John Kinsella was convicted of taking household goods in a raid at a haulage yard in Grantham, Lincolnshire in 2006.

Kinsella, 46, who is serving a sentence of 11 years and three months, was also made the subject of a confiscation order to compensate the raid victims.

The Court of Appeal in London has cut Kinsella's bill to £10,250.
Kinsella, of Mile End, Liverpool, was one of four men caught as they fled the scene of the robbery. The stolen goods were never recovered.

Kinsella won support during his 2008 trial from the father of Liverpool and England star, Steven Gerrard, who said Kinsella had stopped a gangster known as The Psycho from terrorising his son in 2001.

Paul Gerrard said in a letter sent to court in 2008 that Kinsella had helped them when the gangster had threatened to shoot the footballer in the legs.

At a subsequent confiscation hearing, it was ruled that Kinsella's benefit from the crime was the full value of the goods taken and the £41,000 confiscation order was made.

Giving judgment, Lord Justice Moses, Mrs Justice Dobbs and Judge Gerald Gordon said the judge had not approached the confiscation case correctly.

Since there was not enough evidence to say that Kinsella had benefited from the full value of the cargo, it would be fair to divide the proceeds between the four men, Lord Justice Moses said.

Long tranquil in recent years as bloodshed flooded other swaths of Mexico in recent years, the lands bordering far South Texas have exploded as the Zetas commanded by El Lazca — Heriberto Lazcano — battle the Gulf Cartel.
The Mexican towns near Falcon Lake have become battlefields as the two groups war for smuggling routes into Texas. Searching for new sources of revenue, the Zetas have branched into kidnapping, extortion and robbery. In some towns near Falcon, nearly everyone has fled.
U.S. anglers all but evaporated from Falcon last October following the reported murder of a Colorado man, David Hartley, who crossed the lake on jet skis with his wife to tour the half-submerged town of Guerrero on the Mexican bank.
Hartley, his wife told police, was shot in the head by armed thugs who swarmed the couple in boats. The attack followed reports last spring of Mexican "pirates" assaulting U.S. fishermen.
Increased security
Hartley's body never has been recovered. Local and Texas state officials point to the attack as proof that Mexico's gangland wars, which have killed more than 35,000 people over the last four years, threaten to cross the border.
"I have to inform the public about what's happening," said Sheriff Sigifrido Gonzalez Jr. of Zapata County, who has placed widely ignored signs at boat ramps warning U.S. anglers of the dangers of fishing in Mexican waters.
Reacting both to Hartley's presumed murder and gangland battles in nearby towns, hundreds of Mexican soldiers and marines have poured into the Falcon Lake area. Mexican military helicopters frequently patrol the area. Authorities on the U.S. side have beefed up their presence as well.
The added security has brought a wary calm, at least to the Texas shore. Local fishing guides and tackle shops say business has returned almost to normal in recent weeks. Bass boats towed by pickup trucks and SUVs clog the parking lots of Zapata's hotels and restaurants.
"We've seen a number of boaters back in town. There are calls coming in," said Celia Balderas, an official with the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce, which is sponsoring fishing tournaments this spring. "Protection is the greatest it's ever been on Falcon Lake."
Deserted streets
But that security is far less assured across the lake.
The Mexican army killed three alleged gangsters Thursday near Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, near Falcon Lake's dam. And soldiers last week seized five tons of marijuana in Miguel Aleman, a town across the Rio Grande from the Texas town of Roma, 40 miles south of Zapata.
Many of the 6,000 residents who fled Zetas attacks last year in Ciudad Mier, a few miles outside Miguel Aleman, have yet to return despite the deployment of Mexican troops. The streets of the 258-year-old town remain deserted, most shops shuttered.
The Zetas continue to raid Mier, some residents say, coming with the dark after the soldiers withdraw. Three men were kidnapped three weeks ago, one left dead on the outskirts of town, the others still missing.
"Why isn't there protection for all of us? I don't know," said Mayor Alberto Gonzalez, 64, who took office Jan. 1. "But people are coming back little by little. Their land is here. They have to come back sooner or later."
The mayor said he expects Mier to be completely pacified once the army provides the promised battalion-strength base this spring.

imprisoned “godfather” of Mexican drug trafficking is looking more like a grandfather these days, with cataracts, deafness, ulcers and a hernia, his family wrote in a rare open letter to Mexico’s top police official Tuesday.
 Mexican drug trafficking Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo The wife and children of imprisoned drug lord Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, 67, said in a letter to Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna that Felix Gallardo is not getting the proper medications for his multiple ailments and is being mistreated in prison. The letter was published on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, as an almost full-page ad in Mexico City newspapers. (AP Photo, file)
The wife and children of imprisoned drug lord Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, 67, said in a letter to Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna that Felix Gallardo is not getting the proper medications for his multiple ailments and is being mistreated in prison. The letter was published as an almost full-page ad in Mexico City newspapers.

“For more than three years, without any justification, prison authorities have kept him segregated, isolated and without contact with other inmates, and have prevented him from participating in any physical, sports or educational activities,” according to the letter, in which the family also gave their address: in a swanky southern Mexico City neighborhood.

Historically, the families of top Mexican drug traffickers seldom, if ever, make public statements or publish their addresses, though authorities often know where they live.

By tradition, relatives are not usually targeted by law enforcement officials unless there is hard evidence they participated in the drug trade or laundered drug money, and occasional police raids on the homes or detentions of traffickers’ relatives have drawn criticism and even retaliatory attacks from crime gangs.

In a rare 2004 protest, about 100 people who identified themselves as wives and relatives of drug suspects demonstrated outside the Mexican Congress to demand better conditions at the Altiplano maximum-security prison just west of Mexico City, the same facility where Felix Gallardo is being held. The protesters would not identify the inmates they were related to, however.

But Felix Gallardo’s family said they were moved to publish the open letter — in which they asked for a meeting with Garcia Luna — because they claim he is being held in “inhuman” circumstances in a special lockdown section amid “unhealthy conditions, humidity, a lack of ventilation, bad odors and darkness.” Arrested in 1989, he is serving a 40-year sentence on drug-trafficking, bribery and weapons convictions.


In the 1980s, Felix Gallardo commanded the Guadalajara cartel, then Mexico’s most powerful gang, and what is considered a precursor of the brutal Sinaloa cartel. The gang also served as a training ground for many of today’s top drug traffickers.

But lately, Felix Gallardo’s biggest sin has allegedly been possessing cigarettes in his cell. Prison authorities canceled his rights to personal visits for four months starting in February as punishment, even though cigarettes are sold to inmates at the prison store, the family’s letter claimed.

A spokesman from Garcia Luna’s office said officials had no comment.

Felix Gallardo had been among the most flamboyant of the early drug lords in the 1970s and ‘80s. On one website, he appeared in old photos wearing tightly tailored shirts and bell-bottom pants. It was not clear if anyone connected to the imprisoned drug lord had operated the site, which has since been shut down.

It is hard for many Mexicans to think of Felix Gallardo as a victim; he is reputed to have punished a subordinate’s alleged betrayal by killing the subordinate’s children, cutting off the head of his wife, and sending the head to him in a box.

But the drug trade in his day was far less violent than the current round of cartel turf battles, which have cost more than 34,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon launched an anti-drug offensive in late 2006.

Police in Cape Town have confirmed that alleged underworld boss Cyril Beeka, while driving a bakkie, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting over the weekend.

According to spokesman Joe Wilson police can confirm that it was Beeka who died in the shooting but they can only speculate as to the motive at this stage.

Beeka, a former bodyguard of National Intelligence Agency boss Moe Shaik and an Umkhonto we Sizwe informer during the apartheid struggle, was allegedly shot by men on a motorcycle while driving near the University of the Western Cape in his BMW SUV.

Eyewitness News on Tuesday say that Beeka was with a Russian national called Sasha – who was wounded during the incident - at the time of his death. According to the report Beeka was well known in the ANC’s top circles and had links to axed Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride.

Beeka was alleged to have been a key player in Cape protection rackets and was previously accused of murder. He was also reported to have had links to Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir a leading figure in the Lolly Jackson and Uwe Gemballa murder investigations.

During Cape Town’s infamous spy saga in 2008 Badih Chabaan, a councillor the DA accuses of using illegal methods to encourage defections from the party to an ANC-led alliance, said : “It’s not illegal to gamble and I’ve known Mark Liffman, Yurie the Russian and Cyril Beeka for many years, gambling with them. I will not apologise for my association with them - it doesn’t make me a criminal.”

Yurie “the Russian” Ulianitski was also a known mob boss who was cut down in hail of bullets.

In an article by IOL's Dale Granger in 2007 Beeka confirmed that Ulianitski had worked for him for a short period, but had subsequently decided to go on his own.

The article is worth reading even now to give people an understanding of the Western Cape's underworld.

In an article by IOL's Murray Williams also in 2007 the Russian was also murdered in a late-night ambush that killed his four-year-old daughter, Yulia as well.

In a report by Times Live’s Paddy Harper in Oct 10, 2009 “as the [President Jacob} Zuma campaign gained momentum and more ANC leaders got on board, [Mo] Shaik felt increasingly marginalised.

"By the time the party's landmark Polokwane conference took place in December 2007, he was reduced to attending as a "service provider", watching from the sidelines and creating controversy by attending with alleged gangster Cyril Beeka".

Police have made no arrests in connection with the incident.

sentenced Daniel Flores, an Oxnard gang member, to life without parole for the February 2008 murder of Armando Sepulveda, prompting Flores' lawyer to immediately file a notice of appeal.

Last month, a jury found Flores guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder for shooting and wounding a father and son from El Rio in an incident a month before the Sepulveda shooting. Jurors found true that these crimes were done for the benefit of a criminal gang and that a weapon was used.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Patricia Murphy also sentenced Flores, 24, to the maximum sentence prescribed by law for the two attempted murders, 75 years to life. The judge gave Flores a 38-year sentence for the special allegations that he was a gang member and used a weapon in the commission of a crime.

Flores and two other Colonia Chiques gang members, Brandon Arauz and Jose Velasquez, spotted Sepulveda in front of his house using his cellphone on Feb. 4, 2008, court testimony showed. Flores and Arauz, who were dressed in El Rio gang attire, stopped the car three houses away and walked toward Sepulveda. Prosecutors said Flores introduced himself to Sepulveda as an El Rio gang member before Sepulveda was shot by Arauz.

Arauz was not charged with the murder, but is in prison for 64 years to life on two other unrelated shootings. Velasquez's trial is pending.

Prosecutor Rameen Minoui said in an interview that Flores is a very serious threat and danger to society, adding that the lengthy prison sentences mean he will no longer be able to inflict harm or cause further pain to the victims' families. Minoui said Sepulveda wasn't a gang member and Flores, Velasquez and Arauz didn't know anyone in the Sepulveda family.

Flores' lawyers Jay Tanenbaum and Matthew Selmer said they filed a notice of appeal Monday alleging that a jailhouse informant secretly recorded conversations with their client and Velasquez.

Flores bragged to a jailhouse confidential informant, who said he was associated with the Mexican Mafia, about killing Sepulveda and shooting two other people, according to the recordings played to jurors. Flores denied to the informant that the two shootings were drive-by shootings.

The Mexican Mafia issued an edict to Southern California street gangs against drive-by shootings because innocent people sometimes get killed, resulting in police crackdowns that disrupt its drug trafficking, according to law enforcement.

Tanenbaum said Flores said all these things to the informant because he was afraid Mexican Mafia members would kill him if they believed he participated in drive-by shootings.

Selmer said the informant has earned $250,000 from the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and $25,000 from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department for secretly recording jail conversations with defendants.

Selmer said the informant is simply an arm of law enforcement who also has worked off a total of 15 years from his jail sentences.

WEST Australian police commissioner Karl O'Callaghan's 29-year-old son has been badly burned in an illegal drug lab explosion in Perth.

Torn between his roles as police commissioner and a dad, Mr O'Callaghan has told of his struggle to be good at both after revealing the incident. "There's always that conflict between being the commissioner of police and being the father," an emotional Mr O'Callaghan told The Australian last night after visiting his son, Russell, in Royal Perth Hospital.

The younger O'Callaghan was one of five people hurt in the powerful blast, which tore a hole through the roof of a Carlisle state housing unit. One man was in critical condition. Two toddlers escaped unhurt.

"I was quite shocked by the sight of him," Mr O'Callaghan said. "He's got serious burns to his head, neck, shoulders arms and torso. So he's pretty much bandaged right up to his head."



But he said his son was lucid and the first thing he asked was how were the two children who were nearby. "He described the explosion as a fireball that just engulfed all of them. He has been really shaken by this. He said he came within a hair's breadth of losing his life and he's exactly right.

"You can talk about clan labs all you like as a police officer. But when you get to talk to someone whose been involved in something like that and that person's very close to you, then it really drives home what the issue is."

Mr O'Callaghan reassured his estranged son, who has previously been treated for drug addiction, that he would not abandon him, saying the most important thing was that he got "well both mentally and physically".

Mr O'Callaghan said 30 illegal drug labs had been broken up in the state this year and 130 last year. Most of the backyard operations appeared to be making methamphetamines.

Coincidentally, the daughter of former police superintendent Dave Parkinson was living in the unit next door to the clandestine drug-making operation, with both of them complaining more than 40 times to the Department of Housing and police about the noise, domestic violence, alcohol abuse, insults and even alleged physical attacks on both of them.

Mr Parkinson claims the tenant had once told his daughter, Stacee, they had a .22 rifle and were going to shoot her father for standing up to them. But, despite the department's "three strikes " policy against anti-social behaviour, the tenants were never evicted. Ms Parkinson said she lived in continual fear of her neighbours around the illegal drug lab.

"It's been absolutely hell," she said. "It's been absolutely devastating, horrible. I have a look around to see if there's anyone there before I step foot into my home. That's how bad it is."

San Jose police are investigating whether the daytime shooting of a man at point blank range outside a McDonald's restaurant was gang related.
The shooting occurred around 12 p.m. Wednesday in front of diners at the restaurant, which is across from the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. San Jose Police Officer Jose Garcia says the man in his 20s was taken to the hospital in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the head.
His name has not been released.
The gunman has not been identified and remains at large.
Police do not have a possible motive, but Garcia says the area where the shooting occurred is known to be frequented by members of the of the Norteno and Sureno gangs.

Asian street-gang member Stephenson Choi Kim, 31, of San Gabriel, was convicted Monday of killing a woman and trying to kill six other people in an unprovoked shooting at a Cypress café that could send Kim to Death Row.

The jury heard evidence that a confession letter addressed to the police and media was found on Kim's computer after his arrest; Kim sent a note, or "kite," while in jail calling out a co-defendant as a "snitch"; Kim also wrote, "Don't worry. I'm making sure the witnesses don't testify."

Thirteen members of a D.C. street gang were indicted on charges related to deadly shootings between rival crews in the Southeast Washington neighborhood known as "Simple City."

The indictment charges that several gun battles occurred between the Benning Terrace-area crews from the "Avenue" and "Circle"

"Today's indictments allege that rival street crews who shared a tiny patch of real estate in Benning Terrace engaged in urban warfare that turned deadly," said U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. "The indictments seek to hold members of both crews responsible for the murder that resulted from their gun battle over Memorial Day weekend in 2010."

Four people from the "Avenue" crew were charged in one indictment. The other indictment charges nine people associated with the "Circle' crew with conspiring to assault members of the "Avenue."

The defendants named in the case against the "Avenue" crew include: Raymond "Soldier Boy"Davis, 18; Deante "White Boy Tay" Harding, 22; Jean-Robert "Junior" Jean-Baptiste, 20; and William "Weetie" Springs, 22.

The defendants named in the case against the "Circle" crew include: Curtis Faison, 19, Antonio "T.O." Fortson, 19; Kevin "Son" Magruder, 29; Marcellus "Mateo" McCray, 17; Deandre "Dee" Mungo, 19; Timothy "Step" Parker, 33, and Lamont Thomas, 20.

Prosecutors said "Avenue" member Faison shot and killed Melvin White, 27, on last April. In return, Thomas and Fortson fired several shots at "Avenue" members, officials said.

Two men were convicted Monday of murdering 21-year-old Flushing native Maurice Parker, who was mistaken for a gang member, on the streets in Flushing May 18, 2007.

Oscar “Taz” Fuentes, leader of the New York state chapter of the international MS-13 street gang, also known as La Mara Salvatrucha, and Julio “Flecha” Chavez, a leader of the Huntington, L.I., chapter of the gang, were found guilty of driving through the streets of Flushing that day, looking to shoot rival gang members, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

At about 12:30 p.m. the defendants saw two young men — Parker, who was talking on his cellphone at the time, and one of his friends — standing in front of El Boom Convenience Store at 41-80 Bowne St., according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Parker’s friend was wearing a red sweatshirt, a color often seen on members of the rival Bloods street gang. Chavez, 25, and another gang member jumped from the car Fuentes, 30, was driving, ran up to the men and Chavez shot Parker six times, including three times in the head, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District. Parker died at the scene. Both were convicted by a jury at federal court in Brooklyn of murder and using a firearm in furtherance of the murder, and Fuentes was also convicted of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

“Today’s verdicts should remind street gangs of the dire consequences of committing acts of violence in this district,” U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “While we can only hope that the verdicts will provide some measure of closure to the family of a young man killed indiscriminately, the convictions have ensured that the defendants will never again walk the streets of our city.”

With hundreds of local members, MS-13 is the largest street gang on Long Island and has a presence in Queens, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

“MS-13 relishes violence and preys on our youth,” U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said at the March 19, 2009, arraignment of Fuentes and Chavez. “On a night when gang members decided to go hunting for a victim on the streets of Queens, Maurice Parker was murdered simply for standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. These gangs have no place in our communities.”

Parker’s slay shocked the Flushing community, and a rally against gang violence in the days after his death drew hundreds.

Federal authorities brought charges against 23 members and affiliates of a South Side gang they claim have controlled drug trafficking, shot at rival gang members and attempted to kill an informant over the last eight years.

Among those charged Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's Northern Ohio, Eastern District office, were the top two members of the LSP gang, who kept their reign by controlling the sale of crack cocaine in the city and in neighboring Boardman, the indictment says.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals and police apprehended several of the men during raids early Thursday as part of "Operation 577."

As of about 4 p.m., 17 of the suspects had been arrested, and many were arraigned in federal court.

The 48-page, 42-count indictment states the LSP gang, which stands for Laclede, Sherwood and Parkview or Princeton avenues, the streets at the heart of the gang's territory, controlled drug trafficking, and enhanced and protected their gang's power through violence.

The indictment detailed several crimes committed by the gang between Jan. 1, 2003, and Tuesday.

Among the criminal acts described in the indictment are murder, robbery, witness tampering, retaliation and drug trafficking, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, felonious assault, aggravated menacing, firearms trafficking, theft, receiving stolen property, car jacking, breaking and entering and burglary

Federal prosecutors believe Daquann Hackett and Derrick Johnson Jr. are LSP's leaders and directed other members and associates of the gang.

Also indicted were James Neail, Tyrell Oliver and Nalemn Hasley, who authorities believe sold drugs to Hackett, who then sold the drugs to LSP members and associates. In exchange for doing business with the trio, LSP members committed acts of violence against the trio's rivals.

LSP's territory includes a multi-block area on the South Side, the indictment states. The borders are West Laclede Avenue to the North, Rosedale Avenue to the East, West Indianola to the South and Volney Road to the West.

Drug trafficking, including crack, heroin and marijuana, generated a large portion of the gang's income, according to the indictment.

The charges said that Hackett purchased the powder cocaine and crack from the three suppliers. Hackett then cooked the powder into crack and sold it to the gang members, associates, low-level dealers, users or addicts.

Hackett, the indictment said, used his position as the primary supplier of crack cocaine as a way to maintain his power.

Gang members, the indictment said, regularly armed themselves with guns to protect their territory, attack and retaliate against rival gangs, people who wouldn't support the gang, to commit robberies and build "respect" and "street credibility" in the gang and in the community.

They also sold illegal firearms "routinely," wore bulletproof vests and responded with violence if they learned someone outside the gang sold drugs inside their territory.

Jersey City Bloods street gang member and a second felon fought with police after being caught following a car chase on Sunday, officials said.

Charles A. Randell, 21, of Lexington Avenue, identified by cops as a Bloods member, and Thomas Deberry, 24, of Van Nostrand Avenue, were arrested at 6:44 p.m. and charged with aggravated assault on police officers, eluding police, resisting arrest and weapons offenses, including possession of a handgun by a felon.


Randell's bail was set at $100,000 cash or bond and Deberry's at $150,000 cash only when they made their first court appearance yesterday.

Plainclothes officers working on a tip spotted the pair in a car at Oxford and Bergen avenues, an area known for drug dealing, gangs and violence, reports said. When they approached the car with guns and badges out, Deberry hit the gas, striking a police officer and a police car, reports said.

At one point, Deberry hit the brake, causing a police car to slam into the rear of his vehicle and a parked car, reports said, adding that Deberry bailed out on Seidler Street. Randell struck an officer before being handcuffed and Deberry struck several officers before being subdued, reports said.

Police said they found a silver handgun in Deberry's vehicle and two bags of suspected marijuana on him.

Randell's eye was swollen shut when the pair appeared in Central Judicial Processing court via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.

jury recommended on Monday life in prison without parole for a former Asian Boyz gang member convicted of eight Los Angeles-area killings and 10 counts of attempted murder.

The jury, composed of seven women and five men, convicted Marvin Mercado on Feb. 16 of eight murders carried out primarily in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys in 1995 and 1996, but spared him of the death penalty.

Mercado, now 37, had fled to the Philippines under an assumed name in 1997 and married into a socially prominent family. He was arrested at his Quezon City condominium unit 10 years later in 2007 and extradited to Los Angeles to stand trial.

Mercado, who eluded the long arm of the law for more than a decade, is scheduled to return to the downtown Los Angeles Superior Courthouse March 30 for formal sentencing by Judge Robert J. Perry.

Marvin Mercado used to run with the notorious Asian Boyz in Van Nuys. In 1995 that gang killed eight people – including three teenage boys they had mistaken for gang rivals.

Sunnyside teen is recovering in the hospital after being hit twice in the back while sleeping in her bed, during a drive-by shooting.

Sunnyside police say the shooting happened around 12:45 Monday morning on the 1100 block of Tacoma Avenue.

KNDO spoke to the victim's older sister, Brenda Ortiz, who says her sister is a good student who attends Sunnyside High School and is not involved in any gangs.

"Just with these gangs going they don't know who they're hurting. They're hurting innocent people. People who don't deserve this. Nobody deserves this. I wouldn't want somebody to go through what we're going through," Ortiz said.

Police say the girl was listed in satisfactory condition tonight at a nearby hospital, but remains in the Intensive Care Unit.

No suspects are in custody right now. Police say the shooting was gang-related and the home was identified as a gang house, but confirmed the victim did not have any ties to gangs.

Police are also looking into a second drive-by shooting on the 700 block of Bagley Drive, that happened shortly after the one on Tacoma Ave. The home was hit several times, but no one was hurt.

Police say a high powered assault rifle may have been used in both cases. The two shootings are believed to be gang-related.

Thirty-five members and associates of the Barrio Azteca (BA) gang have been charged in a third superseding indictment unsealed March 9 with various counts of racketeering, murder, drug offenses, money laundering, and obstruction of justice, announced Attorney General Eric Holder. Of the 35 defendants, 10 Mexican nationals were charged with the March 13, 2010 murders in Juarez, Mexico of U.S. Consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton; her husband, Arthur Redelfs; and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of a U.S. Consulate employee.
 
Attorney General Holder was joined in announcing the charges by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy for the Western District of Texas, FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry, and Administrator Michele Leonhart of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
 
Today, teams of U.S. federal, state, and local authorities arrested in Texas and New Mexico 12 of the charged defendants not already in custody. Seven of the 10 defendants charged with the March 13, 2010 murders and two other indicted defendants are in custody in Mexico. U.S. authorities are working with Mexican authorities regarding extradition and other matters related to this ongoing prosecution.
 
“The indictment unsealed today represents our continued action to ensure safety along our Southwest border, to seek justice for victims of violent crime in this region, and to weaken dangerous criminal organizations currently operating in Mexico and the United States,” said Attorney General Holder. “These arrests and criminal charges will disrupt Barrio Azteca’s current operations, and they reaffirm that we will not tolerate acts of violence against those who serve and protect American citizens. We will continue to stand with our partners in Mexico, and together, build on our unprecedented joint efforts to combat violence and protect the safety of the American and the Mexican people.”

Police arrested 46  people in a four-day, multi-agency sweep of metro Atlanta targeting the 30 Deep street gang.

The arrests, announced Friday, come as alleged 30 Deep member Jonathan Redding is currently on trial in Fulton County Superior Court for the Jan. 7, 2009 murder of John Henderson, a bartender at the now-defunct Standard Food & Spirits in Grant Park.

The sting, which involved investigators from the Atlanta Police Department and two dozen local, state and federal authorities, netted 30 alleged members of the 30 Deep gang and affiliated groups and another nine for violent crimes and drug infractions.

Dubbed "Operation Zero Deep," law enforcement officials seized $8,000 in cash, eight weapons, two vehicles, about two pounds of marijuana and Ectasy and cocaine.

“The success of this operation clearly shows the value of the strong relationships forged between the Atlanta Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and our other law enforcement partners,” Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said in a statement.

“Criminal activity resulting from gangs isn’t just ‘an Atlanta problem’ and only when we combine our strategic crime-fighting efforts will we truly make a meaningful impact.”

Al Miller's case postponed - News - JamaicaObserver.com: "HE case involving clergyman Al Miller, was put off until May 19 when he appeared at the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court this morning.
Miller was charged for negligence after he left his firearm in his vehicle in the Grants Pen community and returned to find it stolen.
He has had several run-ins with the law in recent times as he was also charged for aiding and abetting a fugitive when he was found in the company of former Tivoli Gardens crime boss Christopher 'Dudus' Coke in June last year."

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The Watchdogs: City Hall hired 139 ex-cons in two years - Chicago Sun-Times: "One of them smuggled cocaine from Jamaica about a decade ago. Another was a carjacker. A third was convicted in the shooting of two Chicago cops in the 1970s, hitting one of them in the face.

They are among 139 people who got hired by the City of Chicago over the past two years despite having been convicted of crimes. That’s according to a list of all of the city’s hires of ex-cons in 2009 and 2010 obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Mayor Daley has said ex-offenders deserve a second chance and has made that his policy at City Hall.

Those hired under that policy include one person convicted of a crime who’d been on the “clout list” that was made public during the trial of Daley’s former patronage chief, Robert Sorich. Sorich went to prison after being convicted in federal court in 2006 of overseeing an illegal hiring scheme that gave city jobs and promotions to people with clout."

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Arirang | Korea for the World, The World for Korea - Arirang.co.kr: "US Department of Justice is under fire on allegations of letting thousands of firearms flow into the hands of drug cartels in Mexico, causing more weapons-related crimes in the neighboring country.
In an interview with CBS News, John Dodson an agent with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives revealed that his agency was ordered to permit Mexico-bound illicit weapons trafficking for an operation dubbed 'Fast and Furious'.
The purpose of the operation seems to have been to crack down on Mexican gangs, keeping a close watch on the final destinations of the weapons.
While Dodson and other whistleblowers are saying that the operation was conducted secretly without the knowledge of the Mexican government, the US Justice Department is denying all allegations.
Meanwhile, the Mexican government on Sunday demanded a full explanation of the operation from the US.
Dodson's revelation came only days after Washington promised its full cooperation with Mexico for its war on drugs."

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severed heads have been found in bags in the resort of Acapulco in Mexico.
The heads were found in black sacks outside a tunnel connecting the centre of the city to the outskirts.
All three heads belonged to men, the Guerrero state public safety department said in a statement.

Crackdown: A police helicopter flies over Acapulco, Mexico, where three heads were found in sacks. There has been 35,000 deaths across the country in the last five years
A note at the scene said the beheadings were a revenge attack for the killing of a man shot dead during an attempted kidnapping.
In January the decapitated bodies of 15 men were found near a shopping centre in the city, all aged between 25 and 30.
Decapitations in Acapulco are relatively common among drug cartels and have escalated since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against them in 2006.


I

n 2008, a group of 12 decapitated bodies were found piled outside the Yucatan state capital of Merida.
The same year, nine decapitated men were found in the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drugs cartels in 2006
Tens of thousands have died in total in recent years as the drug cartels continue to hold the country in their grip.
President Calderon has poured thousands of troops onto the streets in a military crackdown aimed at ending the scourge.
But his critics argue the move has worsened the problem because it encourages yet more violence.
Police have also announced the capture of a suspected prominent drug gang member who allegedly oversaw kidnappings, extortion, bribery and local drug distribution for a group known as the 'independent cartel of Acapulco'.
The federal Public Safety Department said that Benjamin Flores Reyes, known as "The Godfather" was arrested on Sunday after a six month investigation.
In recent months, Acapulco has seen a wave of organized crime violence blamed on warring drug gangs.
On Sunday, armed men attacked a police station in the city, wounding an officer. The same suspects later shot at a house, wounding two people at the residence.
More than 35,000 people have been killed across Mexico in drug-related violence since President Calderon's offensive on drug cartels began.


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Murder victim's family sets the record straight | 13abc.com: "Straub, 20, was murdered inside her family home on Longacre Lane. Straub's body was alongside the body of her live-in boyfriend, Johnny Clarke, 21. The two had been tied up, with bags over their heads.


It was a heinous crime that continues to haunt Springfield Township and the family of both victims. When Jim Verbosky spoke to Springfield Township trustees, he didn't talk about the murders, he talked about the rumors and the opinions expressed by then Lucas County sergeant James Schiavone.
Two weeks ago, Schiavone, according to trustees, told them the murders were a 'professional hit' and that Lisa Straub had gang connections.

Verbosky says, 'Had we had any indication that Lisa was in any grave danger, we would certainly have done something to protect her.'

The sheriff has since released a statement: 'The motive is unknown, but investigators do not believe this was a -- quote 'professional hit.''"

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Ex-Asian Boyz Gang Boss Avoids Death Penalty | FOX 11 News: "former Asian Boyz gang leader convicted of eight Los Angeles-area killings and 10 counts of attempted murder should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, not death, a jury recommended today.

Marvin Mercado was convicted last month of eight murders carried out primarily in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys in 1995 and 1996. Mercado, 37, was living in the Philippines under an assumed name when he was arrested in 2007 and brought to Los Angeles to face justice."

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Police High Command has raised the threat level against its personnel to 'extreme' after shooting dead three and injuring another man, all said to be 'key' members of the Klansman gang over the weekend.
In a statement this morning, police said that several threats had been received against members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and that imminent danger is possible, especially in the St Catherine North, St Catherine South, and Clarendon police divisions.
"Police personnel are being asked by the High Command to exercise great care while on and off duty and to take all necessary precautions to protect themselves and their colleagues from attacks," said the statement.
In the first incident on on Saturday afternoon, alleged Klansman enforcer Donovan Topping was shot dead by police in Manchester. Yesterday about 3:00 pm, two other alleged members of the gang were fatally shot and another injured by police in a prolonged shootout about 3:00 pm at Spring Village in Old Harbour, St Catherine.
One of those fatally shot has been identified as Joel Jennings, otherwise called ‘JJ’. Jennings was wanted for his involvement in a number of murders and shootings in St Catherine. The other Klansman who was fatally shot is yet to be identified, while the injured man who is currently in hospital has been identified as Jordan Markland.
A fourth gang member who was also involved in the shootout escaped. A 9 mm pistol and approximately 25 9 mm rounds of ammunition were allegedly seized. The Bureau of Special Investigations is probing the fatal shootings.


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Man and woman found shot in house: "Police in Northern Ireland have launched a murder hunt after a man and a woman were found shot dead in a house in Craigavon, Co Armagh.
Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's (PSNI) serious crime branch are investigating the deaths.
The victims' bodies were found at a house in the Legahory Court area after 6pm on Monday.
Police appealed for anyone who witnessed anything suspicious near the scene to come forward.
Police sources played down fears of a dissident republican link to the murder of the couple.
Initial theories suggested gangland criminals may be to blame for the killings."

Six men convicted over a string of "SAS-style" robberies in East Anglia and London have been jailed, police said.
The gang, dressed in black uniforms and balaclavas, armed themselves with machetes, firearms and Tasers to raid building societies, shops and a petrol station in east London, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk.
During one incident in January 2008 they smashed their way into a Nationwide Building Society in Holt, Norfolk.
They escaped with £81,000 in cash and Snaresbrook Crown Court heard one startled witness said they looked like members of the SAS, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said. On another occasion they fired a Taser at a security worker as he delivered cash to a supermarket in Kings Lynn, making off with £21,000.
The ringleader, Danny Speed, 30, of Eisenhower Drive, Beckton, was jailed for 20 years after being convicted in January of four armed robberies and three counts of conspiracy to burgle between 2007 and 2009.
Mark Richards, 30, of South Hall Drive, Rainham, Essex, previously admitted three armed robberies and three counts of conspiracy to burgle between 2007 and 2009. He was jailed for 13 years.
Lee Watson, 43, also of Eisenhower Drive, was jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of four armed robberies. He had previously pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to burgle. Andrew McCracken, 31, of Oglethorpe Road, Dagenham, was given a 15-year prison sentence for three armed robberies.
Scott Guy, 36, of no fixed abode, was jailed for nine-and-a-half years for one armed robbery, while 29-year-old James Cook, of Bush Grove Road, Dagenham, was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment for one charge of conspiracy to burgle.
Paul Oughton, 31, of no fixed abode, was convicted of one robbery and two counts of possessing firearms. He will be sentenced on Monday.
James Sweeney, 30, of Laindon, Essex and Aaron Wiltshire, 23, of Downing Road, Dagenham, were acquitted of armed robbery.DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

TheSpec - Accused killer nabbed in London: "Hamilton man wanted for the 2007 murder of a city drug dealer has been arrested in London, Ont.

Gavin Storer, 31, was wanted for first degree murder in the July 1, 2007, slaying of Shaheen Sherzady, 23 in a St. Joseph’s Drive highrise. He was to appear in Hamilton court Thursday morning.

London uniform patrol officers arrested Storer at 10:40 p.m. Wednesday after they had spotted him in a taxi.

The officers stopped the cab at the intersection of Oxford and Adelaide streets downtown, about eight blocks from London’s central police station, and Storer was arrested without incident."

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Ex-US Marine Steven Greenoe admits smuggling guns into the UK - Liverpool Local News - News - Liverpool Echo: "FORMER US Marine believed to have armed criminal gangs on the streets of Liverpool pleaded guilty to smuggling guns into the UK.

Steven Greenoe was alleged to have imported at least 66 weapons into the country from his home in North Carolina before selling them on.

The 37-year-old faces being jailed for up to 30 years when he is sentenced in June.

He admitted exporting firearms from the United States without a licence and travelling in foreign commerce to deal in firearms without a licence when he appeared in court in Greenville, North Carolina, yesterday.

Prosecutors dropped 48 other charges against him in return for the guilty pleas.

The trail that lead the authorities to Greenoe began when a police operation into the sale of weapons on the streets of Merseyside found a gang selling new guns."

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Killers, shooters and smugglers all nailed by science - Bermuda Sun... Beyond the Headlines - Hamilton, Bermuda: "Gunshot residue was an important factor in the conviction of the shooter.

The 32-year-old, a member of the MOB gang, was jailed for 25 years last month for trying to murder Nathan Darrell on February 13, 2010.

Brangman shot him three times as he sat in a car in Kitchener Close, Sandys.

Mr. Darrell spent 10 days in hospital following the attack, with injuries to his neck, chest and thigh.

Brangman fled the scene on his motorcycle and maintained throughout his trial that he was not the shooter.

But forensic tests by analyst Alfred Schwoeble in Florida revealed traces of gunshot residue on a mask and a glove found in a hotel room that Brangman had been staying in.

DNA tests conducted by Candy Zuleger showed that Brangman’s DNA was found on the glove.

The court was told Brangman has many previous convictions for violence, including violently resisting arrest, wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon. He was last released from jail in July 2007."

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Two weeks after his younger brother was sentenced to life in prison, Jose Celis received the same fate for a different murder.

Jose Celis Jr., 21, accepted a plea deal for murder during a Wednesday morning hearing, over which District Judge Robert Cheshire presided.

In exchange for pleading guilty to murder, Celis will serve a life sentence in prison, with an eligibility for parole after 30 years.

He was charged with capital murder for the December 2009 shooting death of 26-year-old Victoria resident Rocky Wayne Neisser II. Murder was an included charge.

"The outcome really works for all parties," said Victoria County District Attorney Steve Tyler. "Essentially, this person will not return. His odds of making parole are slim to none."

Neisser's mother agreed.

"As long as I knew (Celis) would never walk the streets again, that's what I wanted," said Felicia Neisser.

"The past year has been very emotional for myself and those Rocky left behind."

She said the family felt a trial would have has been far too exhausting as they had to relive the events of the day he was killed.

"Our focus now is to try and rebuild our lives, find a new normal, and to honor my son and all those who have lost their lives to violent crimes," she said.

On Dec. 21, 2009, Neisser was found seriously wounded in the 2300 block of Hand Road.

It is believed that Celis along with another person, whose name was not released, wounded Neisser inside Neisser's Chrysler 300 Touring Model.

They dumped Neisser at the scene, and took his car, which was later found abandoned in the 500 block of South De Leon Street.

Although unconfirmed, the District Attorney's office said they believe Neisser's death was a gang hit, as Celis is a member of the Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos street gang.

Celis, who also faced aggravated assault charges, fled Victoria and was later found hiding in an HPL safe house in Laredo.

During the hearing, Tyler discussed Celis' troubled childhood as well as his borderline mentally retarded IQ.

Brothers in real life and in the HPL, Celis and Enrique Guayo Guerra will not serve their sentences together in the same cell.

Guerra, 19, was sentenced to life in prison on Feb. 18 after a jury found him guilty of shooting Joe Angel Caltzontzin, 21, to death in 2010.

An only child, Neisser, who worked as a landscaper, left behind four children ranging from 9 months to 9 years old.

He was known by many as a friendly man who dabbled in playing the guitar and loved baseball and animals, his mother said.

"I'll never forget his smile," she said. "It was sweet and told the story of who Rocky was."DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.