19-year old Denevious Morman was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison , 10-years for street gang participation and five for possession of a gun during a crime. Prosecutors say Morman is the number two leader of the C-M-E Rattlers gang.Dougherty Chief Assistant District Attorney Greg Edwards says the sentence sends a message. "We want the gang bangers that are still determined to be involved with gangs to understand that you can be incarcerated up to 15 years, as was this defendant." Morman was credited for 15-months he served in the Dougherty County Jail awaiting trial.The man prosecutors say is the top C-M-E Rattler leader is scheduled to go on trial Monday. 21-year old Michael Williams is charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault.

The boys were always respectful. There was never any drama at the home," said a neighbor of the Au family, who until recently lived across the street from Live Oak Park near Fulton Road.It came as a shock when Vutha Au, 24, was kidnapped March 2, allegedly by members of an Asian gang, and driven to a secluded beach near Jenner, where he was shot nine times and left dead.Authorities believe he was killed so that he couldn't testify on behalf of his brother, 22-year-old Terry Au, who has alleged he also was kidnapped and tortured by the same gang - the Asian Boyz - when he decided to stop running drugs for them.The brothers' story offers a revealing look into Asian gangs, which have operated below the radar in Sonoma County, generating far fewer headlines and concern than their Latino counterparts.
Vutha Au's alleged execution raises that profile. Even those who have become numb to gang violence were shocked by such viciousness, which law enforcement officials say is a hallmark of Asian gangs entrenched in communities nationwide.
"These guys are ruthless. They're killers. They're not to be taken lightly," Long Beach Police Det. Joe Pirooz said.Long Beach is considered the birthplace of California's Asian gangs, which rose out of that city's large southeast Asian population in the early 1980s and spread across the state
The state Department of Justice now estimates there are 500 Asian gangs in California.In Sonoma County, the number of Asian gang members is thought to be in the low hundreds, as contrasted with Latino gangs, which are believed to have about 1,500 members.But Asian gangs, whose members are mostly Vietnamese, Cambodian, Chinese, Laotian, Hmong and Mien youth from refugee families, have helped bring a harder edge to the county's gang culture.Vutha Au's slaying was not the first time in Sonoma County that a witness has been threatened or killed in a case involving Asian gangs.In September 2003, friends of slaying victim Roeun Kloat, 18, of Santa Rosa threatened two women and a child, family members of the Asian Boyz' defendants, at a preliminary hearing. Kloat, a Loked Out Khmer Bloods gang member, was shot to death on a Rohnert Park basketball court four months earlier."Kill 'em, Kill 'em," the young men said in the hallway, according to court documents.That case was preceded in 2002 by the slaying of 18-year-old Jonathan Townsend of Windsor, who was gunned down outside his mother's Stony Point Road apartment complex when he confronted a group of teens who were trying to break into his car.One of the teens, Pongsony Khaoone, pleaded no contest to gang, weapons and accessory charges in exchange for a murder charge being dropped.Now 19, Khaoone is one of the men accused of kidnapping and torturing Terry Au.While the 2002 and 2003 killings involved rash acts of brutality, experts say many Asian gangs operate like organized crime syndicates, using extortion, home invasion robberies, drug dealing and prostitution to turn an illicit profit.In June 2007, Stockton police working with state law enforcement agencies broke up a Cambodian street gang called Loc Town Crips that authorities said was responsible for extensive drug and gun trafficking across the nation.The gang used the Internet, text messaging and FedEx to funnel the drugs. The money was used to pay for weapons that gang members used in drive-by shootings targeting rival gangs, authorities said.Although these gangs claim certain colors - in the case of the Asian Boyz, blue - and have specific symbols to designate their affiliation, they generally aren't as flashy as other ethnic gangs.
"To them, it's not about turf, graffiti or colors, like it is for Hispanic gangs," said Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Carlos Basurto, who is assigned to the department's gang enforcement team. "For them, it's about making money. They're still a street gang, but it's more like the mob. When you cross them, especially if you're Asian, they take it out a lot harder than another gang would."This doesn't mean Asian gang members necessarily come from poor upbringings. Many, in fact, come from good homes and excel in school and other areas of their lives.The former neighbor of the Au family said she watched the brothers grow up and never suspected they were involved in gangs. She described their father as a self-made businessman dealing in restaurants, real estate and insurance."We never saw an aggressive or hostile side, not even with their dad," said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified out of concern for her safety. "If he told them to mow the lawn or wash the cars, they did."But on some level, the brothers led double lives that would lead to them becoming victims of violence - violence that experts say has its genesis with the fall of Saigon in 1975, which sparked a wave of southeast Asian immigrants to California.Distrustful of authority and struggling to learn a new language and culture, these refugees formed tight-knit communities to help one another. But they were still vulnerable to prejudice.A single event in the mid-1980s - a fight between a Latino student and a newly arrived Cambodian immigrant in Long Beach - led to the formation of the Tiny Raskal Gang, which is considered the largest Asian gang in the United States, followed by the Asian Boyz.The irony is that Asian gangs tend to prey on their own communities, perceiving that those victims won't report crimes to police.The gangs often follow a hierarchy. The "dai los," or big brothers, preside, providing money and issuing orders through their lieutenants and other associates. The "sai los," or little brothers, are at the bottom level, acting as foot soldiers.Pirooz said "riders" carry out shootings."Like the cowboy, they'll ride out and take care of business, so to speak," he said.To become the most feared Asian gang, a faction of the Asian Boyz went on a rampage in 1995, killing seven people, including three teens shot to death along a Southern California freeway.These gangs enforce a strict code of silence, with the penalty for betrayal often being death.
One of the men accused of killing Vutha Au, 22-year-old Phongsuvane Khaoone of Santa Rosa, is the brother of two suspected Asian Boyz gang members who are awaiting trial in the kidnapping and torture of Terry Au.Terry Au testified in a preliminary hearing last fall that he was dealing for Perry Khaoone, a defendant in the kidnapping, until he decided he wanted to stop.He said he was assaulted Oct. 1 in his family's home, then kidnapped and tortured by Perry Khaoone, Pongsony Khaoone and two other men, one of whom threatened to chop off his fingers in an extortion attempt.Each finger was going to cost $1,000 to get back, Terry Au testified.
Vutha Au had entered the state's witness relocation program ahead of his scheduled testimony in his brother's upcoming trial. But detectives said he broke that agreement and was spending time in Santa Rosa on the weekends.
The fact his killers found him and dragged him to the coast speaks to their level of brazenness."It doesn't seem like it was something really difficult for them to do," Basurto said.The suspects accused in the slaying - Quentin Glenn Russell, 24; David Prak, 19; Sarith Prak, 21; and Preston Phongsuvane Khaoone, 22 - delayed entering pleas in court Friday.
All four are from Santa Rosa and potentially face the death penalty.
Authorities also arrested Jack Houmpheng Sengsourith, 29, of Santa Rosa and Tyrone Rosenblad Tay, 26, of Suisun City for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy that led to Vutha Au's death.Detectives said Sengsourith and Tay were with Vutha Au in a car when he was forced into another car by the other four defendants.Sengsourith was released March 7, however, after the District Attorney's Office decided not to file charges. Prosecutors have not publicly disclosed the reasons for their decision.
What effect Vutha Au's death will have on Sonoma County's ever-shifting gang culture remains to be seen.One law enforcement official expressed concern that media attention surrounding the killing could embolden gang members and lead to more violence."It's a recruitment tool for them," Sheriff's Cpt. Dave Edmonds said.
But Edmonds also acknowledged that Vutha Au's slaying is yet another warning that Sonoma County is suffering some of the same gang problems as harder-hit communities."Continued events like this tip us in that direction," Edmonds said. "We need to have an awareness of that, and those in leadership positions need to pay attention to the level of violence and criminal activity that's being caused by gang enterprises in our community."Basurto noted one possible bright spot in having so many suspected Asian gang members off the street."I'm not going to say we're not going to have to deal with Asian Boyz in Sonoma County anymore, but it's going to take time for them to get back to where they were," he said. "I think it's a big blow to them."

“Street gangs, and the drugs and guns they employ, continue to wreak havoc within our communities,” said Timothy J. Landrum, DEA Special Agent in Charge. “Today’s arrests will severely disrupt firearms and methamphetamine trafficking operations in the San Gabriel Valley. Through the cooperation of federal, state and local law enforcement, the core leadership of this street gang will now be brought to justice.”
Eighteen members and associates of a La Puente-based street gang – including the alleged Mexican Mafia member who controlled its drug-trafficking operations – were arrested this morning by federal and local law enforcement authorities who executed dozens of search warrants across the San Gabriel Valley.Culminating a four-month federal investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Mexican Mafia member Rafael Munoz Gonzalez (also known as “Cisco”) and members of the Puente 13 gang were taken into custody pursuant to a grand jury indictment and a criminal complaint filed in United States District Court.The investigation, which was started as local investigation in April 2007 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, examined the methamphetamine trafficking operations of Puente 13. The investigation started about the same time that Gonzalez was released from prison and took control of Puente 13 drug operations by “taxing” members and associates of the gang who distributed methamphetamine.In December, the DEA; the United States Attorney's Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and the LASD created a task force to target the methamphetamine and firearms trafficking activities of the Puente 13 street gang, which is allegedly responsible for distributing multi-pound quantities of methamphetamine, a portion of which is produced locally in clandestine laboratories. Members of the gang also allegedly sold cocaine, marijuana and oxycodone in Los Angeles, Alaska, Seattle, Arizona and North Carolina.
This morning’s operation targeted 30 individuals. A total of 18 were arrested, two were already in custody, and 10 are fugitives.
Those arrested this morning are:
Andy Villa (aka Shadow), 27, of Glendora;
John Antonio Dacosta, 28, of Whittier;
Lorraine Christina Lopez, 34, of La Puente;
Josue Deloen (aka Josh, Purple Lips and Juicy Lips), 26, of La Puente;
Rene Valdez, 39, of La Puente;
Hoia Thanh Nguyen (aka Y), 32, of El Monte;
Steven Mark Mancha (aka Dirt Rock and Tight Shirt), 34, of Whittier;
Ernest George Mancha, 34, of Whittier;
Rafael Mungoz Gonzalez (aka Cisco), 38, of La Puente;
Michael Anthony Ortega (aka Temper), 35, of La Puente;
Steven Burgan (aka Gaucho), 25, of La Puente;
Wayne Arthur Goik (aka Zambrano), 59, of West Covina;
Noel Gonzalez (aka Big Noel), 56, of La Puente;
Noel Gonzalez III (aka Little Noel), 35, of La Puente;
Lenny Robert Casas (aka Little Dude), 18, of Whitter;
Henry Collao (aka Funny), 20, of La Puente;
Joventino Garcia III, 18, of La Puente; and
Antonio Torres (aka Tony Tough), 20, of Phoenix (who was arrested in Arizona).
The defendants arrested in Los Angeles are making their initial court appearances today in United States District Court in Los Angeles.
The two already in custody are:
Cesar Luis Torres, 25, who is in a Los Angeles County jail; and
Edward Martin Dominguez (aka Charger), 31, who is in an Orange County jail.
The 10 defendants still being sought by authorities are:
David Ortega (aka No-No), 22;
Javier Gabriel Moralez (aka Little Javi), 22;
Aaron Armando Torres, 25;
“Mumbles”;
Xavier (last name unknown);
John (last name unknown);
Gabriel Richardo Aldana (aka Weasel), 27;
Richard Cesar Teran (aka Spider and Spanks), 19;
Joseph Anthony Garcia (aka Denies), 20; and
Erin Nicole Mancha.
“Joint investigations including federal and local law enforcement are essential when dealing with long-entrenched gangs that operate both in prison and on the streets,” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. “The federal charges in this case, and the lengthy mandatory minimum sentences they carry, will take gang leaders out of the community and put them into federal prison, improving safety and making a difference in the lives of local residents.”
Members of the task force also executed 35 federal search warrants, which yielded one pound of methamphetamine, 20 pounds of marijuana and 16 firearms.
The DEA and the LASD received significant contributions to this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation from the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (LA IMPACT), the Pomona Police Department, the West Covina Police Department and the Juneau (Alaska) Police Department.

Guilty verdict came crashing down Monday on the Chicago Outfit, the five defendants in the Family Secrets conspiracy trial sat still, their faces fixed in emotionless stares.James Marcello, the reputed boss of the mob, didn't appear to blink. Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, a reputed legendary gangland figure, and Anthony "Twan" Doyle, a former Chicago police officer, sat frozen. Paul "the Indian" Schiro's jaw moved, but he was chewing gum.Frank Calabrese Sr., a reputed mob hit man, didn't appear to flinch either as his lawyer held up a folder to hide his client's face from rows of reporters in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.The guilty verdicts represent a body-blow to the mob's aging leadership, a determination by the jury that what prosecutors described as a broad conspiracy started by Al Capone had indeed carried through the modern era.But the jury isn't done yet. On Tuesday, jurors are scheduled to begin deliberations anew on the 18 mob slayings at the heart of the case after first hearing argument from prosecutors and defense lawyers. If found responsible for the murders, the four reputed Outfit figures face possible life sentences.
In the end, these reputed mobsters proved not to be untouchable. The jury convicted all five defendants of racketeering conspiracy, finding them guilty of extorting "street taxes," collecting high-interest "juice" loans, running illegal gambling operations and using violence and murder to protect the mob's interests.
The jury also convicted Marcello of bribing Calabrese's brother to try to discourage him from cooperating, Calabrese for extorting "street taxes" from the Connie's Pizza restaurant chain, and Lombardo for obstructing justice by fleeing from authorities after his indictment.
Doyle, the former Chicago cop, was accused of leaking sensitive information about the federal probe to a mobster friend but wasn't implicated in any of the slayings. The lone defendant free on bail, Doyle was taken into custody after the verdict pending a bond hearing Wednesday.
The jurors, their names kept secret even from lawyers in the case, deliberated three days last week and another hour Monday before reaching their verdict.

The verdict appeared to vindicate the testimony of Calabrese's brother, Nicholas, one of the highest-ranking mob turncoats in Chicago history, who linked his brother to many of the 18 killings. Calabrese's son, Frank Jr., also secretly tape-recorded conversations with his imprisoned father. The unprecedented cooperation by a mob target's relatives prompted federal authorities to code-name the probe Operation Family Secrets.

Another Calabrese son, Kurt, who arrived at the courtroom too late to hear the verdict, said he had mixed emotions about his father's conviction. "I feel bad for all of the victims who are here," said Kurt Calabrese, who was convicted with his father and brother in the 1990s in a loan-sharking scheme. "I hope they're able to move forward, as torn up as they've been, and I hope my family can go on, as torn up as they've been.
"I don't hate him," he said of his father, who was accused during the trial of being abusive toward his family. "I'm not a hateful person."
The judge delayed announcing the verdict more than three hours, allowing some 20 relatives of slaying victims to get to the courtroom.
Ron Seifert, whose brother, Daniel, was gunned down shortly before he was to testify against Lombardo in 1974, said the family's long wait for justice has been difficult.
"I didn't know if this day would ever come," he said. "It's a good, good feeling."
Prosecutors and defense lawyers had no comment on the verdict because of a gag order imposed by U.S. District Judge James Zagel.
In the next round of deliberations, the seven-woman, five-man jury must decide if prosecutors have proven Frank Calabrese Sr. guilty in 13 of the gangland slayings. Marcello has been accused in three killings, including the case's most notorious: the 1986 deaths of Las Vegas mob chieftain Anthony Spilotro and his brother, Michael, whose bodies were found buried in an Indiana cornfield. Lombardo and Schiro, the reputed Outfit representative from Phoenix, are alleged to have taken part in one killing each.
The judge limited the arguments by prosecutors and lawyers in the case to about a combined 2 1/2 hours.

The Supreme Court approved an American request for the extradition of Juan Carlos Ramirez-Abadia, a Colombian accused of smuggling billions of dollars of cocaine into the United States. Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will decide whether the extradition will go forward. Called the “new Pablo Escobar” by the Brazilian police when he was arrested in São Paulo last August, Mr. Ramirez-Abadia, left, is said by the State Department, which put up a reward of $5 million for him, to command a multibillion-dollar drug and money-laundering operation that extends from the United States to Europe. He faces indictments brought by United States prosecutors in New York.

Six people were shot and killed inside a private law office in central Mexico, state prosecutors said.Five men and a women died in yesterday's attack in the western city of Guadalajara, the Jalisco state attorney-general's office said in a statement.
Two women survived the shooting, the statement said. Mexico City newspaper El Universal reported they were seriously wounded. The bodies were found in different parts of the office, and some of the victims' hands were tied, the statement said. The gunshot wounds appeared to come from a 9mm weapon. No arrests had been made.
In recent years, Mexico has suffered a wave of organised crime and drug-related violence that killed more than 2,500 people last year alone. It was not immediately clear if any of the lawyers at the office had clients with links to organised crime.

small group of criminal godfathers is directing the gangland violence which has claimed the lives of 11 people in Limerick in the past eight years, a chief state prosecutor revealed last night.Limerick state solicitor Michael Murray, who has overseen landmark convictions following the murders of crime boss Kieran Keane and night-club doorman Brian Fitzgerald, said the criminal masterminds remain untouchable because a steady supply of willing lieutenants are willing to risk jail to serve them. Mr Murray said the good work of the country's leading gardai was being undone by the ready availability of disadvantaged aspiring criminals to do the dirty work for their seniors.
Up to four crimelords based in the Mid-West region are conducting the notorious gangland criminality in Limerick which has led to the violent deaths of at least 11 men since 2000 and Mr Murray describes their activities as "unrelenting". "So long as the godfathers are there, they will always manipulate the vulnerable," Mr Murray said. "The reality is the city (Limerick) is in a grip of a feud by organised groups. They are creating all sorts of problems. It is unrelenting.
"The problem really is that drugs are so lucrative, there are people at the top end that are not coming up on the radar screen and are orchestrating all of this, that is the problem. "There is no more than three or four in the Mid-Western region. They are in the background. That is their real strength, their ability to remain in the background. "Once their operatives are put out of the way, they just go around and find somebody else to put in their place," he added. The solicitor said a cross-section of all ages -- vulnerable adults and children -- were being used by senior gang members. "There has been a problem and a difficult problem for the courts to deal with. Indeed, adults who are not known to the gardai are often coerced to do things for drugs people on the basis that they are persuaded that they have no previous convictions and haven't been in the courts before," Mr Murray said.
"They are not likely to be caught first of all and even if they are caught, they are going to get a light sentence.
"Now, that has gone a step further where they are finding it is easier to manipulate young fellows on the basis that they can be persuaded -- 'you are a young fella, even if you are caught, nothing will happen to you.' I have no doubt that is happening". New legislation may be required to stem the ongoing criminality.
"The problem is in order to address that, the courts should in one sense treat the vulnerable more severely," Mr Murray said. "I suppose the theory should be that the vulnerable should be more afraid of the courts than they are of the criminals. That, unfortunately, is unpalatable in itself. It is a difficult one.
"In fairness, the guards have kept a lid on it as best they can. But it is a little bit like rolling a stone up a hill. Once it gets to the top it rolls back down and you have to start all over again."

Four metro Detroit police officers and a member of the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Detroit on charges stemming from a four-year FBI investigation into drug trafficking and other crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit.More than 40 members of the Highwaymen, which officials say is an organized crime group, and their associates were indicted last year following the investigation.The defendants have been asked to appear today in court. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Marion said they are not a flight risk because of their family and community connections.David Tomlan, a Garden City police officer who has since been fired, was charged with lying to agents about conversations with a member of the Highwaymen who was involved in a shooting. He also was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and steroids, which were found during a search of his home.The Garden City department notified the FBI after learning that Tomlan had become a member of the Highwaymen, the U.S. Attorney's Office statement said.Brownstown Township Officer Michael Ramsey and former Detroit reserve officer Dennis Abraham were indicted on charges of lying to agents and a grand jury.
Hamtramck Officer Randell Hutchinson was indicted on a charge of participating in a conspiracy to distribute steroids.Hutchinson, who was formerly part of a Drug Enforcement Administration task force, was accused of disclosing the existence of a federal wiretap on a member of the Highwaymen.Highwaymen member Sean Donovan, who is incarcerated on stolen property charges, was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and Vicodin.In addition, charges have been filed against metro Detroit attorney Lee O'Brien. He's accused of lying to agents about a stolen car he received from Donovan, the statement said.Ramsey and Hutchinson remained in their positions Wednesday, although Marion said the affected police chiefs were told of the indictments.

She was a landlady with rooms to hire, but police believe Cynthia Ntuli supplied an add-on service for the gang of house robbers who resided on her premises in Tembisa, east of Joburg. Police allege that 35-year-old Ntuli rented out the two guns that were used to murder Pretoria nursery school principal Rinda Abraham and British national Fred Picton-Turbervill to the gang. The gang of Mozambicans are believed to have terrorised the plush eastern suburbs of Pretoria in a crime spree that culminated in at least two killings, 10 house robberies and one attempted murder.
The gang of Mozambicans are believed to have terrorised the plush eastern suburbs of Pretoria
It ended when detectives arrested eight suspects, including Ntuli, on January 28. Among the arrested suspects were Dinis Gentil Nhone, 36, and Christovao Fresco Ndima, 19. Two other members of the gang are still on the run. Investigating officer Sergeant Wimpie van der Heever is probing the gang's possible involvement in other crimes. He is also trying to discover more about Ntuli's role. Police allege that Ntuli supplied the gang with two stolen handguns, a .38 Special and a 6.35mm pistol, which she hid at her Tembisa premises. "We are still investigating why the gang used her to supply the guns. We understand that they would hire the guns from her, use them in the robbery, then give them back to the lady. They also stayed with her in rented rooms," explained Van der Heever. Ntuli was arrested for possession of stolen property, said Van der Heever, because the firearms were not found on her. Ntuli had been arrested before He added that Ntuli had been arrested before, in 2006.
"She would go to a house and ask the worker if they had UIF (unemployment insurance). Once inside the home, they would rob it," he said.
On January 8, police believe the gang broke into Picton-Turbervill's Waterkloof Ridge home and murdered him with one of Ntuli's guns.
Picton-Turbervill, 45, was shot in the face in front of his wife and four young children. This took place after he had gone to investigate why their dog was barking.
"He was lying on the floor and he turned his head towards the robbers, and they shot him," said Van der Heever. Picton-Turbervill died later in hospital. The robbers took a laptop, four cellphones, jewellery and about R1 000 in cash.Three weeks later, the gang struck again in Waterkloof while Rinda Abraham's two children and a friend were watching TV in their living room. After their dog was shot in the mouth, Abraham came out to investigate. She ended up being shot in the heart, and the robbers got away with a cellphone. It emerged in court that Nhone and Ndima were linked to Abraham's case through identikits. The accused are to appear in court again on April 7.

Glasgow's hard men, feared and reviled by everyone they met and living up to their reputations as Scotland's most dangerous criminals. Each had a nickname as sharp as the blades they used: the Godfather, the Licensee, the Torturer.
But the sun has set on the empires each of them built up from protection rackets, armed robberies and extortion. Crime (UK) Ltd is under new management, and it is largely foreign owned. Police across Britain are grappling with a new generation of criminal "kingpins", whose empires span the globe and who model their operations on legitimate multinational companies.UK is under a state of martial law as organised crime rings from across the globe take hold.While the "dons" of the past revelled in their notoriety, displaying their ill-gotten gains through sharp suits and flashy cars, today's gang leaders aim to be faceless "executives" as familiar with spreadsheets as their predecessors were with knuckle-dusters. Foreign nationals, including Russian, Albanian and Turkish émigrés, now have a stranglehold on organised crime in the UK.The authorities estimate there are 400 organised crime bosses in Britain, with an amassed criminal wealth of about £440 million.So-called "dirty money", or assets derived from crime, represents a staggering 2 per cent of the UK's GDP, or £18 billion. And up to half of that is derived from illegal drug transactions.Meanwhile, the economic and social costs of serious organised crime are estimated at between £20 billion and £40 billion a year – compared with the country's £30 billion defence budget.Gordon Meldrum, director-general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), said the profile of the criminal gang leader had changed, from a local hard man to an educated foreign criminal whose contacts spanned the globe."These people are entrepreneurial in nature and run criminal empires on business lines and see themselves as the chief executives," he said."They'll have a board of some kind and often have a structure to the organisation. There are a number of specialities that facilitate the crime groups…experts in transport, legal and legislative systems. The commodity could be heroin, people, firearms, money, drugs. They're interested in power and profit."
Abdullah Baybasin, 46, is an example of the new generation of "chief executive" running a multinational criminal enterprise. The head of a Turkish drug family, he was said to control 90 per cent of the heroin smuggled into Britain and was jailed for 22 years in May 2006. Police took five years to bring Baybasin and his gang to justice in an operation that involved painstaking surveillance of mobile telephone records and private correspondence before he could be arrested.
Another lead player was Tony Singh Hare, one of Britain's most prolific drug dealers, who was given a record sentence of 52 years in 2003. He was found guilty at Leicester Crown Court of drug-trafficking, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and fraud. Hare, 37, had organised supplies of heroin, Ecstasy and cannabis to dealers in Scotland, north-east England, Nottingham and Derby.

The criminal landscape in Britain has become increasingly volatile in recent years. Previous generations of Italian, Maltese and English gangsters have given way to a new Mafia with its own "Kanun", a code of behaviour similar to the Sicilian "omerta".


Foreign traffickers have managed to infiltrate the British drugs market, but the lead suppliers remain in a state of flux. Smugglers of Pakistani origin are moving in on the heroin trade, which Turkish gangs dominated in the 1990s, while Yardie criminals with Jamaican connections control much of the UK's cannabis and crack trade. The reason for such turf wars is simple: the drugs trade in the UK has been estimated to be worth about £6.6 billion a year.One consequence of the new global market is that Scottish criminals are now going further afield. Mr Meldrum said: "Organised crime groups from Scotland are going into central Europe and missing out the middle man. They broker the deal themselves, and go directly to South America and Europe."A recent two-year operation led by the SCDEA's predecessor, the SDEA, culminated in eight tonnes of cannabis being recovered from a British-registered trawler intercepted off the west coast of Spain. It involved months of surveillance, and Spanish police, Europol, Customs and the National Crime Squad all worked with the SDEA to capture the men behind it.Officers seized £61 million worth of drugs, including heroin and cocaine, and arrested nine men in the UK and Spain. The ringleader, John Gorman, from Ayrshire, was given a 12-year sentence after he was found guilty of being involved in the supply of drugs with a street value of more than £360,000 and laundering £178,000 of drug money.These days "the commodity" for the crime bosses is anything that generates a profit – heroin, cocaine, firearms, people, child pornography and tobacco.Global profits from people-smuggling are estimated to be £5 billion annually, and every £1 spent on heroin is estimated to generate about £4 of damage to the national economy.The underworld bosses operate across global frontiers in tight-knit gangs, display in-depth knowledge of law enforcement methods and exploit sophisticated technologies to conceal their activities from the authorities.The government hopes that British expertise in areas such as forensic accountancy will make it increasingly difficult for organised criminals to hide their money in legitimate businesses.

The changing face of organised crime in Scotland was highlighted recently when a senior police officer spoke of his fears that the country had become a haven for drug-running Triad gangs. Detective Chief Superintendent Stevie Whitelock, the head of intelligence at Strathclyde Police, said organised criminals had turned Scotland into a cannabis greenhouse. Up to £1 billion of the drug is being cultivated each year in houses and warehouses that are converted into drug farms by a large-scale organised crime gang linked to south-east Asia.The farms are staffed by illegal immigrants, who are locked inside properties for 24 hours a day. In the past year, 33,000 plants worth £40 million have been seized. It is believed much of the cannabis is exported by Chinese-Vietnamese crime groups, with the profits being channelled back to south-east Asia, where the money is laundered in tourism.Police have identified about 70 cannabis factories in Scotland since the summer of 2006. Most have been set up by Vietnamese and Chinese gangs, converting houses and warehouses into factories, mainly in west of Scotland suburbs. The factories are capable of producing tens of millions of pounds worth of the illicit crop.

In 2006, it was reported Scottish criminals were stepping up their connections with organised gangs across Europe, including the Mafia, to benefit from lucrative drugs and money- laundering schemes. There is evidence of growing co-operation between criminal gangs in Scotland and those based in eastern Europe and other parts of the Continent.Emigration from eastern Europe has also led to a surge in the sex trade, which is increasingly run by Albanian and other Balkan criminals. According to Scotland Yard, about 75 per cent of brothels in London's Soho are controlled by Albanians, who annually make up to £12 million from 1,000 prostitutes.But the problem is not confined to the south of England. Police launched Operation Pentameter 2 last October when it emerged that foreign nationals as young as 14 were being forced into sex slavery throughout the UK.Strathclyde Police confirmed that a dozen live investigations were under way north of the Border, and it is estimated that in Scotland alone there are 6,000 foreign nationals working as prostitutes, many of them from eastern Europe and south-east Asia.

Scottish criminals are also working with gangs in Estonia and Latvia to launder money, because the banking stipulations and legislation in those countries are less stringent than they are in the UK.The seriousness of the threat from organised crime is such that underworld bosses are to be targeted by tough new laws making it easier to convict "Mafia godfathers".
As part of a crackdown, Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, has proposed new offences of directing or being involved in organised crime.
The planned new laws were endorsed recently at the second meeting of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which brings together organisations such as the Crown Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the SCDEA, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, HM Revenue and Customs and the Scottish Prison Service.

The government is also planning to add new offences indicating a criminal lifestyle to the Proceeds of Crime Act, including bribery and corruption, and distribution of child and extreme pornography.Key areas targeted by 'chief executives' of criminal gangs.People trafficked to the UK are used for sexual exploitation, cheap labour in agriculture and in the catering and construction industries. The main source countries are Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Malaysia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Women have been sold in the UK for between £2,000 and £3,000. There are an estimated 6,000 foreign nationals working as prostitutes in Scotland, many from eastern Europe and South-east Asia. Class A drugs continues to be the most visible form of serious organised crime, providing billions of pounds for the black economy. About 90 per cent of the UK's identified heroin supply originates in Afghanistan and most of the supply to Europe is processed in Turkey.Colombia continues to dominate the global supply of cocaine, and Spain and the Netherlands are the main entry points into Europe.Organised criminals have turned Scotland into a cannabis greenhouse, with up to £1 billion of the drug being cultivated every year.criminals are dynamic in identifying new opportunities to commit fraud and ways to overcome security measures. Payment card crime is a good example, where the introduction of Chip and Pin has led to an increase in "card not present" (CNP) fraud, especially CNP fraud carried out via telephone transactions. There has also been an increase in cheque frauds, including counterfeit cheques. Changes in technology, particularly the growth of the internet, have been exploited to develop new crimes and transform traditional ones. Criminals have also demonstrated versatility in exploiting IT security weaknesses. initial stage of money laundering often involves moving cash out of the UK through couriers or via various money transmission services. However, many serious organised criminals make use of IT experts, as well as financial and legal professionals to handle their affairs.So-called "dirty money" – or assets derived from crime – represent around 2 per cent of the UK's GDP, or £18 billion – up to half of which is derived from illegal drug transactions.THIS area underpins a lot of organised crime and allows people to conceal themselves, their activities and their assets and minimise the risk of detection. Some organised crime groups are known to produce, supply or use false personal identities.The ability to communicate securely is essential, and criminals make extensive use of face-to-face meetings and pay-as-you-go mobile phones to conceal their illegal activity.fraudsters smuggle cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco into the UK. Most smuggled genuine cigarettes come from Cyprus, Greece, Poland and Russia concealed in lorries and containers. More than 50 per cent of all seized smuggled cigarettes are counterfeit. China is the main producer of counterfeit cigarettes, but counterfeit cigarette factories have emerged throughout the EU.Up to £40 billion a year is the bill Britain is forced to pay because of crimes like drugs and prostitution
THE economic and social costs of organised crime in the UK are estimated to be at least £20-40 billion per year.
• There are about 400 organised crime bosses in the UK with an amassed criminal wealth of approximately £440 million.
• Global profits from people smuggling are estimated to be £5 billion annually.
• 280,000 problem drug users cause around half of all crime in the UK.
• Every £1 spent on heroin
is estimated to generate about £4 of damage to the national economy.
• Assets derived from crime represent about 2 per cent of the UK's GDP, or £18 billion – up to half of which is derived from illegal drug transactions.
• Since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was implemented, more than £17 million has been recovered from criminal activity in Scotland.
• Up to £1 billion of cannabis is being cultivated every year in houses and warehouses converted into drug farms by a large-scale organised crime gangs linked to south-east Asia.
• Girls as young as 14 are being forced into sex slavery in the UK and Strathclyde Police confirmed recently that a dozen live investigations were under way north of the Border. It is estimated that in Scotland alone there are 6,000 foreign nationals working as prostitutes, many of them from eastern Europe and South-east Asia.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com

police informer is testifying against a man charged with the murder of Melbourne underworld figure, Victor Peirce.Peirce was shot at Port Melbourne six years ago.26-year-old Faruk Orman is facing a committal hearing for the murder, but has yet to enter a plea.It is alleged Orman was part of a hit team with slain gangland figure Andrew Veniamin.Under cross-examination, the unidentified witness testified he had done a deal with police to give evidence, knowing he could be sentenced to life in prison for drug dealing.The hearing is being heard in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

In fact, the Angels also want their framed poems, black leather vests, gun permits, drivers' licenses, personal papers and biker memorabilia.
In a federal civil-rights lawsuit, Alan "Big Al" Wolf, of Denver, Pa., Peter Miller, of Pennsburg, Pa., and Gregory "George" Suny, of Upper Darby, say the Philly cops won't give back the items seized during a 2005 raid in West Philadelphia.
So, they're demanding more than $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages from the city, court records show. A source close to settlement discussions claims the Angels have turned down an offer from the city that they consider too low.
Today, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Arnold C. Rapoport takes over the case and is expected to schedule a settlement conference.
The lawsuit, however, leaves out key details of the Angels' short, colorful history, such as the failed bombing of its headquarters that immediately preceded the raid.
It also fails to mention the Angels' bloody battle with the Pagans Outlaw Motorcycle Club, a war that included murder, drive-by shootings, turncoats and beatings to drive the Angels out of Philadelphia.Attorney Michael Caudo filed the lawsuit last July in Common Pleas Court and it was later transferred to Federal Court last October. Caudo said he didn't mention the outlaw motorcycle club by name because: "I don't represent the Hells Angels. [The club] has counsel. "What I was seeking was the return of property - drivers' licenses, permits to carry firearms and firearms," he added.Wolf, Miller and Suny "were never arrested. They were taken in for questioning," he added. "They didn't do anything illegal."Law enforcement officers "could have looked at their [drivers' licenses and gun permits], copied them and given them back," he added.Four months before the raid, Angels chapter president Thomas "Thinker" Woods was fatally shot on the Schuylkill Expressway in what was widely speculated to be the latest incident of an ongoing war between the Angels and Pagans.Then, on May 18, 2005, authorities learned that a homemade bomb had been thrown overnight at the Angels' headquarters.The bomb, believed to be a grenade attached to a container of gasoline, did not explode. But police and FBI investigators found "bits and pieces" left by the explosive device, although not the device, in the Angels' front yard.Later that night, about a dozen Angels were meeting inside when investigators outside the club asked Steve DeMarco, then chapter vice president, to tell where the bomb was "or they would take further action," according to a source close to the probe.Investigators wanted to disarm the device, so it would not harm anyone, especially children, the source said.
So, DeMarco asked the Angels if they wanted to disclose the bomb's whereabouts. They responded with a resounding "NO!," according to a biker source. So DeMarco, in turn, told authorities: "You gotta do what you gotta do."
The next day, the biker source claimed, DeMarco allowed authorities to enter and search the club, before Detective James Kearney obtained a search warrant. DeMarco could not be reached for comment.During the search, police and FBI agents seized the Angels' guns and belongings. The lawsuit claimed the search was illegal."Some of that evidence may be in federal custody and they are suing the wrong [agency]," a law enforcement source said."We're not in the business of putting guns back on the street," the source continued. "They already demonstrated what they want to do with them. They're not using them for hunting. They're using those guns to hunt down Pagans."But Caudo insisted: "You can't just go rounding people up and taking their property."As for three black leather vests - the ones emblazoned with the Angels' death-head logo, known as their "colors," the source said, "Only one set of 'colors' were taken that night, and they were returned when the owner requested them.
"They're lying in the filings" if they say three leather vests were seized in the lawsuit, the source added. "None of those people [Wolf, Miller and Suny] came forward to claim their property."After Caudo filed the lawsuit, he learned that only one vest was taken, and returned a week later. While investigators questioned the Angels, they were in "reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm" and were "unlawfully and improperly assaulted and battered against their will," according to the lawsuit.
Meantime, investigators found the grenade on the railroad tracks under a bridge at 41st and Poplar Streets, about seven blocks from the Angels' headquarters.
"They're all lucky we didn't charge them with hindering an investigation and risking a catastrophe," the law enforcement source said. "They got off easy that night."
But that may not be for long.
There's an ongoing federal-local probe of the recent war between the Angels and Pagans, including the missing bomb, Woods' murder and "a whole series of things," the law enforcement source said.Craig Straw, chief deputy of the civil rights division of the city Law Department, declined to comment.Since the Angels' chapter was closed, some members opened a statewide chapter of Nomads, an elite outlaw biker club associated with the Hells Ang

More gangland killings this weekend both victims ambushed outside their homes have provoked what has become a dreary mantra by police spokesmen: a targeted killing, victim known to the police,On Friday, just before midnight, an armed assailant walked up to a Mercedes SUV parked in the driveway of a Surrey home in the vicinity of 90th Avenue and 141A and opened fire on Nhant Truong (Joe) Tran, 23, as he sat in the driver's seat.Tran was killed in his own driveway, in his own car, shortly after arriving home.Surrey RCMP spokesman Sgt. Roger Morrow said Tran appeared to be waiting for someone. Police were called to the home by people who heard shots fired.
"The lone victim was known to police, and while at the initial stages of this investigation, investigators are of the belief that this is a targeted attack.
While IHIT tries to put it all together on the Tran murder, Vancouver homicide detectives are busy trying to solve the murder of 20-year-old Kyle Richard Wong, cut down in a hail of gunfire from an assault rifle in front of his family's townhouse carport in the 8600-block Aqua Drive at approximately 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
The weapon believed to have been used to kill Wong, who Vancouver police said had gang connections, was found a block away, apparently discarded by his killer.A fully automatic rifle is an unusual weapon for such a killing, said Vancouver police spokesman Const. Tim Fanning. Most of the recent gang-style murders have involved the use of semi-automatic handguns, he said.Since 2006, Wong had accumulated 10 charges, all motor vehicle infractions, and was due to appear in court Wednesday on a charge of driving without a valid driver's licence.
Witnesses could only give police a vague description of the vehicle that raced away from the scene. On Monday, Fanning said investigators were re-interviewing witnesses in the hope of getting a more detailed description.According to police only a fraction of gang-related murders are ever solved.
Fanning said the solve rate averages 35 to 40 per cent, whereas in other types of murder, police expect at least a 60-per-cent rate in identifying killers
"The reason for the low rate is that these are premeditated murders that have taken time to plan. The perpetrators disguise their appearance and lurk in the shadows. It usually takes a year to solve a murder like this and we have found that in some cases the victim of one murder was a suspect in another," he said.Fanning would not say if this was the case with Wong.While police intelligence sources close to the gang world might be able to identify a suspect in a targeted killing "the tough part was getting the evidence to lay a charge," said Fanning.
The department is compiling a report on the numbers of solved homicides relating to gangland slayings, which is expected to be released within the next few months, he said.

Mexican police said they seized 20 high-powered rifles, 14 grenades and more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition on Monday in a hotel district in the popular resort of Cancun.Federal police made the discovery in an apartment in the swank housing development known as "The Waves" in the heart of Cancun's tourist district, state Attorney General Bello Melchor Rodriguez told The Associated Press by phone.Among the weapons seized were seven AK-47 assault rifles, two M16 rifles and various grenade launchers, the Public Safety Department said in a statement.The police suspect the weapons were linked to organized crime but no arrests had been made, said a department spokesman who couldn't be named because he wasn't authorized to speak on the record.Popular tourist destinations, such as Acapulco, Cancun and Baja California, have suffered a wave of violence and crime in recent years — in some cases, negatively affecting the lucrative industry.

Manitoba Hells Angels president Ernie Dew has been found guilty on all his charges.
Last month, Dew conceded the Crown had proved its case for six of the seven offences — three counts each of drug trafficking and possessing proceeds of crime — that he was charged with in February 2006, when he was picked up along with 12 other bikers and associates in Project Defence.
This morning, Justice Brenda Keyser also found Dew guilty of the seventh offence — a cocaine deal at his St. Andrews home that involved his wife, but was orchestrated by the biker boss before he went on a hunting trip. In every case, the man buying the cocaine was police informant Franco Atanasovic. That fact may or may not keep Dew out of jail despite being guilty on every charge, because his co-counsel Sarah Inness filed a rare motion last month alleging Dew was the victim of a police entrapment scheme. If Keyser decides there was indeed entrapment, all seven of Dew's charges will be stayed and he will be free, as the ruling would effectively nullify the findings of guilt that were proven during the trial. If she denies the entrapment argument, Dew will be convicted and sentenced on all seven counts.

Kyle Richard Wong was the ninth murder since the new violence suppression team was unveiled last fall.In November, police across the region joined forces to set up the 60-member VST.One month later, during a news conference to update their efforts, Sergeant Shinder Kirk said established gangs like the “Hells Angels”, the “UN” gang, the “Independent Soldiers” and “Red Scorpions” now have competition from smaller players.
"That’s the fluidity of groups we're dealing with. You have groups that are operating in this lifestyle that don't have a name and they do come together and break apart almost as quickly."Vancouver police have confirmed a gun was found near Wong’s body on Sunday morning and they're looking for the driver of a light-coloured import vehicle.

The men are known as the Zetas, former members of the Mexican army who defected to Mexico's so-called Gulf drug cartel in the late 1990s. "These guys operate like a military well trained and with precision," said Arturo A. Fontes, an FBI special investigator for border violence based in Laredo, in south Texas. "They have their hands in everything and they have eyes and ears everywhere. I've seen how they work, and they're good at what they do. They're an impressive bunch of ruthless criminals."
Los Zetas are Ex- Army Special forces, regular troopers, police agents and common criminals who work for Osiel Cardenas in the drug trafficking business. Some have received special-forces training under the U.S. Army at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia . The members with military backgrounds can be considered mercenaries working for Mexican drug cartels. The name Zeta comes from a radio code used by the Mexican federal police to locate high-ranking battalion commanders.
Investigators say the feared bands of ex-military elite forces are operating in Texas and other parts of the United States unchecked. A team of rogue Mexican commandos blamed for hundreds of killings and kidnappings along the U.S.-Mexico border has carried out at least five drug-related slayings as far north as Dallas, a sign that the group is extending its deadly operations into U.S. cities, U.S. law enforcement officials say.Dallas and federal officials said that since late 2003 eight to 10 members of the Zetas have been operating in north Texas, maintaining a "shadowy existence" and sometimes hiring Texas criminal gangs, including the Mexican Mafia, M-13 and Texas Syndicate, for contract killings according to the Dallas police dept.. The Texas Syndicate is a prison gang that authorities blame for several murders nationwide.It is also believed by some officials at the CIA that they may have Al-Qaeda and other terrorist connections and maybe helping them breach our borders.The U.S.-Mexico border is becoming like a war zone states Texas sheriff's from El Paso, McAllen, Laredo.The feds in El Paso alerted law enforcement throughout the country, warning them that Mexican commandos are now working for drug cartels.Most Americans are shocked to learn where the commandos were trained.A memo from the Justice Department warns that Mexican commandos were trained by U.S. forces, but switched sides. They are now using their deadly skills to work for the drug cartels often with the Mexican regular army.A recent Intelligence Bulletin from ICE we obtained says the Zetas are responsible for hundreds of violent drug-related murders. It says they've executed journalists, murdered people in Dallas, El Paso, McAllen, Laredo, Tijuana and Juarez. They even detained two DEA agents and recently they've shot at Border Patrol agents, County sheriffs and the US National Guard. At the Texas and Arizona borders with Mexico agents are already seeing a major increase in murder and other violence.Perfecting their commando training, Los Zetas are known to be extremely violent killers and have been blamed for an outbreak of violence along the Mexican border for several years now, with no real resistance from the US Government.Federal agents stationed at the El Paso Criminal Intelligence Center told local law enforcement, "that Not only did they receive some early military training but they developed their own internal training as well increasing their violence far beyond their own original capabilities."
The normally busy streets and busy stores in El Paso, Nogales, Sonora and Laredo on both sides of the river have been less busy due to all the violence and threats. It’s reported that many shop keepers in all of those broader cities and others are scared. Many claim their business has really fallen off since the Los Zetas showed up. Most shop owners like Seth (does not want to use his last name) who fear retaliation say “it’s a direct result of drug wars and random shootings.” Seth says,” the tourists are simply afraid to come to our cities to shop.
U.S. Customs agents, US Boarder Patrol and county Sheriff’s all along the boarder from California to east Texas have been involved in shootouts with an enemy they had not seen before. According to one Texas sheriff’s deputy “ these guys are equipped with automatic weapons, 50 Cal machine guns, M-60’s, infrared technology body armor, Humvee’s and state-of-the-art communications, he said ,” it is a combination of Los Zetas and Mexican military.”As the drug wars heat up and expand between the Gulf Cartel to the east and the Tijuana Cartel to the west, a Justice Department bulletin warns:“The violence will spill over the Mexican border into the United States and law enforcement agencies in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California can expect to encounter Los Zetas in the coming months and years.”
The violence plaguing the border towns has led to dire warnings issued by the State Department saying that narco- traffickers are on the hunt for US citizens.The military training comes in handy with the arms the Zetas carry, including 9mm weapons and infrared technology - all parts of an armory equivalent to an American SWAT team. Drug money pays for it all. The Zeta arsenal could make the group attractive to other groups, like al-Qaeda or the Mara Salvatruchas.
According to one of there own jailed members during an interview with law enforcement said, “there are some of the Maras and al-Qaeda inside the organization”. The phenomenon of the Maras, is a violent Central American gang that originated in Los Angeles and has become a nightmare in the region.While the Zetas are a problem for Mexican police, they also claim to work with drug dealers in the United States. Their work includes cold-blooded killings. They told us they knew of a hit on two men outside a Rio Grande City restaurant, and the murder of two men watching a fight in Starr County according to a TV report aired in Arizona.Law enforcement including Sheriff’s, Police Chiefs and regular concerned citizens along the Mexican American border say the US Government is doing very little to support and protect our hundreds of miles of borders. And say the Zetas are operating with immunity and doing what ever they like without and repercussions. They want something done and right now it is already completely out of hand and is dangerous for there kids and everyone else. Business owners on both sides of the border and even law enforcement are reluctant to talk about the problem fearing retaliation from these thugs.So what are we doing in our country to keep an eye on these people.

Cancun is more dangerous to Canadians than Israeli or Lebanese beach resorts. But we have a warning for the latter. Cancun and Acapulco are the centers of the drug cartel wars, which have taken more Canadian lives than the Israeli/Lebanon war.
Toews is the latest case of a number of Canadians injured or killed while vacationing in Mexico: Domenic and Nancy Ianiero, of Woodbridge, Ont., were staying at the luxury Barcelo Maya beach resort near Cancun when they were found with their throats slashed on Feb. 20, 2006. The murder remains unsolved. Another Woodbridge resident, 19-year-old Adam DePrisco, was killed outside an Acapulco nightclub last January. Local authorities said he was the victim of a hit-and-run, but relatives say the teenager was beaten to death. In February, Rita Callara, 55, and a Canadian man, both from the Niagara Falls region, were each shot in the leg after a gunman fired a semi-automatic weapon at the Casa Inn hotel in Acapulco.The same weekend the Canadian tourist was attacked this happened; Gunmen attack police chief in Cancun beach resort Coincidence? I think not.


While not apparently connected to the death of the Canadian tourist, it reflects the dangers of the drug wars occurring under the surface in the land of umbrella drinks, sun and surf.In the real city of Cancun — rather than the “Hotel Zone” — the chief of police was ambushed with his entourage. His bodyguard was killed and others wounded. He survived.Some sources estimate 900 people have been murdered since the beginning of the year in Mexico in drug-war violence but that is not confirmed. The AP reported that figure from the Mexico City magazine, Milenio. The government does not confirm any figure.This current cartel war is being waged not only for control of the smuggling plazas into the United States, such as Nuevo Laredo, Mexicali and Tijuana, but also for the locations used for Mexico’s incoming drug shipments, in places such as Acapulco, Cancun and Michoacan, and for control of critical points on transshipment routes through the center of the country, such as Hermosillo.While there has always been some level of violence between the Mexican cartels, the current war has resulted in a notable escalation in the level of brutality. One significant cause of this uptick is the change in the composition of the cartels’ enforcement arms. Historically, cartel leaders performed much of their own dirty work, and figures such as Cardenas and Ramon Arellano Felix were recognized for the number of rivals they killed on their rise to the top of their respective organizations. In the recent past, however, the cartels have begun to contract out the enforcement functions to highly trained outsiders. For example, when cartels such as the Tijuana organization began to use active or retired police officers against their enemies, their rivals were forced to find enforcers capable of countering this strength. As a result, the Gulf cartel hired Los Zetas, a group of elite anti-drug paratroopers and intelligence operatives who deserted their federal Special Air Mobile Force Group in 1991. The Sinaloa cartel, meanwhile, formed a similar armed force called Los Pelones, literally meaning “the bald ones” but typically understood to mean “new soldiers” for the shaved heads normally sported by military recruits. Although the cartels had long outgunned Mexican police, these highly trained and aggressive enforcers upped the ante even further, introducing military-style tactics and even more advanced weapons.
The life of a Mexican drug cartel enforcer can be exciting, brutal — and short. Los Zetas and Los Pelones are constantly attacking one another and some members of the groups even have posted videos on the Internet of them torturing and executing their rivals. Beheading rival enforcers also has become common. The current cartel war has proven to be a long and arduous struggle, and there has been heavy attrition among both organizations. Because of this attrition, the cartels have recently begun to bring fresh muscle to the fight. Los Zetas have formed relationships with former members of the Guatemalan special forces known as Kaibiles, and with members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang.
It is this environment of extreme and often gratuitous violence — killings, beheadings and rocket-propelled grenade attacks — that has sparked Calderon’s actions against the Gulf cartel. Why he is focusing specifically on the Gulf cartel is unclear, though it is possible the government has better intelligence on it than on the others. Or perhaps it is because the Gulf cartel has a more centralized command structure than does Sinaloa, which is a federation of several smaller cartels. Of course, the Gulf cartel itself has argued that the Calderon administration is on the Sinaloa payroll and is being used by Sinaloa to destroy its rival. Another possible reason is that taking out Los Zetas — who have become emblematic of extreme cartel violence — would be a major accomplishment for the new president.

New Mexican cartel boss Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno also known as AKA El Azul & Blue. According to high level Mexican government officials who insist on anonymity say “he now controls the drug trade from Laredo Texas to San Diego California using Los Zetas as his enforcement arm.”According to newspaper reports warring factions of Mexican gangs, cartels, and drug dealers have been fighting and killing for control of the largest drug trafficking enterprise along the border of Mexico and the United States. Esparragoza Moreno has worked his way to the top of the Juárez Cartel organization along with several other men with close ties to cocaine producers in Colombia and Afghanistan, according to the Mexican Attorney General's office and the CIA.

Two men have been charged after a violent brawl between outlaw motorcycle gangs in Newcastle yesterday.Batons, knives and wooden planks were used in the fight between members of the Rebels gang and the Life and Death gang at a pub in Wickham.Two men were arrested and charged with affray and having an offensive implement in a public place. They were released on conditional bail to appear in Newcastle Local Court at a later date