United States of Europe

 FBI agents and Honolulu police took Stephen Sanders, former head of the San Diego Hells Angels, into custody without incident in Ala Moana Park on Thursday, Agent Tom Simon said. The 42-year-old Sanders was wanted in California in connection with a 2007 robbery and kidnapping. The Hawaii arrest comes the same day that more than two dozen members of the Hells Angels and their associates were apprehended in a series of San Diego County raids. FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth told the San Diego Union-Tribune (http://bit.ly/rmikpu ) that the 26 arrests came at the end of a violent crimes task force investigation. Simon said Sanders' arrest on the same day of the raids was a coincidence.

  University of California, San Francisco police have arrested the suspect in the slaying of the president of a Hells Angels chapter at a Nevada casino. UCSF Assistant Police Chief Paul Berlin says 53-year-old Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez was taken into custody after he was spotted by an officer just a block from campus police headquarters around 8:20 p.m. Thursday. Gonzalez was apparently in a parked 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. He is being held pending the arrival of police from Sparks, Nev., where he is accused of killing Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew inside a casino on Sept. 23. Authorities say Gonzalez is an alleged member of the Vagos gang and shot the 51-year-old Pettigrew four times in the back. Pettigrew was the president of the San Jose chapter of the Hells Angels.

  The jury in the trial of seven men charged over a fatal bikie brawl at Sydney Airport has retired to consider its verdict. Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas died after being bashed and stabbed during a fight between rival bikie clubs at the airport domestic terminal in March 2009. Six Comancheros stood trial for his murder, while a Hells Angels member stood trial for riot and affray. After a four-month trial that heard evidence from airport staff and passengers, Justice Robert Hulme summed up the Crown and defence cases. He directed the jurors to reach a unanimous verdict. The judge told them to be fearless and impartial in reaching it and to make their own assessment of CCTV footage and witnesses. The jurors retired this afternoon and will continue their deliberations in the morning.

  Prosecutors are demanding long prison sentences for those suspected of involvement in an international drug smuggling case. The proceedings got underway on Thursday at the Helsinki District Court. Nine defendants, all of whom belong to the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang face a variety of charges. Eight are accused of aggravated narcotic offences. Other offences include drug offences, money laundering, and the importation of illegal goods and firearms offences. One of the accused is a member of the Rogues Gallery group while two others belong to the 1-800 gang. The proceedings are taking place in a secured court room. Prosecutors are demanding jail terms for the accused and financial compensation to the state for losses incurred. In one case, a 12 year prison term is being demanded. It is thought one of the accused is the president of the Hell’s Angels Finnish organization. The gang is suspected to have made millions of euros on drug trafficking over a period of several years. Earlier

  In a news conference Thursday morning, Ottawa police, Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP announced they had worked together in a yearlong investigation called "Project Finale." Police towed away this Hells Angels motorcycle from a clubhouse Wednesday after a raid also found drugs, weapons and Hells Angels paraphernalia.   Ottawa police The culmination of that work ended up in all three tactical units executing 16 search warrants, including one at the Hells Angels clubhouse at 5416 8 Line Rd. in south Ottawa. Police were seen taking away a Harley Davidson motorcycle and revealed they also confiscated illegal drugs, cash and weapons. There were 107 charges laid against 12 people including a 37-year-old Ottawa man police say is a full patch member of the Hells Angels. He faces five charges. "It's going to have a major dent in the Ottawa region and eastern Ontario region. The numbers seized yesterday, we're very pleased with the numbers," said Insp. Samir

  Police are preparing for hundreds, perhaps thousands of bikers expected to ride into Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose sometime next month to honor the memory of Jeff "Jethro" Pettigrew, the president of the city's Hells Angels chapter who was shot to death in a gun battle at a Sparks casino. There will be Henchmen, East Side Riders Car Club, Devil Dolls, Top Hatters and more. Alongside them, also paying their respects, will be members of the South Yard Heavy Equipment Crew. That is not a motorcycle club. It is the San Jose Department of Transportation's pavement repair team. They knew Pettigrew from his day job. To them, he was not the local president of a biker club that law enforcement sees as a violent criminal motorcycle gang. He was as a veteran backhoe operator who paved potholes. Hans Larsen, director of the city's Department of Transportation, said he was not even aware that Pettigrew was a Hells Angel. Nor did he care. "We have many employees who

  Danish court has sentenced 15 motorbike gang members to jail for six murder attempts on rival gang members. The court said Thursday the bikers would spend from three to 15 years in prison, following the country’s biggest biker-related trial. Loading... Comments Weigh InCorrections? Copenhagen’s city court ruled earlier this month that members of the Hells Angels and their support group, AK81, were guilty of a series of shootings in the Danish capital in 2009. No one was killed but one victim had his leg amputated. The gangs have been feuding over control of criminal markets, including drug trade.

  Police confirm the president of the San Jose chapter of the Hell's Angels, Jeffrey Pettigrew died while two Vagos club members are being treated for their injuries. Sparks Police say a group of members from the Hell's Angels and Vagos motorcycle clubs got into a fight near the Trader Dick's bar late Friday night. Police have made no arrests for the murder or shootings of the other victims.

  More details are becoming available in shooting death in Sparks, Nevada involving the Hells Angels and a rival motorcycle gang. The shooting late Friday night at the John Asguaga's Nugget Hotel resulted in the death of a Hells Angel leader from San Jose and injuries to 2 rival Vagos gang members. The gang members were among thousands of attendees at the annual Sparks "street vibrations" event. Concern about retaliation led local and state officials to declare a to a state of emergency, which was eventually lifted around 5 p.m. on Saturday. A Sacramento gang detective investigating the case in Nevada said one of the gang members shot at in retaliation is from Sacramento. That gang member was shot twice in the chest Saturday morning. He was expected to survive. In response to concerns about retaliation, a Sacramento ATF agent said, "We always try to be aware of crimes of violence in our community. We try to anticipate when and where there will be violations of th

  Missouri National Guard soldiers and airmen were still on "alert" Saturday afternoon to "avoid wearing a military uniform in public" because of a "direct threat" in retaliation to a gang-related shooting around Fort Sill, Okla., earlier in the week. The cautionary warning  was issued Friday. According to an internal memo leaked to the Columbia Missourian, "soldiers ... shot Crips gang members; in retaliation Crips has asked its members to shoot any soldiers on sight." MoreStory Related Articles Oklahoma shooting leads gang to threaten Missouri National Guard According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Crips is a collection of gangs throughout the U.S. with an estimated membership between 30,000 and 35,000 operating out of 221 cities in 41 states. Missouri is one of those states. Lt. Col. Levon E. Cumpton, who issued the memo, said the message "came out through Army channels"; Fort Sill is an Army base in Lawton, Okla. He called th

  Two men have been arrested in a shooting that stemmed from a botched drug deal in southeast Portland earlier this summer. After a lengthy investigation, Portland police officers took Robert Collins and Jonell James into custody Thursday.   Police say they shot 21-year-old Sean Hamm at Glenwood Park near Southeast 89th Avenue and Cooper Street, where the suspects and victim met to deal marijuana in the early morning hours of July 14. Officers say Hamm suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and nearly died. Collins and James are making their first court appearance Friday afternoon.

  Nakerrick Dierrie Mosby, who is a known associate of of the Rolling 20's street gang, is being charged with two counts of first degree attempted murder—one count being for the benefit of a gang—along with four other felonies after shooting a man multiple times in Minneapolis Sept. 16, 2011. The shooting left the victim paralyzed from the neck down. According the criminal complaint, witnesses said they saw Mosby get out of a minivan. Mosby shot the victim in the back after walking past him on a sidewalk and saying something to him. After shooting multiple times, Mosby alledgedly fled in the same minivan. The victim was shot at least four times. The shooting happened in an area "claimed" by the Bloods street gang, according to the complaint. The Rolling 20s and Bloods are rival gangs. The complaint also said Mosby had witnessed a murder two hours before he alledgedly shot the victim. Along with the two first degree attempted murder charges, Mosby is also being charged

      Despite intense security for a national meeting of Mexico's state prosecutors and tough talk from top cops, criminals dumped more bodies in Veracruz three days after gunmen left 35 corpses on a major avenue during rush hour. An official said Friday that police found 11 bodies around town Thursday, even as this Gulf of Mexico port city ramped up security for the prosecutors meeting by deploying hundreds of soldiers, sailors and police on the streets.  It was unclear who left the most recent group of bodies. Officials believe the New Generation gang was behind the dumping of 35 bodies Tuesday on a busy street just a half-mile (kilometer) from the convention hall as a grim message to the Zetas drug cartel, which dominates the region. Authorities had established a security perimeter around the metropolitan area, with soldiers in trucks stopping people in town they considered suspicious. The prosecutors meeting was Thursday and Friday. Residents in Veracruz said this week's

  United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Demond Hayden, 30, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to six years and five months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms. According to his guilty plea, Hayden admitted that he possessed a Hi-Point .45-caliber handgun, a Glock Model 22 .40-caliber handgun, and a Mossberg 500 shotgun with a pistol grip. In sentencing Hayden, Judge O’Neill rejected Hayden’s claim that his criminal history was overstated. Hayden is a documented member of the East Side Crips, one of Bakersfield’s most notorious criminal street gangs. He has prior felony convictions for possessing cocaine for sale in 2003 and being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2006.

  The man described as the founder of one of Anderson County’s largest criminal street gangs impressed a judge during a hearing Friday. Judge Dan Sharp ruled that there is probable cause to move ahead with the armed robbery and burglary charges against Jesse Lee Oliver III. Jesse Lee Oliver III But Sharp also praised Oliver for asking “lucid and intelligent” questions of a detective during a preliminary hearing. Oliver represented himself at the hearing. Law enforcement officials say that Oliver, 21, is the founder of the Brick City Boys. The charges against Oliver stem from a June 10, 2010, home invasion at 100 Wedgefield Court in Anderson, sheriff’s detective Rob Gebing testified Friday. Gebing said an armed group of four men stole about $400 in cash, some of which was counterfeit, and a cell phone from the home’s occupants. One member of the group, a 15-year-old juvenile, later implicated Oliver in the crime, Gebing said. Investigators also spoke with a juvenile witness who

In 2011 there have already been a slew of remakes of familiar movie favourites. So it should come as no surprise Hollywood is returning to the well again to reboot silver screen classic Scarface. Unlike examples such as the critically maligned Straw Dogs or the panned Arthur however, it will be a completely re-imagined flick based on the original concept. Say hello to my little friend: Perhaps Tony Montana would be displeased at the news Scarface is going to be remade again Interestingly, while most people think of the 1983 version that starred Al Pacino as iconic Cuban anti-hero Tony Montana when they hear the title today, it is not the original. The 1932 first entry in the series was a seminal film in its own right, and is regarded as the more ground-breaking of the pair, holding a position as one of the first great talkies.     It followed the exploits of Italian gangster Tony Camonte as he climbed the criminal underground ladder in prohibition era Chicago. According to Deadline Hol

  THE mother and girlfriend of slain gang boss 'The Panda' wept last night at his removal mass. More than 100 people turned out to mourn notorious criminal Michael 'Micka' Kelly, who was gunned down in broad daylight as he left his girlfriend Caoimhe's apartment in Clongriffin last week. Silence surrounded St Benedict's church in Kilbarrack yesterday evening, as the 30-year-old's remains were brought inside. There was a strong garda presence outside the church with officers on high alert given the gangster's serious criminal connections. During a service that lasted fewer than 10 minutes, parish priest Fr David Lumsden spoke of the "horrific" effect the death had on Kelly's family. "This has been a horrific time for you as a family. And we know even to this day that there was a little gap to when he died but it is still a great shock to the family." At no point did the priest speak about the victim, or mention his criminal p

  Poor Frankie. A whiny wiseguy told a federal judge that he wants to stay clear of the criminal life, but it's just too tough while living on Staten Island, what with all the mobsters everywhere. Frank "Frankie Steel" Pontillo made the statements at a sentencing in Brooklyn federal court -- before the same judge he asked leniency of because the FBI traumatized his Yorkie puppy during a January 2010 raid. The Daily News reported the Wednesday exchange between Pontillo and Judge I. Leo Glasser: "I didn't invite the Five Families to gather at the opening of a bar," said Pontillo said, referring to On The Rocks, where, the paper reports, he runs the grill. "Staten Island is very small. There's lots of felons on the island... Every time I go somewhere, I see someone from my past." Glasser responded, "That's a problem with people who grew up in Bensonhurst or Staten Island, spent a good part of their life in prison... People they've kn

  Hustla Squad Clicc, once defined as a “play group” of young African American males, is according to San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos one of the region’s most dangerous criminal street gangs. Ramos says since its inception in 2005, the Rialto-based gang has been responsible for a reign of terror and violence in a four square mile area bounded by sections of Merrill Avenue, Sycamore Avenue, Cactus Avenue, Rialto Avenue, Maple Avenue, Etiwanda Avenue, and Easton Street. Last week San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge David Cohn granted the County’s request for a preliminary injunction against what court records describe as an association of unlikely suspects. Prosecutors say what makes this gang so formidable is not their colors, tattoos and monikers, rather their unlikely association. Hustla Squad Clicc is a combination of Bloods and Crips two of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States. Founded in Los Angeles durin

  The action was carried out by the Mexican Army. The Lynx, is a cousin of Henry Plancarte Solis, also leader of the Knights Templar. The Attorney General's Office offered a reward of up to 15 millions of dollars for information leading to his capture. The action was achieved in the town of Mujica, in the municipality of Nueva Italia, Michoacán. In the raid also arrested Mario Alberto Gallardo Rodríguez, alias El Mayo, and a young child.

  Suspected drug traffickers dumped 35 bodies at rush hour beneath a busy overpass in the heart of a major Gulf coast city as gunmen pointed weapons at frightened drivers. Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are examining surveillance video for clues to who committed the crime. Horrified motorists grabbed cell phones and sent Twitter messages warning others to avoid the area near the biggest shopping mall in Boca del Rio, part of the metropolitan area of Veracruz city. 11 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare ( no / Associated Press ) - Soldiers and police block off an area where 35 bodies lay under an overpass in Veracruz, Mexico, Tuesday Sept. 20, 2011. Masked gunmen blocked traffic on the busy avenue in a Gulf of Mexico coastal city and left the bodies piled in two trucks and on the ground, according to authorities. The scene was a sharp escalation in drug violence in Veracruz state, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading north.

  A boy left for dead after being shot several times in South San Francisco Sunday night has been identified as Joseph Maharaj, 14, according to the Coroner’s Office. While police have yet to determine whether the fatal shooting of the boy was gang-related, residents who live near where he was found in the street with another 14-year-old shooting victim suspect that it was. The fatal shooting was the first homicide in South San Francisco this year but last year the city suffered a spate of gang-related murders that shook the city, including a triple homicide Dec. 22. Sunday night’s shooting happened just before 9 p.m. and when police arrived they found two gunshot victims, both 14, and another teen, 15, on the 600 block of First Lane between Magnolia and Orange avenues. The teens were treated at the scene and transported to a hospital where one of them was later pronounced dead. The other 14-year-old was shot at least four times but is expected to survive. The third victim, who was not

  Four men are now in jail and two more are being sought for their involvement in the July 23 shootout at a Kent low-rider car show; a blast-o-rama that left a dozen people injured and gun prohibitionists blaming gun owners and firearms rights for an incident that was totally gang-related.      A detailed narrative of the investigation is attached to court papers linked by the Seattle Times. It’s quite interesting reading. Done by a Kent police detective, the report reveals that rival members of three gangs were apparently involved: the Playboy Surenos (PBS), Varrios Locos (VL) and Little Valley Lokates (LVL). At some point, a member of a band playing at the event encouraged people in the crowd to “hold their flags in the air,” which the crowd apparently presumed to mean showing their gang signs. From there, things went downhill fast. Advertisement    It is an unusual mix of suspects, considering that two of the men jailed have no criminal backgrounds, and two others – both brothers

  Cal State San Bernardino professor accused of leading a motorcycle gang pleaded not guilty Friday. Stephen J. Kinzey, a 43-year-old kinesiology professor, allegedly led a local chapter of the Devils Diciples Outlaw motorcycle gang and a methamphetamine drug operation. During the brief court hearing, the professor’s father testified that the bail money he put up for his son was his own

  Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, the former national president of the notorious Mongols motorcycle gang who they say helped orchestrate murders, extortion and robberies, had pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, which carried a maximum life sentence. The discovery showed that Cavazos had entered his plea six months earlier, and only three months after federal agents arrested him and dozens of other Mongols members, which meant he was one of the first to enter his guilty plea. Since then, finding out what has happened to him in court and what jail or prison he's in has been virtually impossible. It was only after repeated prodding by The Associated Press did U.S. District Judge Otis Wright, who sentenced Cavazos last Thursday, relay through federal prosecutors this week that he sent the biker to prison for 14 years. The AP made repeated attempts over the past couple months to determine when Cavazos was scheduled to be sentenced but was unsuccessful. Wright's Sept. 8 cal

  Authorities confirm a weapon from the failed ATF program 'Operation Fast and Furious' was found at a violent crime scene in Maricopa, Ariz. in 2010. This is the latest in a series of cases where Fast and Furious guns have been linked to violent crimes across the U.S. and Mexico. The two guns found at the scene were an AK-47 and a Beretta pistol, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The AK-47 is linked to Fast and Furious, according to ATF. The weapons were found inside a stolen truck in March 2010 after the driver slammed into two DPS vehicles while trying to evade members of the Arizona Vehicle Theft Task Force, ABC 15 reports. The driver, Angel Hernandez Diaz, was reportedly arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, aggravated assault on an officer with a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon, theft of means of transportation and misconduct involving a weapon, according to court documents. Fast

  In September 2008, 11 decapitated bodies were discovered in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. When police arrested the killers, they found an altar in their home dedicated to Santa Muerte – the patron saint of death for Mexican drug cartels. One year later, an illegal immigrant called Jorge Flores Rojas was arrested in North Carolina for running a sex ring. He, too, had built a shrine in his east Charlotte apartment to Santa Muerte. Flores forced his girls to have sex with as many as 20 men a day while he knelt in his living room praying to the skeletal figure of death. In August 2011, the Mexican army stumbled upon a tunnel that ran right under the US border for 300 metres. It was six feet high and equipped with lights and ventilation. It also housed – you guessed it – an altar to Santa Muerte. Europeans complain mightily that Muslim immigration has introduced fundamentalism to their secular continent. Yet they tend to look upon Middle America’s fear of illegal Hispanic immigration with c

  Gang-squad detectives are investigating the drive-by shooting of a family home in Blacktown four weeks ago. Investigators refused to comment on the case but have said all lines of inquiry are open. That includes whether the drive-by shooting was related to other shootings at homes linked to gang-members around western Sydney in the past few weeks. Police believe the shooting at Indigo Way at Blacktown on the night of August 9 was a case of mistaken identity. The Department of Housing property was formerly occupied by a family linked to the gang Notorious but had a family of six Afghan refugees living in it at the time of the shooting. No one was harmed despite three bullets penetrating the interior walls of house.