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Mexican Drug Queen Acquitted on Trafficking Charges - World Watch - CBS News: "Sandra Avila Beltran, alias 'the Queen of the Pacific,' allegedly Mexico's most famous woman drug trafficker, was acquitted of drug trafficking charges today by a federal judge in Mexico City due to a lack of evidence. Sandra Avila Beltran was reputed to play a key public relations role for the Sinaloa cartel, headed by Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, Mexico's most wanted drug trafficker. Avila Beltran is said to have worked on various shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico. She was arrested outside a restaurant in the San Jeronimo neighborhood of Mexico City in September 2007. Avila Beltran, used to Chanel makeup and the best things money can buy - has been languishing in the Santa Marta Acatitla women's prison in Mexico City" DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyrig...

Scots drugs gang jailed Scotland STV News : "Seven men, including five Scots, have been jailed for a total of 106 years for their part in a major drugs and firearms conspiracy spanning the UK, Europe and South America. Martin Graham, of Methil, Fife, Edward McIntosh and Lucasz Litwinski, of Arbroath, Angus, James Boyle, of Kirkcaldy, and Leslie Graham of Dundee appeared at Liverpool Crown Court for sentence on Tuesday. They, along with Karol Siejda and Jason Bowley, had previously pleaded guilty to drugs offences in relation to Lancashire Constabulary’s Operation Greengage. Officers from the force’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit began the operation in November 2006, the main subject of which at this time was Ivan Hue, of Robin Street, Preston. The investigation identified that Hue was using a network of couriers, which included close family members and friends, to transport funds to Amsterdam to pay for controlled drugs that would be subsequently imported into the UK."

Guns stolen from gun range operated by Harvey police :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Chicago Crime : "20 weapons have been stolen from a gun range operated by south suburban Harvey’s police department — and the State Police and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the efforts to recover them, officials said today. Harvey authorities have told federal and state investigators that 21 firearms were stolen at about 9 a.m. Monday from a trailer at the range, said Tom Ahern, a spokesman for ATF."

The Shower Posse, which the U.S. government says holds influence with Jamaica’s governing Labour Party and is responsible for more than 1,400 drug-related killings The Shower Posse, which the U.S. government says holds influence with Jamaica’s governing Labour Party and is responsible for more than 1,400 drug-related killings, is an international organized crime syndicate that police say funnelled drugs through the Caribbean to GTA street-level gangs such as the Falstaff Crips and the Five Point Generals. On Tuesday morning, more than 1,000 police officers from forces across Ontario executed 105 search warrants in the GTA and Ottawa, resulting in 79 arrests and the seizure of $30,000 in cash, $10,500 in casino cheques, 19 firearms, diamonds, cocaine, body armour, vehicles and more than 10,000 ecstasy pills. The arrests signal the first time police have been able to establish a link to the infamously violent Jamaican drug cartel, which one expert says has been operating in the G...

Teen dies, 3 hurt in gang shooting - MassLive.com : "Springfield teen was killed Saturday night in a gang-related shooting that also injured an 8-year-old boy and two others. Rafael Montanez, 16, of Alderman Street, was shot near 57 Allendale St. after a gunfight broke out at about 8:15 p.m., said Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet. When police responded to calls for help at the corner of Allendale and Dwight streets in the city's North End, they found four male victims suffering from gunshot wounds. One was shot in the shoulder, one had a wound in his leg and the 8-year-old boy was shot in the foot. Three were transported to Baystate Medical Center"

Man with ties to Bacon brothers arrested in Abbotsford : "Lance Wust, a former associate of the Bacon brothers, was arrested Friday by the Abbotsford Police Department's new Gang Suppression Unit. Wust was stopped in a black Ford pickup near a residence in the 36000-block of Old Yale Road with another man. Const. Ian MacDonald said in a news release that the men were connected to the house where the Abbotsford gang squad, backed by members of the Municipal Integrated Emergency Response Team, executed a warrant. 'The search of the residence resulted in the seizure of a loaded .40-calibre semi-automatic handgun, ammunition, two bulletproof vests, cash and OxyContin,' MacDonald said. Wust, 35, now faces three firearms charges, as well as one charge of possession for the purposes of trafficking."

Street gang sweep nabs 27 members in U.S. - People's Daily Online : "targets the Black Angels street gang that has allegedly engaged in violent crimes and wide-ranging narcotics trafficking that helped fund the Mexican Mafia. In addition to the 27 arrested this morning, 25 defendants were already in custody. Authorities are continuing to search for the additional eight defendants named in the indictment."

Rival motorcycle gangs brawl in SE Minn. StarTribune.com : "brawl between rival biker gangs in southeastern Minnesota prompted police to close a lane of U.S. Highway 61 after pulling over more than 100 bikers. Winona County Chief Deputy Ron Ganrude tells the Winona Daily News that police were called Saturday afternoon to a parking lot in Minneiska where members of the Hells Angels and Outlaws motorcycle clubs were fighting. No one was cited for fighting, however, because no one would talk to the officers. One man with facial injuries said he fell. Two men were cited for possessing brass knuckles."

Friends of Ours: Street Gangs Seek To Kill Cops : "revelations came as law enforcement unveiled the chilling results of long-running 'Operation Under Siege' - 104 suspects, dozens of guns, two slayings and piles of drugs and cash. The sprawling case was built on wiretaps - including recordings of gang associate Jeith Livingston, who blabbed about plans to protect his drug turf by killing cops on patrol. 'He intended to position himself on rooftops and shoot police officers who were compromising his business in Far Rockaway and South Jamaica,' Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said."

Muscatine boy shot in what police believe is a gang-related shooting : "17-year-old Muscatine boy was shot just before 1 p.m. today in the 500 block of West Fifth Street, according to Phil Sargent, the Muscatine Police Department's assistant chief. Earl N. Wooten was shot in the upper body and is being treated at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he was taken by Muscatine Fire and Ambulance. Information about his condition wasn't immediately available. The shooting is believed to have been gang-related and an act of retaliation for events from Friday night, Sargent said in a news release without elaborating on what had happened earlier. He was not immediately available for further comment. The shooting remains under investigation, Sargent said. He said the police are looking for a number of individuals."

Jury finds LA detectives negligent in teen death - San Jose Mercury News : "federal jury has found that two Los Angeles police detectives were negligent when they told a gang member he had been identified as a killer by a teenage girl who was later murdered by another member of the gang. The jury found Friday that detectives Martin Pinner and Juan Rodriguez violated the constitutional rights of the slain girl, 16-year-old Martha Puebla, but found Puebla and her parents were also negligent in her 2003 death and awarded them no money. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder awarded them $1 in nominal damages. Deputy City Attorney Elizabeth Fitzgerald argued Puebla's testimony at a preliminary hearing about the gang affiliation of convicted killer Jose Ledesma led to the retaliation, not the detectives' ruse. Fitzgerald said Puebla and her parents were offered witness relocation but refused. ———"

Suspected gang member shoots man, dog on Santa Cruz's Westside - San Jose Mercury News : "suspected gang member shot a 24-year-old Santa Cruz man and his dog on Woodrow Avenue on Saturday night, according to Santa Cruz police. The victim was riding his bicycle on Woodrow near Plateau Avenue, exercising his pit bull terrier-mix, at 7:15 p.m. when several men in a gold truck asked him his gang affiliation, Lt. Rick Martinez said. When the 24-year-old denied any gang affiliation, one of the men stepped out of the truck and shot at least four times with a small-caliber semi-automatic handgun, hitting the victim in the right thigh and the dog in a paw, Martinez said. A bullet also grazed the victim's torso. The shooter got back in the truck, and the driver fled west on Plateau. A passerby saw the victim on the sidewalk and gave him a ride to his parents' house nearby, police said."

Leader in double killing has strong gang ties courierpostonline.com Courier-Post : "Kuasheim Powell, of the 500 block of Berkley Street, was the leader in the group killing of Muriah Huff, 18, of Cinnaminson and Michael Hawkins, 23, of Mount Holly, assistant prosecutor Ira Slovin said during an arraignment hearing for Powell on Tuesday.Powell was the one who shot Hawkins five times in the head during the hours-long killings on Feb. 22 inside the Berkley Street home, Slovin said.A day before Powell allegedly helped kill Huff and Hawkins, police say he shot and injured two 21-year-old brothers near the light rail River Line 36th street station."

Cops: Gang member killed in Greenfield shooting thecalifornian.com The Salinas Californian : "25-year-old known Norteño gang member was fatally shot in Greenfield late Tuesday in what police say may have been the second attempt on his life. Chief Joe Grebmeier said Rene Lopez Jr. was fired on about 8:55 p.m. while standing with another person in a side garage of his parents' home on the less-than-100 block of Elmwood Circle."

Ex-gangster admits to role in two murders Metro Vancouver News Blog : "former member of the notorious Red Scorpions gang has chosen a hard escape route out of the gangster life: A minimum 25-year prison term after admitting his part in two murders. Anton Hooites-Meursing turned up in a New Westminster courtroom yesterday and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the strangling death of drug dealer Randy MacLeod, 22, in suburban Surrey in 2001."

Recent Crimes Spark Fears Of Bad Old Days In NYC - 1010WINS.com : "'SUBWAY SLAUGHTER'' screamed the headline of the New York Post. ``Death Rode The 2 Train, Two slain in horror ride on West Side subway'' led the Daily News. The spate of crime, including three shootings and dozens of arrests for what the mayor called ``wilding'' April 5 near Times Square, has some questioning whether the decades-long reduction in crime is starting to shift as the city struggles with massive budget cuts and a shrinking police force. 'It's very upsetting,'' said Adele Dressner, who owns a business near 34th Street. ``It could happen in the best and worst neighborhoods.'' But criminologists and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly caution against suggesting there's a trend. 'We've had some high-profile events,'' Kelly said. ``But that's going to happen in a big city like this ... it's important to keep it in context.'...

Tension simmers in South Africa as Eugene Terre'Blanche is laid to rest World news The Guardian : "Eugene Terre'Blanche was laid to rest in peace yesterday as family members threw petals on his coffin. But there was every sign that the white South African's extremist views have not been buried with him. At a funeral service Terre'Blanche's coffin was defiantly draped in the flag of his far right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) movement, the swastika-style insignia and blood red surround reminiscent of the Nazis. Just before noon the coffin was borne into church by burly but pot-bellied men in green berets and brown shirts with 'Boerkcommandos' epaulettes. The congregation burst into a passionate rendition of the apartheid era national anthem, Die Stem and some gave Nazi-style salutes. The casket, topped with a red and white floral wreath, was placed beneath the pulpit alongside a framed photograph of Terre'Blanche, a man who once threatened to wa...

Deangelo Oliver, 29, lay dead in the street late Friday after shots were fired in front of a Southeast Portland home. Two other men were wounded in the confrontation. Portland detectives say they believe the shooting about 11:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of Southeast 89th Avenue near Division Street began with an argument as two cars idled side by side. A second shooting early Saturday in downtown Portland left one person hurt, but police say they don't think the incident was related to the Southeast Portland shooting. In Friday's shooting, police arrived in the Montavilla neighborhood to find three people with gunshot wounds. Oliver was declared dead at the scene. The two others, whose names police withheld to protect their safety, were taken to hospitals, one in critical condition with a wound to the face and the other with a leg wound. Both are expected to recover, police said. Oliver's connection to the two men wasn't clear. The shooter called the family home Saturday...

Terrence "Squeaky" Richardson dealt drugs, randomly robbed people and killed his enemies as a leader of a "violent and notorious gang in Baltimore City," prosecutors said Monday during opening statements in a federal racketeering and drug conspiracy trial.And after he went to prison, they said, he ordered others to take care of business, directing them over mobile phones that were illegally smuggled into his cell."This case is about gangs, drugs and violence," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kwame Manley said in a repeated refrain Monday.On trial are Richardson and co-defendant Gregory Saulsbury, who is accused of trafficking cocaine, crack and heroin to customers as a "high-end" dealer, which allowed him to drive luxury cars as he made money hand over fist.Their attorneys said the evidence would not support the allegations. Richardson is accused of belonging to the Pasadena Denver Lanes set of the Bloods gang, the same group that killed a Baltimore Cou...

More than 20 people were hurt in the blast near the mayor's office and the local public prosecutor's building, the authorities say.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.Rebels and traffickers are active in the region which lies on a key cocaine smuggling route. The explosion has caused widespread damage in the centre of Buenaventura, Colombia's main Pacific port, local media report. "This is an unfortunate terrorist act," said army commander General Freddy Padilla, indicating he suspected it was the work of rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). President Alvaro Uribe, who leaves office this August, has pursued a tough security policy against the rebels during his years in office. They have been put on the defensive but they are still able to carry out attacks. In recent months, the Farc has increased its raids on military posts in the region. Buenaventura, which has easy access to the coast, has over the years ...

Police say it appears to be gang-related.Police spokesman Bruce Borihanh says the four were on a Pacoima street at about 10 p.m. Tuesday when several men approached and at least one opened fire. Detective Pat Barron says a man and a woman were hospitalized in critical condition and two men were in stable condition with non-life-threatening wounds. No arrests have been made.

Police believe the shootings have escalated beyond the conflict between rival Pembroke gangs Parkside and 42 that was blamed for a spate of gun murders late last year.It is understood that several of the recent incidents, including Friday's triple shooting, may not be directly linked to the two warring gangs.And the latest upsurge in violence across the island shows gangs outside the capital have also become embroiled in the conflict over turf and drugs.Well-informed street sources suggested the shooting outside Place's Place was linked to a pricing dispute between drug dealers, though police would not confirm this.James Lawes, a 26-year-old Jamaican who was killed in the incident, was not known to police as a key player in any gang. Sources told the Sun that Mr. Lawes was not believed to be the main target and his family say he has no connection to gangs or drugs.And some senior officers believe that several of the 40 shootings recorded this year were not specifically gang rel...

55 people had been murdered in the parish of St James. Most of the victims were annihilated by the gun. Most of them were young men. Most of them hailed from so-called squatter or informal settlements. And most of them were killed by persons in their own age group. This is a most frightening scenario that is not being sufficiently addressed by the powers that be. Why? I will continue to hold the cynical view that as long as these killings do not directly affect the tourism sector or the top echelons of the society, then nothing worthwhile is likely to happen. Indeed, as one fed-up cop told me recently, "Boss, might as well dem keep killing off one annoder. Less work for us and the courts." Add a few extra-judicial killings by the security forces to this sordid picture and it becomes clear that St James is fast becoming a wild, wild West neighbourhood.There was a time when people from rural Jamaica were afraid to go to Kingston. Persons living in Kingston looked forward to com...

The Pistoleros Latinos began to multiply in the 1990’s after the gang began recruiting members from cities out side of the Rio Grande Valley. The original HPL members from the Rio Grande Valley resented the new members being recruited from San Antonio and Houston, Texas. A power struggle within the prison gang’s ranks ensued causing the group to splinter into two separate chapters. The original HPL members decided to call themselves the HPL 45’s, while the San Antonio and Houston members were known as the 16/12’s. The two factions went to war and finally reunited under the name HPL in 1998Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos ( a.k.a., Pistoleros Latinos, or, HPL) is a Hispanic prison gang founded by Joe Mendoza and Alberto Rodriguez in Texas during the late 1980s. The Spanish translation of the gang's name is "Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen." It operates in most prisons and on the streets in many communities in Texas, particularly Laredo. HPL is also active in several cities in Me...

Three New York police officers who killed an unarmed man in a 50-shot barrage outside a seedy strip club hours before his wedding will not face civil rights charges, federal authorities said Tuesday. The parents and former fiancee of Sean Bell, along with the Rev. Al Sharpton, had lobbied federal prosecutors in Brooklyn to charge the officers with violating Bell's civil rights. "After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the law enforcement personnel who fired at Bell (and two friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield) acted willfully," the Justice Department said in statement. "Accordingly, the investigation into this incident has been closed." U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell met with Bell's family members Tuesday to tell them. Guzman, Benefield and Bell's fiance, Nicole Paultre Bell, were to appear at a news confe...

Samuel Isael Ayala, 21, of Corning, had removed a firearm from his vehicle and fired the handgun into the air while standing in a crowd of people in the parking lot, an RBPD release said.The gun was later found in Ayala's vehicle with his passenger Everardo Barragan, 28, of Red Bluff, who had reportedly been involved in a fight in the parking lot. Officers found several packages of cocaine along with ammunition for the firearm found in Ayala's vehicle.Ayala was booked into Tehama County Jail on the charges of discharging a firearm in a gross negligent manner, possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine for sale transportation of cocaine for sale, possession of a loaded firearm with a controlled substance and concealed firearm in a vehicle. Bail was set at $90,000.Barragan was booked on the charges of concealed firearm in a vehicle, possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine for sale and possession of a loaded firearm with a controlled substance. Bail was set at $55,000.

Anthony D. Singh, 21, fired a bullet through a man’s right shoe after a confrontation in a downtown parking lot that police said stemmed from a dangerous culture of retaliation and intimidation common in gang life. A jury convicted Singh of several felonies after a trial in December that included unusual testimony about Singh’s ties to the Rollin’ 60 Crips street gang. Gang affiliations generally are considered inadmissible in trials, but prosecutors argued that Singh’s membership in the violent gang provided motive for the seemingly random shooting, which occurred near a downtown night club in July 2008. “He has chosen this way of life, and it finally caught up with him,” said Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor on Wednesday.Singh’s father, Elvis Anthony Singh, urged O’Connor to show his son leniency in a letter mailed from a federal prison, where he’s been since 2002. He was sentenced to 10 years after federal drug agents busted a crack cocaine ring the quadriplegic was operating ...

‘King of the Hill’ found shot dead in the Cheshire mansion of a controversial businessman Arran Coghlan.Stephen ‘Aki’ Akinyemi, 44, was said to be a prominent member of the notorious Cheetham Hill gang, which is believed to be behind major crime and the supply of drugs in Manchester.He was known for enjoying champagne and cruising Manchester’s clubland in his silver Porsche, with the private registration AKI.He had a string of previous convictions and most recently had been jailed for 13 months in 2006 for violent disorder.At the time of his death, he was on bail for allegedly attacking someone with a baseball bat outside the Lounge 31 nightclub in the city centre in November.He was found with serious stab injuries at Mr Coghlan’s Alderley Edge home on Tuesday afternoon. He was wearing a stab vest.But a post-mortem examination revealed he had died of a gunshot wound, not knife injuries.Mr Coghlan was also discovered with stab injuries at the scene and he was taken to hospital under po...

Julian Jose Garza, 28, of Notus was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge, the United States Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.Garza pleaded guilty to the charge in September, admitting that he had a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun during a confrontation with two men in Caldwell on May 14, 2008. Because Garza had been previously convicted of firing a gun into an occupied dwelling, he was prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law.Garza is reportedly a member of Caldwell’s East Side Locos gang and was prosecuted by the special assistant U.S. attorney hired by the Treasure Valley Partnership and Idaho State Police to address gang crimes. His sentencing on Tuesday concluded a string of successful prosecutions of Garza’s family and girlfriend, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports.His father, Gabriel Garza, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 12 months of prison last March. His mother, Maria Garza, . was ...

gang sweep by local and federal agents in Tacoma. Twenty-nine men, suspected members of the Tacoma Hilltop Crips gang, have been arrested in a series of raid since Tuesday morning. One of the men arrested, Manuel Jose Hernandez, pleaded guilty to the Toews murder in 2000. Hernandez was 12 at the time. He was sentenced to state custody until he turned 21 in October of 2008. Since then, prosecutors say, Hernandez has been an active gang member. He was arraigned Wednesday on charges including: conspiracy, robbery, auto theft and trafficking stolen property. Cornell hopes Hernandez gets a longer sentence this time, but she said it won't do any good for her or Hernandez. "I don't have any great hopes that prison's going to improve somebody's outlook on life," said Cornell. Thirty-two men have been charged in connection with the investigation. Share this article:

Sweep against the Hilltop Crips included serving a series of early-morning search warrants Tuesday. Officers arrested 11 suspected gang members without incident and confiscated guns, drugs and stolen property. Investigators were still searching for five others. The remaining 16 were already in the Pierce County Jail on other criminal charges or serving time in state prison. Prosecutors have filed 51 felony counts in the case. Charges include attempted murder, first-degree robbery and drive-by shooting. The 32 suspected gang members, ages 17 to 38, face various counts, but all are charged with one count of criminal conspiracy, according to court documents. Among those charged are two third-strike candidates and Manuel Jose Hernandez, one of eight youths convicted of fatally beating Erik Toews, 30, as he walked down the street in 2000. “We’ve got a big chunk of the group, and we’re not stopping,” said Steven Dean, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office. “We are loo...

Valentino Sanchez, 33, whose last known address was 8105 White Ave. in west suburban Lyons, was placed into custody at 12:15 p.m. by Chicago Police in a secure area in a lower level terminal area at O’Hare, according to police. Sanchez, an allegedly high ranking member of the Latin King street gang who also goes by the streets names of “Shorty” and “Devious” was found in Guadalajara, Mexico by an FBI gang task force and was transported by DEA and FBI officials to Chicago, police said. A Feb. 2, 2009 U.S. Department of Justice and FBI release offered a $10,000 reward for the arrest of Sanchez, who has been the subject of nationwide manhunt since July 2005 when he was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago with violation of drug laws. The release said Sanchez is allegedly a high ranking member of the Latin Kings and he is accused of overseeing the distribution of wholesale quantities of cocaine in the city and suburbs. Sanchez remains in Chicago police cu...

Dominique Finley, 34, was the highest-ranking member among the defendants with the lofty title “5-Star Universal Elite.” Eric Ollison, 26, who goes by the nickname “Murder,” was his second-in-command, officials say. “They didn’t get the moniker ‘Body Snatchers’ for no reason,” said Chicago Police Deputy Chief Nick Roti of the Organized Crime Section, adding that the faction is suspected of dozens of killings over the years.The charges unveiled Wednesday don’t accuse any of the defendants of murder, but said they were involved in a vast drug business.Since September, though, Ollison has been locked up after he was caught on the West Side with a loaded gun in a car, police said. He pleaded guilty to being a habitual offender and was sentenced to six years in prison, court records show. According to FBI affidavits, the Body Snatchers were peddling large quantities of cocaine north of the Eisenhower Expy., south of North Avenue, west of Laramie and east of Austin. Two informants were paid ...

Suspected of being members or associates of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang. The men were arrested as part of Operation Snatched, a coordinated effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to target street gangs running drug distribution networks in the Chicago area, Grant said.The men were charged with attempted possession or possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, the FBI said. The charges are felonies and carry a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted, according to the FBI.Investigators electronically intercepted telephone conversations, used surveillance techniques and conducted undercover missions to investigate the network whose turf went from the Eisenhower Expressway to North Avenue, between Laramie Avenue and Austin Boulevard, officials said.The Chicago residents who were charged were Milton Bills, 32, of the 5800 block of West Ohio Street; Clarence Johnson, 45, of the 700 block of East 50th Street; Terrance C. Jones, 32, of the 140...

first gangland slaying of the year had originated in their district. John Paul 'JP' Joyce, a vicious criminal and member of a heroin distribution gang, had been kidnapped in Coolock on Thursday, January 7, murdered and his body dumped near the airport where it was found two days later. Joyce, aged 30, was involved in a feud with a gang which has been establishing complete control over the drugs trade in an area stretching from the north inner city to north county Dublin and westwards to Ballymun, Finglas and Blanchardstown. It was responsible for murdering Joyce's brother, Thomas, in June last year and John Paul had vowed revenge. John Paul himself had already survived at least two attempts on his life. The two murdered Joyce brothers, members of a settled Traveller family from Grove Lane, were notorious in north Dublin. John Paul was imprisoned for a terrible assault on an innocent man at a public house in Rush, Co Dublin on St Patrick's Day, 2006. The man's son ha...

Ryan Daniel Jones-Adams, 16, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder committed in association with a gang.He is accused of fatally shooting Marvin Ray Maynard III, who was found Jan. 17 in the street on the 2600 block of James Avenue N. Maynard had his hands in the air when he was shot, according to the criminal complaint.A family member who declined to be named said Maynard was not a gang member and referred questions to his mother, who could not be immediately reached Monday.Police are not looking for anyone else in the case, said Sgt. Jesse Garcia, a spokesman.Garcia and the complaint gave this account:A witness who had been with Maynard and another male told police that they had been confronted by three people yelling "T Block" and "BTG," cliques in the Crips gang. Someone in Maynard's group mentioned the Tre-Tre gang.One male in the Crips group took off a skull cap and yelled a threat, the complaint said. The witness saw that the male, ...

Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement Team officers arrested Dandre Davaune Parker, 20, on charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of heroin, possession of ecstasy, and manufacture of heroin and delivery of ecstasy within 1,000 feet of a school. He was lodged in the Jackson County Jail, where he remained Thursday evening on $100,000 bail. Acting on a tip that members of the Crips street gang were dealing drugs near Jackson Elementary School, Medford police arrested a man on numerous drug charges Thursday morning.The arrest comes on the heelsof an unrelated investigation that led to three arrests and theseizure of an estimated $40,000worth of heroin and methamphetamine, team supervisor Medfordpolice Lt. Tim Doney said."We suspect Parker is associated with a Crips gang out of Stockton (Calif.)," Doney said.Investigators searched Parker's apartment in the 800 block of Summit Avenue at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday, armed with a warrant based on allegations of gang and dr...

Officers did find three shots were fired in front of 1161 Mazatlan Cir., but were unable to locate a victim.Just after 11 p.m., officers were called to St. Francis Medical Center to investigate a shooting victim. A 20-year-old victim admitted being involved in the earlier disturbance and having an affiliation with the Crip street gang.The victim's injuries are not life threatening.

Bulldogs are described by authorities as the nation's largest independent street gang. Police estimate there are about 12,000 members in this city of 500,000. For most of their 20-year existence, the Bulldogs escaped serious law enforcement scrutiny, even as they taunted cops with barks and howls. Police looked upon them mainly as wayward youth. But the gang that grew out of fights at San Quentin prison over respect eventually showed itself to be a deadly criminal enterprise. The 2006 shooting of a cop became a tipping point. Now police are trying to bulldoze the Bulldogs, before the next generation takes over.The Fresno police are engaged in year four of tactical warfare against the gang, sweeping through neighborhoods and making more than 12,000 arrests, including many juveniles, and even going after petty offenses such as loitering by seeking injunctions.It's called "Operation Bulldog." In other cities, such police pressure might have killed the beast. But with the...

six Florencia 13 gang members life in prison sentence appears to bring to a close a prolonged and terrifying spate of violence in the Florence-Firestone district allegedly brought on by orders from a prison gang member in solitary confinement 700 miles away.Beginning in 2004, the unincorporated Los Angeles County area north of Watts was the site of one of the region's worst gang sieges since the early 1990s, evolving into what some residents felt was a race war.The violence left dozens of people dead, including many with no gang affiliation, and required enormous county resources to combat."Things have gotten a lot better," said Chris Le Grande, pastor of Great Hope Missionary Baptist Church on Compton Avenue in Florence-Firestone. U.S. District Judge David Carter sentenced Florencia member Francisco Flores, 24, to life in prison on Wednesday, saying that he "preyed on victims because they were black and for no other reason," according to a U.S. attorney's o...

four accused - Nicola Ciconte, 54, of Rowville, Michael Calleja, 51, of Kew, Vincenzo Medici, 45, of Mildura, and Carmelo Loprete, 41, of Adelaide - will be tried in absentia in the town of Vibo Valentia in Calabria after a failed attempt by the Italian government to extradite them from Australia.Anti-mafia prosecutor Salvatore Curcio has told The Age the prosecution will use testimony from a Mafia turncoat, whose name has been suppressed, to corroborate phone taps, photographic and video evidence allegedly linking the four to a multimillion-dollar drug smuggling network that stretched from Colombia through Spain and Italy to Australia.According to court documents, the turncoat has confirmed the alleged link between the Calabrian Mafia and what prosecutors have termed ''leading crime figures operating in Australia''. He has told prosecutors the four Australians made several trips to Italy to arrange the shipment of large quantities of cocaine while members of the elite ...

James Bucheger of Oakhurst, is in jail -- accused of breaking into two cabins near Bass Lake. Bucheger told deputies -- he's a Juggalo. The Juggalos claim they're just extreme fans of the band "Insane Clown Posse". But many law enforcement agencies consider them -- a violent street gang. Deputies found the suspect covered in blood at a third home where a party was taking place. The two burglarized homes had smashed windows and blood splattered throughout them.

seven Latin King members were arrested, the FBI said: Rene Ramirez, 27, of Orlando; Ricky Montesino, 26, of Orlando; Frederic Salizan, 28, of Orlando; Kevin Sullivan, 29, of Orlando; Derrick Hester, 21, of Davenport; Rafael Rodriguez, 35, of Davenport; Emilio Rosa, 37, of Davenport.Four others were already in state custody: Jose Santana, 28; Jason Rohena, 22; Jose Garcia, 23; and Vic Melendez, 22.Authorities are still looking for Luis Gelpi, 20, of Park Manor Drive, Orlando. Gelpi is considered armed and dangerous.The Latin Kings are one of the largest gangs nationwide, said Orlando police Sgt. Jose Velez. They’re very well organized, and each city or geographic area has a leader who reports to a nationwide leader. “They are dangerous. They are criminals. They sell drugs. They fight for territories. They threaten people. They shoot people if necessary,” Velez said. “Anytime you can put people like this away, it makes the community a lot safer