President of the Hells Angels Ventura chapter and convicted felon Sabian Reynoso was arrested Wednesday for allegedly entering Ventura County Jail grounds without permission from jail officials, authorities said.Reynoso went into the jail on Feb. 6 to deposit money in the account of fellow gang member Jared Plomell, according to a statement from the Sheriff's Department.Under California law, a convicted felon may not enter any jail or prison without permission from jail officials or the warden.Plomell, 30, is being held on charges including transportation of methamphetamine and being a convicted felon in possession of a gun and ammunition, authorities said.Reynoso was convicted of an assault with a deadly weapon in 2000 after stabbing a person in Oak View, authorities said. He also has been convicted of other charges, including possession of narcotics for sale and possession of a gun while in possession of narcotics.Sheriff's Department gang investigators served a search warrant at Reynoso's house in Oak View on Saturday and found a shotgun and ammunition, authorities said.Investigators arrested Reynoso at his home on Wednesday on suspicion of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun and ammunition and being in custodial grounds.He was held at the Ventura County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $150,000 bail.

Convicted Mafia boss and so-called 'Pope' Michele Greco, 83, died on Wednesday of unknown causes in a Rome clinic, where he was admitted several weeks ago.Until he fell ill, Greco was serving several life sentences in Rome's high-security Rebibbia prison. He was dubbed the Mafia 'Pope' for his legendary ability to mediate between feuding Mafia families in the Sicilian city of Palermo. Greco, an ally of jailed Mafia "boss of bosses" Toto Riina, was arrested on February 20, 1986, after four years on the run. He had a copy of the bible by his bedside. Greco was tried on charges of having ordered 78 murders. These included those of the anti-Mafia magistrate Rocco Chinnici and three others a 1983 a car bomb, and the murder of the prefect of Palermo, Gen. Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, on 3 September, 1982.At the end of the trial, on December 16, 1987, Greco, then aged 63, was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Hector Barajas Jr., of Covina, was killed in a walk-up shooting just before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 16000 block of East Ballentine Place in an unincorporated county area near Covina, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.
Barajas was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau is assisting detectives at the San Dimas sheriff’s station in the case.
Authorities believe the shooting may have been gang-related.

The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland has increased by a quarter, according to new figures. The General Register Office for Scotland (Gros) said there were 421 drug-related deaths last year, 85 more than in 2005, representing a 25% rise. Heroin or morphine use was involved in 62% of the deaths, while methadone use accounted for 23% of the total. The statistics revealed that 83% of those who died were under the age of 45, with 16% under 25. Almost four-fifths - 79% - of the fatalities were men. Previously the highest ever number of drug deaths recorded in Scotland occurred in 2002 when 392 people died. According to Gros, 280 of the deaths were a direct result of drug abuse, 51 were caused by accidental poisoning and 40 by intentional self poisoning. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said a new strategy was needed to tackle the demand and supply of illicit drugs in Scotland. A 25% increase in fatalities in just one year is extremely concerning and presents a disturbing report card of Scotland's overall drugs problem
He said: "This tragic death toll highlights the true scale of the challenge we are facing - a 25% increase in fatalities in just one year is extremely concerning and presents a disturbing report card of Scotland's overall drugs problem. "Our new strategy must tackle demand as well as supply and we will place renewed focus on education, tough enforcement, and of course new emphasis on diversion and prevention by offering more young people opportunities in sports and the arts to build self-esteem." The Scottish Conservatives called the figures "deeply depressing and chilling".
'Zero-tolerance' Party leader, Annabel Goldie said: "We need a clearer strategy which rehabilitates those caught up in a life of drugs and helps them on the way to abstinence, whilst at the same time adopting a zero-tolerance attitude to drugs and especially towards drug dealers.
Labour's Hugh Henry also acknowledged that a radical rethink was required. He added: "If the issue is about more resources then Labour will back the executive if it wants to make more money available. "But I suspect this is about more than just money and what is really needed is a radical rethink by experts working in the field." The Liberal Democrats called the figures "very worrying indeed". "There also needs to be a renewed effort against drug dealers, large and small, to get them off our streets", said the party's health spokesman, Ross Finnie. 'Terrible menace' figures did show a reduction in the number of deaths associated with cocaine and diazepam use. In 2005, 44 people died after taking cocaine. That figure dropped to 33 last year.
Deaths from diazepam, which is associated with the abuse of other substances like heroin, peaked in 2002 but have since reduced. The drug claimed 78 lives last year.
The highest proportion of deaths occurred in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board area, with 162 people dying through drug misuse, up 51 on the previous year.
In Grampian, 47 people died last year, up 24 on 2005's figures, while in Lothian the figure for drug-related deaths was 46.
These larger totals, however, include cases of accidental poisoning, deliberate self-poisoning, and cases where the victim's intention was unknown.
Graeme Pearson, director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpos) spokesman on drugs, said the organisation was continuously looking for opportunities to reduce drug deaths.
He added: "The Scottish Executive policy of health, education and law enforcement is the best way to try and tackle the terrible menace of drugs that blights Scotland."

A shocking report found Gwynedd and Anglesey had the highest rate of deaths per population in Wales last year, with eight out of 100,000 killed by drugs.It puts the region’s drug deaths on a par with Liverpool.Swansea had seven deaths per 100,000, and Ceredigion three. Powys had three in 2005 and one last year.The figures emerged in a report by the International Centre for Drug Policy at the University of London.North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said: “What’s shocking is the number of drug deaths coming in. At one time they were few and far between.”Mr Pritchard Jones, a member of the North Wales Drug Forum, said: “There have been drug-related deaths in Llandudno and Menai Bridge for years but what’s happening now is that there are more in places such as Denbigh, Holyhead, Bangor, Penygroes and Pwllheli. It has now spread to rural areas.”Mr Pritchard Jones said steps had been taken to ensure addicts took prescribed methadone in view of chemists in pharmacies, but in rural areas this was difficult to control.He said: “We are running a campaign that users must consume it within the pharmacy. That’s running well in towns like Colwyn Bay, Bangor and Holyhead but not in the countryside because it isn’t easy for people to get to a pharmacy twice a day.”Maldwyn Roberts, North Wales co-ordinator for community safety and substance misuse, and chairman of the Drug Related Death Review Group, said: “Usually heroin on its own does not kill but heroin is connected with most deaths.“Used with other drugs or alcohol it leaves users having trouble breathing or vomiting or drowning on the contents of their stomach.”Mr Roberts said many of the drug deaths were users who had decided not to get help from agencies and had taken drugs while on their own.The Cais drugs advisory service chief, Aneurin Owen, said: “The need for effective treatment is paramount if we are to reduce drug related deaths. Treatment has to be comprehensive, including more in-patient de-tox and better follow-up links in the community.”Carol Moore, chief officer of North Wales Probation Service said:“We have six substance misuse action teams at local authority level bringing together the police, probation, health and organisations involved in front-line substance misuse.“In addition we have the drug intervention programme funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and which delivers a range of services to people who have committed offences connected with drug misuse and at-risk groups.“Within the Probation Service we are able to offer a drug rehabilitation requirement as part of a community sentence for anybody who is going through the courts where drugs or substance misuse is a problem linked to their offending.”Caernarfon Plaid Cymru MP Hywel Williams said: “It is a particular problem in rural areas because people are isolated.”Figures for North East Wales and central North Wales were not supplied.
A recent study carried out by a group of experts from North Wales and London concluded that “the prevalence of may be rising.”Out of a population of around 250,000, researchers found an approximate total of 820 heroin users aged between 15-44 living in North west Wales, almost 1.2% of the population.However they estimated that the total number of users in the area to be much higher at aroheroin use in North west Walesund 1,300.One expert said the heroin problem in rural North west Wales was the same as Brighton.The study said: “The prevalence of heroin use in North West Wales is comparable to that reported from urban areas of the UK.”The study pointed to “pockets of high social deprivation and an established heroin-using population.”The experts analysed police custody figures, opiate-related overdose figures and hospital admissions. They also took data from hepatitis C tests.Out of 322 observed heroin users 72% were male, and 60% aged under 30.

A significant proportion of parents are currently unaware of the prevalence of substance abuse amongst children and teenagers. Based upon the statistics, prevention is clearly the key here, but often parents delay the discussion of drug abuse issues with their children, unfortunately assuming that they won’t be exposed to drugs until they are older. As the statistics below demonstrate, drug abuse can often occur very early on in today’s drug abuse and binge drinking culture. So please don’t make the common mistake of putting off your discussion about drug and alcohol awareness with your children. 9% of 13 year olds and over a quarter (27%) of 15 year olds reported that they had used an illicit drug at some point in their lives. 7% of 13 year olds and 23% of 15 year olds reported that they had used an illicit drug in the year prior to the survey.4% of 13 year olds and 14% of 15 year olds reported that they had abused an illegal drug in the month prior to the survey which is perhaps indicative of more frequent recreational drug use.
There was only minor difference between boys and girls in the statistics of those who reported that they had used illegal drugs in the last month (13 year olds, boys 4%, girls 3%: 15 year olds, boys 14%, girls 12%). 4% of 15 year olds admitted abusing illegal drugs at least once per week (including those reporting use on most days). An additional 4% of 15 year olds reported that they often abused illegal drugs once or twice per month and 4% a few times a year.

Just over a third of deaths on UK roads are now young people aged 25 or under, so this is without doubt a serious problem. This equates to the death or serious injury of a young motorist or passenger every hour on average across the United Kingdom.

A detailed survey of over 8000 young motorists (aged from 17 to 24) carried out by Auto Trader, which is a UK motoring magazine and website, showed a frightening trend towards driving under the influence of either drugs, drink or both.In today's drug abuse and binge drinking culture amongst young adults and teenagers it is unfortunately no surprise that the statistics are high. In fact, as many as 17% of the young motorists surveyed admitted regular use of Cannabis, more alarmingly 12% frequently use the dangerous and addictive class A drug Cocaine, and 10% revealed regular use of Ecstasy. However, the greater danger comes from upwards of 10% admitting that they regularly drove their cars whilst under the influence of drink or drugs.When questioned about driving under the influence of substances, over 40% felt fine to drive their vehicles after using illegal drugs and 31% found it acceptable to drive after consuming alcohol. A high proportion were unaware of the actual legal limits for alcohol consumption when driving and as a result 8% had already been involved in an accident while under the influence, with a further 11% admitting a near miss.

John Joseph Mongan (30) was attacked with a machete and hatchet after a gang broke into the couple's house in Fallswater Street in west Belfast on Thursday. Three people have appeared in court. Police believe that a Isuzu Trooper sports utility vehicle, registration VRM CNZ 5680, was in the area of Fallswater Street at around 2.30am on the night of the murder. The vehicle was later seen travelling west on the M1 Motorway and is believed to have passed through Clogher village shortly before 3.30am. The burnt out vehicle was discovered at Derrybrick Road, Kesh, Co Fermanagh, at around 9am. Mr Mongan's two young sons are understood to have witnessed the attack. His wife, who was injured in the attack, later gave birth to another son.

Joseph Vollaro has been "relocated" to a secret hideaway, under the protective eye of law-enforcement officers, sources said yesterday. While Vollaro is not officially in the federal witness-protection program, which sets up informants with false identities away from their homes to keep them safe, he's being hidden so he won't get whacked by the furious Gambino mobsters he fingered, one law-enforcement source said. But another source told The Post the tough-as-nails turncoat brazenly emerged over the weekend at one of his favorite haunts. Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa said his radio show's executive producer, Frank Morano, spotted Vollaro in a Staten Island sushi restaurant Saturday night. The eatery, Mizu, is two doors down from a restaurant co-owned by Vollaro's pregnant wife, Trisha, who refused to go into hiding with her hubby. Morano yesterday told The Post he and another patron immediately recognized the volatile Vollaro, whom Morano knows from the local bars. "And then the bartender, who has seen him a lot more than I have, said, 'That's Joe, that's Trisha's husband,' " Morano said.
But the bartender Morano talked to, Bianca Dimitri, told The Post yesterday that she had not seen Vollaro in Mizu for two or three weeks and that Morano may have misinterpreted what she said. Morano declined to comment on Dimitri's claim.
A spokesman for the Brooklyn US Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the Gambinos based on the rat's evidence, refused to comment on the possible sighting.
A law-enforcement source familiar with the case said Morano must have been mistaken.
Another Mizu employee who refused to give his name said a review of surveillance video at the eatery does not show Vollaro there Saturday. But the employee refused to let a Post reporter see the video.

Joseph Vollaro, CEO of a Staten Island-based Andrew's Trucking Corp., came under scrutiny, said a law-enforcement source. Vollaro, described as a close associate of the Corozzo brothers and their Howard Beach, Queens, crew, was a "big earner" and may have been on track for induction into the crime family, the source said.
After being caught with 1 kilo of cocaine, Vollaro agreed to provide evidence against the Corozzos and others by wearing a wire. "He made devastating recordings against the Corozzo crew . . . discussions about how they conducted their entire business, and how the money came in and how it was kicked up to their bosses," the source said. "They captured . . . payoffs from construction people, payoffs from jobs, kickbacks." In addition, wiretaps, surveillance video and photos also provided evidence the Gambinos demanded a tribute of $1 per cubic yard of landfill used at the site of the later-aborted NASCAR race track on Staten Island, and were skimming money from pension contributions at a Teamsters local. Other projects allegedly infiltrated by the Gambinos were a West Side water tunnel, a Bronx water-filtration system, and the Liberty View Harbor site in Jersey City. Added to the new indictment is evidence of violent crimes - including Carneglia's purported hits - from turncoats who had been flipped after recent convictions related to a Gambino crew operated by Ronald "Ronnie One Arm" Trucchio, who reports to the Corozzo brothers.
Several members of that crew close to Trucchio and John "Junior" Gotti Jr. provided firsthand knowledge of murders and other violence, a source said.

Two brothers were killed this morning just after seven in Partinico, 35km from Palermo in what appears a mafia attack. Another person was injured but not seriously. The victims, Giuseppe and Gianpaolo Riina, 32 and 38, were sons of a constructor, Salvatore Riina, killed by the mafia ten years ago in Partinico in the same street (Via Merlo) where the sons were killed this morning. The Riina brothers had left their house to go to work in the construction company of some relatives when they were shot with automatic weapons. They tried to get away, but didn't get further than Piazza Santa Caterina. Fulvio Giordano, 24, was injured, he was taken to the Partinico Hospital. The assistant prosecutor of the Local Anti-Mafia Investigation Department of Palermo, Michele Prestipino, is coordinating the investigation.

Victor Brincat, 43, who had previously been interviewed about the fatal shooting of criminals Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court with Thomas Hentschel, 41.They are charged with murdering former kickboxer Michael Ronald Marshall, 38, near his South Yarra home on Saturday night. Marshall's partner and five-year-old son witnessed the shooting.He was shot up to five times in the head about 6.30pm on Saturday and died three hours later at The Alfred hospital.
With blood still drying on the bitumen, neighbours yesterday spoke of how Marshall valued his privacy. About six months ago, he had placed a sign near his double garage on Joy Street - metres from where he was gunned down - saying: "Admittance by invitation only to all persons and entities or trespass applies." A surveillance camera was connected to the intercom system at the front gate, and security grilles covered reflective glass, ensuring that no one could see inside the two-storey terrace home.One witness, who did not wish to be named, said he heard at least six shots as Marshall was gunned down. Marshall's five-year-old son had said: "Someone shot my daddy, someone shot my daddy." It is believed one of the shots pierced Marshall's eye.The witness said he assumed from the series of shots that Marshall "was being executed" and he was scared to assist.Marshall, a hot-dog stand owner, had a minor criminal record and was connected with figures linked to the amphetamine industry. Other neighbours spoke of a pleasant man who parked his old hot-dog van near his home, saying it was "ugly . . . the most terrible looking thing". Marshall was believed to have been an associate of Willie Thompson, who was shot at the wheel of his sports car on June 21. He had just left a martial arts class at a Chadstone gym.A spokesman for the World Kickboxing Association in Melbourne said he knew both men. Marshall would not have competed for at least 10 years, he said, but had recently bought a pair of boxing gloves for sparring.
The spokesman said Marshall's instructor, Bob Jones, would be saddened to hear of his protege's murder. Mr Jones is on business in North America and was unavailable for comment.Detectives from the underworld murder taskforce Purana, arrested Brincat and Hentschel about two hours after the shooting.Yesterday the detectives again scoured the scene where Marshall was gunned down.

This was a professional Russian hit. There were 13 shots and we don't think they wasted a bullet. It has a military-trained assassin written all over it, possibly ex-special forces,' a senior detective told The Observer. 'The intelligence coming back from the Costa del Sol is that Paddy Doyle crossed the Russian mafia, which is something you do there at your peril.'
The officer said shortly after Christmas Doyle got involved in a brawl with a young Russian man whom he severely beat up. Unknown to Doyle, the man was related to a senior Russian mafia figure. True to form, on a warm afternoon in one of Spain's most popular destinations for tourists and holiday-home owners, vengeance was exacted in a ruthless fashion.
Less than 24 hours after Doyle's murder, cocaine valued at about €9.2million was seized by Spanish police in Estepona close to the shooting. Doyle was on his way to meet a British criminal when his car was ambushed and this triggered speculation that his death was linked to the drugs haul, in which an Irishman was one of eight arrested.
'Doyle was typical of the third generation of gangland "soldier" from Dublin. He was aggressive, showy and started fights at a whim. He and his ilk are unlike the older Irish criminal types on the Costa who live a very quiet life and just get on with their business. Our intelligence suggests Doyle simply crossed the people you don't cross on the Costa, the Russians.'

Twenty-eight felony arrests were made during a one-day operation Wednesday that targeted Southeast Asian gangs in Fresno, police said Thursday.
Of the 28 arrests, 16 were Southeast Asian gang members, Sgt. Alex Robles reported.
The operation was ordered by Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer after a rash of gang-on-gang shootings in Fresno during the past month.

Ralph "Perico" Rocha and Rafael "Cisco" Gonzalez-Mu oz committed what is considered a mortal sin among the ranks of the dreaded Mexican Mafia prison gang: they encroached into the drug territory of a senior gang member.
Their transgression marked them for death according to county prosecutors, who in early December charged six individuals with trying to murder Rocha and Gonzalez-Mu oz on behalf of another "made" Mexican Mafia member, Jaques "Jocko" Padilla. The six, including Padilla's wife, La Puente resident Maria "Lola" Llantada, are in L.A. County Jail awaiting a March 7 court date.
Despite the arrests, Rocha and Gonzalez-Mu oz are likely still in mortal danger; sheriff's officials have confirmed that Rocha was shot last week in the Norwalk area. His injuries were minor, however, and he was treated from a local hospital and released.
Law enforcement investigators and gang associates say the Llantada case, along with a spate of other Mexican Mafia-related cases over the past year, illustrate the influence exerted across vast swaths of the San Gabriel Valley by the prison gang, also known as La Eme. The cases also show that the pilfering of "taxes" on drugs by rival gangs is behind many cases of Eme-related violence, which has plagued the area for decades.

Police in Italy and the FBI in New York have arrested dozens of alleged gangsters belonging to the most notorious Sicilian crime families in a closely co-ordinated international operation
More than 80 alleged gang members were rounded up in New York and Palermo in what the head of Italy's parliamentary anti-Mafia commission described as "one of the most important operations of the past 10 years". Those arrested in New York included the entire Gambino family hierarchy, and important figures in the Genovese and Bonanno families, and union and construction industry officials
The New York Times reported that the arrested men were expected to be charged with seven murders, including three which date back 25 years, as well as racketeering, extortion and gambling offences.
These were the first successes in a joint two-year operation. Italian sources say it is only the first battle in a new war against the old-time crime families, an operation they codenamed "Old Bridge".

Youths as young as 12 have been identified as members of the Young Bloods, Hanover Boyz, MS-13, the Almighty Latin King Nation, Laos Pride, Tiny Raskal Gang, Original Crip Gang, Oriental Rascals, Providence Street Boys, Dark Side Rascals, 18th Street Gang and the Asian Outlaw Boyz.
The Latin Kings are involved in drug trafficking, but most of the gang members are not in it for the money. They join for a sense of belonging and to protect themselves from other youths. They have little sense of history and often no idea why they fight, except to avenge slights, with rival gangs.
Police Maj. Stephen M. Campbell, who oversees the detective division, says that monitoring gang activity is a department priority.
“It’s a constant back and forth between warring gangs,” he says. “The potential for a violent outburst that could take multiple lives is always there.”
The police, with the help of two FBI agents and a state trooper assigned to the gang unit, have created a database identifying 1,400 gang members and their associates. Some of them live in Massachusetts or other Rhode Island cities such as Cranston, Woonsocket, Pawtucket, Central Falls and West Warwick. Nonetheless, they frequent Providence and have come across the radar of the police gang unit.
Last year, one in five shootings in the city was gang-related. The police recorded 14 murders and 59 instances in which people were shot, up from 47 in 2006. Gangs were responsible for 2 of last year’s murders, 12 shootings and dozens of drive-by shootings where shots were fired, but nobody was hit.
Last month, the new year began with a flurry of shootings between the Hanover Boyz and the Oriental Rascals. A 20-year-old woman was wounded, but nobody was killed. The vast majority of nonfatal shootings go unsolved because gang members refuse to file police complaints or cooperate with investigators. They prefer to take justice into their own hands.
Overall, the police identify a dozen gangs of significance in the city, about twice as many as when the gangs first arrived in the early ’90s. Wheeler says it was easier to track six large gangs with hundreds of members. Today, there is a proliferation of smaller gangs who are constantly feuding with each other.
The police say that in the past the older gang members, called OGs, kept the “juniors” or young gang members in check. That’s no longer the case. The OGs are less involved in the day-to-day workings of the gang, and the juniors have little respect or interest in the old days.
Gang initiation almost always requires a “jump in,” a beating administered by members of the gang who often line up in a gauntlet, striking and kicking the rookie gang member for anywhere from 10 to 90 seconds.
When someone leaves a gang, usually there’s a “jump out.” A gang member is beaten and must suffer bleeding or a broken bone to be set free.
Female gang members also are jumped in and, in some cases, they are “sexed in.” One female gang member had to roll dice and have sex with the same number of male gang members — 2 to 12 — that appeared on the dice. In another jump in, a former MS-13 gang member said that a group of gang members stood before her and she had to select 13 of them and have sex with them in succession.
Many of the gang members are brazen about their gang affiliation. They adorn their bodies with elaborate tattoos that announce their gang allegiance, and they boast about their toughness on Web sites such as MySpace.com.
Most of the violence is gang-on-gang disputes, but gang members also have been arrested for dealing cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana. They are regularly picked up on firearms charges and for armed home invasions.
The gang activity is not limited to the streets. Officials at the Adult Correctional Institutions keep close tabs on gang members who enter the prison system. Tracking them is good for the safety of the prisoners, as well as the safety of the guards. Right now, 250 of the state’s 3,500 male prisoners, 8 percent of the population, have been identified as gang members.

youth gangs known here as "maras" killed seven city bus drivers while trying to extort payments from them. Five were murdered on Tuesday and three on Thursday in the latest wave of violence that President Álvaro Colom blamed on organised crime.
The president said the groups were seeking to destabilise his government.
"We are asking for security and guarantees, to be able to work safely," Victoriano Zacarías, the head of the bus drivers union, told IPS.
He added that he was surprised at the way the attacks were staged, "simultaneously, on busy routes, as if it were a plan designed to hurt the entire sector."
Zacarías said that so far this year at least 12 bus drivers have been killed when they refused to fork over "protection payments". Other frequent victims of extortion by the gangs are taxi drivers, the owners of small businesses, and ordinary labourers and employees, who are often forced to flee their homes because of death threats received after they are unable or unwilling to pay up.
Colom, a social democrat who took office on Jan. 14, told reporters Thursday that the attacks were "planned by organised crime to conspire against the government because of the measures it has taken to bolster security."
Helen Mack, president of the Myrna Mack Foundation, a local human rights group, concurred with the government Friday, telling a radio station that the murders "were part of a plan."
On Thursday, the drivers and conductors of 300 buses in the capital went on strike demanding better security in their jobs and that the perpetrators of the killings be brought to justice.
Because of the strike, it took González nearly three hours, instead of one, to get home after work.
Zacarías said his union is important because when drivers go on strike, the entire population and economy are affected.
He called for the creation of a prepaid payment mechanism so that bus drivers do not carry around a lot of cash, "which attracts criminals." He also demanded that police officers accompany bus drivers, and complained that "the government has only met and negotiated with the bus company owners."
Since 1992, the union has given the owners suggestions as to how to prevent the problem of extortion of "protection money," but "they prefer the chaos because all they care about is raking in profits," said Zacarías.
Mack said one of the factors fomenting the lack of safety for drivers and for the public at large is the lack of coordination between the public prosecutors’ office and the National Civil Police, and argued that the solution is not increasing the size of the police force but improving law enforcement efforts.
Bus drivers have repeatedly charged that corrupt police officers work in complicity with the gangs.
A driver who preferred not to be named told a local radio station Friday that "you leave for work and you don't know if you’ll return home alive." He added that he was sorry he had to open the door to criminals, knowing that they were going to rob him and his passengers, because he feared for his own life.
In Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, there is little confidence in the justice system and the security forces, which have been penetrated by organised crime. Ninety-eight percent of murders go unsolved.
Interior Minister Vinicio Gómez announced that since the new administration was sworn in, 269 police officers have been sacked. The purge, the fourth carried out in six months, brought the total number of officers dismissed to more than 2,500.
A source with an international agency that works in one of the city’s most violent areas, who is in daily contact with the police, told IPS that the solution is a total overhaul of the police force that would not only affect the rank and file, but middle and high-level police officials as well.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Statistical Report on Violence in Guatemala, which was based on official data from the National Civil Police and was released in December, 5,885 murders were committed in this country of 13 million in 2006.
That gives Guatemala one of the highest per capita homicide rates in the western hemisphere.
Colom said in a radio interview Friday that his government has confiscated more AK-47 assault rifles than were seized in all of 2007 -- an average of 1.5 a day.
And while he acknowledged that "the situation is very complex," he promised that within four months, Guatemalans would begin to feel safer.
Observers say the high levels of violence and the continued existence of paramilitary groups or vigilantes are linked to Guatemala’s bloody past. In the 1960-1996 civil war, the security forces and allied paramilitary groups were responsible for the majority of the killings of some 200,000 mainly rural indigenous people.
"President Colom should live up to his promise and carry out in-depth reforms of the security system," the non-governmental organisation Security in Democracy said in a statement Friday.
An International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) began to work in January to fight the violence and the mafias that have infiltrated the justice system.
CICIG, which is financed almost entirely by international donations, is the result of an agreement signed in 2006 by then President Óscar Berger and the United Nations.
The Commission is currently made up of around 40 prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement officials from Guatemala, the United States and Europe who are familiar with human rights, criminal and international law, and organised crime. But that number is set to grow to 160 by the middle of the year

motorcycle gang Hells Angels, have made the Dominican Atlantic resort town Cabarete their home in the Caribbean. “They're impossible to miss, right from the moment you set foot in the small village of Cabarete.”

The Canadian newspaper says the members of the gang -turned underworld crime organization- are seen on the streets, in restaurants and stores. “Even half-hidden by bathing suits, on the beach. You see the same words over and over again: Hells Angels Quebec.”
It said the members of the notorious network's Quebec chapter's “have literally taken over this small town of 15,000” and have even managed to get a street named after them.


Their presence in the country dates back to the mid 1990s in Puerto Plata and Sosua, when the Canadian Mounted Police, in collaboration with Dominican authorities reportedly conducted raids to arrest members of the gang who were fugitives wanted that country.
“A Sun Media team spent a few days incognito by their side, bearing witness to their influence on the area,” Winnipegsun.com says, adding that the Hells Angels were in particularly large numbers last week, as they celebrated the accession of the local Los Barracos gang to the rank of Hells Angels prospect,” the news site said.
It said gang members “partied in a large red-and-white fortified bunker, which it describes as being similar to their former headquarters in Quebec,” with “Canadian Hells and Dominican Republic flags are floating side by side.”