GANGLAND GODFATHER

Kamloops This Week - Alleged gangster Falsetta run down and arrested : "After a week on the lam, Kamloops Mounties arrested Dustin Falsetta on Wednesday morning (June 16) at house in town. But the alleged gangster wasn’t planning on going quietly, as he was taken down following a short foot chase by a uniformed officer. “We’re pleased he’s back in custody and no one was injured,” RCMP Sgt. Scott Wilson said. “It’s very good for the community to have this individual back in jail.” An arrest warrant had been issued for Falsetta after he twice failed to show up at court for sentencing."

The Associated Press: Jamaica cops attack drug lord's slum stronghold : "Thousands of heavily armed police and soldiers continued an assault into the capital's most violent downtown slums on Tuesday, scouring buildings for weapons and battling die-hard defenders of a powerful Jamaican gang leader sought by the U.S. Jamaica's security forces, reeling from bold attacks by masked gangsters loyal to underworld boss Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, were in the midst of a nearly day-long assault in the heart of West Kingston's ramshackle slums, long afflicted by gang strife. On Tuesday, the third consecutive day of unrest, masked gunmen in West Kingston vanished down side streets barricaded with barbed wire and junked cars intended to block outsiders. The sound of gunfire echoed across the neighborhoods in Jamaica's south coast, far from the all-inclusive tourist meccas of the north shore. It was not immediately clear what was happening inside the patchwork of sl...

Russia seen as becoming a Mafia state : "Russia is a Mafia state. It is run by gangsters. It wasn't always this way. Vladimir Putin came into office in 2000 and he cracked down on corruption. Dozens of Russian oligarchs had gotten filthy rich during the 1990's as Russia moved towards capitalism. One of these oligarchs was Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He is Russia's richest man. In 2003, Putin arrested him, put him in a cage, and had photographers take pictures. This sent a message to all the other billionaire oligarchs in Russia and they towed the line by pledging allegiance to Putin. After that, Putin never again went after the oligarchs. It turns out Putin wasn't interested in cracking down on corruption in Russia; he was only interested in cracking down on those that posed (or could pose) a challenge to his rule. Russia is pretty much run by alumni of the former KGB. There is less freedom there now than during the Yeltsin era. Journalists, lawyers, and human rights a...

Teen gang fears strike Bundall Crime and Court News goldcoast.com.au Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia : "gang of knife-wielding youths is roaming the normally sedate streets of Bundall on the Gold Coast. The concern follows an incident that saw two Gold Coast youths suffer serious stab and slash wounds when they were set on by a group of knife-wielding youths on Friday night. Police say a fracas started outside an ice skating rink, where a group of about 40 youths were loitering. A chase ensured, and a 14-year-old boy eventually stumbled back to the rink to find help, leaving a trail of blood from multiple stab wounds."

Ex-wife of 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas busted for selling drugs in Puerto Rico - NYPOST.com : "ex-wife of legendary drug kingpin Frank Lucas -- whose murderous exploits inspired the controversial movie 'American Gangster' -- was busted yesterday for allegedly selling two kilos of cocaine to undercover agents in Puerto Rico, The Post has learned. Julianna Farrait, 70, was nabbed inside an unidentified hotel after handing over the drugs in exchange for $60,000 in cash, sources said. 'They say life imitates art and this arrest proves the point yet again,' said DEA Special Agent in Charge John P. Gilbride. 'Like in the movie the 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas was known to have made millions of dollars peddling heroin throughout the streets of New York City.'"

Man or Myth? American Drug Lord 'La Barbie' Fascinates and Terrorizes : "Edgar Valdez-Villareal at Forefront of Drug Wars, Killing Hundreds Along the Mexican Border. For some along the Texas-Mexico border, Edgar Valdez-Villareal is an American success story. Valdez-Villareal is a wealthy businessman from Laredo, Texas, who has hit the big time, raking in millions of dollars. Now living the good life in Mexico, he drives fancy cars and has been nicknamed 'La Barbie' thanks to his good looks. Beautiful women want to be with him, and back in Texas, kids say they want to be like him. 'Guys like money,' said one male high school student who had heard stories about Valdez-Villareal. 'They get fame, they get girls, they get houses. They get everything they want.' But on both sides of the border, police are watching La Barbie, too. They want him for drug smuggling, money laundering and murder"

How Liverpool docks became a hub of Europe's deadly cocaine trade World news The Observer : "James Taylor, known as 'Pancake', are 'certainly talking' to the Sinaloa, along with Los Zetas, classified by the US Drug Enforcement Administration as Mexico's most dangerous trafficking organisation. Los Zetas control access to the Venezuelan ports from where cocaine almost certainly has already been dispatched direct to Liverpool. With menacing understatement, Liverpool police told the Observer that the issue of Mexican cartels targeting the largest enclosed dock system in the world is a 'highly evolving' situation. For the Bird of Prey, Pancake and their associates, the emerging Mexican connection follows a calamitous Spanish failure. In the aftermath of Colin Smith's murder, the new leaders of the Liverpool mafia flew to the Costa del Sol with the intention of laying down the law and inheriting one of the most lucrative cocaine-smuggling operations...