Gang leader Sean Mercer gunned down innocent schoolboy Rhys Jones was convicted of murder today.

Sean Mercer was just 16 when he fired the fatal shot but was already a hardened criminal steeped in the drug-dealing violence of Liverpool. Rhys was 11 and obsessed with football. He died in his mother's arms.Teenage gang leader who gunned down innocent schoolboy Rhys Jones was convicted of murder today.Mercer, now 18, stood trial after police finally cracked the wall of silence in the city that had protected him. As Rhys's parents Stephen and Melanie Jones looked on, six other thugs were also convicted of helping Mercer cover up after the shooting.They are James Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18, Melvin Coy, 24, Gary Kays, 25, Dean Kelly, 17, and a youth aged 16 known as M who cannot be named because of his age. Mercer faces the juvenile equivalent of a life sentence when all the defendants are sentenced later at Liverpool Crown Court by Mr Justice Irwin.Rhys's father welcomed the conviction of Mercer, saying: "Finally justice has been done for Rhys."
The murder in August last year shocked a nation already weary of inner-city gun crime. He had been walking home from under-12 football practice when he was hit by the second of three shots fired across the car park of the Fire Tree pub in Croxteth.
Mercer, a leader of the Crocky of Croxteth Crew, was aiming at members of the rival Nogga Dogz gang from Norris Green. Hooded and standing astride his silver Hardrock bike, he took aim and fired again at his target even when Rhys lay dying, a bullet in his neck.Mercer cycled off and ordered his gang to hide the weapon, a First World War .455 Smith & Wesson, and drive him to a disused factory in Kirby where he washed down in petrol to destroy evidence. Such was the horrified reaction in Liverpool that dozens anonymously named Mercer as the killer and his name was posted on the internet, YouTube and in graffitti all over Liverpool. But nobody was prepared to stand up with real evidence.Mercer enjoyed a cloak of protection - partly because of fears of gangland reprisal and partly because of Merseyside's reluctance to be branded a "grass". The breakthrough came when a tip-off led to the murder weapon being found and a key witness known as X was offered immunity from prosecution in return for giving evidence against Mercer and the gang.In a conversation bugged by police, Yates talked about the shooting of Rhys and who supplied the gun. He said: "I bought that gun three years ago. End of story. What? What can they prove? Nothing."The murder of Rhys was the culmination of three years of violence between the two gangs in a turf war over drug dealing.The war started with the shooting of a 17-year-old "Crocky" and within hours shots were fired at homes in Norris Green. : "It was like waking up in the middle of th Alamo."Liam "Snigger" Smith, leader of the Nogga Dogz, was then shot as he left prison and Rhys was killed hours before the first anniversary of this attack.

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Board of Licenses acted Monday to close Club Passion and Level II

Board of Licenses acted Monday to close Club Passion and Level II pending an emergency hearing on Wednesday. A Boston man, 24-year-old Anthony Parrish, was fatally shot early Sunday near Club Passion. A second man was wounded in the incident. Twenty-two-year-old Jeremy Olearnick, of Norwich, Conn., was stabbed to death in a parking lot near the Level II dance club on Dec. 6. Two men were arrested in connection with that attack. Both killings occurred at or shortly after closing time for the clubs.

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Members of the Bloods street gang arrested in connection with a shooting that sent a member of a rival gang to the Hospital

Elizabeth City police have arrested three street gang members in connection with a shooting Saturday that sent a member of a rival gang to the hospital with a leg wound. Maurice Bowser, 19, of the 200 block of Queen Street, was charged Monday with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, Sgt. Gary Bray of the Elizabeth City Police Department said. Also arrested in the incident were Joey Lamar White, 20, of Trinkaloe Road, and Snody Slade Jr., 19, of the 600 block of Cedar Street. Both were charged with felony solicitation to commit a felony. All three men are believed to be members of the Bloods street gang and all are charged in connection with the shooting of Antione Williams, a member of the rival gang, the Crips. According to Bray, the men were standing in the vicinity of B Street’s intersection with Herrington Road about 3 p.m. Saturday when a vehicle in which Williams was a passenger pulled up nearby.
After an argument ensued, Bowser allegedly fired several rounds in the direction of the vehicle. Two of the bullets hit the car; one passed through the car and struck Williams in the leg, Bray said. Police say between six and eight shots were fired in the incident. Williams, who is in his late teens or early 20s, was treated for a leg wound at Albemarle Hospital and then released, Bray said. Police expect to arrest four others in the incident on charges of solicitation to commit a felony, Bray said. The charge is similar to a conspiracy charge in that those charged are not those who pull the trigger but are still held responsible for the crime, he said.
“In my opinion, it fits what happens in this investigation,” Bray said of the charge. He hopes the charges send a message to gang members that participating in crimes have consequences. “We’re going to charge people with every charge we can charge them with under the law,” Bray said. “...We’re pretty much just sick of this shooting and all this violence.” Bowser is being held at Albemarle District Jail in lieu of a $1 million secured bond. White and Slade are each being held in lieu of $50,000 bonds.
According to Bray, Bowser has an extensive criminal record. Police are also seeking to charge him in connection with a shooting last year on Elizabeth Street in which a child was injured. He hopes that Bowser’s combined charges will result in a federal indictment.
“He’s pretty much showed that he really doesn’t care who he’s shooting at,” Bray said.

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Sicily's Mafia was still heavily involved in the drugs trade.

Italian police on Monday made a major narcotics bust they said showed that Sicily's Mafia was still heavily involved in the drugs trade.In recent years there has been a slew of reports claiming the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta has largely taken over the European cocaine trade from its elder sister in Sicily.But the results of Monday's operation contradicted this, said the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's transnational crime envoy, Carlo Vizzini.''This operation shows that Cosa Nostra is still a major player in drugs,'' said Vizzini, who is also a member of Italy's parliamentary anti-Mafia commission.''Police have caught old and new Mafiosi in this together. Leopards can't change their spots''.''Sicily is becoming, once again, a key cross-roads for the international drugs trade''.Vizzini said the Mafia had ''once again'' shown its transnational nature.He called for ''new norms'' to combat money laundering.Palermo Anti-Mafia investigator Antonio Ingrao said the operation showed that ''the activities of Sicilian crime organisations are increasingly projected towards international horizons''.He said the drugs business, ''today, more than ever, has a strategic role because it allows criminals from different countries to work together''.At least one major boss was implicated in the bust, in which 25 people were arrested, police said.The gang allegedly flew in the drugs in from Argentina via airports in Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam and London, where it was gathered, flown on to Milan and sent down to Palermo by train.The traffickers used airports where they thought controls were easier to trick, police said.French police were involved in Monday's operation, which also netted thousands of euros in counterfeit bills.

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Ruben "Nite Owl"Castro, 46, is a leader, or carnal, of the Mexican Mafia, also known as the "La Eme" prison gang.

Ruben "Nite Owl"Castro, 46, is a leader, or carnal, of the Mexican Mafia, also known as the "La Eme" prison gang. Authorities say Castro controls two cliques of the 18th Street gang -- the Shatto Park Locos and the Hoover Locos. Castro is alleged to have run those gang cliques from a federal maximum-security prison in Colorado, where he is serving multiple life terms and was recently sentenced to an additional 27 years and three months for racketeering. Prosecutors say that from behind bars, Martinez, another La Eme carnal, allegedly made as much as $40,000 a month from criminal activity.Enriquez's childhood does not fit the Dickensian template one would expect from a sociopathic hit man. He grew up in a predominantly white suburban Cerritos neighborhood, in a home with two parents who had immigrated here from Mexico. His father, an ambitious, hard-working man who eventually owned a custom furniture factory and dabbled in commercial real estate, had his faults, but he clearly cared for his son and despaired deeply when he went astray. Enriquez quit school in the ninth grade and, along with his older brother, joined a street gang in nearby Artesia. After briefly working for his father, he quit, began slamming heroin and pulling holdups to pay for his habit. He was arrested after one bungled job and was soon tied to a host of others, because of their similar MOs as well as Enriquez's distinctive tattoos. He pleaded guilty to 21 counts of robbery and was sentenced to seven years in state prison. Legs chained, hands cuffed and wearing a red jumpsuit, he was loaded on the "Gray Goose" -- the prison bus -- and locked up at what was then known as Soledad State Prison. He was 18 years old.Shortly after arriving at Soledad, Enriquez and his cellmate spotted a member of Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "Our Family"), a prison gang from Northern California and a deadly La Eme rival. They beat him on the head with a shaving cream can and robbed him. A member of the Mexican Mafia sent him a few cigarettes and a note, welcoming him. He liked Enriquez's style. When Enriquez was transferred to another prison, two men approached him on the yard. They told him they wanted him and a young convict named "Puppet" to "do a hit" on "Angel," a Santa Monica gangbanger. They didn't tell him why and he didn't ask."Puppet grabbed Angel and Boxer just started stabbing him over and over until the untaped plastic handle slid up to cover the point of the shank and made it no longer effective," Blatchford writes. "That's the only thing that saved Angel's life . . . It was Boxer's first hit. 'It was then I knew I was on the path. I was being looked at [by Eme]. I was honored that I was picked for the mission and exhilarated by the immediate recognition I received on the yard as a 'big homeboy.' " He continued "putting in work," and was soon made a carnal, or leader. Eventually, he was released from prison but within a few years was sent back for life. He killed a rival carnal who was on a Mexican Mafia hit list and ordered the shooting of a female drug dealer. Enriquez was a shot-caller during many significant events in La Eme's history, such as when leaders in the early 1990s ordered a halt in drive-by shootings against other Latinos, and when they expanded the gang's reach and financial base by "taxing" drug dealers. One gangster Blatchford describes was sentenced to life for -- in a phrase that sums up the senselessness and inanity of the violence -- "murdering a murderer who had offended another murderer."The Mexican Mafia -- like its Italian counterpart -- is better at promulgating the myth of the brotherhood than generating actual loyalty. Enriquez's story reveals that, ultimately, La Eme members have four destinations. The lucky ones die in their cells. The others either get capped on the street, shanked in the yard, or they become snitches. Enriquez was no different. After a decade at Pelican Bay State Prison's secure housing unit, he is now in a witness protection program for cooperating inmates. Enriquez is hidden away at an unnamed prison, somewhere in the United States, to keep him away from the many carnales he testified against.

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Five of those in custody have leadership roles with MS-13

Arrests of 14 men and one woman were made between 3 and 7 p.m. on the North Side. Tamarack Circle, and areas around I-71 and Rt. 161 were targeted, officials said.
All 15 are in custody at the Franklin County jail and elsewhere, said Cmdr. Jeffrey Blackwell of the Columbus Police Strategic Response Bureau. Their names weren't available late last night.Everyone arrested yesterday was an illegal immigrant and affiliated with the MS-13 gang, which originated in El Salvador, he said. The FBI and Franklin County sheriff's office also contributed to the arrests, Blackwell said.
"MS-13 is a Hispanic gang notorious for violence," he said. "With the growing Hispanic population here, this gang has moved in and done its thing. … Over the last several months, there's been a proliferation of felonious-type crimes."Blackwell said gang members are suspected in two slayings, though he wouldn't give details. None of the people arrested had been charged with murder last night. The specific charges weren't available, but Blackwell said the gang members have been responsible for an escalation of the drug trade, robbery and burglary, among other crimes.
"People are so afraid, so fearful of retaliation from MS-13," he said.Blackwell estimated Columbus' Latino population at between 70,000 and 100,000."This gang has followed and set up shop," he said. Blackwell estimated the gang has more than 100 members in the Columbus area.Scott Best, resident agent in charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations, said the probe began after an arrest by Columbus police in 2004. A 2005 operation netted nine "international" gang members, meaning they'd traveled to and from the country, he said."This is part of a nationwide crackdown, Operation Community Shield," Best said. "Columbus is one of the key areas."Five of those in custody have leadership roles with MS-13, he said, and more arrests are expected."We want to prosecute (gang members) on state, local and federal charges," he said.Blackwell said the arrests would have a positive effect on the level of violence and drug dealing.
"We're trying to make people feel safe, so they can come forward," Blackwell said.

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DeQuana “Quanny” White created a disturbance in Falls City Court and the city jail and then threatened to kill police officers.

DeQuana “Quanny” White became violent during an appearance in Falls City Court 10 days ago on charges unrelated to his involvement in the killing of Dorothy Joelle Banks.Niagara Falls gang member, already facing a murder charge, created a disturbance in Falls City Court and the city jail and then threatened to kill police officers.White began swearing at Chief City Court Judge Mark Violante as his hearing was concluding, and officers went to escort him back to the city jail. As court officers tired to cut off his expletive-laced tirade against Violante, White became “combative, pushing back against (officers) in an attempt to escape.”
Reports indicate officers “took White to the ground” and, after gaining control of him, escorted him back to a cell. Once in the jail holding area, White again became combative with officers.“I’ll murder all you (expletive),” White said. “Just because you wear a badge? I’ll kill all you (expletive). Let me see you outside. I’m a gangster.”Police did not charge White in connection with the incident.He already is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the Sept. 5 slaying of Banks.White also is charged with attempted murder, second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of first-degree criminal use of a firearm in connection with a shooting incident in the 2200 block of Niagara Street on Aug. 31 that left a 27-year-old man and a 4-year-old boy wounded.
The 18-year-old member of the Bloods street gang, known in the Falls’ North End by the street name “O.G.,” shorthand for “original gangster” has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and is being held without bail. The “O.G.” moniker is normally reserved for gang members who have been involved in violence and drug dealing for a long period of time.White is no stranger to Falls police narcotics detectives and gang investigators. Because of his history of violent crime, he was arrested at gunpoint Sept. 7 in a motel parking lot on Niagara Falls Boulevard during a torrential downpour.Detectives investigating the Banks homicide said White became a person of interest to them early on in their probe. Officers responding to a call of a disturbance, found Banks’ body slumped in the front seat of her car in an alley in the 1300 block of Ashland Avenue. Banks, 35, 1923 18th St., was rushed to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center where she died from her wounds.

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Babis Lazaridis, the owner of a string of nightclubs in Attica, and Angeliki Iliadi shot dead and 31-year-old singer girlfriend injured

40-year-old businessman was shot dead and his 31-year-old singer girlfriend was injured early on Saturday in a gangland-style ambush in the coastal suburb of Voula. The police have attributed the attack to a settling of accounts by underworld figures with whom the victim is said to have had clashes in the past. Babis Lazaridis, the owner of a string of nightclubs in Attica, and Angeliki Iliadi had just left a hotel and had been getting into a car when they were approached by two assailants wearing motorcycle helmets, one of whom opened fire on Lazaridis with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, police said. An autopsy revealed at least 20 bullets in Lazaridis’s body. Iliadi was transferred to a hospital with leg injuries. A year ago, Lazaridis had been charged as a moral instigator in the attempted murder of a rival nightclub owner. In March this year, a bomb attack on a nightclub co-owned by Lazaridis caused damage, but no injuries.

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Arrested two reported gang members , Johnny Cabrera, jumped out after the vehicle was pulled over and ran across a field into a business complex

Arrested two reported gang members who were pulled over on Eaton Road and Constitution Drive Thursday night.
The passenger in the car, 21-year-old Johnny Cabrera, jumped out after the vehicle was pulled over and ran across a field into a business complex, according to a release from the Chico Police Department. As officers chased Cabrera, he threw a loaded pistol and methamphetamine in plastic bags to the ground and escaped in the area of Independence Circle. Police later determined the handgun was stolen from a Hamilton City resident. Police established a perimeter around the area and located Cabrera, who is reportedly a local criminal street gang member. He was arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail on eight different charges relating to the incident. His bail was set at $90,000. The driver of the car, 27-year-old Gabriel Holton, was on parole for drug sales when police pulled him over. Police said he is also a street gang member and was carrying methamphetamine at the time of the stop. He was arrested and is being held on a no-bail parole hold.

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Police have arrested two Avenues Gang members in the shooting death of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Abel Escalante

Police have arrested two Avenues Gang members in the shooting death of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Abel Escalante, who was gunned down outside his parents’ Cypress Park home in August as he prepared to go to work, according to sources with the Los Angeles Police Department.It is still not known whether the slaying was connected to the Mexican Mafia. Early speculation hinted at the possibility, principally because Escalante worked the highpower unit at the County Jail, and thus had regular contact with a number of Mexican Mafia members.
The intrigue only heightens with today’s revelation that the arrested suspects are members of the notorious Avenues criminal street gang. The Avenues is a gang with close ties to Eme (the Mexican Mafia). On the other hand, it is also a rival gang of Cypress Park, the area where Escalante lived, and gang members might simply have decided to target a bald-headed young Hispanic male in rival gang territory as part of the usual gang warfare nonsense.I have spoken with people in law enforcement (not connected with the case) who tend to doubt that this was an Eme-ordered hit, because (they say) the Mexican Mafia is primarily concerned with making money. Moreover, these people say, the Mafia doesn’t want to attract excessive law enforcement attenton by killing a cop.These arguments are generally sound, but there are countervailing arguments. I’m in the middle of an excellent book about the Mexican Mafia by local Fox-11 reporter Chris Blatchford, and I recently finished another by Tony Rafael. I plan to review both on this site in coming days and weeks. They give the reader some insight into the mob mentality, and based on what I learned in those books, I certainly think Mafia involvement is a possibility (how remote a possibility is unclear), for several reasons.First, the Mexican Mafia is an unstable conglomeration of criminal personalities who order hits as revenge for the pettiest of slights. If you steal my lunch tray in prison, you might go on the greenlight list.While it’s true that the Mafia doesn’t typically target law enforcement, it’s not inconceivable that the Sheriff’s Deputy, while working the highpower unit, inadvertently offended one of the more volatile Mafia members, who decided to take his revenge using his henchmen on the street.Sometimes, too, there is bad communication and/or rogue actors who go beyond their mandate. For example, the Mafia definitely does not approve of killing children, but a notorious multiple murder on Maxson Road was Mafia-inspired, and ended with the execution of a family, including small children. The killer was himself later murdered in prison for having killed children, but former Mafioso Rene “Boxer” Enriquez believes he may have felt he was following orders given by someone who had simply said: “Kill all them motherfuckers.” Similarly, a huge race riot at Pelican Bay State Prison in 2000 was sanctioned by a couple of Mexican Mafia carnales, but they hadn’t run the concept past the other members of the Mob, who almost certainly would have vetoed the idea.
So even if a particular hit doesn’t necessarily fit the mold, that doesn’t mean someone in the Mafia wasn’t involved.Add into the mix the way that Mexican cartels have recently begun targeting all enemies in a newly gruesome and visible way, including decapitations — and the fact that several of their enemies include law enforcement officials — and there’s good reason to be concerned.

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Father of a suspect charged in a string of violent Dunkin' Donuts store robberies in South Florida is a member of the notorious Los Angeles-based Crip

Father of a suspect charged in a string of violent Dunkin' Donuts store robberies in South Florida is a member of the notorious Los Angeles-based Crips gang, a link that paved the way for his son to start his own group here, a Broward Sheriff's Office gang expert said.Jonathan Jackson, 23, of Lauderhill, told investigators his father, Jerome, belongs to the Crips, and said he was "blessed into" the gang at age 8 because his father was a ranking member, said sheriff's Sgt. Dan Fitzpatrick. He is being held without bail in the Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports Jail on three counts of armed robbery.Jackson, who described his gang rank as "OG" or "original gangster," said the other robbery suspects had to be initiated into the gang, Fitzpatrick said."It's rare that we will find gangs here in South Florida that actually do have ties to the L.A. gangs," Fitzpatrick said. "A lot of them will brag that they are a recognized Crip set or a Blood set, but they are not."Jackson and four other gang members have been charged in a two-county crime spree that left two people dead and four others shot. The suspects are facing charges ranging from murder and attempted murder to armed robbery and aggravated assault with a firearm.During the robberies, four people were shot Nov. 26 in a Delray Beach Dunkin' Donuts store. A man shot on Thanksgiving in a Tamarac store died later of his injuries. Three suspects also have been charged in a Nov. 14 shooting death in Lauderhill.Detectives contacted the Los Angeles Police Department and had them check their database for Jackson's father.Although Jerome Jackson's name didn't emerge as a documented Crips member, investigators are taking the claim seriously because his son knows much about the gang's inner workings and practices, Fitzpatrick said.His father could have given a false name if taken into custody or there could be other reasons his name didn't surface, Fitzpatrick said.During a search of Jonathan Jackson's Lauderhill townhouse, detectives found notebooks containing Crips prayers, rules and meeting notes, Fitzpatrick said.Members were required to pay $20 weekly dues and a log indicated who was paid up, Fitzpatrick said.The five in custody were the "hard-core" members, Fitzpatrick said.
Interviews with them indicate 15 Broward-based members of their gang remain at large.
Sheriff's Office detectives are working with Sunrise and Lauderhill to identify those other members, Fitzpatrick said.He said probably two or three other Crips sets, with a dozen or so members, exist elsewhere in Broward. Numbers are about the same for the Bloods, he said, adding that members with real national ties are few and far between.During interviews, the five suspects spoke openly about their gang affiliation, showing investigators their hand signals, and explaining the color blue is used for everyday identification but switches to gray when they are at "war," Fitzpatrick said."Who are they at war with? The 'Slobs,' a derogatory term they use to describe the Bloods," Fitzpatrick said.One of the suspects, Calvin Weatherspoon, 20, of Lauderhill, told detectives he joined the Crips when he was 17 in Virginia, according to Fitzpatrick.Weatherspoon said his initiation consisted of fighting three people for six minutes, Fitzpatrick said. Weatherspoon's rank is "YBG," or "young baby gangster," police said.Accused gunman James Herard, 19, also of Lauderhill, said he joined the Crips at age 13 when he lived in Sunniland Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fitzpatrick said.He holds the rank of "gangster" or "G," Fitzpatrick said.Suspect Tharod Bell, 23, holds the rank of "YBG," and his brother Charles Faustin, 18, is "OBG," or "original baby gangster," Fitzpatrick said. They are both from Fort Lauderdale.

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Pasadena police are searching for a couple suspected of holding a baby hostage while forcing his mother to withdraw cash and turn over jewelry to them

Pasadena police are searching for a couple suspected of holding a baby hostage while forcing his mother to withdraw cash and turn over jewelry to them.Police Lt. Chris Russ says the victims were near a park Saturday morning when they were approached by the pair who appeared to be in their 60s. One of the assailants grabbed the 25-year-old mother by the arm and forced her and the baby into a red sports utility vehicle.The suspects drove to an ATM machine and forced the woman to withdraw cash, then took her to a home where they kept the baby in the car while she went inside to get jewelry. The pair freed the baby and drove away after they received the jewelry.
Russ said Sunday there was no indication the suspects were armed. He said the young mother complied because she feared for the safety of her child.

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Co Armagh man Padraig ‘Paudie’ Treanor appeared in court in Monaghan last week charged with possessing an assault rifle and ammunition.

Co Armagh man Padraig ‘Paudie’ Treanor — who was employed by Sinn Fein to work as a driver for the Newry and Armagh MP until late 2007 — appeared in court in Monaghan last week charged with possessing an assault rifle and ammunition.Former driver for Sinn Fein minister Conor Murphy is at the centre of a legal row in the Republic after being charged with possessing a deadly AK-47 rifle.Treanor (31) was one of a pool of drivers employed by the Sinn Fein to drive senior members but since leaving the party’s employment he has worked as a tyre-repairer in Cullaville, south Armagh.
He is accused of having the weapon in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan on November 28, 2007.The legal row erupted when a district judge lambasted a suggestion by the director of public prosecutions that Treanor be tried in his court on the charge of possessing the AK-47.Mr Justice Sean McBride declared it “outrageous” that the DPP recommended to Gardai that Treanor should be tried before a district court and directed the case be brought before a higher court.The judge said it was “totally unacceptable”, given the current climate of gun crime in Dublin and elsewhere, that such a case did not merit trial before a circuit criminal court or at special criminal court level.The judge’s comments came after Garda Inspector Fintan |McKeirnan told the hearing the DPP had recommended the prosecution be heard in the district court.A solicitor for Treanor said the weapon in question might have been only a replica, but this was dismissed by Justice McBride as immaterial in light of the seriousness of the charge.Mr Justice McBride then directed gardai to relay his directions to the DPP and remanded Treanor on bail until a further hearing on January 14.It is unclear when Treanor was arrested and charged with the offence. But it is understood he was arrested by Gardai investigating the murder of Cullyhanna truck driver Paul Quinn.Mr Quinn was savagely beaten to death by a gang who lured him to a cow shed in Castleblayney in October last year.His family has blamed IRA members in south Armagh for the murder.Fourteen arrests have been made as part of the cross-border investigation into the case, but no one has been brought before the courts.

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Remond Akleh a member of the Hells Angels' Nomads wing, has taken the extraordinary measure of taking the stand in his own defence

longtime Hells Angel was overcome with emotion as he described the risks he's taking to defend himself against allegations of conspiring to murder an underworld rival."I believe my life is in extreme danger and so is my family's," Remond Akleh said Tuesday morning, before dissolving into tears.Mr. Akleh, a member of the Hells Angels' Nomads wing, has taken the extraordinary measure of taking the stand in his own defence and testifying about his activities as a police informant. He told a Superior Court jury Tuesday he had to waive his confidentiality agreement with Durham police and talk about his days as an informant in order to prove his innocence."I needed this all to come out so everyone would know," an emotional Mr. Akleh said, acknowledging at the same time the information places him and his family in grave peril."Today I wish I could take it all back," he said of sharing information with police."I don't know what the future holds. I could find myself in a ditch somewhere."Mr. Akleh and Oshawa Hells Angels president Mark Stephenson have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to commit murder and counselling to commit murder. During this trial, which began in Whitby in October, jurors heard Steven Gault, a police agent who infiltrated the Angels, testify the men enlisted him in June of 2006 to murder Frank Lenti, a Woodbridge biker with ties to the rival Bandidos gang. The alleged plot was never acted on.Mr. Akleh said Tuesday he started talking in 2003 with a Durham police officer Mr. Gault was convicted of threatening. The men had something in common, Mr. Akleh said: He testified Mr. Gault threatened to kill him after he raised concerns among Oshawa bikers that Mr. Gault was a police informant. (For his trouble Mr. Akleh was virtually drummed out of the Oshawa chapter and strongly advised to leave Durham Region, jurors heard. Mr. Akleh said he took that advice; he moved before his Taunton Road home sold and carried two mortgages for almost a year.)As time went on Mr. Akleh shared more information, talking to the officer about Mr. Gault and other members of the Oshawa chapter. He said he realized he was breaching a cardinal tenet of biker culture, but was motivated by a desire to protect himself and his family from Mr. Gault and others."I wasn't being loyal to the Hells Angels at all," Mr. Akleh observed. "I was doing what I thought was best for myself and my family."Jurors heard Mr. Akleh's accusations about Mr. Gault stirred anger among the Oshawa Angels. He testified he'd had a gun held to his head and was warned to get out of the region.And Mr. Akleh said he received a stark warning when he attended the funeral of retired Angel Bill (Mr. Bill) Lavoie in September 2006. He said he was standing at the grave site, taking shelter from the rain under an umbrella when a fellow biker approached him."A gentleman came up to me and gave me a hug and said to watch my back, I'd be next," Mr. Akleh testified in response to questions by defence counsel Glen Orr.In other testimony, Mr. Akleh flatly denied advising Mr. Gault to murder Mr. Lenti. He said that when the question of Mr. Lenti being offered a Hells Angels patch was put to a vote, he voted in favour of it."I knew Mr. Lenti," he testified. "I never had a problem with him."
The trial, before Justice Bruce Glass, continues.

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Gerald (Skinny) Ward, 60, a founding member of the Niagara chapter, had pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and possession of proceeds of a crime.

Gerald (Skinny) Ward, 60, a founding member of the Niagara chapter, had pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and possession of proceeds of a crime. Terry Pink, 41, president of the Simcoe chapter, had pleaded guilty to similar charges but both denied that these illicit activities had anything to do with their motorcycle club.
Mr. Justice John McMahon of Ontario Superior Court ruled yesterday that the club is "a criminal organization which is dedicated to the facilitation and commission of serious criminal offences that materially benefit the members of the HAMC," and that Mr. Ward and Mr. Pink carried out their activities "not only for the benefit of the individuals involved but for the benefit of the HAMC, particularly the Oshawa and Niagara chapters."The two men were arrested along with 22 others after raids in September of 2006 on homes and clubhouses in Toronto, Oshawa, Windsor and Niagara Region. The arrests were the culmination of an 18-month undercover operation called Project Tandem.Prosecutor Tom Andreopoulos said he was pleased to see the charges culminate in convictions only a little more than two years after the arrests.Project Tandem was executed with the help of a police agent named Steven Gault, a member of the Oshawa chapter who was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his work and who is now in the witness-protection program.Mr. Gault testified that when he purchased a kilogram of cocaine from Mr. Ward he paid a premium of about $2,000 to pay down a debt owed by the Oshawa chapter to the Niagara chapter.The Hells Angels "have complete control of the coke dealing in the whole Niagara Region," Mr. Gault testified during the proceedings, according to the judge's decision.In his decision, Judge McMahon cited evidence that as of July, 2008, 75 per cent of Canada's HAMC members have been convicted of criminal offences, that a defence fund is maintained by members' monthly dues, and that members in prison are referred to as the Big House Crew.Sentencing arguments for Mr. Pink will be heard on Jan. 29, and for Mr. Ward on Jan. 27.

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Melvin and Marriott families are feuding.

Melvin and Marriott families are feuding,some of these players made money and a name for themselves — together.Since 1968, Terrance Cyril Marriott (a.k.a. Terry Sr.) has racked up a total of 32 years, nine months and 26 days of federal time for drugs and other offences. But he’s also beaten the rap a number of times.The patriarch of the Melvin family, James Edwin Melvin (a.k.a. Jimmy Sr.), 48, has been sentenced to a total of 22 and three months of federal time and is still on parole. He narrowly escaped injury Nov. 17 when shots were fired at him outside a Spryfield pizza joint.
Here’s a brief history of these two notorious families:•April 25, 1988: Arnold (Smiley) Joseph Bailey is fatally shot on a Halifax street in what police believe was a drug-related shooting. Police later charged Spryfield drug dealer Terry Marriott Sr. with murder, but he was acquitted in June 1991.•October 1991: Police seized about 3.5 tonnes of hash from a truck on Highway 103 near Chester. It’s believed the drugs had been offloaded from a Panamanian vessel. Jimmy Melvin Sr., then of Spryfield, was among the 10 charged. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 1994 for his part in the operation. •November 1992: A Spanish vessel led a U.S. Coast Guard vessel on a 19-hour chase through rough seas before sinking early the next day off the coast of Newfoundland, taking with it an estimated three tonnes of cocaine. Unaware of what had happened, Jimmy Melvin Sr. and a Crown witness spent two days trying to get out to the mother ship to offload the drugs for the Hells Angels. Mr. Melvin, described at sentencing as "the second in command, was among five Nova Scotians charged in the crime. He was sentenced in 1997 to 5 1/2 years for conspiracy to traffic cocaine.•Nov. 20, 1998: Richard Joseph (Ricky) Marriott, 32, was shot in his house, along with his girlfriend, Gail Stone. Ricky, who used a wheelchair and was Terry Marriott Sr.’s brother, was facing three drug charges of his own. He died at the scene, and Ms. Stone died in hospital four days later. In August 2000, Ricky’s brother William Ralph (Billy) Marriott, 38, hanged himself in a Halifax jail cell. Billy faced trial for first-degree murder in the killing of former Hells Angels associate William St. Clair Wendelborg, and Billy’s girlfriend, Wanda Lynn Campbell, was later found guilty of being an accessory after the fact. Ms. Campbell’s trial was told that Terry Marriott Sr. thought Billy murdered Ricky, although the rest of the family might not agree.•1999: Operation Crack Pot, a joint-forces investigation that targeted street-level drug dealers, a Halifax corner store and eight crack houses. Undercover police bought drugs 60 times during the operation. Terry Marriott Sr. and Terry Marriott Jr. were among the 40 people charged. Terry Marriott Sr. served four years for trafficking and his son got 4 1/2 years for possession. (Since December 1992, Terry Jr. has been sentenced to over 7 1/2 years of federal time. At one point, the National Parole Board had ordered Terry Jr. to stay away from his father because of his lengthy criminal history)•December 2001: Police raided the now-defunct Halifax chapter of the Hells Angels. Members and associates, including Jimmy Melvin Sr., are among those arrested and charged with drug offences. The name of Terry Marriott Sr. is found in exhibits seized by cops, but no explanation is given at the time. Jimmy Melvin Sr. is sentenced to another six years and three months for selling hash.•May to June 2002: An undercover police investigation dubbed Operation Midway swept up 81 people including many Marriott and Melvin family associates. The raids also hit homes and businesses owned by some family members and associates. Bruce Alan Jackson, a drug dealer turned informant, detailed in court how the second generation of Melvins and Marriotts ran a drug ring in Halifax. Mr. Jackson was the manager of a Herring Cove Road crack shop in a ring operated by one of Terry Marriott Sr.’s sons, Brian James Bremner (a.k.a. B.J. Marriott); the young man’s cousin, Gary (Boo) Boudreau and longtime friend James Bernard Melvin (a.k.a. Jimmy Melvin Jr.).
Jimmy Jr., who was already in jail when the arrests were made, was later sentenced to three years for attempting to have someone smuggle drugs to him in prison as part of Operation Midway. That was to be served on top of a two-year term he received in December 2002 for possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in May 2001. His sentence ended on May 17, 2006, but he had been in custody in relation to other charges until he was ordered released a month ago, on Nov. 14.
Mr. Boudreau received six years and six months for drug and weapons offences. While it may have been his first federal sentence, he told a National Parole Board panel last year that he’d been selling drugs since he was 13 and became a high-level dealer in 2000. Now 32, Mr. Boudreau, who co-owned a Herring Cove Road tanning salon that was firebombed in 2006, has kept himself out of jail since his release last year.B.J. Marriott, who was also in jail when the investigation was underway, was eventually convicted and sentenced to a total of six years for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the Central Nova Correctional Facility in Dartmouth between June 17 and June 20, 2002 and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking at Springhill Institution between May 27 to May 31, 2002. The drugs headed for the Springhill prison were supposed to go to Wayne James, a Halifax man serving time for a Hells Angels-related murder. Although B.J. Marriott didn’t actually handle the drugs, the judge ruled that he had control of the prison packages through the people that did his bidding. His mother, Dawn Bremner, and his uncle, Teddy Bremner, each received 18-month conditional sentences for their part in the operation. Jimmy Jr.’s then-girlfriend, Jennifer Purcell and Jimmy Jr.’s mother, Debbie Melvin, received two years and 12 months, respectively, while charges against Mr. Boudreau’s wife and his grandmother were dismissed. In the end, 66 people were convicted for varying roles in the drug ring, and some on multiple charges. Neither Jimmy Sr. nor Terry Sr. was among those arrested.
Now 26, B.J. Marriott is in prison in the Prairie region where he is serving 16 years and four months for manslaughter; two counts of assault with a weapon; assault causing bodily harm; two counts of possessing a dangerous weapon; and possessing property obtained by criminal activity; and the drug charges. He was eligible for day parole on Nov. 28, but did not apply. He also decided to postpone an upcoming parole board hearing scheduled for next May. Instead, the board is expected to hear his case in May 2011.•Oct. 25, 2002: At about 6 a.m., at least one Molotov cocktail and five bullets hit 28 Sylvia Ave., which is owned by Jimmy Melvin Sr. An hour earlier, two bullets went through a kitchen window of a nearby home on Emerald Crescent. Wayne Douglas Robinson, a cousin of Terry Marriott Jr. is later arrested in the firebombing. In the following years, houses, apartment buildings or businesses were either shot at or firebombed on Arvida Avenue, Herring Cove Road, Hartlen Avenue and Old Sambro Road. •July 7 and Sept. 3, 2004: On these two evenings, shots were fired outside 490 Herring Cove Rd. and Terry Marriott Jr. was hit both times. He was hit in the armpit and hip the first time, with witnesses saying four shots came from a green van. In September, police arrived at the house after the victim left for hospital. He tells investigators the shooting was an accident. His uncle, James Cameron, is the listed owner of the property.•June 20, 2006: Wayne Nicholas (Chop) Marriott, 21, was shot dead at about 10:50 p.m., moments after driving up to the Beechville home he was renting. The man he was with, Jeremy Alvin Leblanc, then aged 24, was also injured. No one has been charged in the killing.•August 2007: Jimmy Melvin Jr., his younger brother Cory Patrick Melvin and Andrew Hudder were charged in several firebombings in Dartmouth, Fairview and Bayers Lake Business Park. The three will go on trial next June.

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Trigga Mobb's self-described "five star general" and a soldier in his north side street gang were sentenced to life terms in prison

Lerome "L'il Rome" Franklin, 25, was sentenced to 75-years-to life and Floyd "YG" Martin, 22, received a 50-to-life term for the March 15, 2007, shooting that took place outside a motel on El Camino Avenue.Trigga Mobb's self-described "five star general" and a soldier in his north side street gang were sentenced to life terms in prison today for the retaliation shooting of a man they thought to be an informant.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary S. Mullen denied new trial motions filed by the defendants, who were convicted on Aug. 5.According to testimony at trial, Franklin, who had just been arrested on robbery charges prior to the shooting, thought a Del Paso Heights gang associate was responsible for his incarceration.Franklin then engaged in telephone conversations with Martin from the downtown jail that were recorded in which he ordered the shootings, according to police and prosecutors.
The victim in the case recovered from his injuries, testified against Franklin and Martin at trial and was later relocated by the Sacramento District Attorney's office.

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Three men are wanted in connection with making a gang-related statement and then hitting a stabbing another man

Three men are wanted in connection with making a gang-related statement and then hitting a stabbing another man in the shoulder, Santa Cruz police said.The 22-year-old victim told police that he was walking on the corner of Bay and California streets at about 11:15 p.m. when the three men came up to him, said something gang-related, and started hitting him and removing items from his backpack, including a wallet and MP3 player, police said.The victim also suffered a stab wound to the shoulder during the attack. The three men were last seen running into Neary Lagoon.
A K-9 followed the track of the three men through Neary Lagoon onto Chestnut Street before losing the scent, police said.

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Four suspected Palm Springs gang members accused of fatally beating a 66-year-old security guard

Jamar Thomas and Darius Lee, both 19, Jarrett Lewis, 18, and Akil Williams, 17, are charged with murder, robbery and participation in a criminal street gang in connection with the 2007 death of Bower Security Co. guard Wallace Brown. All have pleaded not guilty and remain at the Indio Jail without bail.Four suspected Palm Springs gang members accused of fatally beating a 66-year-old security guard will appear in court today for a pre-trial hearing.
The 19-year-olds would be eligible for the death penalty if convicted, while the other two could face a maximum sentence of life in prison because they were minors when the crime occurred, prosecutors have said.The defendants are accused of beating Brown with blunt objects, including their fists, and taking his wallet after dragging him from his car while he was checking a construction site near Rosa Parks Street and Eldorado Boulevard in June 2007.The former Marine was unconscious when he was found and died days later at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs without regaining consciousness.

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Shirishah Robinson,Member of the Bloods street gang got seven years in prison

Member of the Bloods street gang got seven years in prison today for dealing heroin and crack and breaking firearms laws in Bensalem, federal prosecutors announced.The sentence in federal court in Philadelphia follows a guilty plea by 27-year-old Shirishah Robinson, Acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid said in a release. In November 2007, Robinson was caught in Bensalem with nearly 10 grams of a heroin and 588 packets containing about 14 grams of crack cocaine. She also had some bullets. And because she was previously convicted of a felony in Pennsylvania, and thus prohibited from carrying a firearm or aummunition, she was criminally charged with carrying 43 rounds of .380 caliber ammunition and 39 rounds of .357 caliber ammunition. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Bucks County Violent Gang Task Force and the Bensalem Township Police Department.

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"Houstone" street gang, Carlos Garcia-Hernandez, 19, a citizen of Mexico, was also wanted on local arrest warrants for aggravated assault.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and Houston Police officers late Thursday arrested a member of the "Houstone" street gang wanted by Mexican authorities for murdering two women in March 2008.Carlos Garcia-Hernandez, 19, a citizen of Mexico, was also wanted on local arrest warrants for aggravated assault. A search conducted for Garcia-Hernandez by Houston Police Department and ICE in Houston resulted in his apprehension without incident.According to Mexican authorities, Garcia-Hernandez is wanted for murdering two women, one from San Diego County, Calif., and another from Mexico where the homicides were committed. It is alleged that both women were robbery victims at the time of their deaths. Three individuals have already confessed to the crimes to date and are serving time in Mexican prison.Garcia-Hernandez has previous convictions in Houston for possessing marijuana, escaping law enforcement custody while in detention, and driving with a counterfeit driver's license.Garcia-Hernandez is in the United States illegally and has already received final orders of deportation from a federal immigration judge. ICE will ultimately deport him into the custody of Mexican authorities. No date has been set for his return. ICE previously deported Garcia-Hernandez in November 2007. It is a felony to re-enter the United States after previously being deported punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

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Two gang members have each been sentenced to more than 100 years in prison

Thirty-three-year-old Sinque Beiama Morrison was sentenced to 109 years to life, and 22-year-old Michael Barnett Jr. got 101 years to life Wednesday for the 2005 killing of Mynisha Crenshaw in San Bernardino.Two gang members have each been sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for their part in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old girl.Each man was convicted in October on five counts including murder.Crenshaw was eating dinner with her family when she was shot to death and her 14-year-old sister was wounded.Morrison and Barnett were part of a street gang avenging an earlier killing that mistakenly fired on the girl's home.Twelve members of the gang have been convicted or reached plea agreements in the girl's killing. The last three are scheduled for sentencing Monday.

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Attempted Murder, Pasadena, assault with a Deadly Weapon and gang allegations

Horacio Guttierrez (male, 25 years), Jose Barrera (male, 26 years), Jose Rivera (male, 28) and Hector Ornelas (male, 28), all from Pasadena, were arrested without incident. Charges were filed today with the Office of the District Attorney for Attempted Murder, Assault with a Deadly Weapon and gang allegations. The incident is considered to be gang-related.Pasadena Police Detectives arrested four members of a local street gang and charged them with attempted murder.
On November 27, 2008 Francisca Zendejas (female, 26) was shot numerous times in the 700 block of Manzanita Ave. Detectives canvassed the area and received clues as to the suspects’ identification.The suspects are being held in county jail.The victim is recovering from her wounds.

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Oliver McLean alleged member of a notorious Northside street gang is under arrest

alleged member of a notorious Northside street gang is under arrest after police found him living in Northern Kentucky.Police arrested 21-year-old Oliver McLean Wednesday night in Covington.McLean was then extradited back to Hamilton County to face charges in connection to his alleged involvement with the "Northside Taliband" gang.He is facing one count of participating in a criminal gang, as well as cocaine and marijuana charges.A total of 26 people were taken into custody on the first day of a multi-agency roundup in mid-November. Eight of those arrested were charged with gang activity.

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Three gang members have been found guilty of the murder of two-year-old Jhia te Tua

Three gang members have been found guilty of the murder of two-year-old Jhia te Tua, who was killed in a drive-by shooting at her parents' home in May last year.MP Chester Borrows says other provincial centres have a worse gang problem than Wanganui.He says there is always a concern about tensions between gangs, but everyone in Wanganui will have to, and usually does, live within the law.Borrows says the shooting has negatively impacted on people's perception of the town.
Jhia was shot dead in her parents' lounge as she slept. Tragically, her mother had moved her from her bedroom because of fears she should not be left alone after a recent escalation in gang violence.Police have been on standby for any gang confrontations arising from the verdicts and has urged supporters of the convicted men to think again before pursuing any retaliation.The gang tensions in the town meant 22 witnesses key to the verdict had to give evidence anonymously.

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Alleged gang member arrested in Fresno shooting inquiry

Alleged gang member was arrested during an investigation of a shooting late Thursday in southeast Fresno.Police said they while investigating reports of a shooting about 10:40 p.m. on the 4700 block of East Woodward Avenue, they searched a home and found a loaded, large-caliber handgun.Terrence Reed, 21, of Fresno, was held on suspicion of being an ex-felon with a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and violating probation. The shooting victim, a male, was not found. Police checked area hospitals but did not locate the man

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Diego Montoya,head of the drug gang Montoya, aka Don Diego,extradited

Crime boss suspect Diego Montoya was sent to the United States yesterday to face charges of smuggling hundreds of tonnes of cocaine, marking what police called the end of the Norte del Valle cartel.Authorities say that as head of the drug gang Montoya, known as Don Diego, helped it supplant the once-mighty Medellin and Cali cartels. He was captured last year after a long manhunt that ended when police raided his farmhouse hide-out and found him cowering in a ditch dressed only in his underwear. It was an ignominious end to the career of the portly billionaire who is accused of governing a crime empire from his base near the city of Cali. He appeared next to Osama bin Laden on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list. Montoya, in sunglasses, handcuffed and wearing a blue dress shirt under a bulletproof vest, was shown on television boarding a plane headed for Miami, where he is wanted by a federal court on charges including money laundering. Montoya has not been tried in Colombia, where he is accused of hundreds of murders. "This extradition means the end of the Norte del Valle cartel," national police chief Oscar Naranjo told reporters. "All of its major leaders have been caught or killed." But the gang still exports cocaine from Colombia's Pacific coast, said Bogota-based security consultant Pablo Casas. "This is the end of one boss but it is not the end of the Norte del Valle organization. Drug bosses multiply in Colombia like bacteria in a petri dish," Casas said. The cartel's violent exploits inspired this year's No. 1-rated local TV soap opera called "Cartel de los Sapos" ("Cartel of the Snitches"), which traced the story of how Norte del Valle became the biggest drug gang in Colombia. Another key Norte del Valle leader, Wilber Varela, was found shot dead in Venezuela early this year after a gunfight among rival smuggling organizations. Montoya's brother Eugenio was extradited to the United States earlier this year on charges of cocaine trafficking.
Colombia has extradited hundreds of drug suspects to the United States but cocaine exports from the Andean country remain steady at about 600 tonnes a year, according to the United Nations.

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Nghia Trong Nguyen-Tran, also known as Jackie Tran, rejected warnings he was a murder target and said he had no intentions of leaving gang life.

Nghia Trong Nguyen-Tran, also known as Jackie Tran, rejected warnings he was a murder target and said he had no intentions of leaving gang life.Walker told a deportation appeal hearing that Tran told him: `This isn't going to be over until they are all dead or we are all dead.' Tran's lawyer Steve Virk told the hearing Walker, who is with the Calgary police organized crime unit, did not qualify as a gang expert.Virk suggested police have tunnel vision in their thirst to get gangs off the street.He questioned the credibility of Walker's sources, including readings on gangs which Virk said do not speak to the two Calgary gangs, Fresh off the Boat and Fresh off the Boat Killers

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major gangs operating in Aurora—the Latin Kings, the Vice Lords, and the Insane Deuces

There are still major gangs operating in the city—the Latin Kings, the Vice Lords, and the Insane Deuces—along with many smaller gang factions. They don't control territory like inner-city gangs. Instead, they usually run drugs out of ordinary-looking homes and businesses. Unlike inner-city gangs who frequently dabble in protection rackets, the gangs here generally leave local businesses alone. Part of the reason for that, law enforcement officers say, is that Aurora's retail scene consists mostly of big-box stores and national franchises rather than mom and pop establishments, which are more susceptible to extortion.
Nationwide, gauging the true scope of the gang problem is difficult, chiefly because law enforcement lacks a common definition of a gangster or what makes a particular crime gang-related. The FBI estimates that there are about 785,000 gang members in the country belonging to some 26,500 different gangs in 3,400 communities. That estimate excludes outlaw motorcycle and prison gangs. Even more troubling, a third of all communities say they have no gang problem when they actually do. It's a denial bred from either fear or stigma, according to the FBI.The thousands of active gangs around the country each have their own signs, lingo, and culture. Drug dealing and gun violence are common denominators, but each behaves differently depending on its location. In the Northeast, for instance, there's been a rise in the number of neighborhood and hybrid gangs composed of members of several different organizations. Around Washington, D.C., and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, meanwhile, the Latin American gang MS-13, best known for attacking its rivals with machetes, has become a particularly tough problem. There, cocaine and marijuana are the main drugs moved through gang networks.In the Midwest, the amount of gang activity around college campuses and schools is on the rise. Hispanic gangs are using Native American surrogates to move drugs onto Indian reservations, where gang activity is also on the rise. And out West, street gangs are diversifying their criminal portfolios to include identity theft while continuing to supply narcotics, mostly methamphetamines and marijuana. Gangs in the West are also most likely to partner with organized crime, particularly the Mexican drug cartels and the Asian mafia.Wherever they operate, gangs are increasingly turning to computers and the Internet. Often behind password-protected sites, they post photo-graphs of their own gang signs, colors, and tattoos. Police even report that some gangs are using their websites to take positions on local political issues. In fact, sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube have become quite useful to police gathering intelligence or investigating specific crimes. "Some gang members in Maryland are not too bright, and they will often post pictures of themselves and their gangs online or shoot videos of themselves defacing property or committing other crimes," says Charles Rapp, director of the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which helps scour open-source information for law enforcement agencies. For their part, the gangs sometimes post misleading information to fool police or rival gangs about potential meetings or activities.Yet despite all their bravado, at their essence the gangs remain fraternities of lawlessness, replenished with scores of young men from troubled neighborhoods in the name of belonging, enterprise, or necessity. "The pervasiveness of gangs throughout society is undeniable," the Justice Department concluded in its latest National Gang Threat Assessment in 2005. "As they migrate across the country, they bring with them drugs, weapons, and criminal activity."
Gangs are, however, also vulnerable because of their insatiable demand for guns, a weakness that federal officers are learning to exploit. Put simply, they are always looking for more guns to protect themselves and their illicit merchandise. Ammunition is also often in low supply for street gangs. Most gangsters use guns only once. They know that after a crime, the ATF enters the bullets or shell casings into databases to trace them. "Gangsters watch shows like CSI as homework and watch History Channel documentaries about gangs as research," says one veteran gang investigator. Guns are also lost, seized by the police, or broken during normal use. "Gangs will try to have enough guns for each full member to have access to one, though they also share between themselves," says Jared Lewis, a retired cop from the Modesto, Calif., antigang task force who now researches street gangs. Fortunately, that makes them easier targets for undercover operations. Add to that stricter laws under which those caught with guns and drugs face harsh sentences, and the effects are starting to be felt.

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Alberta Court of Appeal panel rejected a call by the prosecution to increase Hui (Philip) Xu's punishment to five years.

Alberta Court of Appeal panel rejected a call by the prosecution to increase Hui (Philip) Xu's punishment to five years. Crown lawyer Bob Sigurdson argued provincial court Judge John Bascom erred in not taking into account the cache of weapons police found in Xu's home when they busted him with the drugs. But the appeal court, in a unanimous decision handed down by Justice Rosemary Nation, said Bascom noted the weapons in his ruling. "The sentencing judge was alive to the presence of the weapons and there was no evidence the weapons formed any part in the commission of the offence," Nation said. Defence lawyer Hersh Wolch said the Ruger semi-automatic rifle, ammunition, Panther stun gun, Taser and Kevlar vest found in Xu's home were remnants of his former gang lifestyle -- he also said his client feared some of his former associates might not appreciate him going straight. "It is a fact that a close friend of the accused was murdered not long before this event," the lawyer said. "That friend was speaking to the police and counselling people not to get involved in the drug trade when he was killed." Xu said he was out of the drug life when he agreed to help a former associate complete a drug transaction. Police surveillance captured him picking up three boxes in southwest Calgary and taking them to his Coverton Heights N.E. home on June 15, 2005. Xu had arranged for the transportation of the drugs, worth up to $4.2 million on the street, and stored them in his garage before his arrest.

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