charged are two suspects believed to be high-ranking members of the Mexican Mafia, who are accused of overseeing the criminal activity, and 117 suspected members and associates of street gangs, who allegedly paid "taxes" to the prison-based organized crime group. ALSO Rockefeller impostor ordered to stand trial in 1985 killing CHP officer found guilty in husband's shooting death Suit focuses on police practice of hogtying 10-year-old boy accused of killing friend to get evaluation Two men charged in '08 deaths at homeless camp Man gets 26 years in 1985 murder See more stories » Ads by Google The 9mm is No Defense Discover What Self Defense Masters & The Army Don't Want You To Know www.CloseCombatTraining.com The charges were detailed in 17 indictments and eight criminal complaints filed by the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego. In early morning raids at homes throughout the county, federal and local officials arrested 104 of the defendants, including the suspected Mexican Mafia members. Fifteen suspects remain at large. The arrests mark "one of the largest single takedowns in San Diego FBI history," said Keith Slotter, the FBI's special agent in charge in San Diego. The Mexican Mafia has ties with thousands of gang members in Southern California, authorities said. The suspected members charged in Wednesday's case, Rudy Espudo and Salvador Colabella, allegedly demanded regular extortion payments from gang members who sold drugs in areas controlled by the criminal organization. Street gangs from San Marcos in northern San Diego County to Chula Vista near the border were targeted in the investigation.

 accused of shooting a man twice outside a Bladensburg nightclub. On the night of Nov. 25, 2011, Timothy Terrence Harris got into an argument outside the Basement nightclub, in the 5400 block of Annapolis Road, police said. Harris pulled a gun, and the victim dropped to the ground, police said. Harris fired the weapon, striking the victim twice, police said. Harris fled the scene, and he hasn't been seen since. Harris is a member of street gang that calls itself 51 Sandbox. Authorities were hesitant to release the name of the group because they didn't want to give it any media attention, but it might help a reader identify Harris, said Inspector Matt Burke of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. "When punks get together with their guns, they gain a false sense of confidence and incidents like this are the result," Burke said. "Groups like this really have a negative impact on the quality of life for everyone else in the community." Harris is wanted by Prince George's County police on a charge of attempted murder. Marshals deputies are asking the public for information that will lead to his capture.

Spain pledged to set spending limits for regional governments in a new law tomorrow as the country’s pharmaceutical lobby said the regions owe companies $8.4 billion for drugs. The People’s Party Cabinet plans the budget-stability law to flesh out a constitutional amendment that the party helped the former Socialist government pass in September. Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro said “early warning” and “automatic correction” systems will be set up to prevent overspending and sanctions will be strengthened. “The aim is to guarantee the budget stability of all administrations, boost confidence and strengthen Spain’s commitments to the European Union,” Montoro told a parliamentary committee today in Madrid. Spain’s PP government, in power since December, is trying to convince investors it can reduce its budget deficit by almost half in 2012 even as the economy suffers its second recession in two years. The law aims to increase discipline in the regional governments, which have accumulated unpaid bills after they were shut out of public debt markets and saw their tax revenues collapse. Spain’s 17 regions owed pharmaceutical companies 6.37 billion euros at the end of 2011, lobby group Farmaindustria said today in a statement. That debt has risen 36 percent from a year earlier as payments were delayed by an average of 525 days, according to the group, which has urged Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to sell bonds backed by the unpaid bills in a program that would be guaranteed by the government. Credit Line As regions including Valencia suffer from a liquidity squeeze, Montoro has offered the states a credit line to allow them to pay unpaid bills. The government will seek tighter deficit plans in return, he said. The budget law will prevent spending rising more than projected economic growth, while giving debt redemptions and interest payments priority over other public spending. The ratio of debt to gross domestic product will be limited to 60 percent, Montoro said. The PP or its allies govern in most of Spain’s 17 regions, strengthening the government’s hand to reorder public finances. The regions, which missed their combined budget goals in 2010 and 2011, control about a third of public spending and hire half of the countries’ public workers. “We have seen the willingness of all the regional governments that Spain should have a new budget-stability law,” Montoro said today.

THE net is closing in on the 30-year-old criminal who is suspected of murdering Romanian teenager Maria Rostas. Sources say that gardai should be able to re-arrest the psychotic south city gangster "within weeks" after the discovery of the body of the tragic 18-year-old in the Dublin Mountains on Monday. The criminal is in Cloverhill Prison where he is on remand and facing trial for a number of serious criminal offences. He is also the chief suspect for a number of other serious crimes including a pub murder last year. The development comes as authorities in Romania contact-ed the family of the Roma teenager who gardai believe was savagely sexually abused before being shot in the head. It is understood that the family of Maria (Marioara) Rostas, including her father Dimitri, will travel to Ireland to bring her body back home to Romania for burial. Sources are still unsure whether the victim was taken to a house near Newry to be violated by a notorious underworld figure or whether her ordeal involved being assaulted over a number of days in a house in Pimlico before being shot dead and her body dumped. The chief suspect, along with some of his closest associates, was arrested in December, 2008. But they were all released without charge. When arrested, the chief suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest in bed. Gardai have always worked on the theory that Maria was shot dead in the upstairs room of a derelict house in Brabazon Street just days after being abducted as she begged on East Lombard Street on January 6, 2008. The Brabazon Street property was later gutted in a fire which was started by criminals in a bid to destroy evidence. CANDLES The chief suspect is the number one target for gardai and it is understood that a strong case is being built against him. "This maniac is one of the most dangerous criminals in the country. Certain information has been received which indicates that he saw the devil in her eyes which caused him to freak out and shoot her," a source said. "Despite being an absolutely evil individual, he has some kind of strange religious beliefs and is very afraid of the devil. He is all into candles and altars and stuff like that." The investigation has been helped because the victim's remains were very well preserved after being so tightly wrapped in plastic bags. The Herald revealed that two major south Dublin criminals helped the chief suspect bury the body of the tragic teenager. Sources have revealed that the south city gangster enlisted one of his closest associates to help dispose of her body after he shot her. The suspect's pal was so terrified that the gangster would murder him after burying Maria that he brought a close relative with him to help in the dig.

9,500 inmates in Minnesota's prison system were placed on lockdown for roughly one day while authorities conducted a major sweep targeting Native American gang members. Authorities say prisoners were confined to their cells from 4 a.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Wednesday, and weren't allowed any outside contact. Department of Corrections spokesman John Schadl says the lockdown involved all state prisons. The sweep coincided with the unsealing of a federal indictment charging twenty four alleged gang members with conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity and other crimes. The 47-count indictment was unsealed with the court appearance of six defendants who made their initial federal court appearances late Tuesday afternoon. They were arrested earlier Tuesday during a take-down conducted by between 100 and 150 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement officials. Schadl says the lockdown protected the safety of law enforcement agents making arrests and ensured word about the takedown didn't get out. The indictment alleges that the primary objective of this "enterprise" is to preserve, protect, promote, and enhance the Native Mob's power, territory, and financial gains. Gang members are accused of distributing illegal drugs, from crack cocaine to ecstasy. Defendants also reportedly provide money to fellow gang members in prison, obstruct investigations and intimidate witnesses, and obtain andcirculate firearms to commit acts of violence, including murder, against individuals associated with rival gangs. Arrests were made on the White Earth, Mille Lacs, and Leech Lake Indian reservations as well as in the Twin Cities. Of the 18 remaining defendants named in the indictment, 12 are presently in jail or prison on other charges, while six are still sought by law enforcement. The six individuals arrested yesterday remain in custody pending their next hearings, scheduled for January 26-27. "This investigation exemplifies the law enforcement cooperation we are fortunate to experience here in Minnesota," said U.S.Attorney B. Todd Jones."Local, state, federal, and tribal investigators worked side by side to take down some of the most violent criminals in our state and, in the process, disrupt an extremely dangerous gang that diminishes the quality of life for those who live and work in Native American communities." The Native Mob is a regional criminal gang that formed in Minneapolis in the early 1990s. Federal prosecutors say members routinely engage in drug trafficking, assault, robbery, and murder. Organized crime investigators estimate gang membership at 200 with new members, especially juveniles, regularly recruited from communities with Native American populations. Gang associates often show their membership in the Native Mob by wearing red and black clothing or sporting gang-related tattoos

By the time Dean Boshell's blood-soaked body was found in allotments on the outskirts of Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, rigor mortis had set in. He had been shot once in the head before the killer fired twice more into his temple. The death of Boshell, a 24-year-old petty criminal and police informant, in February 2001 took detectives from Essex police into the heart of the violent and feuding criminal gangs that competed for control of the drugs scene around Southend. When a conviction for Boshell's murder was eventually secured, they made legal history with their use of unprecedented supergrass evidence. Prosecutors described the case as unique: the first time a murder charge had been dropped against one individual, who then went on to become the crown's star supergrass witness against another man who was ultimately convicted. Six years on, however, the activities of Essex detectives and prosecutors, and the lengths they went to in order to convict someone for the murder, are coming under scrutiny – along with a string of other convictions which have relied solely on the uncorroborated word of supergrasses. In the murky world of the supergrasses, most of whom are criminals who snitch on former friends to cut their own jail time, the case of Damon Alvin is unsurpassed. He started his criminal career in his early teens and by his mid-20s was running a mini drugs empire from his dormer bungalow in Benfleet, Essex. Over the years he had been convicted of several offences and been in and out of prison. He had convictions for violence, burglary and drugs offences, and police intelligence showed he was a skilled liar who was involved with firearms. It was during one of his frequent spells in jail that Alvin met Boshell and the pair became close; but the relationship was not on equal terms. According to court papers, Alvin treated Boshell as a gofer, while the younger man looked up to him as a brother. When Boshell was found dead on a cold morning in February 11 years ago, it was a sign to police that rivalries between groups of criminals engaged in supplying drugs in the region had boiled over. Detectives turned first to known associates of the dead man: Alvin, and another known drug dealer, Ricky Percival. Percival had built a drug-dealing business around individuals he met within the Essex bodybuilding scene, according to legal sources close to the case. But during a frustrating inquiry, which for years seemed to go nowhere, it was Alvin that the police focus returned to repeatedly. Arrested three times in three years for the murder, he was often pressed to talk and name others who might have been involved, but always refused. In 2003, after he had been arrested for supplying 1kg of cocaine, detectives recruited him as an informant in their efforts to disrupt local drug gangs, according to court papers. After his third arrest, detectives charged Alvin with the Boshell murder on the basis of mobile phone evidence which proved his alibi for the night was a lie. The mobile footprint revealed Alvin had driven to Southend to collect Boshell on the night he died – something he had never mentioned. Percival and two others were charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice; the police alleged they had made up an alibi for the night. What happened as Alvin faced his murder trial is now being scrutinised by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Two weeks into the trial at Chelmsford crown court, while lawyers were arguing about admissible evidence, Alvin indicated he wanted to change his story. He spoke out after a successful application by the prosecution to admit into evidence police contact sheets which would reveal to a jury that the dead man was a police informant, who had been passing information to detectives about Alvin for several serious offences – thus providing a murder motive. The trial was halted and in interviews with the police, Alvin accused Percival of being responsible for Boshell's death. Alvin admitted for the first time that he had been at the allotments on the night of the murder, but said he had stood by as Percival first threw bleach in the victim's face, before shooting him dead. Alvin also implicated Percival in a string of other crimes he himself was suspected of, and later admitted to, including the attempted murder of three people in a gangland feud. The police will not comment on the case but are likely to argue that Alvin – facing possible conviction for a crime he had not committed – finally agreed to inform on the individual responsible at the 11th hour. Percival, however, says Alvin did his deal with the police to escape the murder charge and in doing so fingered an "innocent" man. Peter Hughman, a solicitor who has acted for Percival, said: "There is something strange in relying on uncorroborated evidence from a person of simply appalling character." Eight days later, the Crown Prosecution Service sent Alvin a letter announcing the Boshell murder charge was being dropped. He became the crown's star supergrass witness against Percival, and entered into a deal with police and prosecutors which required him to confess all his criminality. Over five and a half months, Essex detectives spent 94 hours interviewing Alvin. In December 2006, after an 11-week trial, Percival was convicted on the basis of Alvin's evidence of the murder of Boshell and given life with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 28 years in prison. Today Alvin is living under a new identity, having been relocated following two and a half years in jail for a string of offences he admitted as part of the agreement he entered into with the police. Over the months he was held in a safe house during his supergrass interviews, police documents show officers spent nearly £35,000 on him – including £7,125 towards a new car and £468 on a laptop. He received money to top up his mobile phone, pay parking fees and buy an enclosure for his tortoises. Alvin also benefited to the tune of £190,000 from the sale of his house, allegedly facilitated by the police while he was in jail. Land Registry records show the property changed hands on 22 November 2006 for £250,000. It is understood there was a £60,000 mortgage on the house. A source close to the process said: "The police were always in the background of the sale." Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the Essex force could have seized the money from the sale, but no seizure was made and the proceeds went to Alvin. Now 32, Percival is serving his life term at a B category prison, Swaleside in Kent, from where he has been protesting his innocence for six years. Percival – who learned to read and write in prison – told the Guardian: "I still cannot really believe what happened to me. When I first came into prison I was in some kind of intense shock: I couldn't sleep, I was having nightmares, I was turning it all over in my mind – how could this happen in the British justice system? "They had to put me on medication because I was suffering from such anxiety and shock. And today it still feels the same, the shock is as raw. "What makes it even harder is that anyone who has a good understanding of my case says: 'How did a jury convict you?' " Percival's claims of innocence were bolstered recently when he passed a lie detector test – the results of which are being considered by the CCRC. Much derided in the past, the accuracy of polygraph tests has improved so much that they are being evaluated by at least one police force, and the Association of Chief Police Officers could extend the trials across the country. Percival, who admits he played a major role in the Essex gangland drug world, lost his appeal last year. The court of appeal said the case was unique, in that it "relied for its essence on the evidence of a witness, Alvin, who had been charged but acquitted on the same murder as that on which Percival was tried … [The case] stood or fell on Alvin's evidence." But after considering the case, the judges ruled that there was a "richness" to Alvin's story which made it believable, and they refused the appeal. Those close to Percival say this "richness" comes from the months in which Alvin studied the papers from the case while on remand. Evidence in court documents reveals that prison officers said Alvin's cell resembled a police incident room, papered with case documents, timings, maps and testimonies. "Damon Alvin used his year on remand to develop this false story which guaranteed his freedom," said Percival's mother, Sandy. "The records of his statements to police show his story has changed several times. Our argument has always been: show us the corroborative evidence that supports Alvin. There isn't any. "My son has done wrong, I know that, but he is not a murderer. There is no proof that he did any of these things, it is all Alvin's word against his. If I thought my son was a murderer, I would never stick by him." Documents held by the CCRC highlight another key challenge to Percival's conviction. Under the terms of the witness protection scheme Alvin entered into, he had to confess all his criminality. Yet court papers show he did not reveal one key element to his criminality that could breach the protection agreement he entered into, and which raises questions about his credibility as the crown's star witness. Alvin failed to tell police he had previously lied in court – potentially perjuring himself – in order to gain a reduced sentence for possession of 1kg of cocaine. Facing a seven-year sentence, Alvin fabricated a story that his life was under threat from four unnamed gang members, court papers show. To colour his story, he arranged for his wife and mother-in-law to cut out letters from newspapers to create threatening notes, and told another family member to send him a wreath at home, to supplement his claims. He also used hospital records from an injury he received during a domestic row as evidence that he had been attacked. Alvin's story was enough to convince a judge at Basildon crown court, who gave him a reduced sentence of 30 months for the drug offence. Hughman said the CCRC should examine the whole issue of supergrass evidence, and called on the court of appeal to issue guidance on such witnesses. "There should be a continued public interest and questioning about using people who are so manifestly unreliable to secure convictions, even if the authorities are particularly anxious to convict certain people. It doesn't make for safe convictions." The CCRC said it was still examining the case and would not comment. The Guardian made repeated requests to the CPS but it also refused to comment on the case. Detective Chief Superintendent Liam Osborne, of Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, said he would not comment while the case was with the CCRC.

Russell Stirton and Alexander Anderson, who ran a sex toys business and were involved in the McGovern family, will have their homes taken by the Crown as part of the court action.

The pair have never been convicted of a criminal offence in relation to gangland activity, but the long-running action by the Scottish ministers found that they had made money through "unlawful conduct".

Stirton and Anderson were found to have been involved in the importation of drugs and a handgun into the UK, to have extorted "protection money" from Glasgow taxi firm Spring Radio Cars and money laundering through a petrol garage in the city.

In Lady Stacey’s opinion released on Tuesday, both men were also found to have laundered money through purchasing Skoda cars using cash obtained by criminal activity before re-selling the vehicles.

A formal order transferring ownership of the assets, worth £922,000, to the Scottish ministers will be made before it is sold and the proceeds used to fund community projects.

Lady Stacey's opinion states: "I have found that Mr Stirton was present when controlled drugs and a hand gun were imported into Dover from Calais in 1997, in circumstances which prove he was involved in the importation.

"Mr Stirton and Mr Anderson were found to have a large amount of cash in a car on the M74 in 2000, in circumstances from which I infer that they were involved in some capacity in the supplying of controlled drugs or other contraband or the laundering of cash."

Stirton, who is married to Jacqueline McGovern, told the court during the case that began in 2005 that he did not associate with his wife’s brothers who are reported gangland figures based in the Springburn area of Glasgow.

The businessman, who ran the sex toys firm Loveboat with 54-year-old Anderson and who had previously been involved in construction, told a hearing that he was not involved in drug dealing, extortion or money laundering.

Police investigation

After Stirton and Anderson were caught with between £20,000 and £50,000 in cash on the M74 in 2000, a large-scale police investigation was conducted into claims of money laundering and extortion relating to them.

In 2005 they appeared on petition in relation to these allegations, but were released on bail and the criminal case was taken no further.

Lady Stacey also stated in her decision: "I have found that the purchase of Skodas for cash was money laundering, and that payment by Spring Radio Cars of a non-commercial interest in respect of them was achieved by intimidation of the directors of Spring Radio Cars" by Stirton and Anderson.

Houses bought by 51-year-old Stirton, including The Limes in Mugdock and his mother’s home in Milngavie will be confiscated and sold under the order, while the Uddingston house owned by Anderson’s partner Janice Leonard will also be taken under the proceedings after the judge found it was bought through mortgage fraud.

The loan Anderson secured to buy Thomson's Bar in Springburn was obtained by fraud, the judge found, which will result in it also being confiscated by the Crown.

On Tuesday, Ruaraidh Macniven, head of the Civil Recovery Unit, said: "I welcome Lady Stacey's careful and detailed opinion in this long-running case. Her Ladyship's decision vindicates the assessment of the Civil Recovery Unit that Russell Stirton and Alexander Anderson hold property which was obtained through a variety of serious crimes, including extortion, fraud, involvement in the supplying of controlled drugs or other contraband and the laundering of cash.

"Those crimes have a destructive impact on individuals and businesses in Scotland and it is important that all of the available tools, including civil recovery, are used to tackle those who seek to profit through them.

"The unit does not shy away from difficult and complex cases which can take some time to resolve. Our focus is on both the disruption of crime and depriving criminals of their assets. In this case the unit has shown that we are determined to disrupt crime and to ensure that any proceeds of crime are recovered and put to good use in our communities."

All money raised from the selling off of Stirton and Anderson’s assets will be invested by the Scottish Government into its CashBack programme to fund community projects.

Chief Supt Wayne Mawson, of Strathclyde Police, added: "Strathclyde Police also notes, with pleasure, the successful outcome to this very long-running and often complex case.

"Its result bears proper testament to the assiduous and exhaustive efforts of a large number of officers, and members of police staff, whose work went towards identifying and recovering the evidence to support the claim.

"The Proceeds of Crime Act offers a valuable tool to law enforcement agencies to see that ill-gotten gains do not remain ill-gotten. This case also offers a timely reminder that the police and other justice agencies will pursue the holders of such property for however long it takes."

The bidder paid $130,000 for a .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun, known as a "Tommy gun" in gangster slang. The same bidder paid $80,000 for an 1897 12-gauge Winchester shotgun.

The Tommy gun was a Model 1921A, produced in the early 1920s and often used by law enforcement, military and criminals during the Great Depression. John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, as well as members of the Barrow Gang, supposedly used it.

An alleged gang member was charged Tuesday with capital murder in the robbery-related shooting death of an Inglewood nightclub owner who was gunned down as he returned home in his Rolls-Royce last May. Dennis Roy "Junebug" Brown, 31, is accused in the slaying of Ester Alonzo, who was killed as he pulled the 2007 luxury car into the driveway of his Baldwin Hills home about 2:45 a.m. May 13. Prosecutors allege the murder occurred during the commission of a robbery, which could make Brown eligible for the death penalty if convicted. The criminal complaint also alleges gang and gun use allegations, along with allegations that Brown was convicted in 1999 of attempted robbery and in 2004 of second-degree robbery. Brown was arrested Thursday by the Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau homicide team and is set to be arraigned Jan. 30 at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.

A parolee and reputed gang member was charged with capital murder Tuesday in the May 2011 slaying of an Inglewood nightclub owner, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Dennis Roy Brown, 31, was charged with one count of murder with a special circumstance allegation that the killing occurred during a robbery. The criminal complaint also includes gang and gun allegations.

Prosecutors said Brown could face the death penalty, but no decision to pursue a capital case has been made.

A reputed Rollin 20’s Blood gang member known as “Junebug,” Brown is accused of gunning down Alonzo Ester, 67, a real estate entrepreneur and Inglewood nightclub owner, about 2:45 a.m. May 13 as he sat inside his Rolls-Royce in the driveway of his Baldwin Hills mansion 

Police believe the assailant approached the driver’s-side door and fired one or two shots. Ester owned a black Rolls-Royce and a white one. He was driving the $300,000 white car, which rolled into a neighbor's house across the street after the shooting.

Witnesses heard the shots and saw a man leaving the scene in a sedan.

At first, LAPD South Bureau homicide detectives believed that the killing could be related to the victim's business. But after painstaking investigation, they determined that the crime was one of opportunity and that the suspect targeted Ester because of his lifestyle.

Prosecutors said Brown had two previous convictions  -- a 2004 second-degree robbery and a 1999 attempted second-degree robbery. Both offenses took place in Los Angeles County.

Five Australian men have been arrested after trying to smuggle $8 million worth of drugs Down Under from Vancouver International Airport. On Dec. 30, 2011, Canadian border officers found the drugs - six kilograms of cocaine, 12 kg of MDMA (ecstasy) and nearly two kilograms of meth – after they examined a commercial oven and range destined for Australia Service Agency. The shipment was tracked to Sydney airport on Jan. 7, and on Thursday to locations in two suburbs north of Sydney, where eight search warrants were issued and the five men arrested. The Australian Federal Police also seized small stashes of drugs, $17,900 in cash and a large number of weapons including throwing knives and a Taser. The men – who range in age from 24 years old to 54 – were scheduled to appear in Sydney-area courts yesterday for charges of importing, attempting to possess and supplying a border-controlled drug. Each face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment or a $825,000 fine.

With one man shot dead and another still clinging to life, police say Surrey’s latest homicide Thursday night was likely part of the ongoing settling accounts between rival gangs following the murder of Gurmit Singh Dhak in October of 2010. “I think it is fair to say that it is a settling of beefs related to the murder of Gurmit Dhak last year,” said Sgt. Bill Whalen spokesman for B.C.’s Combined Special Forces Enforcement Unit, which targets organized crime in the province. “[The] Dhak-Duhre group is in conflict with the Bacon brothers . . . and this is just another iteration of that,” Whalen said. In this latest gang-related shooting, two men in their late 20s were fired on while outside a residence in Surrey in the 13900-block 56th Ave. just after 11 p.m., in Panorama Ridge. One was declared dead at hospital and the other injured. He under went surgery in local hospital and was reportedly in critical condition. The wounded man remained alive as of Saturday afternoon, according to police. The Province has learned the deceased was a low-level Dhak-Duhre group member named Sean Beaver. The second man shot Thursday is reportedly related to another Dhak-Duhre member killed by a balaclava-wearing gunman Oct. 22 at a strip mall in central Surrey. Police are not confirming the names of the victims due to the risk of reprisal. “We know that one guy is still in the hospital, so . . . we don’t want to ­identify him to the shooters,” RCMP Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said Saturday. “We’ve gone out there and told people we’re protecting the general public and we’re protecting the staff at the hospital.” The shooting comes just days after well-known Surrey gang member Sandip (Dip) Duhre, 36, was gunned down execution-style at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver Tuesday night. He and his two brothers, associates of deceased gangster Bindy Johal, were known to be involved in the Fraser Valley drug trade and allied with the Dhak group. They have been feuding with rival gangs, including members of the Bacon brothers’ Red Scorpions. Gurmit Singh Dhak was gunned down at Metrotown in the fall of 2010 and his associate Jujhar Khun-Khun critically injured. There was another attempt on Khun-Khun’s life in Surrey in September 2011. Dhak’s younger brother Sukhveer also has a history of gang involvement. Since October he’s been in custody pending trial on 2008 trafficking and conspiracy charges. Jonathan Bacon was shot and killed — and three associates, including a Hells Angel and Independent Soldiers member, were injured — in a targeted hit in Kelowna in August. In September 2011, the Gang Task Force issued a public warning that anyone connected with the Dhaks or the Duhres, who were trying to extend their territory, were at risk of violence and retaliation. When asked if Thursday’s shooting was related to the attack in Kelowna, Sgt. Whalen said, “it’s a possibility. That possibility is being investigated.”

The creation of clandestine laboratories for the development and transfer of synthetic drugs has shifted to the cultivation of marijuana and poppy from the drug cartels, mainly the Sinaloa, according to data from the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA). The federal agency estimated that the creation of these laboratories has grown 200 percent in a thousand. Only so far the current federal government, and the Mexican army has dismantled 645 clandestine laboratories, while the previous administration closed only 60. Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco and Michoacan are the states where such facilities have been found. Cartels move to the synthetic drug The Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) states that the cartels, mainly the Sinaloa, have ceased to grow marijuana and opium poppy for the creation of clandestine laboratories for the development and transfer of synthetic drugs. The analysis determined that the Department of Defense business transformation of the drug to Mexican cartels originated in the price, under the conditions of production, transportation and safe profits. Therefore estimated that the creation of these facilities could have grown up in a thousand 200 percent, as the cultivation and planting of narcotics has diminished considerably. However, it has been the destruction of plantations that are still grown in humid places and geographical areas to evade detection wild, mostly in the so-called Golden Triangle comprising the states of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila, as well as in regions Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla and Chiapas. Through eradication, National Defence has destroyed 635 000 120 marijuana plants equivalent to 89 000 726 hectares. Regarding the poppy has been made to exterminate 410 000 925 crops, equivalent to 71 000 911 hectares. Currently the Department of Defense uses a restricted use chemical for the destruction of such plantations. The cartel of El Chapo According to the areas of intelligence federal institution for criminal organizations profit by synthetic drugs is greater than the narcotics. In just six years so far the Army has been the dismantling of 645 clandestine laboratories, while in the previous six years only 60 such facilities were closed down. According to the geographical area where they were seized laboratories has been established with the greatest presence in Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, and Michoacan, which indicates a clear route traffic of synthetic drugs and, fundamentally, is operated by the Sinaloa cartel, among others, leading Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. In a relationship of convenience with the organization La Familia Michoacana , and now with the Knights Templar , the Sinaloa cartel, together with some members of the organization of The Valencia- trafficking synthetic drugs using the same path where laboratories have been found . For drug dealers, business transformation for higher profits and security has generated since 2007. Earnings For organized crime is much easier to invest in a laboratory than in the planting of drugs, since the laboratory can be kept indoors without much risk of being detected by satellite photography or any other form of inspection. Most of the reasons for the evolution of the drug business, is to grow it to make, is profit. According to the Department of Defense, of drugs called “synthetic” are available from 200 to two thousand per cent more income than marijuana. In addition to criminal organizations linked to the transfer, transportation of synthetic substances are much more portable than marijuana or poppies, because the pills as methamphetamine or heroin are hidden better. Environmental Appeal Clandestine drug laboratories also affect residents adjacent to the facility. The construction of clandestine laboratories in the cities or conurbations can bring multiple health problems, but not only those who produce the synthetic drug, but also to neighboring residential areas adjacent to these facilities houses improvised. According to what has determined the Forensic Services Division of the Attorney General’s Office, the contamination with chemical precursors to produce synthetic drugs can cause severe central nervous system damage, which could cause death.

100 people were killed in bomb attacks and gunbattles in the Nigerian city Kano late on Friday, a local government security source said, in the deadliest strike claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram to date. "Definitely more than 100 have been killed," the senior source, who could not be named, told Reuters. "There were bombs and then gunmen were attacking police and police came back with attacks." Hospital staff said there were still bodies arriving at morgues in Kano. Boko Haram claimed responsibility on Saturday for the wave of strikes. The sect has killed hundreds in the north of Africa's most populous nation in the last year. The attacks late on Friday prompted the government to announce a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the city of more than 10 million people, the country's second biggest. President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been criticized for failing to act quickly and decisively enough against Boko Haram, said the killers would face "the full wrath of the law." Kano and other northern cities have been plagued by an insurgency led by Boko Haram, which is blamed for scores of bombings and shootings. These have taken place mostly in the Muslim-dominated north of Africa's top oil producer, whose main oil-producing facilities are located to the south. Aimed mainly at government targets, the Boko Haram attacks have been growing in scale and sophistication. A spokesman for Boko Haram contacted reporters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where the sect is based, to claim responsibility for Friday's bombings. Copies of a letter apparently from the group were also dropped around Kano.

Members of the "Kings of Dust" drug gang that terrorized a Harlem public housing complex are suspected of carrying out several murders and half-a-dozen shootings while controlling their $1 million-a-year PCP and narcotics empire, police sources said. Prosecutors on Wednesday released a 268-count indictment against the 35-member drug gang, which investigators said put an 8-year-old boy to work keeping watch for cops as older members peddled massive quantities of PCP and other drugs. The indictment charged gang members with conspiracy and drug sales, but police sources said Thursday the gang resorted to murder on several occasions. Tenants at the New York City Housing Authority's Milbank Frawley Houses at 1780 Madison Avenue said Thursday they lived in fear for months as the alleged drug dealers ran rampant, intimidating locals. The alleged drug gang members urinated in the elevator and in hallways, fought at night, and fired a gun at the housing complex at least once, residents told DNAinfo. Tenants said they watched helplessly from their windows as the gang took over the complex, gathering nightly in a courtyard that served as a hub for their drug trade. Prosecutors said the gang hid 2.5 gallons of PCP, which is sold both in liquid form and crystallized as Angel Dust, in Hawaiian Punch bottles. The gang was made up of men, women, and some "very small" children, residents said. "Every day I'd see them out the window," said Luis Pena, 43, whose apartment overlooks the courtyard. "Every hour there'd be more people." Maxine, a 65-year-old resident, said she was afraid to go out late at night, when the gang seemed most active. "We were scared of getting robbed," she said. Some said the drug activity seemed to increase about a year and a half ago, then intensified in the past five months. Residents said they wondered why it seemed to take police so long to stop the gang's criminal activity. "There were mad dustheads in the building and on the corner," said Marcella, a 56-year-old resident. "I don't know how the cops took so long." Investigators tracked the drug gang's activity for 15 months, prosectors said Wednesday. The probe was sparked by residents' complaints, but some said Thursday that officials seemed to brush off their concerns. "I was scared," said a 60-year-old resident named Yolanda. "We went to (the New York City Housing Authority) to say it was very dangerous and there were people outside. They didn’t do anything. They just fixed the door. They said call the police." A NYCHA spokesperson said the agency worked closely with the NYPD and was aware of the drug activity at the Milbank Frawley Houses. NYCHA was working to evict the residents who were involved, a NYCHA spokesperson said. "We will continue to assist residents in working with the NYPD in any way that we can, and periodic meetings have taken place with...police officers regarding criminal activity," the spokeswoman said.

Henrico County jury found a gang enforcer guilty on all counts for ordering a robbery that resulted in a murder, and recommended a sentence of life in prison plus 23 years. After deliberating about four hours Friday, the jury of six men and six women found Merwin Raheem Herbert "Poncho" White, 21, guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and two related firearm charges. Authorities say White ordered two other members of the G-Shyne Bloods to rob drug dealer Quondell Pringle because Pringle had been holding himself up falsely as a member of the gang. Authorities say that during the robbery, James B. Pryor shot and killed Pringle, 22. The G-Shyne Bloods are a Richmond-area subset of the Bloods national street gang. White stared impassively at the jury's forewoman as she announced the panel's recommended sentence, ending a three-day trial in Henrico Circuit Court. Formal sentencing was set for March 7. After a deputy placed White in handcuffs, he nodded solemnly to supporters in the courtroom gallery. One woman could be heard crying softly. Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor, who was elected in November, said the sentence shows that her office won't put up with gang violence and noted that the case was unusual because it involved a murder prosecution of a man who set the events in motion by giving an order but didn't pull the trigger. "This gang culture is something that's real," Taylor said. "Gangs in Henrico County are not tolerated, and law enforcement is committed 100 percent to the public and going after gang activity." Taylor praised Henrico investigators and prosecutors Toni M. Randall and Thomas L. Johnson Jr. for their handling of the case. After Taylor was elected, she removed several veteran Henrico prosecutors and hired Randall and Johnson from Richmond to serve as deputies in her new administration. After Friday's verdict, White's attorney declined to comment. Supporters of the defendant said it was unfair he was convicted of murder when he didn't carry out the shooting himself. "He's not a menace to society as everyone is trying to make him out to be," said White's sister, Roderica White, 20, adding that her brother is the father of four daughters and one son. Prosecutors said White ordered two fellow affiliates of the G-Shyne Bloods, Pryor and William D. Hargrove, to set Quondell Pringle up to be robbed last April. In his closing arguments Friday, Johnson described a meeting White had with Pryor and Hargrove to plan the robbery of Pringle by setting up a drug deal to buy marijuana from him. Johnson said White told Pryor and Hargrove, "If he bucks, then you know what to do." "Those were the last words given to James Pryor before he and William Hargrove left the apartment in Newbridge to complete their mission," Johnson said. Johnson said the gang's message to Pringle would be this: "You're going to be robbed. You're going to stop reppin' for G-Shyne." Pryor, a G-Shyne initiate, told associates that he shot Pringle after Pringle grabbed for a gun White had provided. White's attorney, William Linka, had urged the jury to disregard the testimony of prosecution witnesses who were deeply involved with the gang. One of the witnesses was granted immunity for her testimony, and two others admitted they expected some form of leniency on criminal charges they face. One of the men, Deshon Randolph, is facing a gang-participation charge for his role in a shooting of two other gang members in Powhatan County shortly after Pringle died. One of the victims was killed and the other critically wounded. Richmonder Joe Lewis Harris III, known as Savage and who drove the getaway car in the Pringle case, has pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in the Powhatan double shooting.

One of two men gunned down in Surrey late Thursday was the half-brother of a Dhak associate shot to death there in October, The Vancouver Sun has learned. And police are bracing for more violence as the death toll rises in a bloody ongoing conflict between two rival groups of gangsters. Sgt. Bill Whelan, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said heads of organized crime and homicide teams met Friday to strategize about what to do in the aftermath of a string of gang murders, including the execution at the Sheraton Wall Centre Tuesday of high-profile gangster Sandip (Dip) Duhre. “They are obviously concerned about the public shootings,” Whalen said. “Certainly in the last 24 hours, enforcement has been stepped up. There will be a significant increase in covert units tasked with working on this.” And he said the Uniformed Gang Task Force will be out in greater numbers throughout the weekend. The latest casualty, Sean Beaver, is from Montreal and was not well-known to police in B.C. before he was targeted in the driveway of a house in the 13900-block of 56 Ave. about 11 p.m. Thursday. A second man shot Thursday is fighting for his life in hospital. A second man shot Thursday and critically wounded is the sibling of Stephen Leone, a member of the Dhak-Duhre group who was fatally shot by a masked gunman as he sat in his black Acura sedan in a strip mall at 100th Avenue and King George Highway last Oct. 22. Another associate was wounded in the shooting. The Dhak-Duhre gang has been marked for months by a loose criminal alliance made up of Red Scorpions, Independent Soldiers and some Hells Angels. The conflict between the two sides bubbled into public view in October 2010, when Gurmit Dhak was gunned down at Metrotown mall by hit men suspected of being linked to the other side. Several retaliatory shootings followed in late 2010 and early 2011. And things spun out of control after Red Scorpion Jon Bacon was executed by masked gunmen outside of the Delta Grand hotel in Kelowna last August. A Hells Angel and an Independent Soldier were also wounded in that attack. The fallout led Gang Task Force leader Supt. Tom McCluskie to issue an extraordinary public warning telling people to stay away from anyone connected to the Dhak-Duhre group. And on Friday, McCluskie reiterated that plea. “If you are near or around any of these guys, then you are putting yourself or whoever you are with in serious, serious danger,” McCluskie said. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is in charge of Beaver’s murder. “Although it is in the very early stages, at this point this shooting appears to be targeted and gang related,” Sgt. Jennifer Pound said Friday. IHIT investigators canvassed the area around the palatial Panorama Ridge home where the shooting took place Friday, looking for evidence and speaking with potential witnesses. The oceanview house with an indoor pool sits on more than four acres and was purchased last August for $3.5 million by a person named Hua Deng. The new owner then rented the property out to a Dhak associate. Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said politicians and police throughout the region are concerned about the escalation in violence. “I think with the shooting in Vancouver the other day, we thought there would be some retaliation,” Watts said. “I think it is something we are very, very concerned about.” Watts said if necessary Surrey RCMP could bring in resources from out of province to help as they did in 2009 when gang murders escalated. “We have that capability. If it escalates again, we are prepared to do that,” she said. “I would hope that things calm down."

BANK sales manager armed himself with two machetes after underworld loan sharks torched his home and threatened to “make his life a misery”, he told a court. Debt-ridden David Baker turned to the criminal fraternity to borrow £5,000 in cash, despite holding down a £30,000-a-year job with Barclays. But, when he was unable to repay the loan given to him by a “well-known” Wearside gangster, his Audi A5 was torched on the driveway of his Seaham home and he later received death threats. Just 24 hours later – on Christmas Eve last year – arsonists set his front door alight as his partner and young daughter sat upstairs. Fearing for his life, he armed himself with two foot-long machetes and stashed them in the footwell of his partner’s car as they drove to meet an acquaintance who might be able to end his problem. And, after discovering his home had been targeted, he flew into a rage at passing motorist Lee Atkinson and brandished the blades, screaming: “Do you want some you little ****.” David Wilkinson, prosecuting, said: “Mr Atkinson was driving along the Coast Road when the defendant and his partner Vicky Barnes were driving behind his vehicle. They overtook the vehicle and pulled in front. Mr Atkinson saw that the defendant was holding a knife that had a blade of about a foot in length and a width of about two inches. “He shouted: ‘Do you want some of this you little ****?’. “He had acted out of the misapprehension that Mr Atkinson was linked to the incident at his home. “Officers recovered two machetes, which were 15ins in length. In an interview, he said he was in debt to a gangster he was not going to name. “He heard from third parties that the person concerned was going to make his life a misery and he then bought the two machetes for his own protection.” Baker had applied for a loan at his work after deciding that he wanted to buy a second car for him and his family. But, after building up debt during his youth, his credit history was shot and they rejected his request. In September last year, he opted to take a four-month break from work to spend more time with his family. At the same time, he claimed he was making £10,000 a month working as a professional gambler on internet gaming sites. His friend had told him that he could get him a loan and he was eventually given a £5,000 pay-out. However, after he failed to make the repayments he said that he began receiving threats and his house and car were both set on fire. Following the attack on his home, his partner received a phone call from the Sunderland gangster and she told police he was calling to follow up his threats. Baker, 23, from Seaham, appeared at Durham Crown Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon and using threatening and abusive behaviour. But Judge Michael Cartlidge adjourned the case after questioning Baker’s legal team, led by Lewis Kerr, and saying he wanted Baker to prove that he had applied for a loan. The judge said: “He must have though at some point that this was all sounding a bit rubbish.”

dispute between Comanchero motorcycle gang members led to a shooting in Adelaide's west on Monday night, police believe. Two shots were fired in the car park of the Findon Hotel about 10:00pm (ACDT). Detective Inspector Paul Yeomans says two men were arguing in the car park before one of them fired the shots at a dark-coloured sedan. "We don't think this is a random attack," he said. "We think that the two males are known to each other. We do think, even though it's early in the investigation, we do think it is linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs, in particular the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang." The cars sped-off after the shooting and police have not said why they suspect Comanchero members. The shooting is the latest instance of bikie-related violence in the past two months. But Attorney-General John Rau insists the situation is not out of control. "There are always going to be lunatics who go out there and break the law as these people have done and when they're caught up with the law will deal with them," he said. There is no sign anyone was injured in the incident.