GANGLAND GODFATHER

Australian army officer recently convicted for stealing rocket-launchers from a high-security military repository is also implicated by a former Bandidos bikie gang insider in at least one other criminal transaction where rocket-launchers were sold to bikies.His evidence suggests that many more of the armour-penetrating rocket-launchers may be in circulation in the criminal underworld than the nine officially acknowledged. Former Australian Crime Commission informant Stevan Utah, in hiding overseas, says he witnessed a separate weapons sale by then army captain Shane Della-Vedova from the one for which Della-Vedova was convicted earlier this year. Della-Vedova is serving a 10-year prison sentence, but at his sentencing in May, his theft of 10 66mm M72 rocket-launchers was painted by his counsel as a "single very stupid mistake which has left his career in tatters". References were provided on his behalf by former army colleagues and much was made of his previously distinguish

beheadings of twelve people in southern Mexico were probably the work of the powerful Gulf cartel based across the border from Texas, a state governor said on Friday.Eleven beheaded bodies with signs of torture were dumped outside the city of Merida in the Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday. A 12th beheaded body was found 50 miles away in a small town to the east of Merida, also showing signs of torture. "This seems to be the work of the Gulf cartel," Yucatan Gov. Ivonne Ortega told reporters, adding that she had received several threats from suspected drug gangs over the past three months.Authorities say the cartel controls drug smuggling in seven states along the Gulf of Mexico from southern Mexico into Texas."We will have to see where the heads turn up. I am sure they will try something spectacular to shock society," she said.Three armed men were arrested on Friday after ignoring instructions to stop at a police checkpoint on the road between Merida and the popular Ca

Two men suffered serious stab wounds Friday in a brawl in Germany involving the motorcycle gang Hell's Angels. Riot police separated the rival gangs after the battle outside a court building in the northern port city of Kiel. Police said the court had been just about to start the trial of an accused for nearly stabbing a Hell's Angels member to death last year. The accused, who had recovered, and the victim, both with a crowd of supporters, met on a street outside the court Friday. Last year's Hell's Angel victim was stabbed again and rushed into intensive care, along with a second man. There were 20 arrests. Police did not disclose the other gang's name, except to say there had been a history of gang feuding between the two groups. The trial was adjourned.

Gang members are suspected in several crimes from Prince William County to Baltimore. In Washington's Trinidad neighborhood, where police are battling an increase in violence this year, young people are wearing the Bloods' colors and flashing their hand signs. However, police say they haven't tied the gang to any homicides in the neighborhood. Bloods and the Crips, well-known gangs on the West Coast, are a growing concern for law enforcement in the Washington area. "We've started seeing more and more signs of the Crips and Bloods -- more Bloods than Crips," D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said. "We are seeing a growing presence in the graffiti, the clothing, the symbols." In Montgomery County, authorities have linked a shooting and three stabbings to a Bloods-Crips feud. In February, a federal grand jury in Baltimore indicted 28 members of a gang called the Tree Top Piru Bloods on charges including murder, robbery, drug trafficking and witness inti

self-taught gunsmith who ran an illegal arms factory converting replica submachine guns into lethal weapons has been sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 11 years. At least eight people, including a teenager, Michael Dosunmu, were killed by weapons converted by Grant Wilkinson in a shed in Berkshire… Wilkinson, 34, of no fixed abode, was convicted yesterday at Reading crown court of buying replica MAC-10 submachine guns and converting them to fire. Police said his operation was one of the largest they had ever discovered. They believe it produced 90 guns used in a fifth of shootings in the capital over two years.The judge, Zoe Smith, passing sentence, said: “The scale of this criminal enterprise is unprecedented in this country. The roll call of deaths and injuries is horrific. Some 30 to 40 of these weapons are still unaccounted for, and regrettably but doubtlessly, the roll call of death and serious injury will continue to rise.” Wilkinson bought the replica guns c

Roy Arredondo, Jr., a/k/a “West,” 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to life in prison, without parole. Arredondo, was the sillon, or chairman of the Dallas TS from 2003 until his arrest in April 2005, although there are some reports that he was the chairman as early as 2001. Arredondo, who pled guilty in March to conspiracy to conduct the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, has TS-related tattoos, including the overlaid letters “T” and “S” on his chest, and had a major role in several violent crimes committed by the Dallas TS, including the murders of Ernesto “Neto” Glavan, Peter Paul Pecina, Miguel “Big Mike” Elizondo, Mitchell “Cisco” Lozano, and Juan Silva Barrera, and the attempted murder of Ruben Rocha. Arredondo also admitted that he was responsible for trafficking drugs including approximately 270 kilograms of cocaine. Members of the TS are bound by a set of strict rules which ensure loyalty and participation in the enterprise’s criminal activities and are s

Grand jurors have indicted two Whatcom County men, a Seattle police officer and a Hells Angel biker shot during a bar fight earlier this month in Sturgis, South Dakota. Five of the men, including Scott Lazalde of Bellingham and James Rector of Ferndale, are members of the Iron Pigs Motorcycle Club, which is made up of law enforcement officers and firefighters. Lazalde and Rector both work for the Blaine sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.Joseph McGuire, 33, of Imperial Beach, Calif., was shot and injured Aug. 9 at the Loud American Roadhouse by Ronald Smith of Seattle, 43, a vacationing off-duty Seattle police detective, authorities said. Both men are charged with alternative counts of aggravated and simple assault. The four other men charged are Lazalde, 38; Rector, 44; Dennis McCoy, 59, a Seattle police sergeant, and Erik Pingel, 35, of Aurora, Colo. All were charged with carrying a concealed pistol without a permit and an alternative count of failure to abide by a permit o

Four men were arrested Monday and charged with capital murder in the case: Alejandros Castaneda, 31, and Juan Francisco Castaneda, 25, brothers who live in Birmingham; Rodriguez Jaime Duenas, 22, of San Antonio; and Christopher Scott Jones, 40, of Birmingham. All are in the Shelby County Jail under no bond. Five men found slain last week in a north Shelby County apartment were beaten and shocked in a brutal murder-for-hire related to drugs and money, authorities said Tuesday. Four men have been charged with capital murder in the slayings, which Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry described during a news conference as being connected to a drug organization that transports cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. All the suspects either received or paid money in connection with the slayings, he said. Curry did not say how much the men were alleged to have been paid to do the killings, but he said the slayings may have been in retaliation for embezzling money from the drug organization. He s

Two bodies were found Monday morning on a hillside, one with its head placed on its upper back.The gruesome discoveries this week of five bodies, four of them decapitated, have shattered a period of relative calm and revived concerns that organized crime groups are escalating their battle for control of this border city.Three more bodies were discovered Tuesday morning in an illegal dump. Their heads, charred from gasoline burns, were placed at their feet, according to the Baja California state attorney general's office.Authorities have not identified the victims.The attacks recalled the decapitations two years ago of three Rosarito Beach police officers.Authorities believe the recent victims may have been associates of the reputed leader of the Arellano Felix drug cartel, Fernando Sanchez Arellano, nicknamed El Ingeniero -- The Engineer. Printed on the shirtless victims' backs was a taunting message: "We are people of the weakened engineer."Violence had declined sign

two dozen police officers in seven vehicles were called to deal with a fight between rival gang members at a Dargaville restaurant early on Saturday. Dargaville police Senior Sergeant Sue Leach said eight people were arrested as a result of the incident, which required the assistance of two Whangarei team police units and a dog handler. A member of the public called police to the Lyrik Restaurant in Gladstone St just after midnight on Friday when a karaoke evening erupted into a confrontation between members of the Stormtroopers and a rival gang. Mrs Leach said that, when police arrived, one member from each rival gang had obvious injuries. Up to 30 intoxicated people were drinking outside the restaurant, which is within the town liquor ban area, she said. The pavement was littered with broken bottles and the group refused to leave. Eight people were arrested for charges ranging from disorderly behaviour, assaulting police, breach of the liquor ban and being unlawfully on property. One

dozen men, some wielding weapons including golf clubs, baseball bats and spiked pieces of wood, were involved in the brawl which stretched over three roads in Easington Colliery.Police have carried out forensic tests in the streets of Cornwall, Cardiff and Corbett, which lie behind Station Road, and blood could still be seen on the pavements and on vehicles later in the day.Four local men, aged in their early 20s to mid-40s, were arrested after the major disturbance at about midnight yesterday on suspicion of violent disorder.It was expected they would be released on bail pending further inquiries once they were questioned by detectives. Durham Police said a man had been arrested on suspicion of stealing a car and assault prior to the "running battle".The 26-year-old man, who sustained serious head injuries, is in Newcastle General Hospital, where his condition is said to be stable, but not life threatening, and detectives hope to speak to him about the attack at the earliest

Gang shootings are rare in Romania. But there have been several clashes in Craiova between members of the underworld. Romanian police say they have deployed about 600 officers in a southern city where a gang leader was killed in a poker game. Police spokeswoman Florentina Popescu says the police were sent to Craiova to keep rival gangs apart after 41-year-old Mihai Parvu was shot early Tuesday by another poker player over suspicions of cheating.Another man suffered stab wounds in the altercation and is reported in stable condition.Parvu died in the main hospital of the city, about 158 miles (255 kilometers) west of Bucharest.Dozens of rival gang members gathered outside the building.

On October 7, in the Central Penitentiary of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the prison homeboys of the "MS" gang cranked up the volume of their dormitory's TV set. It was the day of the big Honduras-Jamaica soccer game, and the blasting soccer commentary covered the screams of ex-gang leader Geofredo Cortes Ortiz as two ornately tattooed MS members — both Hispanics from the U.S. — dragged him into the bathroom and hacked him to death with machetes. Their homeboys then joined in the symbolic rite of methodically cutting the dead man's body into little pieces and flushing them down the toilet. Revenge motivated the leaders of the U.S.-based MS, whose initials stand for "Salvatrucha Gang," to order Cortes killed. They blamed him for his failure, while leading the gang inside the penitentiary, to defend his members against an attack by rivals from the 18th Street gang. It had been the worst prison massacre in Honduran history: While the MS slept on the floor of their

The Sons of Silence, one of the country’s biggest outlaw biker gangs. With its headquarters in Colorado, the Sons of Silence (SOS) are known as “one-percenters” — the term given to those that operate on the fringes of an otherwise law-abiding motorcycle community. One-percenters are dedicated to principles of personal freedom and the right to self-expression. Membership is by invitation only and their motto is Donecmors non separat — Latin that is intended to translate as “Until death separates us”. At first sight, an alliance of white supremacists and biker gang members seems an odd one. Edward Winterhalder, former leader of a rival biker gang known as the Bandidos and now an author on gang culture, said: “Most of them are just regular guys who work during the week and have a little too much fun at the weekends. The majority of them are law-abiding, have families. They’re just regular neighbourhood guys. “They love their Harley-Davidson motorcycles and love their brotherhood and the c

Louis Vuitton, Luella Bartley, Marc Jacobs, Anya Hindmarch and Sonia Rykiel are just a few of the shops targeted by "scooter gangs" - criminals on mopeds who drive through the windows and take what they want. Oddly, they don't clear out the shop; rather, they pick and choose very specific handbags. This suggests they are taking orders, possibly for collectors who don't want to wait. It's all speculative at this point, as tracking of the stolen goods has proved unsuccessful. Bold smash-and-grab thefts of handbags in London's upscale designer shops are increasing, reports British Vogue in the September issue. Metropolitan Police say the gangs work in groups of six or more young men, and there are currently about six gangs operating in London. They work for a middleman who shifts the goods which are thought to be transported overseas, "likely Russia and the United Arab Emirates where you can still get a high price for a designer bag."Designers aren'

federal grand jury in Erie has indicted 13 people on charges they trafficked in cocaine. Though some of the 13 defendants are accused of working together, they are not accused of being part of the same overall conspiracy.The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Erie announced the indictments today. The indictments grew out of investigations by the FBI-led task Erie Area Gang Law Enforcement force, which focuses on large-scale drug operations.Most of the defendants are from Erie, and two are from Detroit. According to the indictments, the defendants are: Rashad L. Williams, 22, of the 2400 block of McKinley Avenue, and Lamar A. Owens, 30, formerly of Las Vegas. They are accused of conspiracy to traffic in powder cocaine and crack cocaine, and Owens is accused of two counts of possessing powder cocaine and crack cocaine with the intent to distribute.Williams was also indicted in another case with Shawn T. Howard, 25, of the 800 block of West 19th Street. They are each accused of conspiracy to traff

The purported leader of a gang that stole loads of cocaine and methamphetamine in home robberies and carjackings was sentenced to life in prison Monday.Five others sentenced Monday on drug and weapons charges included Robert Ortega-Martinez, 28, sentenced to 34 years; Ricardo Villegas, 28, sentenced to 26 years; Eduardo Ontiveros-Trevino, 37, sentenced to 17 years; Jaime Alberto Saavedra, 29, sentenced to 10 years, and Victor Marquez, 28, sentenced to 10 years.Jesus Espinosa, 30, of the Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos gang was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.Espinoza and 14 others, some from his gang and others from another group, were earlier convicted on various charges stemming from drug robberies in McAllen in 2006, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Espinoza's gang typically stole the drugs at gunpoint after receiving tips from the other group.

Peter Mitchell was sitting with a number of associates drinking in the El Jardin bar which is a hundred yards away from his own premises when the hitman struck on Thursday night.The gun man thought by locals to be a Moroccan hired by a drug gang – jumped out of a car and ran towards Mitchell.As Mitchell ran to the back of the bar to make his escape it is understood that the gun man fired at least four shots hitting him twice in the shoulder.According to eyewitnesses, the potential killer slipped and fell as he ran and as a result two innocent Irish people were hit by stray bullets.The hitman ran to a waiting car which was found burned-out some time later. Yesterday, Mitchell was described by the Costa del Sol Hospital as not being in any danger. He was surrounded by his cronies and wife Sonia Walsh in a private room at the hospital.His cousin Christy Mitchell, who acts as his relation’s bodyguard, answered the phone in the gangster’s hospital room. The convicted drug dealer who is also

outlaw motorcycle gang, the Rebels, will be closely monitored by police during their overnight stay on the Sunshine Coast this weekend.The notorious Queensland bikie gang, also reportedly the world's largest Big Twin Harley-Davidson club, is expected to roll into the Sunshine Coast today wearing full club colours - red, blue and white.The Australian Crime Commission has said the Rebels are a major player in the drug trade and are heavily involved in organised crime.Yet Queensland police media virtually sanctioned the outlaw gang yesterday, warning drivers to expect delays as the club wound its way through the city before heading to the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.Police are expecting close to 600 Rebels members to attend a function at the Kunda Park clubhouse tonight as part of the gang's compulsory national run. Superintendent Ben Hanbidge said the outlaw motorcycle gang would be watched closely during its stay."It's no secret that we have adopted a very strong approa

off-duty Seattle police detective who shot and seriously wounded a Hells Angel in a bar fight at a South Dakota motorcycle rally earlier this month has clashed with a member of the outlaw motorcycle club before, according to court records, police reports and interviews.Detective Ron Smith filed charges against a Seattle Hells Angel in 2005, alleging that Anthony James Magnesi, a member of the Washington Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels, had threatened him over the phone.Magnesi, in turn, recorded one of their phone conversations and gave it to the police department's Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), claiming it was Smith who had threatened him.An internal investigation was opened, and the incident was referred to Smith's supervisor as a training issue, according to OPA officials.The misdemeanor criminal charges filed by Smith against the biker were dismissed after Magnesi's lawyers played the tape for city prosecutors, according to Magnesi's attorney, Paul

Trial of Chad Wilson, 32, of Lynnwood, Wash., and John Midmore, 34, of Valparaiso, Ind. will kick off this fall in a Minnehaha County courtroom.The two Hells Angels bikers are charged with shooting at and injuring six members of a rival gang, the Outlaws, at the 2006 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.To accommodate witnesses, the trial won't start until November. That's the latest in a series of complicated procedural delays that have stalled the trial. But here's a timeline of the events so far. Two men pull up outside Legion Lake Resort in Custer State Park in the afternoon and open fire on a small group of people, according to witnesses at a campground across the street. Six are injured - five by gunfire - and the men speed away. The same night, Wilson and Midmore are arrested and charged with five counts of attempted murder. The South Dakota Attorney General's Office identifies the victims as members or associates of the Outlaws and Wilson as a member of the Hells Angels. Mi

Chilliwack realtor gunned down in his car late Wednesday was closely associated with the notorious United Nations criminal organization, The Vancouver Sun has learned. In fact, Mike Gordon, 33, had bought and sold a number of properties for the UN gang's jailed leader Clayton Roueche. Roueche, an accused international trafficker, is scheduled to go to trial in Seattle Sept. 8 on a series of cocaine- and marijuana-smuggling charges. Gordon, who worked for the Surrey office of Best Bet Realty, was shot to death about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 5600-block of Promontory Road in Chilliwack. Chilliwack RCMP said Gordon was known to them and was killed in a targeted slaying. The UN gang has suffered a number of blows in recent months, at the hands of both law enforcement agencies and gangland rivals. Gordon's slaying comes just a month after another UN realtor, Elliott (Taco) Castaneda, was shot to death in Guadalajara, Mexico along with the gang's Mexican connection, Ahmet (Lou)

Open-air drug market in the Englewood area that authorities believe had ties to the Gangster Disciples was shut down, Chicago police said Wednesday.Police conducted 19 undercover crack cocaine buys during a six-month sting that monitored drug sales in a block of West 56th Street between South Elizabeth Street and South Racine Avenue, police said in a news release.Six people were arrested on drug charges during Operation Lackawanna, and police are looking for two people who allegedly sold drugs on the block.Police said it was the 47th open-air drug market that has been shut down this year.

Five-time Mexican supercross champion was brutally murdered in his home by a biker gang on Monday.Rene Tercero Reyes Aguirre was shot by an armed gang who broke into his home in Juarez, Mexico.Two friends of the 24 year old rider were also murdered in the attack, which followed a series of violent gang-related attacks in the town on Monday that left a total of 11 people dead.The violence raged on into Tuesday, when a further three people were killed.

violent brawl may have started because the Hells Angels thought a Christian motorcycle ministry was claiming an affiliation with them, according to court documents made public Thursday. The 52-page search warrant affidavit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, also cites an anonymous tipster who called police shortly after the July 27 brawl and said the Set Free Soldiers were planning a "war party" at an abandoned chicken farm in Riverside County. One member had readied a "truckload of guns" there, the caller told authorities. Set Free's leader, Phillip Aguilar, and four other biker ministers were charged with weapons and gang felonies after the fight at a Newport Beach bar that ended in two stabbings. The dust-up prompted police to raid the Set Free Christian Ministries compound in Anaheim, where they allegedly recovered thousands of rounds of ammunition and dozens of guns and knives. They also raided Hells Angels homes in Costa Mesa and Rancho Santa Margarit

Reputed member of West Oakland's Acorn drug gang died early Wednesday from gunshot wounds sustained Tuesday night in East Oakland, police said. He was identified as Jonathan Gonzalez, 21, whose street name was "Redbone," police said.A 34-year-old man who said he was Gonzalez's cousin was also wounded. His name was not released, and police were not sure if he lived in Oakland or Emeryville. The shooting happened about 9:53 p.m. Tuesday at a housing project in the 1200 block of 65th Avenue.The older man told police he and Gonzalez were walking back from a store when they were confronted by a man with a gun who began shooting at them. Both men were hit several times by gunfire.Gonzalez died from his wounds at 2:29 a.m. Wednesday at Highland Hospital. The other man was in critical condition at a local hospital.The survivor told police he did not know why the man shot them, nor what he and Gonzalez were doing in East Oakland.One investigator said Gonzalez "may have go

The Red Scorpions are considered to be one of the most violent gangs in B.C. and members have been identified as suspects in the slaughter of six people in a Surrey highrise in October 2007.Victoria police say they've dismantled a chapter of the Vancouver-based Red Scorpions gang that aggressively expanded in the capital city's drug trade by threatening other dealers and sometimes giving crack cocaine away for free.Police arrested six people, in their late teens and early 20s, last week and raided a Saanich house -- on Borden Street, near McKenzie Avenue -- they called the base of operations for a burgeoning Greater Victoria "dial-a-dope" operation.In addition to the arrests, police seized $3,000 in cash, $1,000 in cocaine and a loaded sawed-off shotgun, said Const. Colin Brown, a lead investigator.The raid was the culmination of a month-long undercover operation by the Greater Victoria Regional Crime Unit, and Victoria and Saanich police. Plainclothes officers bought

The investigation into the Columbus Hotel fire is still in its earliest stage, but you can be sure police are well into considering the first thing that was on the mind of a lot of people Tuesday. The Columbus's reputation as a biker bar led many to assume the fire was gang related -- with one gang striking at the other by torching one of the places some of its rivals were known to frequent. It had been only two weeks since the last public violent encounter involving the local underworld took place, that being the downtown shootout allegedly between rival factions of the Independent Soldiers. If people's assumptions are correct and the Columbus fire is the work of gang members, it escalates an already tense situation that has become increasingly and frighteningly public. Two men, residents of the hotel said to be unconnected to any gang, are feared dead in the charred rubble where only three brick walls still stand. If the Prince George Fire Department determines arson is the c

A man who was shot by an off-duty police officer during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is still recovering from his injuries at Rapid City Regional Hospital, officials reported Sunday. Joseph McGuire, 33, of Imperial Beach, Calif. who is a member of the notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, was shot at about 1 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9 at the Loud American Roadhouse, a bar in Sturgis. According to previous reports in the Seattle Times, he had suffered wounds to his stomach and his leg. His condition is improving, as McGuire has been moved from the intensive care unit to a different floor of the hospital.Ron Smith, 43, an off-duty Seattle police officer who is a member of the Iron Pigs Motorcycle Club, an organization of law enforcement officers and firefighters who are also motorcycle enthusiasts, allegedly shot McGuire. According to previous reports, the shots were fired after an altercation started between Smith and several Hells Angels. McGuire has reported to the Seattle Times t

Shots were fired, windows were broken and one person was injured in a gang fight at two Missouri City fast-food restaurants early Saturday. Police believe the fight started at around 12:10 a.m. Saturday, when members of the "Fab" gang fired shots at "Mash Mode" members at a McDonald's at 1605 Cartwright Road.According to Missouri City Police Department reports, while officers were responding to a "shots fired" call, a dispatcher received a second call saying a window at the restaurant had been shot out. Also, a window was shot out in a car that had passengers inside.When officers arrived, several cars were leaving the area. Police found broken glass in the parking lot, and several .45-caliber and 9mm bullet casings on the ground, reports said.Witnesses at the scene said the shots were fired from a White Ford Explorer. Within minutes, another police officer spotted that vehicle at Murphy and Cartwright roads, and made a traffic stop. Police Capt. John B

20-year-old Alberta woman was shot and killed over the weekend, the unintended victim of a vicious gang war that has claimed a number of lives at a collection of reserves south of Edmonton. Delema Dixon, who also goes by the last name Lefthand, was shot in the head Saturday night when her home was riddled by gunfire on the Samson reserve -- one of four First Nations in Hobbema, Alta. Dixon's mother, Vernadee Applegarth, told CTV News that she believed it was her son -- who is in a gang -- who was the target. It wasn't the first time that their home was shot up in the last few years. Applegarth is now left to take care of her daughter's 18-month-old child. "I'm angry so much that I want to get revenge," she said. Dixon's father, Darren Applejohn, likened living on the reserve to living in a warzone. "It's just like living in Iraq -- terrorist town -- that's how I see it. Bunch of terrorists here," he said. Gun complaints are nearly an ever

Three of the four men arrested on Wednesday in connection with a seizure of heroin with a street value of about €1.2 million have been charged are appearing in court in Dublin this morning.The men were detained after a convoy of vehicles was stopped and searched as part of a planned Garda operation at 9pm on Kennelsfort Road, Palmerstown, in west Dublin. Local gardaí and members of a number of specialist Garda units stopped four vehicles and discovered six kilos of heroin. Senior Garda sources told the Irish Times that the men were members of an organised gang based around Crumlin and Drimnagh that had been involved in a gun feud with another gang from the areas. One of the men is regarded by gardaí as the de facto leader of one of the country's most active drugs gangs. Wednesday's arrests were part of a continuing operation targeting the Crumlin-Drimnagh gangs and involved members of the Organised Crime Unit, Garda National Drugs Unit, National Bureau of Criminal Investigation

A man whose body was found at a San Luis Rey Park was among those named in an injunction issued against documented members of his San Clemente gang and their San Juan Capistrano rivals, authorities said today. The victim, whose bloodied body was found near some tennis courts about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, was identified as Juan Montes Jr., 26, of Capistrano Beach, said Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Farrah Emami of the District Attorney's Office confirmed that Montes was among those named in the injunction approved by a judge last January as an enforcement tool against the dueling South Orange County gangs. Amormino said the slaying is under investigation, with no progress in the case to report. An autopsy was performed, Amormino said. Investigators know the cause of death, but at this point will only say that Montes suffered traumatic upper body injuries consistent with foul play. A screwdriver was recovered in the park and taken for testing as possible e

Former Hells Angels leader George Christie Jr. has pleaded guilty to possession of drugs, which were found during a sheriff's gang unit search of his Ventura home gym. Christie pleaded guilty this week to felony possession of drugs and misdemeanor being under the influence. Less than two grams of cocaine and methamphetamine were found during the April search of his home. Christie teaches martial arts in his home gym and he says it's possible the drugs were left by someone. The 61-year-old Christie will be sentenced next month to a drug diversion program.

Armed police used a blowtorch to gain entry to a motorbike gang's headquarters during a dawn raid, seizing property to help pay for more than $100,000 in outstanding court fines. Twelve police, including four who were armed, helped district court staff gain entry to the Satan's Slaves headquarters in Luxford St, Wellington, yesterday, impounding a Ford Explorer, a Harley-Davidson motorbike and $2000 worth of electronic goods owned by two gang members.One owed about $18,000 in fines and the other $84,000.Detective Sergeant Martin Todd said that, though the pair did not answer the door, police knew they were inside so used a blowtorch to get past the strengthened door."We had to use force and began using a blowtorch but, once one hinge had been blasted off, they decided to open the door. "You will have to pay your fines even if you are a gang hiding behind fortified doors. It has caught up with them - items have been seized which they treasure." District court staf

Rodrigo Requejo, 34, of Westminster, is charged with felony counts of gang-related assault and battery and one count of street terrorism for joining at least two other men in a fight inside Blackie’s By The Sea, a bar off the Newport Pier frequented by old-school surfers.Requejo, along with John Lloyd, 41, and Brian Heslington, 35, both of Costa Mesa, is accused of being part of the Hells Angels biker gang and fighting with members of the Set Free Soldiers, a rival group of bikers that claims to be a Christian ministry.Heslington is accused of possessing cocaine, Ecstasy pills and a loaded gun.At about 1 p.m. July 27, several members of the Set Free Soldiers, including leader Phillip Aguilar, walked into Blackie’s displaying their “gang colors” and waited near the back, prosecutors said. Requejo, Lloyd and Heslington came soon after and the two rival groups began arguing, then punches were thrown and two people were stabbed, police said. Five Set Free Soldiers and two Hells Angels have

jury ordered the death penalty for two gang members guilty of one of the largest gang killings in San Bernardino County's history.In July, the jury had found Luis "Maldito" Mendoza and Lorenzo Arias guilty in what has become known as the Dead Presidents case. They are set to be sentenced Sept. 10.The case involved a July 9, 2000, shooting at a West Side duplex in which four gang members died. Among them were Johnny and Gilbert Agudo, brothers and presidents of different West Side street gangs. Also killed were half brothers Marselino and Anthony Luna. Prosecutors alleged that Mendoza and Arias, both members of the 7th Street Locos who had grown up with the Agudos, were carrying out an order by members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.The case was widely seen as an example of how Mexican Mafia influence has forced some Latino street gangs to turn on their own members

Four men reportedly stormed the De Rocco ice-cream parlour in Rüsselsheim south-west of Frankfurt yesterday evening and shot three people dead before fleeing down a pedestrian street.Two Turkish citizens, aged 49 and 28, were arrested today following a manhunt involving more than 200 police with helicopters and sniffer dogs. Police were continuing their search. One of the victims was a 55-year old Greek woman identified as Anna K, who ran a Greek restaurant next to the ice-cream parlour. She was caught in the crossfire after leaving the cafe as the dispute escalated, and died from internal bleeding in the arms of her husband at the scene. The two other victims were men of Turkish origin aged 26 and 29. The first was described by police as being one of the attackers. His 21-year-old brother was also seriously injured and under police protection in hospital last night. The second dead man was said to have been sitting at the table when the men opened fire. The attack has raised fears tha

William (Billy) Bowden, 33, pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom today to carrying a firearm in a careless manner in January 2007 and skipping out on his preliminary hearing about a year later. Other drug and weapons charges related to the 2007 incident were stayed as part of a plea bargain securing the two convictions. Bowden remains in custody though, charged with manslaughter in relation to the November 2007 killing of Jeff Engen, who was fatally stabbed at the Empire Cabaret, prompting the club to close. That charge remains before the courts. Bowden has been in custody since he was arrested Feb. 14 in Whistler, B.C., and returned to Manitoba. The Crown and defence jointly recommended that time be noted in his sentence for carrying the firearm. That crime occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2007, as Bowden was leaving the NV lounge in a truck with friend Ken Houston, court heard. Police discovered a Glock 9mm handgun loaded with 18 bullets in a pile of garbage close to where the

The teenager, whose name was not been released this morning, was riding his bike in the 1100 block of West 109th Street at 8:50 p.m. when a dark compact car pulled up and two young men armed with a handgun shot him, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Ed Hernandez.The teen was struck in the lower torso and died at the scene, Hernandez said.The two young men, described by investigators as "gang-type" youths, fled east, Hernandez said. The weapon used in the shooting had not been recovered this morning, no arrests had been made and no suspect descriptions were available, Hernandez said.On Sunday night, four men were shot at the corner of Imperial Highway and Western Avenue in Athens, about a mile away from the Westmont shooting. Two of the men died at the scene and the third at a local hospital, Hernandez said.

Bobby Perez, 22, of Hacienda Heights, and Jonathan Carrion, 21, of Baldwin Park, were convicted by a Pomona Superior Court jury on Friday of two counts each of attempted premeditated murder with special gang and hate crime allegations, El Monte police Detective Ralph Batres said.Two reputed gang members are facing multiple life sentences for the attempted murders of two black victims based on their race, officials said Friday.The verdicts stem from a June 16, 2007, incident in which Perez and Carrion - members of the El Monte Flores gang - joined six to seven other fellow gang members and assaulted four mentally handicapped clients of the Bridges facility on Elliott Avenue in El Monte, Batres said. The clients were coming back from a nearby Pizza Hut when they were attacked. Two of the unidentified victims, who were black, were stabbed in the back. A third Hispanic victim was kicked and a fourth Caucasian victim was also beat, Batres said.Witnesses told police the group of men were yel

Gypsy Jokers Motorcycle Club has spent four years fighting an order by the police for the fortification to be removed. Today Justice Peter Blaxell ruled that the Police Commissioner had a reasonable belief that the security measures were excessive and that some members of the gang were involved in organised crime. The gang has seven days to remove the fortification, although Justice Blaxell urged police to extend the deadline.Outside the court Detective Inspector Charlie Carver from the Gang Crime Squad said the final decision is up to the Commissioner. "The commissioner has the right to extend that time," he said."Obviously if seven days is not sufficient then the commissioner can look at an application to him and can look at an extension if he sees fit."

33-year-old biker and the chapter treasurer were arrested at one of the homes in Pacific Beach, Calif. Police seized a pound and a half of marijuana, in addition to hydrocodone and oxycodone pills, and $5,000 in cash, Reizen said. The San Diego chapter president and vice president also were charged in a separate case in the investigation, Reizen said."It was a limited investigation based on a very specific set of facts," Reizen said Tuesday. The defendant, who was released on bond, was scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Aug 20 in San Diego County Superior Court, with his trial set for September. He is charged with possession of marijuana for sale and two counts of illegal possession of narcotics.His trial could be delayed, given the defendant's involvement in the shooting last Saturday at the Sturgis rally in South Dakota. He was shot about 1 a.m. Saturday at the Loud American Roadhouse after a fight broke out between Hells Angels' members and an off-duty Seattle polic

Several Jamaicans are said to be among 300 suspected members of street gangs arrested in Florida in the US.Federal immigration agents Thursday announced that they had arrested 321 persons many of whom are immigrants.According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, those arrested operated from Lake Worth to Miami and were associated with various gangs.Some of those arrested are from the United States, but most are from Jamaica and other countries including Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia and Chile. The sweep included one man who was deported for criminal activity, but returned to the US.Federal agents did not release the names of those arrested, but said they are being held in various jails or out on bail.The suspects are charged with various racketeering, gun, drug and parole violations.

Ruben Castro told a Los Angeles federal judge on Friday that he "made a big mistake" when he entered pleas last month to racketeering and conspiracy to sell cocaine. The 48-year-old was supposed to be sentenced Friday and could have received 27 years in prison but that hearing was canceled. Arguments on his plea change will be heard in October. Prosecutors say he ran two branches of a drug-dealing Los Angeles street gang from behind bars while serving a life sentence in Colorado for a 1997 racketeering conviction.

Jose Olvera, 25-year-old Jose Madero, 31-year-old Jimmy Salinas, and Eduardo Morales. Police say Morales was originally dropped off at Christus Spohn Memorial with injuries just moments after the shooting. "All of these individuals were talking about have been arrested and I know three of them have been convicted multiple times of offenses," added Smith.As the details surface, we're beginning to learn more about the suspects involved. For instance, for Jose Madero, this is not the first time he's faced a murder charge. He's was already convicted of murder in 2003. Five years later he was back on the street. We've also learned 3 of the suspects are documented members of the prison gang known as the Mexican Mafia. While a motive for the shooting is not being released at this time, Smith says it was not a case of gang on gang crime. "We don't believe Danny Villarreal was a part of a rival gang or this was some dispute between two different gangs."If

off-duty Seattle police officer was detained Saturday after shooting a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club during a bar brawl at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, police said.The officer, who was not identified, was involved in an early-morning fracas Saturday at the Loud American Roadhouse, according to a statement from Sturgis police.The confrontation erupted about 1 a.m. between members of the Hells Angels and the Iron Pigs, a motorcycle club made up of police and firefighters. There were about 500 people in the bar at the time and a rock band was playing, according to the Rapid City Journal.Two gunshots were fired, and the shooter was identified by Sturgis police as a law-enforcement officer.There was no word on the condition of the victim, who was hospitalized.The Seattle Police Department was notified Saturday morning, according to a statement issued in the evening by Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.The statement said that four other Seattle officers wer