One of the victims managed to escape to a nearby petrol station, bleeding profusely from his head wound, where he recounted the drama to an attendant before collapsing. He was in a stable condition in hospital last night.When police arrived on the scene at about 4am, they found six bodies and three men with horrendous wounds crawling around the house in agony. Two of the three died in hospital: the third was in critical condition last night.
The rest of the house was mostly untouched, although it appeared the killers searched for money or valuables.Apparently acting on information from the two injured survivors, who were also shot in the head, police were last night hunting for four white men in a white BMW.One of the attackers was said to have a tattoo with the name of a Johannesburg gang, "Fast Guns", on his arm. Fast Guns is believed to have links to a Cape Town gang known as the Americans, and is reported to have been brought in to carry out slayings in Cape Town in the past.