Sweeping plans to toughen up community penalties and restore confidence in the criminal justice system will be published this week. Under the proposals, offenders serving community sentences could be required to wear jackets identifying that they are being punished for breaking the law. The plans have been drawn up by Louise Casey, former head of the Government's Respect Unit. The Guardian reported that while they appeared to have the backing of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, some ministers close to PM Gordon Brown believed they were too punitive and would play to Conservative claims of a "broken society". Other measures were said to include the appointment of a public commissioner to represent victims of crime and giving police community support officers powers to detain and issue fixed penalty notices for disorder. Community punishments would be redesignated as "community payback" and responsibility for running them transferred from the probation service to a new organisation focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation. The courts service would be encouraged to set up websites to publicise convictions and sentences passed, while responsibility for publishing crime statistics would be taken away from Home Office ministers in order to restore credibility.
Officials however played down suggestions that the report would call for the publication of the "conviction posters" showing people who have been found guilty of a crime. Ms Casey was commissioned by Mr Brown to draw up the proposals after the Respect Unit was disbanded last year. A Cabinet Office spokesman confirmed the report was "due to be published shortly".

The Scottish government has "bold proposals to deal with the issue" of the "impact on crime and anti-social behaviour" of people drinking alcohol, which is reputedly "often cheaper than water" in some Scottish supermarkets.
(Where that leaves the stereotype of Scots as careful with money, I don't know. Why would they buy water from supermarkets rather than getting it near-free from a tap? Perhaps they are all drunk.)To solve the problem of cheap and plentiful products and consumers willing to consume them, it is proposed to institute minimum prices - with the enthusiastic support of specialist retailers, from whom the "cheaper than water" claim comes - and to raise the minimum age for buying alcohol to 21 in Scotland. The evidence that this will do anything to mitigate the alleged problems is, of course, lacking.Also in the absence of evidence, I have a prediction about the effect on crime of minimum prices and reduced availability for alcohol. Crime will go up. Not only will new criminal offences have been created, but since many will find it more difficult to get booze, some of them will steal it.

Misuse and Addictions Week, an awareness week supported by the home office runs from June 23-30th. During this week treatment agencies have an open door policy allowing addiction-treatment providers, referrers and commissioeinrs along with the general public to learn what services are available to them to help curb addiction. The awareness campaign coincides with the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse which is held on June 26th. The UN Office on Drugs & Crime launches this day every year to raise awareness.
Dan Butcher, founder of The Recovery Network (a social networking internet platform that provides real time education, a support network and social assistance to anyone affected by addiction) has been lobbying for some time now to have June 26th recognized as not only a global day of awareness but also UK Day against Drug Abuse. He's had several meeting in the house of Lords in order to achieve this goal. He hopes awareness campaigns such as these will help people to realise that it is an illness rather than a weakness. The Recovery Network launched on November 5th 2007 and the website currently helps to support an online community of over 2,000 registered members. Its members consist of addicts wishing to confront their addiction for the first time, recovering addicts and the friends and family members of both. Recovering Coke Addict and Founder Dan says: "This campaign is only one step in winning the war on addiction. The UK government needs to take a much more active role in supporting those affected by addiction. Millions of people have been affected either directly or indirectly by the devastating implications of drug addiction'. As well as tackling drugs and reducing drug-related crime in communities across the country, National Drugs Tackling Week will also highlight support services available such as The Recovery Network. Dan Butcher aims to create as much awareness as possible during this crucial week.

100 criminals in Dublin have been told by gardai that their lives are under serious threat.Garda Headquarters has advised officers to tell the criminals they are likely to be shot. It’s an extraordinary state of affairs linked to vicious feuding between gangs in the city. Indeed the 100 criminals reffered to here are only in one part of the city - the south inner city - and one feud in particular. The 100 does not take account of criminals warned about threats to their lives in other parts of the capital.
The threats mostly arise from the ongoing feud between INLA boss Declan Duffy and drugs trafficker Fat ‘Freddie’ Thompson. Detectives believe a consortium of criminals have raised €40,000 to have Thompson eliminated. Officers also suspect that a gun and motorbike are in storage for the hit.
In an incident yesterday afternoon, gardai were called to a popular bar in south central Dublin and told two masked men had been searching for Thompson. "They were seen acting suspiciously in a white vehicle, both were wearing balaclavas. Then one got out and went into the pub," said a source today. "He simply asked, 'where's Freddie?'," the source said. In the meantime, gardai have also thwarted two attempts to get an AK47 into the city for an assassination attempt on Freddie Thompson.
Gang members linked to both Thompson and Duffy have been told to take precautions because their lives are under threat. Most are living in the Crumlin/Drimnagh areas or Tallaght. "More than 100 different people have been advised that garda intelligence has deemed that they may be shot. They have been told that criminal elements are going to have them shot," said one senior officer today. Of the 100, most are linked in one way or another to the Duffy/Thompson feud.
Others are linked to the ongoing Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, which also involves Thompson. Ten people have already been murdered as part of that feud.

The Garda Special Branch and Organised Crime Unit, both based at Harcourt Square are on a state of high alert over the feuds. Intelligence has shown that €20,000 has already been raised for the attempt on Thompson's life, with a further €20,000 to be paid over if it is successful. Detectives are also investigating reports that an armed and masked man walked into a south city centre pub yesterday looking for Thompson. Thompson is already the subject of threat from a rival south city gang unlinked to the feud with Duffy. Thompson is said to have poured two pints of lager over the brother of the leader of the other gang in an incident in a Temple Bar nightclub earlier this month. On the other side in recent times, Duffy's home has been shot up two times. two weeks ago that an attempt was made to run him down two weeks ago. The driver of an Alfa Romeo car mounted the footpath in a bid to mow down Duffy close to his home in the south inner city. He only managed to save his life when he cowered in a doorway. Duffy is the leader of the INLA in the capital and also runs a security company. He has fallen foul of a number of criminal gangs in the capital, particularly the outfit run by drugs trafficking suspect 'Fat Freddie' Thompson. Detectives believe either Thompson's gang or a group of criminals based in the south inner city were behind a shooting at Duffy's mother's house more than two weeks ago.

GYPSY Jokers outlaw motorcycle gang members from across Australia and overseas are converging on Adelaide for the funeral of the SA president tomorrow.Wayne "Chiller" McGrath died last week of natural causes.Hundreds of interstate Gypsy Joker members are expected in Adelaide from today. Motorbikes are being loaded on trains in Perth to cross the Nullabor in time for the funeral.Death notices have been placed in The Advertiser by bikies from Gypsy Joker chapters in the US, Germany, Norway and South Africa, as well as WA, NSW, Victoria and Adelaide.The funeral service will be conducted at the Harrison Funeral Chapel, Golden Grove Rd, Ridgehaven, at 1pm.
Later, the funeral cortege will travel to Smithfield Memorial Park Cemetery, Evanston Park, for burial.

Four Tamil gang members were convicted for the murder of another Tamil youth by stabbing him 31 times on a London .They will be sentenced July 7.
The police said gangs of violent Sri Lankan Tamil men in South London area, where illegal fund raising activities of the liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are quite rampant are "constantly tooled up" and "ready to go", for such crimes .
“There have been a number of violent clashes involving groups of Tamil men in Croydon and other parts of south London in recent years”, said a local newspaper Wandsworth Borough News.
“They culminated in the murder of 28-year-old Prabaskaran Kannan in Tooting last year. He was chased by a group of four men from Croydon who stabbed and slashed their terrified victim 31 times outside a fried chicken takeaway shop”, the newspaper reported. The casecame to be known as Chicken Cottage Tamil murder after the name of the take away restaurant.
The chief detective in the case said Croydon's Tamil gangs were causing concern among officers.
Detective Sergeant Mick Snowdon spoke out about the problems surrounding Tamil gangs after five men were convicted of Mr Kannan's murder at the Old Bailey in London.
Witnesses said in the courts that Mr Kannan was heard shouting "It wasn't me, it wasn't me" shortly before he was brutally set upon and killed by the four Tamil gang members.
Last week, homeless Vabeesan Sivarajah, 22, Aziz Miah, 20, of Sumner Road, Croydon, Asif Kumbay, 20, of Grasmere Road, Purley, and Kirush Nathankumar, 18, of Purley Way, Croydon, were all convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury. They all denied the charges.
“The young men burst into tears after the sentence was announced. A jury of nine men and three women took three days to reach their verdict”, reported the local newspaper.
“The four were also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm to two gang members who were with Mr Kannan that night.
“Another defendant, Mayuran Srivinayagam of Greyhound Terrace, Streatham, was cleared of murder and manslaughter but found guilty of assault.
“Earlier in the trial a sixth gang member, Mahitharn Ratnasingham, of Lesley Grove, Croydon, was cleared of murder and manslaughter. He admitted assault. The men are due to be sentenced on July 7.
“After the men were convicted Det Sgt Snowdon told the Croydon Guardian: "They the gangs are very violent. They are constantly tooled up and ready to go. It is almost like the level of violence is ad hoc. Whatever happens for them happens, and it depends on what weapons they have around."
Quoting a businessman who runs a shop in Croydon the newspaper said Sri Lankan Tamil gangs controlled most of the crime and had the town centre on "lockdown."
Police have always in the past denied there was a problem with the gangs in Croydon, but have now admitted there was a specialist officer dealing with Tamil gang activity in the borough.
A member of a gang who did not want to be named said: "These guys are tough man, they do not care who they hurt or who gets in their way. They ride around in flash cars tooled-up with knives, swords, bats and whatever else they can grab to do damage to a guy."

the gang Notorious has become the security muscle for a Kings Cross identity.
The gang is the first known in Sydney to follow an international trend of being outlaw "bikies without bikes".While its dozens of city-based members wear full bikie colours, only a few members ride motorcycles.Its members range from seasoned, senior former members of the now-defunct Nomads outlaw motorcycle gang's Parramatta chapter to newly-recruited teenagers as young as 14.They are largely from Sydney's western suburbs and of Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander background.The gang is believed to be focused on criminal activities and have links to the security industry.
It is feared they are acting as unofficial security to Kings Cross nightclubs linked to one person in particular.Late last month, police from the Middle Eastern organised crime squad targeted Notorious in an operation on the nightclub strip.
They arrested two alleged members of Notorious - one an 18-year-old Guildford man arrested with ecstasy tablets at a nightclub.Court documents show he was charged with two counts of supplying a prohibited drug and two of possessing a prohibited drug.He was refused bail and is to appear at Central Local Court on June 30.
Another, a 14-year-old from Guildford, was arrested in the same police operation while he was in a car illegally parked in the CBD. A search found more ecstasy tablets and the boy was charged with drugs supply and possession.Police are also investigating suspected links between Notorious and a 30-year-old Kellyville man arrested last week in an alleyway behind a Surry Hills nightclub.The man, recently released from prison, allegedly had a home-made machine gun and an ammunition magazine containing 32 bullets concealed in a bag. The man was charged with being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, possessing a firearm and other firearm-related offences.Notorious was also believed linked to an assault at an Eastern Suburbs pub last year.It is speculated that Notorious came into being following a series of attacks targeting a nightclub owner ear last year, coinciding with the firebombing of the Parramatta chapter's Granville clubhouse.Rival outlaw bikie gang the Comancheros was suspected of being behind the firebombing.In March 2007, masked gunmen burst into a nightclub, firing shots into the ceiling and smashing up the bar. The nightclub owner's bodyguard was allegedly injured during the incident.It is feared the Comancheros have been trying to wrestle control of the nightclub strip and conflict with Notorious may be on the agenda.

Contra Costa prosecutor Monday asked jurors to convict a West County gang member of first-degree murder in the death of a 15-year-old San Pablo boy gunned down last year because he was wearing a rival's color.
The case against Ramon Alejandre Jr., 31, hinges on testimony by two junior gang members who were in a truck with the defendant when they saw De Anza High School freshman Ivan Santos walking home on 11th Street on Feb. 2, 2007, after buying a soda at a neighborhood store.
Believing Santos' red pajama pants signified he was in a rival gang, Alejandre got out of the truck and walked toward the boy, firing a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun, deputy district attorney Aron DeFerrari said. Santos, whose parents told the Times last year was not a gang member, was hit nine times and died on the sidewalk.The two other people in the truck, Roberto Garcia, Alejandre's 22-year-old nephew, and Juan Vargas, 19, pleaded no contest to being accessories after the fact and were sentenced to one year behind bars. They both testified at Alejandre's trial that they heard shots before Alejandre returned to the truck.In his closing statements at Alejandre's trial, defense attorney Paul Feuerwerker said Garcia and Vargas have a motive to blame Alejandre but there is no evidence outside their testimony that Alejandre was the gunman.
"I think if you use your common sense I think you'll see that Mr. Garcia and Mr. Vargas lied," said Feuerwerker, pointing to inconsistencies in the witnesses' stories about what happened before and after the shooting.
"The fact that Mr. Alejandre is a gang member is irrelevant to the question of whether he is responsible for this crime," Feuerwerker said.
DeFerrari said Garcia and Vargas have put their lives at risk by testifying against Alejandre, whom he described as a "hard-core, veteran Sureno." Their account of what happened is corroborated by the position of the shell casings found at the shooting scene, and police found a gun later determined to be the murder weapon under Alejandro's seat when officers pulled the truck over later that night.
"The defendant walked down the sidewalk and shot (Santos) over and over and over again," DeFerrari said. "Then he stood above him and shot him some more."
After closing statements, the jury began deliberating late Monday and will resume today in the courtroom of Judge John Kennedy.

31-year-old man, reportedly a member of the Life and Death bikie gang, was shot in the leg at the The Naked Gun 2 Studio on George Street in Windsor about 5.45pm yesterday.He was taken to Nepean District Hospital in a satisfactory condition, police say.The man was reportedly under police guard last night.A worker in Windsor, who did not wish to be named, said she and a male companion were walking to her car down a laneway near the parlour when she heard yelling followed by a gunshot.
"I heard some arguing and then a gunshot and I took off," she said."There was a lot of screaming and yelling and I took off up the hill. I wasn't going there," she said.
The woman said she saw someone "skinny with a bikie vest on" walking to a motorcycle after a single shot rang out. She could not identify any gang colours on the vest.
"When I went to the car I saw someone and I saw he had a gun. It was dark, I just saw a gun silhouette," she said."He looked at us and I was terrified. I thought he was going to shoot me."The woman said she drove off and called police but was yet to be interviewed by officers.She said it was well known around town that it was a Life and Death bikie who had been shot."That bikie gang is renowned and associated with that shop I believe," she said.Some workers in the area did not want to talk about the shooting but a woman who works close by said she emerged from her shop last night to see a crime scene on George Street."We were quite surprised when we walked out last night and saw all the police," she said."I saw crime tape and I thought, 'This is really bad, someone's been hurt.' "Despite the wounding, the woman said she was not intimidated by the Life and Death gang."They are a bunch of pussies," she said. "They are not like your Hells Angels or your Comancheros. They are just would-be bikies. They don't frighten me, put it that way."Police were reluctant to discuss the gang connection to the crime today or comment on reports that the injured man was the president of the Life and Death outfit.
Windsor police Detective Inspector Brett McFadden confirmed the shooting but said "I'm not going anywhere near that" when asked if the man was a member of the gang.A State Crime Command spokeswoman said: "I understand that the gangs squad is providing assistance to local police."A NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said paramedics treated the man for entry and exit gunshot wounds to his leg before transferring him to Nepean District Hospital.
In March, police were called to a Newcastle street to break up a brawl between three Life and Death members and 10 bikies from the larger Rebels gang over a turf dispute.Knives, an extendable baton, a broken pool cue and pieces of timber were used in the fight and two Life and Death members were charged with affray, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of an item that could be used as a weapon.
In March 2000, police raided the Life and Death gang clubhouse in Windsor and arrested seven members on drugs and firearms offences and seized $500,000 worth of drugs and another $500,000 in goods.

The arrest outside of Kamloops's most notorious strip club last March was was sudden, loud and dramatic.With guns drawn, members of the RCMP detachment's elite emergency response team detonated concussion grenades then swarmed the parking lot of the Rendezvous Hotel before hauling off two unidentified men. Police refused to release names or charges and the city's media soon became impatient for answers.
Expectations were high when, two days later, a news conference was called at the downtown detachment on Battle Street.Cameras flashed inside the packed room as Insp. Yves Lacasse, along with Supt. Jim Begley and Kamloops Mayor Terry Lake, announced that city police had dealt a decisive blow to the Kamloops chapter of the Independent Soldiers gang by arresting the men they suspected to be the gang's top two leaders.Arrested on drug and weapons charges outside of the Rendezvous Hotel two days earlier, Lacasse confirmed, had been 26-year-olds Jayme Norman Russell and Thomas Crawford, the alleged No 1 and 2, respectively, of the Kamloops' cell of one of Western Canada's most powerful gangs, said to have connections with the Hell's Angels.Body shots of both men, on display in the room, showed the gang's name tattooed in script on their thick forearms.Lacasse explained their busts had been the culmination of a five-month undercover probe into the city's drug trade launched as part of the detachment's new crime reduction strategy. Initially targeting street dealers, he said the focus of the investigation moved to the "upper echelons" after police managed to shut down some of the city's more prolific drug houses.In total, he said undercover officers bought $60,000 worth of cocaine, crystal meth and other drugs from up to 35 other street- and mid-level dealers during the course of the probe.Russell and Crawford, he alleged, were at the top of the drug pyramid. Both were charged with trafficking cocaine while Crawford was also hit with a weapons charge for allegedly selling a .357 magnum handgun to an undercover officer.
They were later released on a bail.News of their arrests was met with applause from the city, with Lake taking the podium afterward to commend the RCMP for cracking down on the city's drug trade and
The fact Russell already had outstanding assault charges for allegedly holding a gun to the neck of a man outside of a Kamloops bar in 2006, added weight to Lacasse's statement that a severe blow had been dealt to the gang.
Further weight was added this January when Russell was arrested and charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing32-year-old Chad Porter three times in the neck outside of Cactus Jack's Saloon. Unconfirmed reports following the stabbing connected Porter to the notorious UN gang.Russell was denied bail on the new charge and held at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre in anticipation of his upcoming trials.But a year after the dramatic arrest outside of the Rendezvous, Kamloops authorities are not much further ahead in their fight against the Independent Soldiers, due, largely, to unco-operative witnesses during the court process.

The incident began when the investigators — Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent James Packard and Eugene police Detective Dave Burroughs — were searching for the residence of Justin James “Mooch” Deloretto, 26, near Turner.Deloretto, according to trial testimony, is president of a newly formed Oregon chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club — a group the U.S. Department of Justice labels as a 300-member “extremely violent outlaw motorcycle gang” originating in Southern California that is involved in narcotics, assault and murder.The Mongols moved into Oregon last year without permission from the five other active outlaw motorcycle gangs — a major violation of accepted protocol among the gangs, according to Packard, who has investigated outlaw motorcycle gangs for 25 years, instructs other police agencies and is a recognized expert witness on the topic.He noted that the vast majority of motorcycle club members are law-abiding. But Packard said outlaw gang members distinguish themselves by wearing a “1 percent” patch on their clothing, indicating that they are the 1 percent of riders who are not law-abiding.The Mongols’ intrusion set up a potential conflict between the Mongols and the other clubs, but particularly with the Gypsy Jokers because the Gypsy Jokers and the Mongols both claim the same colors for their insignia — black and white, Packard testified.
Clubs’ insignia are no small matter among members. In fact, insignia are central to each club’s identity and are awarded in stages as members work their way up from “hang arounds” to “prospects” to “full-patch members,” Packard said.Potential members are invited to apply, and do so as though looking for a job — divulging family relationships, criminal records, education and personal history that the club then confirms. It may take six weeks to two years to advance from “hang around” to full membership — with insignia awarded as the candidate progresses through the three levels, Packard said.Most of the gangs display insignia in three parts — an upper patch naming the club, a lower patch identifying their home base and an elaborate central depiction of their mascot or club symbol. The patches are awarded to signify a member’s level of advancement toward full membership.
Generally, full membership requires a 100 percent vote of approval by members of a local chapter, Packard said.The clubs’ insignia, or “colors,” are so revered that a member who drops his on the ground may be fined or disciplined. Rival clubs often will display colors taken forcibly from an enemy, hanging them upside-down in their clubhouse as a trophy, Packard said.“That is their pride in possession,” Packard told a 12-member jury. “It means everything to a member. It means loyalty and brotherhood to those groups. They will fight and die for those colors.”Oregon had four outlaw motorcycle gangs until the Vagos Motorcycle Club sought permission to operate in the state, and was voted in by the other four, in the mid-1990s, Packard said.The Mongols’ failure to seek permission, and their conflicting colors with the Gypsy Jokers, raised concerns among law enforcement officials around Eugene when the local chapter of the Free Souls Motorcycle Club threw its annual birthday party in February, Packard testified.The party draws a couple of hundred Free Souls members from other chapters around the country. Contingents from the other Oregon clubs typically are invited to the festivities, usually riding separately to Eugene, Packard said.However, officers who monitor the event were alarmed this year when they observed a gathering of about 100 motorcyclists from the five established clubs riding together from Salem toward Eugene. Police feared the united approach may signal a joint effort to drive out the Mongols, who were gathered at a Springfield motel, he said.In order to warn the Mongols of the potential danger and to try to ward off trouble, Packard introduced himself to DeLoretto at a Mongol gathering in the motel parking lot. The meeting was cordial, said Packard, who testified that he frequently talks with club members and leaders to gather information.“I wanted to give them a heads-up,” Packard said. “Mr. Deloretto said they were aware of the bikers coming from Salem, that he had his own eyes and ears out there. He said they weren’t looking for trouble, but they wouldn’t back down.”Packard contacted Deloretto a few hours later to tell him that police had found firearms when they stopped the presidents of a couple of the gang chapters who had come to Eugene for the Free Souls celebration. He said Deloretto thanked him, but said his club nonetheless would frequent the same bars it had the previous evening.No violence occurred during the weekend, Packard said.A few months later, in an effort to find Deloretto’s residence, Packard and Burroughs drove up a secluded single-lane driveway near Turner and encountered Deloretto driving out, Packard said.
The officers backed out of the driveway and drove off, and DeLoretto followed them, first north into Salem and then south into Eugene. Just south of the Harlow Road overpass, two associates of Deloretto — Nathan Andrew Cassidy, 22, of Creswell, and Matthew Aaron Weiss, 24, of Eugene — joined in separate vehicles. The menallegedly used their three vehicles to box in the officers’ unmarked sport utility vehicle in an attempt to force it off the road.Packard said he took evasive action, turned on the vehicle’s emergency siren and lights, and summoned police patrol units.
In an interview after his arrest, Deloretto told Packard he did not realize the men he followed were police. His lawyer, Kelly Beckley of Eugene, is arguing that Deloretto acted legally in protection of his property.Cassidy and Weiss have been convicted and sentenced to 90 days and 30 days in jail, respectively.Deloretto’s trial is expected to conclude next week. He is charged with two counts each of conspiring to coerce, coercion, conspiring to unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and reckless endangering, and one count of reckless driving. He has been in jail in lieu of a $1 million security deposit.

Clay Roueche pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to allegations that he conspired to bring more than a ton of marijuana into the United States and import more than 11 pounds of cocaine into Canada. Both charges carry mandatory-minimum sentences of 10 years and up to life in prison.Canadian authorities say Roueche is the leader of the United Nations gang, which got its name from the wide-ranging ethnicity of its members.Roueche recently flew from Canada to Mexico. He was denied entry by Mexican authorities, who put him on a flight to Texas, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents immediately arrested him.
The U.S. Marshals Service brought him to Seattle to face trial. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Bill Whalen, part of a multiagency gang squad, said Thursday that the arrest could "destabilize" the drug-trafficking gang."They have been involved in a fair amount of very serious violence in the lower mainland of British Columbia over the last few years," Whalen said. "There are a number of gang-related murders currently under investigation that they are suspected of being involved in."
Whalen said Roueche started the gang about 10 years ago and has been running it ever since. Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Roe said Rouech's indictment grew out of Operation Frozen Timber, an investigation launched in 2004 that smashed a ring of smugglers that used helicopters and airplanes to bring potent "B.C. Bud" marijuana into remote parts of Washington.Roueche also faces a charge of money laundering, which can bring up to 20 years in prison.U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida ordered Roueche held pending a detention hearing next week.

Melbourne drug czar Tony Mokbel have revealed a trail of deception, hidden funds and a private yacht modified to hide its passenger from officials.
The 17m, A$350,000 ($436,000) Edwena, crewed by Greek sailors flown to Australia for the journey, took Mokbel to a new life of luxury in Greece, where he was joined by his pregnant partner after she eluded police in Rome.
Mokbel is now back in Melbourne after the Supreme Court in Athens ordered his extradition on a series of charges, including murder. He has already been sentenced to 12 years' jail for importing 2kg of cocaine.Mokbel was on bail awaiting sentence for his cocaine conviction when he vanished in March 2006, leaving his sister-in-law to face jail for a A$1 million surety she could not pay.Yesterday's revelation by police of Mokbel's escape by sea completes a trail that began when he fled a step ahead of a barrage of new charges, and saw him placed on Interpol's most-wanted list, with a A$1 million reward on his head. His flight has also resulted in the arrest of a three people in connection with his escape and the use of the proceeds of crime to bring it about.Detective Inspector Bernie Edwards, of the Purana Taskforce established by the Victorian Police to investigate the underworld killings, told ABC radio that more arrests may be made.Soon after Mokbel vanished, police were told he had been killed by the Calabrian mafia and buried in an already-occupied grave in rural Victoria, prompting an initial search using sonar equipment of two cemeteries in Tatura. But new information convinced police the story had been concocted to throw them off the scent.Investigators trailed his partner, Danielle McGuire as she took her 11-year-old daughter on a holiday to Europe. She gave them the slip in Rome. Mokbel by that time was living in an apartment in Athens costing more than A$3000 a month.Edwards told the ABC yesterday that Mokbel had fled initially to a hideout at Bonnie Doon, west of Melbourne, while his associates bought the Edwena in Sydney, sailed it to Newcastle, and arranged its transport across Australia.Mokbel and associates followed the yacht by four-wheel-drive to Fremantle, where it was fitted with a hiding place for Mokbel, larger fuel tanks and a self-righting mast.The yacht arrived in Greece on the following Christmas Eve, and remains berthed in Athens. Safely in Greece, Mokbel set up home with McGuire, proudly saw his daughter Renate born, and met with friends and associates. Police also alleged he had taken a small fortune with him. But on June 5 last year he was arrested, beginning an exhaustive, seven-month battle against extradition.
On May 17 he flew into Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport aboard a chartered executive jet, surrounded by police.

In an effort to crack down on a gang from gaining traction in the Greater Toronto Area, a co-ordinated effort between police forces in Toronto, York Region and Peel Region has resulted in 21 arrests.More than 20 people alleged to be a part of a growing South American street gang, are facing drugs and weapons charges following a series of police raids across the GTA today, including four in Mississauga.
Toronto police headed the large probe, which included raids on homes in Mississauga's City Centre area.So far, 21 people have been arrested. The names of those charged and other details are expected to be released tomorrow morning.
During the spring of 2008, investigators from the Integrated Gun & Gang Task Force, which includes officers from Peel, looked into the distribution of controlled drugs, firearms, and acts of violence surrounding a group of men in the northwest area of Toronto and surrounding region. As a result, investigators identified numerous people and addresses allegedly used to facilitate the distribution of illicit drugs and weapons, according to Toronto Deputy Police Chief Tony Warr. Some of the persons identified are believed to be members of the organized criminal street gang known as MS 13The violent gang is composed mostly of Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, and people from other Central and South American countries.
The gang has moved beyond its Salvadoran and American origins and now can be found in other nations, including Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Spain, Great Britain and Germany. Police say the gang's criminal activities have included murder, drug smuggling and sales, black market gun sales, human trafficking, theft and assaults.Investigators have seized large quantities of cocaine, firearms and other prohibited weapons and a significant amount of cash related to proceeds of crime, in the GTA probe. The arrests, which resulted from a total of 22 early-morning search warrants executed in the three areas of the GTA, obtained cocaine, firearms and cash related to proceeds of crime, police said. In Toronto, the searches were focused in the northwest portion of the city. The investigation focused on an international gang, MS-13, with ties to the United States and South America.Police made the announcement in a brief press conference Wednesday, June 4, afternoon at police headquarters.

Police have located a firearm during a morning raid on an outlaw motorcycle gang clubhouse in Sydney’s west following an investigation into licensing breaches.
Operation Indianna, run by Blacktown Local Area Command, saw the gathering of intelligence into a clubhouse run by the Bandidos on Mort Street, Blacktown. It will be alleged alcohol was being sold illegally at the property which does not have a liquor licence.
At 8am, police from Blacktown Local Area Command – including the Proactive Crime Team, General Duties, Highway Patrol, Detectives, Crime Management Unit and Licensing – forced entry into the premises which were unoccupied at the time.
They were assisted by the Public Order and Riot Squad, the Dog Unit, the Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit, Police Airwing and the Gangs Squad.In a garage at the rear of the property police located a bar with hundreds of bottles of alcohol worth thousands of dollars, a semi-automatic pistol, ammunition, knuckle-dusters, cash, and a till.Police also discovered an illegal electricity reconnection which was allegedly being used to steal power.Operation Indianna falls under the scope of Operation Ranmore which was formed in May last year to crackdown on all criminal activities conducted by outlaw motorcycle gang members.There have been a total of 539 OMCG members and their associates arrested in that time with more than 1290 charges laid. The charges range from traffic matters to drug supply, as well as affray, and participation in criminal group.Blacktown Acting Commander, Acting Superintendent Gary Hutchen, said police would continue to target the activities of outlaw motorcycle gangs in the Blacktown area.“We’ll do that through high visibility policing, licensing operations such as this one today and extensive investigations into any allegations of criminality,” he said. “We want to send a strong message to these people that anti-social and criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.”

2005 execution-style murder in Frayser was a case marked by "gangs, guns and death."
And not incidentally, they added, there was an element of revenge when defendant Donald Ragland Jr. shot 26-year-old LaAunzae Grady three times in the back on a cold December afternoon outside of St. Elmo's Market."He didn't have a problem taking this job, because LaAunzae had killed his brother five or six years before this," gang unit prosecutor Ray Lepone told a Criminal Court jury. "LaAunzae was a Vice Lord, and Donald Ragland was a Gangster Disciple."Asst. Public Defender Trent Hall said prosecutors would not be able to prove their case and asked jurors to acquit Ragland, 27, of first-degree murder.On Wednesday, jurors watched a surveillance video from the store that showed an apparently nervous Grady looking out the front door of the store several times before finally leaving.A half-dozen loud gunshots then quickly follow, though the shooting on the outside parking lot is not captured by the indoor cameras.The first officer to the scene, Patrolman James Watts, said Grady was on his back near the front door, barely breathing and surrounded by seven shell casings from a 9mm pistol.In May 1999, Grady was involved in the shooting death of Ragland's brother, Eric Ragland, 16, at 3842 Schoolfield in Frayser. Grady was convicted of manslaughter and served a short prison sentence.
Grady's death in 2005 got national exposure on the A&E network reality crime program "The First 48."As episode 40, it was simply titled "Unmasked."Witnesses in the case said they noticed a man standing outside the market wearing a ski mask and a long overcoat, and with his hands in his pockets.Police say the masked man was Ragland, who was arrested Dec. 12, 2005, three days after the shooting.Several prospective jurors for the trial were excused earlier this week after they acknowledged they had seen the episode.Last month Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin said the department would not renew its contract with "The First 48" after several City Council members complained that the popular program made the city look dangerous.

Los Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos the little-known gang, whose name translates as Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen, seems to be breaking into the big time. A federal indictment accuses 24 members and associates of operating a smuggling ring that sneaked bulk amounts of cocaine and millions of dollars between Mexico, the border city of Laredo and Houston.Despite its ties to Mexico's major drug-trafficking cartels, the organization known as HPL hasn't captured the public's attention like the Texas Syndicate or the Mexican Mafia, officials said Monday."They are lower on the radar, but they have always been there," said Victor Gonzalez, director of program services for the Houston mayor's anti-gang office. "They have a tendency to roll on their own."HPL gangsters are known for such peculiarities as having life-size tattoos of handguns inked onto their waists so when they remove their shirts the marks resemble weapons sticking out of their pants.All members are either in prison or have served time.Although 21 people were arrested in a series of raids that started at sunrise Friday, three men remained on the run Monday, with federal agents and police scouring their known haunts, from here to the Rio Grande."We're doing everything possible to locate them throughout the state of Texas, other states and even across the border in Mexico," FBI spokeswoman Pat Villafranca said. "We're knocking on doors and asking questions, so the word is out."
Eric Lee Rodriguez, who marked his 36th birthday Monday, is believed to be near Corpus Christi. Terrance Dale Robinson, 40, is believed to be in Houston.The other fugitive is Juan Manuel Hernandez, 33, who federal agents thought was in Houston, but came up empty Friday after surrounding a home with a SWAT team.Missing Hernandez wasn't an embarrassment to agents, but is part of doing business when it comes to rounding up so many people in one day, Villafranca said.
Although the arrests show authorities are going after the HPL, the action isn't likely to significantly disrupt the group.
"The thing is, they are getting caught, which is the good part," said Sig Sanchez, head of the gang department for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
"It sends a message," Sanchez said of the arrests. "If we catch you, you are going back to jail."
Prison gangs are different than a street gang, as their organizations were born behind bars and are established for the long term, Sanchez said.
The HPL runs, in many ways, like the Mexican Mafia, as it has its constitution, traditions and requires a lifetime commitment.

Italian businessman who was helping police break organised crime gangs that operate waste disposal rackets in Naples was gunned down on Sunday in an apparent mafia hit, police said.The latest killing in the southern Italian city, which in recent months has become as famous for its piles of trash as for its reputation for crime, came on a day that thousands of people attended a rally against plans to open new rubbish dumps.Police said Michele Orsi, a businessman with mafia links who had turned informant, was shot three times near his home by assailants who were lying in wait. Orsi, who worked in the waste disposal business, had spent time in jail last year during an investigation into mafia involvement in the trade. He turned informant and gave evidence against a suspect at a court hearing two weeks ago."The case is even more serious than previous ones. This was a businessman from the Caserta area (of Naples) who, although he had colluded with organised crime, was helping investigations," said anti-mafia investigator Franco Roberti.Crime experts say the Camorra, the Naples mafia, has been involved in the lucrative waste dumping business for decades -- one of the reasons the city's refuse system ground to a halt at the end of last year when all official dumps were declared full.
Political inadequacy and local opposition to new waste disposal sites has hampered years of attempts to clean up what has become a chronic problem in Italy's third largest city.Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's new conservative government, which campaigned in April's election promising to clean up Naples' trash crisis, has vowed to force open new trash dumps and face down local opposition with the army if necessary.Some 10,000 protestors held a peaceful rally on Sunday outside the site of one of the new dumps, some shouting: "Berlusconi dictator".

Joseph Andrew Farnsworth was arrested at a residence on Rheem Avenue in Richmond after Marin detectives arrived with a search warrant, said sheriff's Sgt. Keith Boyd. Investigators seized a 9mm handgun and are conducting ballistics tests to determine whether it was used in the killing.19-year-old El Cerrito man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of shooting a Hells Angels associate to death on Highway 101 last weekend, joining a 20-year-old Mill Valley woman in the Marin County Jail pending a court appearance Tuesday.The second suspect, Jessica Andrea Gordon, has been in custody since her arrest early Thursday. Authorities did not immediately release her name because of security concerns and efforts to "maintain the integrity of the criminal investigation," Boyd said.The suspected motive for the shooting is road rage."This appears to have no tie to any affiliations or relationship that William Maclean may have had to the Hells Angels," Boyd said of the victim.Maclean, 25, of San Leandro, was shot to death at about 8:15 p.m. May 24 on Highway 101 near Corte Madera. Maclean and Foakes were in a pickup that was leading a procession of bikers to Sonoma County after a Hells Angels funeral in Colma.Shortly after the convoy passed Tiburon Boulevard on northbound 101, there was a conflict in traffic and someone fired at the pickup from a red sport utility vehicle described as a Dodge Durango. Maclean, riding in the passenger seat of the pickup, was struck in the upper body.
Foakes, who was at the wheel, drove the truck to the Paradise Drive exit and called 911 from the pay phone at the California Highway Patrol's office on San Clemente Drive. Maclean was taken to Marin General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Two suspects are in custody pending an initial court appearance on Tuesday. Jessica Andrea Gordon, 20, of Mill Valley was arrested early Thursday morning, and sheriff's investigators impounded a Dodge Durango from her residence.
Farnsworth was arrested Saturday afternoon after Marin detectives served a search warrant at a residence in Richmond. Investigators seized a 9mm handgun and are conducting ballistics tests to determine whether it was used in the killing.
The suspected motive for the shooting is road rage. The sheriff's department said Maclean's association with the motorcycle club does not appear to be a factor.
Investigators suspect Farnsworth was the shooter but have released no details about Gordon's suspected role in the incident. No charges have been filed.
"Ms. Gordon had no foreknowledge of the shooting, was in no way involved with the shooting, and is not guilty of murder," her attorney, Douglas Horngrad, said Sunday. "She, like everyone else, mourns the loss of life here."
As for Gordon's relationship with Farnsworth, Horngrad said: "Farnsworth, at most, is a casual acquaintance of Ms. Gordon's."
A public defender visited Farnsworth at the county jail Sunday afternoon. Public Defender Joseph Spaeth said his office had no comment on the case.

California Department of Justice special agents, in partnership with the Stockton Police Department, today arrested members of the violent Norteno street gang, which terrorized Stockton with drive-by shootings and crystal methamphetamine trafficking at the direction of the Nuestra Familia prison mafia.
“The Norteno street gang increased its drug trafficking and violent criminal activity in Stockton after our gang suppression team shut down one of its competitors, the Loc Town Crips, last year,” said Attorney General Brown. “Today’s crackdown demonstrates the importance of keeping relentless pressure on gangs that sell crystal meth and terrorize the public. The Stockton Police Department should be commended for its efforts to drive this street gang out of the city.”
The California Department of Justice Gang Suppression Enforcement Team, known as GSET, joined the Stockton Police Department in October 2007 to crack down on a violent Norteno gang which had recently increased its activity in Stockton. Last year, state agents shut down a violent Cambodian street gang in Stockton, the Loc Town Crips. The elimination of the Crips gang increased the opportunity for Nortenos to traffic crystal methamphetamine and commit assaults and drive by shootings.
“In the fight against gang violence in California it is important to follow-up after a crime sweep to prevent gang activity from returning,” said Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement Assistant Chief Jerry Hunter “This crackdown demonstrates that the attorney general’s gang enforcement team is committed to running meth traffickers out of town.”Norteno gang members in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties have committed an increasing number of gang-related shootings, stabbings, carjackings and residential robberies according to Stockton Police Department Detective James Ridenour. Today the Norteno street gang, which was first identified in the City of Stockton in 1990, has approximately 1,180 members and associates in Stockton.
This morning state agents and local police arrested 8 validated gang members and 6 affiliates, served 9 search warrants, conducted 4 parole searches and 2 probation searches. Agents seized 15 guns including 1 nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun, 2 rifles, 1 shotgun and various other handguns and ammunition. Agents also seized cocaine, methamphetamine, $42,000, and are a continuing to serve search warrants in Tracy, Lodi and Stockton.All gang members arrested could face from three years up to 25 years to life in prison depending upon the charges which include possession of crystal meth for sales, weapons violations, conspiracies and participation in criminal street gangs and street terrorism including Penal Code Section 186.22.The Nortenos arrested today were involved in street level drug trafficking, conspiracies to commit assault and multiple weapons violations. During the investigation which led to today’s arrests, agents arrested 14 suspected gang members in Tracy, Lodi and Stockton.Nortenos are a Hispanic street gang controlled by Nuestra Familia, a rival of the Mexican Mafia, which was organized in Folsom State Prison in 1968 are operates primarily in the northern parts of California. The two prison mafias divide California into northern and southern territories through a line that runs between Delano to Salinas. Norteno gang members advertise their gang affiliation with symbols including the number 14, “209”, and “XIV” in graffiti, on clothing, and on tattoos. The gang members often claim the color red.Agencies involved in today’s crackdown include the California Department of Justice Gang Suppression Enforcement Team, Stockton Police Department, Lodi Police Department, Tracy Police Department, Manteca Police, San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, The Central Valley Gang Impact Team, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, California Highway Patrol, San Joaquin County Probation, State Parole, and the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office.
The California Department of Justice launched the Gang Suppression Enforcement Team in 2006 in response to rising levels of street gang and violent criminal activity in California. There are gang suppression teams Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco and Fresno which disrupt the organizational flow of gangs to fight for a terror-free environment in California by:Identifying key gang leaders and ultimately dismantling the organization’s hierarchySeizing street gang assetsGathering intelligence and sharing analysis with law enforcement agenciesState investigators often assist local law enforcement when the gang problem has become so severe that the crime is bleeding into neighboring jurisdictions. Approximately 27 percent of all California homicides between 1996 and 2005 were gang related.