Immigration agents targeted the Puro ‘Lil Mafia (PLM) gang. They were armed with federal and state indictments.Authorities say the PLM Gang is responsible for many violent gun crimes, and the recruitment of young boys and girls into their gang. 7News has been following the effort to fight gangs in the Falls for several years, and since October, 2007, police and federal authorities say they have been tracking this particular gang's activity.Just last year, the city secured an injunction against the PLM Gang to further crack down on their members' crimes. Now, several members face time in prison. Seven homes were searched during the Wednesday morning takedown, and the message from law enforcement and the Wichita Falls Police Chief was abundantly clear. "We will not tolerate anybody shooting up Wichita Falls."Shooting up Wichita Falls is what the PLM Gang is accused of doing. "The vast majority of them carry weapons constantly, like the chief talked about," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Taly Haffar. "Doing drive-bys they always have guns in their cars, they're always walking around with guns on them - it's a big problem," he said. "It's bad enough that the other gang members that they're shooting at get hit, but we have innocent citizens out there who get hit," said Chief Dennis Bachman. "We shouldn't have a community like that anywhere in the United States."With federal authorities involved, the U.S. Attorney's Office sought to crack down on a growing trend in Wichita Falls and the rest of the country. It's called "Straw Gun Purchases." "...where somebody is buying a firearm, and telling the firearms' dealer they're purchasing it for themselves, and they turn around and hand it off to a convicted felon or somebody else who is not allowed to possess a firearm," said Afar.Wednesday's announcement included indictments for "straw" purchases. "If you're going to commit crimes in Wichita Falls, you might expect to go to jail and prison," Bachman said. "We believe this will dismantle - if not completely destroy - this street gang," said Afar.Authorities say some of the arrests were attributed to drugs - specifically large amounts of powdered cocaine. In all, they say 14 people face federal charges, including a man from Illinois. 7News is told that he is an associate of the gang. Four more people face state charges, and more arrests are expected.Bachman says that while it always is good to have bad guys off the street, he considers today's operation a success because no one was hurt.

Bo Stefan Eriksson, 47, was arrested March 30 and went before a magistrate April 2 for a detention hearing.Eriksson is currently jailed in Uppsala, where a judge gave Eriksson's attorney two weeks to gather defense evidence and set an April 16 date to return to court.Two other men were arrested in Stockholm this week in connection with the related charges. Warrants were issued for the trio's arrest in March.Eriksson, a cult figure in his native Sweden, has the moniker of "Tjock Steffe'' or "Fat Steffe" (Swedish for the nickname Stevie) from his days as a key player in Uppsala organized crime. Eriksson was arrested and sent to prison in Uppsala in 1994 following conviction for fraud, extortion, kidnapping and related crimes.In 2006, Eriksson split in half a red Ferrari when it crashed on Pacific Coast Highway, west of Trancas -- while traveling at 199 miles per hour. He was subsequently convicted of drunk driving, embezzlement, auto theft, and felony weapons possession, asnd spent two years in stte prisons.
When Eriksson was released from state prison in January 2008, he was immediately deported from the United States and faded from public view until this week,

British tourist was found dead in his room, the police are now trying to find out who sold the heroin to him and
his partner at Calangute. Nigel Smith, 62, was found dead in his room early Sunday morning. His live-in partner, a French national, Anne Francoise, informed the police that on Saturday night they had both gone to sleep in their rented room in Calangute after consuming heroin. The lady told the police that they had purchased the drug from someone in Calangute, but added that she will not be able identify the seller. "Nigel must have woken up in the night maybe to go to the bathroom, lost his balance and fallen on the floor. His head must have hit the ground and he must have collapsed. She said that when she woke up at about 2 am she found him dead," police sources added.

Arrested Ignacio Moran Kick, 24, for the stabbing and for acting as a gang member, Sgt. Steve Fraga reported.Police officers went to the Monte Vista Apartment complex at about 4 a.m. Sunday after getting calls about gunfire and a fight.They found Geno Cairo, 21, of San Francisco, with a large stomach wound collapsed in front of the complex.He underwent emergency surgery at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Sunday was in critical condition but expected to live. Cairo had come to Santa Rosa to visit a cousin who lives at the complex.Cairo apparently had been confronted in a parking lot by a group of suspected gang members and then was stabbed, Fraga said. The wounded man had made his way to the front of the residential area before falling to the ground.Gang and violent crime detectives spent Sunday interviewing witnesses and searching two apartments in the complex, one related to the stabbing and one to the report of shots fired, Fraga said.Detectives found evidence in one apartment linking Kick, a resident there, to the stabbing. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide and two gang enhancements.Officers also determined multiple shots had been fired at the complex just prior to the stabbing. No one reportedly was injured.The stabbing was related to the gunfire, said Fraga, who released no further details. On Sunday, Fraga indicated Cairo wasn’t believed to have been involved in the gunfire and that he wasn’t a gang member.

Brandon Prevey was found dead in his vehicle shortly after 3 a.m. in southeast Red Deer.“We don’t see this level of violence in our city,” Red Deer RCMP spokesman Sabrina Grunow said yesterday.
“We have had our share of homicides in the past, but this, by far, is very unusual and ultimately alarming.”She said the city is no stranger to serious assaults and knife violence, but death by firearm – police are not releasing what type of weapon may have been used – is not something police see often.She added that Prevey, 29, is believed to have been connected to gangs and the drug trade and was known to police.Rayhan Jones, an incarcerated friend of the victim’s, says Prevey was a member of the Crazy Dragons gang, a claim police would not confirm.“Living like this, everybody knows that people get shot,” Jones said when asked if he was surprised to hear the news. “(It’s) just living the life of a gangster.”He added that he believed Prevey was the father of a young child.Grunow said the victim recently moved from Edmonton to Red Deer.Residents of the high-end subdivision were surprised to see police at their doorsteps.“It’s shocking news,” said one neighbour, who lives about three blocks away and asked not to be identified. “I was really, really surprised, I’ve never seen cops like that in the area before.”He added the area is generally safe.
Municipal officials were equally caught off-guard by the kind of violence usually associated with bigger cities.“It’s a pretty unhappy event in any community. We’re a small city, so anything like this is very unusual, to say the least,” Coun. Gail Parks said. “I don’t think it’s any secret that we have gangs in Red Deer.”She said Highway 2 is a popular corridor with criminals and Red Deer is a “natural stop” for them between Calgary and Edmonton.
“I hope that we can make it so unpleasant that they wouldn’t want to be here,” Parks continued. “I don’t know why or how this could have happened in our community, but I guess I’d say it’s one less bad guy.”Prevey made headlines in 2005 after Kenyon Joseph Gardiner, 20, was stabbed to death and four people were shot or stabbed at a May 15 house party in west Edmonton.Prevey was originally charged with second-degree murder, but after witnesses failed to show up for the trial, he ended up pleading guilty to assaulting one of the other party-goers.
He was sentenced to a year in jail in early 2007.Police are asking for the public’s assistance in solving the case they have few leads on.“Given the time of night that it happened, and the fact that the only thing we have at this point for suspects is a small black car, ultimately we are leaning towards the public’s assistance in maybe helping us with some information,” Grunow said.

Jacqueline Benoit was taken into custody on Tuesday night at the John F. Kennedy airport as she got off an airplane from Ireland.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said she was apprehended about 7:30 p.m. and was to appear before a judge Wednesday afternoon in New York City.A warrant for Benoit's arrest was issued last Thursday as Quebec provincial police made 10 other arrests in an operation dubbed Baladeur (Walkman).Quebec provincial police Const. Claude Denis said Benoit is alleged to have taken part in two murders and one attempted murder.Denis said police aren't sure when Benoit will be returned to Canada but said the government has taken steps to ensure her extradition.In the operation last week, provincial police targeted suspects allegedly connected to biker gangs and organized crime, primarily in the Montreal and Quebec City areas.The suspects are believed to have links to 28 cases of murder and 13 of attempted murder between 1978 and 2003.The arrests were made after Benoit's ex-boyfriend, Gerald Gallant, turned informant.Gallant, a contract killer who is already serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and attempted murder, admitted to even more murders in a court appearance on Tuesday.Gallant pleaded guilty to an additional 27 charges of first-degree murder and 12 of attempted murder before a judge in Quebec City.

Jose Juvenal Camino of Garden Grove was convicted in January of second-degree murder for the Sept. 30, 2007 shooting of Rolando Palacios. The two friends were drinking beer outside at a convenience store in the city when rival gang members came up to them, according to Deputy District Attorney Mark Geller.
The men started arguing, and Palacios shot at them, Geller said. The rival gang members fled, and Camino, Palacios and another friend named Miguel Angel Martinez followed in a car. The chase ended in a nearby alley, Geller said, where Palacios was shot and killed Camino and Martinez were charged Palacio's murder under the "provocative act" murder theory, which means a dead man's friend can be charged in a death if the dead man had initiated the altercation, Geller said. In this case, Palacios initiated the incident by shooting first, he said.Today, Palacios' sister, Monica, spoke on behalf of her family, and told Superior Court Judge John Conley that the family visits her brother's grave weekly.Rolando Palacios was attending college, and wanted to go into real estate, she said. "My brother was a really good kid,'' said Monica Palacios, crying as she spoke. "He had goals and dreams. We loved him so much.'Last month, a jury deadlocked on similar charges against Martinez, another of Palacios' friends charged with murder for his death.

Fernando King, 38, "Supreme Inca," the No. 2 leader of the Latin Kings street gang, to the minimum 20 years in prison for drug conspiracy.While acknowledging Fernando King, 38, was the leader of a gang responsible for narcotics trafficking and murder, U.S. District Judge David Coar said King could be sentenced only for the crimes for which he was convicted and not the broader destruction caused by the gang.Prosecutors sought 45 years in prison for King for offering to protect the drug trafficking operation of Jesse Guajardo, another high-ranking Latin King. King didn't realize Guajardo was secretly working with the government and recording face-to-face meetings.The audio recordings also captured King ordering gang members to beat a fellow member for violating gang rules, bragging about the Latin Kings' influence nationwide and exhorting members to use violence to protect their turf."The Latin Kings are precisely what's wrong with this city," said Assistant U.S. Atty. Andrew Porter. "It hurts people. It kills people. It makes law-abiding people afraid to go out of their homes."Porter said King was directly responsible for the "mayhem" wrought by the Latin Kings and asked Coar to give King the maximum sentence to "send a message loud and clear that this has to stop."But King's lawyer, Joseph Lopez, said gangs have been a part of Chicago for more than a century and locking up his client for longer than 20 years would do nothing to change that."Whatever you do today is not going to stop gang life in Chicago," Lopez said. King gave a rambling statement, telling the judge that he was not a "monster" and would give up the gang life and work for community peace if given the chance. "I am a very positive person," King said.
King alleged that prosecutors offered him a sentence of about 9 years in prison if he helped nab Augustin Zambrano, the Latin Kings' reputed No. 1 leader. King said he refused the deal. After announcing the sentence, Coar said he would recommend to federal prison authorities that King be sent to a prison closer to Chicago so his ailing mother could visit him."I appreciate that," responded King before standing up and blowing a kiss to his mother and other relatives as he was led from the courtroom.

Four newly patched Red Devils members appeared in a charity ride last month and Nelson Area Commander Brian McGurk says it is the first time the gang has been seen in New Zealand.Inspector McGurk says anyone who thinks the group is just a social club is totally naive. He says the Red Devils have strong links to international criminal organisations and he believes they are trying to get a foothold in the South Island.McGurk says they are monitoring the group and its associates.And he says he is concerned tensions are building between the newcomers and the already established Lost Breed Motorcycle Club.Nelson's mayor believes police are well equipped to deal with bubbling tensions between the rival motorbike gangs. Kerry Marshall supports any action police deem necessary to discourage the Devils from setting up camp.

Jerome Williams Jr., who was named by an accomplice in the murder-for-hire of a South Bend woman and has not been charged, said he would appeal his conviction and sentence based in part on the fact that prosecutors were not able to produce the drugs they claimed he had sold."The evidence they had was the testimony of people that didn't get along with me and people in trouble trying to get out of jail," Williams said at his sentencing hearing, which was Friday morning in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Indiana.Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald J. Schmid said prosecutors relied on the testimony of 10 to 12 witnesses who had known Williams for years. Some had worked for him while others had been his clients."This was a historical case," Schmid said after the hearing. Schmid said Williams, 33, had distributed as much as 1,700 grams of crack cocaine."I'm absolutely convinced that the streets of South Bend will be much safer," Schmid said.One of the people Williams had dealings with was Chris R. Deguch, who was sentenced in November to 20 years in prison after he admitted his role in the murder of Melissa Shields.Shields was strangled in September 2007. Her body was found in Ravina Park.At his plea hearing, Deguch identified Williams as the man he paid to harm Shields. But Williams has not been charged in connection with the case, and the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office has declined to comment on the open investigation. Williams suggested during his sentencing hearing that he was really being punished for his suspected role in Shields' murder and denied having killed her.Schmid said he could not comment on the Shields case, but acknowledged that some of the evidence used by federal prosecutors was developed by homicide investigators with the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office."We always work in conjunction with them," he said.A sentence of life in prison was mandatory in Williams' case because he had been previously convicted of two other drug-related felony offenses, Schmid said.A person with two prior drug-related felony offenses who is convicted of dealing 50 or more grams of crack must serve life in prison, according to federal law. Williams has had a total of 17 misdemeanor and felony convictions since 1994, said Schmid, who called him a "significant member" of the criminal gang Dawg Life.In all of 2008, federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Indiana had one case of mandatory life sentence for drug dealing, Schmid said.

Dennis Richard Karbovanec has plead guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder, RCMP confirmed Friday afternoon. It comes 18 months after the so-called ‘Surrey Six’ slayings that saw two innocent men die.Karbovanec, 27, plead guilty at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Friday morning, RCMP said.The murder charges concern the deaths of 19-year-old Ryan Bartolomeo and 26-year-old Michael Lal. The third charge is for the death of 22-year-old Chris Mohan, who RCMP say was an innocent bystander caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.Ed Schellenberg, 55, was the other innocent victim.Karbovanec also plead guilty to conspiring to commit first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Corey Lal, Michael’s brother.Speaking with reporters briefly Friday, RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokesman Corp. Dale Carr called the murders on the 15th floor of a condo complex “horrific.”“[We’ve] obviously made it a very big priority, allocating resources that were almost unprecedented,” Carr said.RCMP say arrests are ongoing. Three other people named as co-conspirators are James Kyle Bacon, 23, of Abbotsford; Matthew James Johnston, 24, of New Westminster; and Cory Ray Haevischer, 24, of Nanaimo.RCMP have scheduled a press conference for Saturday afternoon, where it’s expected further details of the investigation, dubbed Project E-PESETA, will be made public.Police have issued rare public warnings about Karbovanec and Bacon, saying they were known gang members being targeted by rivals and that associating with them could put people in harm's way.Bacon survived an attempted hit in January and has two other Bacon brothers who have also been the subject of police warnings.
The brothers have been linked to the Red Scorpions, a gang that police say is currently in a turf war with the UN gang.
Gang expert Julian Sher said the arrests mark a significant breakthrough for police, but it's difficult to say how they will affect the ongoing violence."We don't know (the effect), is the simple answer," said Sher, an author whose work has focused on biker gangs such as the Hells Angels."Generally, it's a good sign. Suddenly, your gang is fighting a war on a different front. Suddenly, you need lawyers, you've got to fight for bail. It keeps you busy and it's going to make them a lot more nervous."The Bacons live in a quiet neighbourhood of newer homes near Abbotsford, with panoramic vistas of the Fraser Valley, their house adorned with lights and security cameras.Next-door neighbour Silvio Zampieri said nearly a dozen police cars surrounded the two-story house on Friday, as officers with "very big guns" told him and his family to stay inside."They said to close the windows and doors and go back inside," said Zampieri, who lives with his wife, two children and mother-in-law."I was scared and all my family were scared."Zampieri said he has not spoken to the Bacon brothers or their parents, who they live with, although he sees them coming and going occasionally. He said he and his wife but will say "hi" to the parents when they see them.

Six gang members or associates are now on trial in Ontario Superior Court here in connection with the deaths of eight fellow Bandidos in April three years ago. All of the accused men face eight counts each of first-degree murder and all are pleading not guilty.Since the discovery of the bodies, stuffed into four vehicles abandoned on a country road southwest of London, the deaths have been widely described as execution-style killings, a term which evokes a picture of crisp if not merciful efficiency.Earlier this week, for instance,

Elgin County Crown attorney Kevin Gowdey told the jurors in his opening statement that most of the men died of gunshot wounds to the head, most delivered at close range. And a day later, jurors saw for the first time close-up photographs of the men's bloody and fatal head wounds. But what they learned yesterday was that one of the victims, Luis (Chopper) Raposo also had his right middle finger amputated and that another, John (Boxer) Muscedere, the supposed Canadian president of the Bandidos, was not only shot three times, but also suffered multiple fractured teeth and severe abrasions to both knees, the reasonable inference that he had been forced to kneel at some point.As well, another victim, 28-year-old George (Crash) Kriarkis was shot no fewer than seven times - four times in the face or head and once each in the shoulder, chest and abdomen.

Mr. Kriarkis's mother was in court yesterday when Ontario Provincial Police Constable Ross Stuart, the main forensic identification officer on the case, was describing the men's injuries as the jurors watched a slide show of pictures documenting them. She fell weeping into the arms of friends and once cried aloud, "Why?"Another victim, Frank (Bam Bam) Salerno, was shot at no fewer than nine times.Five of the shots connected - one to the bridge of his nose, another to his right cheek, another to his right ear, one to his right hand and one to the right thigh. Three more grazed his lower right leg, another grazed the top of his right hand.In total, not counting any that may have missed the mark, 33 shots were fired at the eight victims.In addition to gunshot wounds, Constable Stuart said, many of the men suffered other lacerations or abrasions, several to their wrists or hands, sometimes interpreted as wounds incurred when people try to defend themselves. Other injuries, such as the laceration to the top of Jamie (Goldberg) Flanz's head, may have been inflicted by the alleged ringleader of the plot, Wayne (Wiener) Kellestine, whom Mr. Gowdey described as having kicked one victim in the face and hit another, all the while dancing and singing bizarrely.According to the prosecutor, all the victims were members or associates of the tiny Toronto Bandidos branch called the No Surrender Crew.
With the Toronto branch on the outs with the group's head office in Texas, and also embroiled in an internal battle for control with a probationary Bandidos group in Winnipeg, the decision was made to "pull the patches" of the Toronto crew, leaving Winnipeg as the only Canadian chapter.Mr. Kellestine, who reportedly had aligned himself with the Winnipeg group, is alleged to have lured his Toronto colleagues to his farm, located just 14 kilometres from the site where the vehicles crammed with bodies were later found.
He and his five co-accused - Michael (Taz) Sandham, Dwight (Dee) Mushey and Marcello Aravena, all from Winnipeg, and Frank Mather from Toronto - allegedly donned gloves and armed themselves in preparation for the patch-pulling, with Mr. Sandham, a former police officer and soldier, allegedly hiding in the loft of the barn where the meeting was held.After a brief exchange of gunfire between Mr. Raposo and Mr. Sandham - it left the former bleeding from the neck and chest and the latter complaining his bulletproof vest had been hit - Mr. Gowdey said the rest of the Toronto Bandidos were searched and held at gunpoint."In the hours that followed," Mr. Gowdey told the jurors, the remaining men "were taken outside, unarmed, and shot one by one in their vehicles ... Not everyone [who is accused] actually shot and killed, but everyone participated and contributed ... People who deliberately help or encourage killing may be equally guilty as those who pulled the trigger."The revelations of the apparent cruelty of the men's deaths came late yesterday, and could not have contrasted more with the testimony of the morning.These early witnesses - several OPP officers who were first on the scene, a paramedic who had the unenviable task of checking the bodies for signs of life and who found instead in some the onset of rigor mortis - included a gentle woman named Mary Steele.She lives with her husband on the Stafford Line, near where the abandoned cars were found on April 8, 2006. Retired dairy farmers, the Steeles learned that there were cars on and near their property when at the breakfast table they got a call from a neighbour, an older man who every morning brought the day's newspaper over.She described this man, Forbes Oldham, as one of the retired farmers who, used to the early hours of rural life, routinely keep boredom at bay by going on "crop tours" of the area.
Eventually, the Steeles went to check out the cars themselves, albeit from a distance because, as Mrs. Steele said, "My husband and I watch CSI. We decided we weren't going to touch anything."
They phoned the police - twice, in fact - and were on the road when they heard the first officer cry that he'd found a body and learned that CSI was at their doorstep.

The following individuals are facing charges of using a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking, according to a statement from the FBI:
Paul Anthony Darrah, aka Pauli, age 44, of Macomb Township, DDMG-National Vice-President
Cary Dale Vandiver, aka Gun Control, age 49, of Mt. Clemens, DDMG-National Warlord
Alexis Catherine May, 56, of Burtchville
John Renny Riede, also known as Bear, 61, of Bay City
Christopher Raymond Marrocco, also known as Slomo, 31, of Algonac
Gary Lee Nelson, 42, of Marine City
Charles Edward McCarthy, Jr., also known as Chuck, 48, of Roseville
Dean Anthony Tagliavia, 41, of Port Huron
Lauri Ann Ledford, 39, of Kimball Township
Jennifer Lee Cicola, 38, of Macomb Township
Vernon Nelson Rich, also known as Vern, 44, of Kimball Township
Deborah Ann Heacock, 46, of Port Huron
Michael Vernon Darrah, 47, of Marine City
Howard Joseph Quant, also known as 44, 52, of Jeddo
Timothy Paul Downs, also known as Space, 51, of Chesterfield Township
Paula Mileha Friscioni, 43, of Fraser
David Roy Delong, also known as Reverend, 55, of Port Huron was charged for making false statements.Jeff Garvin Smith, also known as Fat Dog, 54, of Mt. Clemens was charged with being a violent felon in possession of body armor.
Possessing body armor as a violent felon is punishable by up to three years in prison and/or a fine up to $250,000. Using a telephone in furtherance of drug trafficking is punishable by up to 4 years and/or up to $250,000.20 Devils Diciples members were arrested as part of an investigation into drug trafficking by the FBI, Michigan State Police and the County of Macomb Enforcement Team.In addition to the indictment and criminal complaints, federal forfeiture complaints
were filed against the following properties: 2424 Little Street, Port Huron, Devils Diciples Motorcycle Gang Clubhouse – Port Huron Chapter and 43653 Gratiot, Clinton Township, Devils Diciples Motorcycle Gang Clubhouse–National Headquarters, State Headquarters, and Detroit/Blue Water Chapters.Investigators also seized 42 firearms, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, 3 bulletproof vests, $12,000 in U.S. currency, 1 1/2 pounds of meth, 55 pounds of marijuana, 1,000 vicodin/oxycontin pills and 15 casino style slot machines, according to the FBI.

Rebels outlaw member has been charged with multiple firearm offences after police raided a Sydney unit where they found a pistol, a sawn-off shotgun and a quantity of steroids.
Police said the 36-year-old man is a member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang and his arrest is part of the recent crackdown on bikie activity. Officers executed a search warrant at a unit in Rawson Street, Rockdale, at about 4.15pm (AEDT) yesterday.They allegedly seized a pistol, a shortened pump-action shot gun, a large amount of ammunition, a rifle scope, pistol holster and a quantity of Viagra tablets and vials of steroids.The man was charged with five firearm offences, including possessing an illegal firearm and failing to safely store firearms. He was also charged with four drug offences. The man has been refused bail and will appear at Kogarah Local Court today.The incident follows the bashing death of Anthony Zervas, 29, during a brawl between the Hells Angels and the rival bikie gang Comancheros at Sydney airport on March 22. On Sunday, Mr Zervas' brother, Hells Angel Peter Zervas, was shot four times in front of his Lakemba unit and remains in hospital in a stable condition.

Comanchero chief Mahmoud "Mick" to have a $100,000 contract on his head issued by the Hells Angels. Police are also seeking to find Hawi and question him over a fatal brawl with rival Hells Angels at Sydney airport. Police have been unable to find Hawi. Instead, they have been involved in negotiations with his lawyers to have him present himself to police for questioning. Hawi's laywer Lesly Randle said Hawi had arranged to meet gangs squad detectives at a police station yesterday but that this did not go ahead because his barrister "became unavailable". Negotiations over a meeting were continuing. Hawi was not at the two properties in Sydney's south linked on the public record to the 28-year-old Comanchero national president. His large family home in southern Sydney had mail piled up at the front gate and no one answered the door. There was also no answer at another address, also in southern Sydney, a housing commission unit linked to one of Hawi's companies.
bikie and law enforcement and that Hawi's life is at risk. "He'll be holed up in a hotel somewhere," one said. A source said he was informed the bounty had been issued from the "cashed-up" Hells Angels, whose Guildford sergeant-at-arms Peter Zervas, 32, is in hospital after being shot on Sunday night at Punchbowl. No charges have been laid over the shooting. Zervas' brother Anthony, 29, was killed in the airport brawl allegedly between the Hells Angels and Comanchero seven days before. The Comanchero are strongly suspected of being behind Peter Zervas' shooting, as a "pre-emptive" strike against a revenge attack over his brother's murder. "There's no doubt if the Angels found out where Hawi was, in my view, they'd go after him, whether there was a price or not," one source said.

Abbotsford Police Const. Casey Vinet said both victims were men in their 20s, but would not say if they were known to police, given that positive identifications had not yet been made.
Gang contacts have said that both were front-line workers in the drug trade and associates of the notorious Bacon brothers and the Red Scorpion gang.Homicide investigators were looking for possible connections Tuesday between the targeted slayings of two young men less than nine hours apart.The two murders came after a lull in the gang violence that has rocked Metro Vancouver this year, leaving 28 dead and more than a dozen others wounded.Police have said there is an all-out gang war as rivals battle over turf and long-standing disputes.Supt. Dan Malo, who heads the Integrated Gang Task Force, said most of the victims are mid-level drug dealers or those running dial-a-dope lines. Some are killed by rivals, but others are shot by their own crews because of internal disputes or debts.
“That’s where we are seeing all of the violence right now,” Malo said. “It’s a continuation of the spike we’ve been seeing of late and we’ve still got to get around the corner.”
The first victim was found slumped over the steering wheel of a gold-coloured import car at the entrance to Bateman Park about 10:45 p.m. Monday, shot to death in a targeted hit.The second man remained under a yellow police tarp most of Tuesday beside the popular Yellow Barn produce store just off the Trans-Canada Highway on Sumas Prairie near the Abbotsford-Chilliwack boundary.Vinet said the second victim displayed some “injury” but could not say what the cause of death was until an autopsy has been completed.
The body lay in a field just off the parking lot and appeared to have been dumped there, something investigators were considering, Vinet said.He said police were called about 7 a.m. by a motorist who saw the body lying a few metres from the store’s propane tank.
Workers at the barn said they arrived about 7:30 a.m. to find the whole west side of the parking lot behind yellow police tape.Vinet said there were no overnight reports of gunshots in the area of farms and produce stands, sandwiched between mountains.But there was a shots-fired call just before 1 a.m. in the 6000-block of Riverside Street.One shot hit a house. No one was injured in that shooting and police did not believe it was connected to the two deaths, Vinet said.He said he could not remember another time when Abbotsford police were called to two separate murders in such a short time span.“It is unusual. It is concerning,” he said. “There are still a lot of details we don’t know. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”Abbotsford had seen a lull in gang violence in recent weeks following its high-profile campaign to monitor the movements of the two youngest Bacon brothers — Jamie and Jarrod — who are both marked for death by rivals. Both are out on bail on a series of gun and drug charges.Their Red Scorpion gang has been engaged in a bloody turf war with the rival United Nations gang.Abbotsford Mayor George Peary said he had just been chatting with Police Chief Bob Rich about how the shootings seemed to have died down.“And then two homicides in one night,” Peary said Tuesday. “Sadly of course, no community is safe and no community can escape this violence.”He said two murders so close together were unusual for Abbotsford.
“It’s troubling and it’s symptomatic of the violence we have had across the Lower Mainland in recent months,” Peary said.He said he was confident the region’s integrated policing teams have a great deal of intelligence on the gangs and those doing the killing.“But it is really difficult for them to prevent this kind of stuff,” he said. “There are far too many guns available.”
If there is any good news out of the latest tragedy, it is that the slayings were in semi-rural locations and did not endanger the general public, Peary said.“There was less likelihood of an innocent bystander getting caught in the cross-fire.”In Vancouver meanwhile, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass said Tuesday more arrests and major charges are pending against Metro gang members.“You’re going to see more arrests in the coming weeks, significant arrests,” Bass said during a meeting with The Vancouver Sun editorial board to discuss gangs and organized crime.

Suspects are all members of the Bloods gang and all live in different areas of Anne Arundel County.City police say the suspects were arrested after they attempted to shoot a family in Brooklyn Sunday night at a home near Baltic Avenue.Police responding to reports of gunfire and found a Ford Explorer with several bullet holes. There were also several casings surrounding the Explorer.
Perry Jennings, Albert Westmoreland and Jaki Terrace were found by Southern District police as they got out of a Ford Crown Victoria in Brooklyn Park, just over the city/county line.When police found the suspects they also found marijuana, an assault rifle, 25-caliber semi-automatic handgun and a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

Seven people were indicted Monday in Baltimore City Circuit Court in the beating, stabbing and burning of a 20-year-old man who sources say angered fellow members of a ruthless gang.Court documents allege that on Dec. 28, 2008, Grechauna Rogers, 16, Sierra Pyles, 19, Anthony O. Williams, 23, Devin Melton, 17, and Tenisha Lawson, 18, and Lawrence Walker, 19, were involved with the death of Petro Taylor, 20. His body was found in Leakin Park burned beyond recognition.A seventh man was indicted and detained Monday evening, sources said, though his name was not immediately available.Prosecutors did not seek an indictment for one man who was previously charged in the crime, 23-year-old Terrell Tavon Gray, and charges will be dropped Tuesday. Still, the case represents an unusually large number of co-defendants, police and prosecutors say.Sources say Taylor angered members of the Bounty Hunters gang, which is an enforcement arm of the Bloods and has been responsible for several brutal slayings in recent years, including one man who was stabbed with a samurai sword and set on fire.Taylor had failed to deposit money in a gang leader's spending account in a Baltimore County jail, the sources said, and was beaten at a Northwest Baltimore motel. His body was wrapped in a blanket and taken to Leakin Park, where he was stabbed, doused in gasoline, and set on fire.

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Abbotsford police will continue its close surveillance on two notorious gangster brothers despite the fact one has now filed a formal complaint against their treatment by law enforcement.Const. Casey Vinet, the department’s media officer, confirmed that a complaint has been filed by Jamie Bacon, who with brothers Jarrod and Jonathan has been the subject of public warnings by police because they have been targeted for death by rivals.After Jamie, 23, was shot at in a busy Abbotsford intersection at rush hour Jan. 20, police have stepped up surveillance on him and Jarrod, 26, sitting outside the family home and following them during the day.
The two are facing more than two dozen gun and drug charges laid May 31, 2008 and are out on $175,000 bail, and conditions that they maintain a curfew and reside at their parent’s Strathcona Court home.The complaint says police have violated their rights on a number of occasions since the extraordinary surveillance began.Police have set up video cameras at two locations near their home so that cars coming and going can be observed.Vinet said the department is aware of the complaint, which is being reviewed by the Vancouver police department.In the meantime, “We have no intentions at this time to change anything we are doing. “There is a continued threat and we are taking the steps we feel are necessary to keep our community safe.”Lawyer Don Morrison, hired by Jamie Bacon to lay the complaint, said he was concerned details of Bacon’s complaint have been leaked to media by police, another breach of professional standards regulations.