gang-related shooting that left a 20-year-old man dead and a 40-year-old man wounded in the Montecito Heights area of Northeast Los Angeles.

The shooting was reported at 8:40 p.m. Monday at 2649 Sichel St., near East Avenue 26, said Sgt. Michael Morisseau of the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollenbeck Station.The 20-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and the 40-year-old was hospitalized in stable condition, Morisseau said.The 40-year-old man appeared to be "an innocent bystander," Morisseau said. Police at the crime scene were looking for two men in their 20s, he said.Another gunshot victim turned up at a local hospital and authorities notified Hollenbeck homicide detectives, but that shooting did not appear to be related to the shooting on Sichel Street, Morisseau said.

Bloods, arrived in North Jersey less than 20 years ago, has steadily expanded its range to this area.

The Bloods -- a collection of drug dealers, killers and other criminals -- currently represent "the most serious gang problem" in about 65 percent of municipalities across South Jersey, according to a State Police survey.But the Bloods are only the latest underworld power in Camden. They follow in the bloody footsteps of murderous groups from recent decades like the Sons of Malcolm X, the Perez Organization and the Middle of the Block Boys, or M.O.B.Behind that constant criminal presence is an unending appetite for heroin, cocaine and other drugs."The demand for illicit drugs and services has been a sustaining force for gangs," said Lee Seglem of the State Commission of Investigation. "The drug trade continues to be the lifeblood of gangs."
Some of Camden's local gangs initially resisted the push from national gangs like the Bloods, said Raymond Massi, a former Camden police captain who now is with the U.S. Attorney's Office.But a more concentrated push to grab turf started here in 2004-05, leading to gains for the Bloods, said Michael Poulton, acting senior supervisory resident agent for the FBI's Cherry Hill Office.The number of reported Bloods in Camden County jumped to 859 in 2008, up from 457 two years earlier, according to the FBI."National gangs went through Trenton like a hot knife through butter (in 2003)," said Poulton. "They are doing the same thing in Camden right now."
Indeed, an SCI report last year noted members of the Bloods "are prolific in both their use of violence and in their methods of recruitment, particularly within the prison system."

It also notes the Bloods have expanded beyond gangs' traditional demographic limits. "With a rank-and-file membership of every race, creed and color, they are equal opportunity recruiters," says the SCI report.

That's an evolutionary change for gangs that started in prisons "primarily as self-protective organizations" for inmates who shared a common racial or ethnic background, according to the SCI. Those groups include the Bloods, which began in California in the 1970s, as well as the Latin Kings and the Association Neta.

The Bloods' early history in New Jersey is recorded, perhaps fittingly, in an October 2004 indictment. In that document, federal officials charged almost 20 alleged members and associates of the Double II set in Essex County with five murders, 14 attempted murders and other violent offenses.

The indictment says two California Bloods traveled to East Orange in 1993 and helped unify several local gangs, including the Drama Lords and Gutter Rats. That led to creation of the Double II set, the first in New Jersey, the indictment says.

About the same time, an inmate at Rikers Island Correctional Facility in New York City formed the East Coast Bloods -- also known as the United Bloods Nation, the indictment says.

The local Bloods adopted the hierarchical leadership structure of the West Coast Bloods, as well as such practices as using hand signals to communicate and feuding with rival Crips. They also identified themselves with red clothing and gang tattoos, and marked their territory with graffiti.

To join the Bloods, authorities said, newcomers were "put to work" -- the gang's term for committing acts of violence, including murder. Recruits also could be "beaten into the gang" -- a 31-second pounding also used as a form of punishment.From that start, says the SCI, the Bloods "evolved to become the fastest-growing, most dominant criminal enterprise of its kind both on the streets and in the prisons of this state."Here's a look at some of the Bloods' predecessors in the Camden area:The Sons of Malcolm X spread drugs and fear in the early 1990s. The group was linked to seven killings, including the deaths of three innocent victims during initiation rites one night in March 1992.Three gang members also beat and set fire to a woman and a teenager suspected of stealing from a drug house. The woman died of her injuries.
Most of the gang's leaders were imprisoned by 1995, but some later resurfaced in another deadly gang.The Organization flourished throughout the 1990s, collecting some $2 million annually from drug sales in The Alley, an isolated area near the now-demolished McGuire Gardens housing complex.The drug ring was overseen by J.R. Rivera of Cherry Hill, who was known to the community as a Camden businessman. Rivera was arrested in February 1998 at his East Camden store, J.R.'s Custom Auto Parts, where investigators found more than $236,000 in drug proceeds.Rivera later received a reduced sentence of 16 years after testifying for the government at the corruption trial of one-time Camden Mayor Milton Milan.The Perez Organization gained notoriety after the daylight slaying of a Rutgers-Camden senior, Hiram Rosa, outside his home near the school's campus in February 2001. It was one of three murders blamed on the gang, which operated from January 1998 to September 2002.Rosa, 22, was marked for death after he intervened in a turf dispute between a friend and a gang member, authorities said. An AK-47 assault rifle was used in his death.The gang, which included former members of the Sons of Malcolm X, had revenues of $35,000 a week from a North Camden drug set, authorities said.The M.O.B. Boys took their name from a drug set in the 1200 block of Morton Street -- specifically, the middle of the block. The violent gang, which operated from January 1998 to May 2006, was dismantled with a series of early-morning raids that netted 20 suspects.The Morales Organization operated from 1993 to 2004, selling kilograms of cocaine to area dealers and running an open-air market at Atlantic Avenue and Norris Street.

The gang's leader, Raymond Morales, secretly switched sides after his arrest in March 2003. His cooperation helped prosecutors win convictions of more than 20 "high-level drug dealers" and four people accused in drug-related murders, said the U.S. Attorney's Office.Morales has admitted to ordering the deaths of six people and trying to arrange the death of a witness. That death toll included one man who was the victim of mistaken identity.The former drug kingpin faces a potential maximum of seven life sentences. But federal authorities have said that, under an agreement with Morales, the government can recommend that he not face life in prison.A Morales hit man, Karah Moore, 36, of Camden, also became a government witness. He was sentenced Friday to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to a murder and drug activity.Authorities alleged Moore received $10,000 in cocaine from Morales for an April 2001 killing.

Brazilian Police Executes Gang Member

Brazilian Police Executes Gang Member - The most amazing bloopers are here
Brazilian Police Executes Gang Member

Forty one inmates escaped have from a prison on Mexico's northern border and two guards also disappeared

Forty one inmates escaped have from a prison on Mexico's northern border and two guards also disappeared, an official statement said.The state government of Tamaulipas said the inmates escaped from the jail in the Mexican city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville in the US state of Texas.Most of the prisoners had been detained for federal crimes, including organised crime and drug trafficking.The statement on Thursday said that the prison director had been immediately fired but gave no further information.The northern state of Tamaulipas has seen some of Mexico's worst drug violence in recent weeks as two formerly allied drug gangs, the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas, fight for control of the area which is on key trafficking routes into the United States.More than 15,000 people have died in suspected drug violence across Mexico since the end of 2006.Last year, 53 prisoners made a spectacular escape from a jail in Zacatecas, northern Mexico, aided by an armed gang and prison guards.

pig's head was found next to a sign for the mayor stating in part "you have two weeks left to live,"

pig's head was found next to a sign for the mayor stating in part "you have two weeks left to live," the Internet news Web site arrobajuarez.com reported.City officials believe the cleansing of the police department could be a motive behind a death threat.The mayor's security team has been looking into the threat and that security had been increased."We know the topic of cleaning up the police to have a trustworthy department is something that has affected a lot of criminal interests and we take very seriously these" threats, Reyes said in a statement when the threat was made. Reyes has been threatened before.Drug kingpin Joaquin "Chapo" Guzmán's Sinaloa drug cartel uses the term "marranos," or pigs, as a derogatory reference to members of the rival Juárez drug cartel.Since 2008, both cartels have been fighting

There are about 20 affiliations in Peoria, including the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords.

Detective Elizabeth Blair area of expertise in the "Circle of Violence" discussion was street gangs. She said there are about 20 affiliations in Peoria, including the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords."If someone is wanting to get out of the gang lifestyle, in my opinion, you're going to need to move," said Blair, a UIS graduate like Haynes and Guyton."If you're involved in an area in the city, how can you (stick around)? It's kind of like putting an alcoholic in a bar. Are they really going to cure their alcoholism?"Street gangs use graffiti to mark their turf.What goes up must come down, according to Haynes."It takes the community to be involved," she said. "When you see the graffiti showing up in your neighborhood stores, in the alleys - wherever it may be - the most important thing is to get rid of it."Haynes, who lives in Pekin, said he saw the writing on a garage wall last week when he left home to use an ATM near the bike trail."Very much surprised," said Haynes, not only by the initial Gangster Disciples graffiti, but even more by the Bloods name spray-painted over it. In some neighborhoods, that would be evidence of a gangland turf war.
"I could see where the Gangster Disciples would just be some wannabes," Haynes said. "But the specifics of the Bloods graffiti is what really stood out because it was obviously someone with a little bit more in-depth knowledge of the gang."

GANGWAR has broken out between Los Midnight Locos and members of the Lopez Maravilla gang, which originated in East Los Angeles

GANGWAR has broken out between Los Midnight Locos and members of the Lopez Maravilla gang, which originated in East Los Angeles but has been in El Paso since the 1970s. The animosity is as clear as the X'ed out graffiti spray-painted on wall after rock wall on Tropicana Avenue across the street from Collins Elementary School.Neighbors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, fear retaliation from gang members who menacingly strut down streets in a normally quiet middle-class area."They would also walk around with baseball bats and they would stand at the corner under the light post -- just stand there and stare down cars," a resident said. "Everybody wants to stay inside. Everybody is all cautious." The rivalry is also carried out in boastful Web pages and a local video on YouTube.com by the Lopez Maravilla gang.In response, a video posted this week, apparently by fed-up residents, warns gang members that they are being watched.
Recently, things heated when a Molotov cocktail was part of an unsolved attempted arson at the home of an alleged gang member, Fernie Gonzalez, in the 4800 block of Tropicana. Firefighters said there was no major damage.Then on March 14, a brawl erupted about 6:20 a.m. when gang members attacked two men and three women at a home in the 5300 block of Viceroy, according to complaint affidavits filed by a gang investigator and obtained by the El Paso Times.
Police said the attack was by the Lopez Maravilla against Los Midnight Locos. It is unclear whether all involved were gang members.According to the documents, Erika Cochran, 17, allegedly drove the attackers to the home. They used a baseball bat, a tire iron and jumper cables, and Gonzalez, 18, allegedly fired a handgun toward two people and the home. Gonzalez was trying to reload when Ernesto Sanchez stopped him. Then another attacker hit Sanchez with a baseball bat. Cochran allegedly used a tire iron to bash the windows of a woman's car. Before the assault was over, Gonzalez allegedly shot Rudy Villanueva, who received a bullet graze to the head. Police stopped the alleged attackers' car a block away. Gonzalez and Coch ran have been arrested and charged with criminal attempted murder, two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity -- aggravated assault and two counts deadly conduct. More arrests are possible.Police Lt. Miguel Zamora, of the Northeast Regional Command, said families with ties to the Lopez Maravilla moved to the Northeast after being displaced by the floods that struck El Paso in 2006. "The gang is not native to the Northeast and as its numbers grew, so did the rivalry," he said Zamora said police are trying to prevent more trouble by increasing patrols, paying extra attention and encouraging residents to report problems. As for gang members standing on corners with baseball bats, police said it is not illegal.
Gang-intervention counselor Rob Gallardo said the gangs are fighting for territory, for recruits and over personal disputes. "The personal beefs get very serious and sometimes turn deadly," he said in an e-mail.Meanwhile, residents near Tropicana and Kellogg streets are stuck in the middle, frustrated and fearful.Gang members "jumped this guy one time and that day the police didn't even show up. And it was a 911 call," one neighbor complained. "We (authorities) are worried about the violence in Juárez but we aren't worried about what is going on here

Ducarme Joseph, believed to be a practitioner of voodoo, was also carrying an amulet which contained a prayer he believed made him untouchable

Ducarme Joseph, was ordered to remain behind bars pending his upcoming trial on assault charges.The 41-year-old was arrested Friday on allegations he violated bail conditions imposed on him last year. He was also charged with being in possession of a prohibited weapon — a silencer that was found in his apartment.On Monday, Joseph pleaded guilty to charges he breached his bail conditions by associating with individuals named by the court.During the bail hearing, two Montreal police detectives described Joseph as the most dangerous street gang member in Montreal and accused him of already plotting revenge for Friday’s shooting.Joseph is the leader of the 67 gang, named after a bus route in Montreal’s Saint-Michel district, and affiliated with the Crips gang, also known as the Blues, said Det.Jean-Claude Gauthier and Det. Pascal Leclair.Within 90 minutes of the shooting Friday afternoon, Joseph was in Saint-Michel, where an informant said he met with a hitman known as Gunman, the detectives said.The following morning, Joseph travelled to the offices of real estate developer Antonio Magi, a man police said is known to have links to the Montreal mafia.According to court documents filed by police, Ducarme Joseph is a reputed street gang leader. (CBC)Magi’s offices on Upper Lachine Road in the city’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district are meters away from the spot where the son of the reputed head of the Montreal mafia, Nick Rizzuto Jr., was gunned down in December.
When he was arrested, Ducarme was unarmed said the officers. But, they said he was carrying a hand-drawn picture of a man. Underneath, it read "does he have pictures of the guys to be eliminated."Ducarme, also believed to be a practitioner of voodoo, was also carrying an amulet which contained a prayer he believed made him untouchable, the detectives said.detectives said Ducarme expressed no remorse for the shooting at his boutique, which killed a man described as Ducarme’s bodyguard.
Crown prosecutor Anne-Marie Otis argued Ducarme should forfeit the $50,000 bond he had posted last year and argued that releasing him could pose a threat to the community.Investigators believe Joseph was the intended target of the attack at the Flawnego boutique.Police have speculated that the professionally executed slayings were an act of retaliation connected to the criminal underworld.Police sources have said the incident, which created a stir in an area popular with tourists, may be related to the slaying of Rizzuto.Rizzuto was the son of the reputed head of the Montreal mafia, Vito Rizzuto.Vito Rizzuto is currently in a medium-security prison in Colorado, serving a 10-year sentence for racketeering in connection with three murders in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1981

bullet-riddled bodies of eight men were discovered in different areas around Acapulco in apparent drug-related killings

Thirteen people were killed in and around the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco, with four victims found beheaded, security officials said. Another gunbattle in the state left 11 people dead.

Five of those killed were police officers whose night-time patrol was ambushed by gunmen early Saturday in Tuncingo, a rural area on the outskirts of the Pacific coast resort city.

The bullet-riddled bodies of eight other men were discovered in different areas around Acapulco in apparent drug-related killings, officials said. Two of the decapitated men were found on a scenic road packed with nightclubs. The violence occurred as thousands of U.S. college students started arriving in the area for spring break.More violence apparently linked to drugs flared later Saturday in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, with Mexican soldiers exchanging fire with gunmen, national newspaper Reforma reported. One soldier and 10 gunmen were killed in the shootout in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, the newspaper said.
Valentin Diaz, director of the Guerrero state investigative police, said the gunfight erupted in the middle of the day in the center of the town as it was full of bystanders.Several cartels are fighting over drug-dealing turf and trafficking routes in Guerrero. Gang violence occurs almost every day in the state, but Saturday was unusually bloody. Any resurgence in violence would be bad news for the country's tourism industry. Last June, at least 18 people were killed in a shootout between drug gangs and soldiers in Acapulco, which is home to around a million people.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Guerrero and other drug-trafficking hotspots across Mexico in an effort to root out cartels. Gang violence has surged since the crackdown began three years ago, claiming more than 17,900 lives. Farther to the south in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, a grenade explosion inside a car killed one man and wounded another. State prosecutors said the dead man was holding the weapon when it exploded.Investigators believe the victim belonged to the Zetas drug gang and had been about to throw the grenade at federal police offices in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez.

federal agencies have interrogated 200 Barrio Azteca gang members

Arrested 28 people on charges of possession of cocaine, auto theft and possession of marijuana and weapons Thursday and Friday in one of the city's largest law enforcement operations.The sweep, called Operation Knock Down, was prompted by the murders of three people with ties to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez. The FBI and DEA want to generate leads in the killings. The federal agencies have interrogated 200 Barrio Azteca gang members.Mexican officials said they suspect that the Aztecas gang of Juárez might have been involved in the shootings. The Juárez-based Aztecas and El Paso-based Barrio Azteca gangs are brother organizations that carry out killings for the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes' Juárez drug cartel.The names of those arrested were not released because of the ongoing investigation

Gang warfare between two teenage gangs, involving guns, that resulted in one fatality and three other injuries

Gang warfare between two teenage gangs, involving guns, that resulted in one fatality and three other injuries. Police are currently conducting further investigations into the incident. Pattaya, 22 March, 2010: In the early morning, today, following the Pattaya International Music Festival, gang warfare erupted under highway bridge no.7 on the Sukhumvit Road, some 50m before the PTT petrol station, Naklua, between two rival teenage motorcycle gangs, involving one gang being shot with firearms.Being notified of the incident at 1.30am, a police team led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Phongsawat Wongwan (Pattaya Police Investigator), accompanied by paramedics from the Sawang Boriboon Rescue Services, went to the incident to investigate.On arrival, the police discovered a gang of 50 youths on parked motorbikes gathered round where the severe incident had occurred, to find four shot youths lying in the road, 1 of them dead. The dead youth was Kraisorn Tanphet, 14, a Grade 8 student from Mueng Pattaya 8 Secondary School. He had been shot directly in right eye thoroughly the occipital nerve, with another shot to the right chest. The other three severely injured youths were sent to either Banglamung Hospital or Pattaya Memorial Hospital for treatment. All the injured were from Mueng Pattaya 7 Secondary School. They were Saran Rurorb, 15, shot in the right leg, Natthaphon Thabthim, 17, a Grade 9 student, shot in the left leg, and Supphakiet, 15, shot in the left hip.At the scene, police also discovered a red Honda Wave 10m from the dead body, as well as eight 9mm bullets and three no. 12 bullets, (2 used and 1 unused) on the road, which were kept as evidence.Questioning Aphichat Rordnoi, 16, a friend of the deceased youth, who had been riding pillion at the time of the incident, police were told that before the incident, the gang leader, Kraisorn, and 50 gang members had gone to the final night of the Pattaya International Music Festival 2010 at the Bali Hai Pier Stage, South Pattaya. After the end of the festival, all the gang members left by motorbike, in order to either go home or drop friends off at different points.At the same time, several other teen gangs were driving motorbikes out of the concert, going home. When Kraisorn’s gang reached 20m away from the incident, they found 20 youths belonging to a rival gang had parked their motorbikes beside the road. One of these teenagers pulled out a gun and began shooting at members of Kraisorn’s gang, killing the gang leader and severely injuring three others. Frightened by the developments, the other members of Kraisorn’s gang fled the scene in different directions. The gang containing the shooter also fled.Police Lieutenant Colonel Nanthawut Suwanlaorng (Pattaya Police Superintendent) put the incident down to inter-gang rivalry and told the press that the police are currently conducting further investigations into the incident to bring the assailant to justice.

California declares war on biker gang accused of 'booby trap' plot

Police in California have arrested 30 members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, a group of 300 Harley-Davidson riders, amid allegations that they have been attempting to use home-made booby traps to maim and kill the detectives who keep an eye on their nefarious daily activities.In recent weeks, a series of potentially deadly devices, built largely from materials bought at local hardware stores, were discovered at the homes and workplaces of a police gang-enforcement unit in Hemet, a suburban town in Riverside County, on the eastern fringes of Los Angeles. The Vagos gang, also known as "The Green Nation", is suspected of planting them.One contraption consisted of a natural-gas pipeline which was shoved through a hole drilled into the roof of a police gang unit's headquarters. It filled the building with highly-flammable vapour which, in the words of an officer quoted by local reporters, "would have taken out half a city block" if they had not smelled the danger before anyone was hurt.
Another, set at the same location, saw a rifle rigged up so that it would go off when anyone tried to enter the security gate outside. An officer triggered the mechanism, firing a bullet that missed his face by eight inches. He survived unscathed, he said, only because he had moved out of the way to open the gate, which had wonky wheels. In a third assassination attempt, Vagos members are suspected of attaching an explosive device to the underside of a policeman's car as he shopped at a local convenience store. He escaped without injury because he noticed that his vehicle had been tampered with. No one knows why the mostly Hispanic gang, which was founded in nearby San Bernardino in the 1960s, might suddenly have declared war on police, but there is speculation that the attacks are retaliation for detectives turning up uninvited at the December funeral of a member. Either way, on Wednesday morning, the police struck back. In scenes straight out of a Marlon Brando movie, cops launched dawn raids on the group at addresses across southern California. They seized large quantities of weapons and drugs, and also discovered a methamphetamine laboratory. "In the last few months, they've gotten our attention, but today we gave them some attention back," Riverside County's District Attorney, Rod Pacheco, said afterwards.
The high-profile arrests, and revelations about the attacks which prompted them, have raised concerns about biker gangs, part of a sub-culture which began in California during the late 1940s, and was subsequently exported across the world.Members of the Vagos, who wear green bandanas and leather jackets embroidered with pictures of Loki, the Norse god of mischief, are, as with most biker gangs, suspected of drug-smuggling and running protection rackets. Their territory extends across Mexico and America's south-western states. They have a loose alliance with the Mongols and Bandidos, two other mostly Hispanic organisations, and in the past have chiefly made headlines for sporadic clashes with the Hells Angels, which was also founded in San Bernardino.

The State of California has offered a $200,000 (£133,000) reward to anyone willing to testify against the group. "It's terrible and unprecedented for police officers to be subjected to these kind of terrorist attacks," said the State Attorney General Jerry Brown.

MACHETE SLAUGHTER

Ducarme Joseph, 41, was arrested Friday for violating his bail conditions related to an assault charge.

Ducarme Joseph, 41, was arrested Friday for violating his bail conditions related to an assault charge. He is alleged to have intimidated business owners in a bid to exert influence over drug territory.Joseph was picked up less than a day after four men were shot in broad daylight at his St-Jacques Street clothing shop.
Ducarme Joseph is scheduled to be arraigned Saturday for allegedly violating bail conditions. (CBC) Police have speculated that the professionally executed slaying was an act of retaliation connected to the criminal underworld.Masked shooters opened fire in the upscale clothing shop just after lunch hour. The victims range from 27 to 59 years of age, and three of them are known to police, including the youngest victim, identified as Joseph's bodyguard.Investigators believe Joseph was the intended target of the attack. There are reports he slipped out the back door of the Flawnego boutique during the shooting.Authorities have been searching for two suspects seen fleeing the scene of the shooting in the city's historic waterfront business district.According to court documents filed by police, Joseph is a reputed street gang leader and also acted as an enforcer for a Montreal real estate developer.

Top Ten Best Assualt Rifles

He leaves a trail of blood behind him, and leading to him." Maria Mourani, the Bloc Québécois MP for Ahuntsic who wrote a book about street-gang life

police found a Rastafarian-style wig discarded as the suspects fled on foot - from which they hope to get real hair samples - several guns, a glove and surveillance tapes, said Montreal police Inspector Charles Mailloux, of the special investigations unit.There were about 50 bullet holes in the walls of the FlawNego store, he added.But it wasn't until yesterday police arrested Joseph on Upper Lachine Rd. around 2 p.m., ostensibly on breaching his bail conditions.Arrested in September for assault causing bodily harm, Joseph was released on $50,000 bail. Among other conditions, he was not to associate with the co-accused, including Christopoulos.But he also may have been taken into custody for his own good, a source said yesterday.Interestingly, Joseph was arrested yesterday not far from where Nick Rizzuto Jr., the son of reputed mob boss Vito Rizzuto, was gunned down in December, down the street from the offices of FTM Construction, run by Antonio Magi.
Mailloux refused to draw any links between Rizzuto's death and the shooting at Joseph's store Thursday. Retaliation is "one of the possible scenarios among many," Mailloux said. "It's only been 24 hours since the shooting." Stephen Schneider, author of Iced: A History of Organized Crime in Canada and a professor of criminology at St. Mary's University in Halifax, had several other, no less colourful, scenarios, however."There really is a power vacuum in Montreal with (Vito) Rizzuto in jail and no clear successor. ... I'm also wondering to what extent these killings relate to corruption in the construction industry and in the municipal government." Vito Rizzuto, currently in jail in the United States, emphasized an Omerta (code of honour) kind of secrecy, Schneider continued. Was the attempt on Joseph's life punishment for making information on the scandals public? "Is (Joseph) someone who has been cooperating with police and providing them with information?" The more obvious answer is that Joseph, reputed to be linked to the Bloods street gang, was trying to expand the gang's territory from Montreal North into central Montreal, said Julien Sher, an investigative journalist who has written two books on the Hells Angels.

And someone didn't like it.

"This guy is a relatively fast riser - a new boss in town who has stepped on a lot of toes and pissed off a lot of people." One of Joseph's sidekicks is dead, Sher continued, another is in a wheelchair, after being shot in a bar on the same street in Old Montreal.

"He leaves a trail of blood behind him, and leading to him." Maria Mourani, the Bloc Québécois MP for Ahuntsic who wrote a book about street-gang life in Montreal – La face cachée des gangs de rue – is convinced the hit has everything to do with the Rizzuto shooting in December, and the serial firebombings of Italian cafés.

"Everything is linked. It's an escalation of the conflict and violence. It didn't start yesterday, it started with shootings in cafés in 2008." Mourani said the Italian clan is divided, but so are its enforcers, the Bloods, also known as the Reds.

"The Blues and the Reds no longer mean anything in this conflict

Joseph Ducarme Arrested

arrested Joseph Ducarme (who is also known as Ducarme Joseph), the owner of a clothing shop in Old Montreal where two people were killed in a shooting Thursday. Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux confirmed a man who was at the shooting scene Thursday was arrested Friday for breach of bail conditions.The man was arrested for being with known criminals, which was forbidden under the terms of his bail.
Media reports said Ducarme was arrested but Lemieux would not confirm that it was in fact Ducarme.Lemieux said the suspect would appear in court Saturday. She said police are still looking for suspects in the shooting as well as witnesses who may have relevant information about the case.Police patrollers were also fanning out in Old Montreal Friday to reassure business owners and residents following the gangland-style shooting at a St. Jacques St. W. boutique Thursday that left two dead and two injured.The shooting seems to have been a planned hit, and not a random event, Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux said.It had all the appearances of a "settling of accounts," Lemieux said.Three of the four victims, whose ages ranged from 27 to 59, were known to police, she said. The upscale boutique where the shooting took place had also come to police attention in the past, she added.Investigators are still searching for two suspects who opened fire Thursday afternoon at FlawNego, a shop owned by Joseph Ducarme, who is believed to be tied to a street gang. Ducarme's bodyguard, Peter Christopoulos, 27, and an unidentified man were killed. Two other men were injured.One of the victims, who is still recovering in the hospital, was an electrician who was working in the store at the time, according to media reports.Ducarme, who managed to escape out a back door, will soon be interviewed by investigators, if he hasn't already spoken to them, Lemieux said early Friday afternoon.Meanwhile, investigators have seized items that seem to have belonged to the gunmen, and viewed video surveillance of the area, Lemieux said. They have also interviewed witnesses to the shooting and the gunmen's escape.head of defunct street gang 67, Joseph Ducarme is a key player in the tumult that has rocked the middle shady past year. The surprise attack took place at his business in the Rue Saint-Jacques, yesterday, which killed two people, could, according to police, be linked to the murder of Nicolo Rizzuto, the godfather Montreal older, Vito Rizzuto , which occurred last December in western Montreal Joseph, covered by an attack that killed two people in his shop in the Rue Saint-Jacques, yesterday, was arrested along with two other men this morning while riding in a black Mercedes in the Notre Lady of Grace, The Press has learned. It is the team tactics of the Police Service of the City of Montreal (CMPS) has arrested the trio on the Street Upper Lachine, near Wilson. Ils ont été appréhendés non loin de l'endroit où Niccolo Rizzuto Jr, fils du chef présumé de la mafia montréalaise, Vito Rizzuto, a été abattu en pleine rue, le 28 décembre dernier. They were arrested not far from where Nicolo Rizzuto Jr., son of the alleged leader of the Montreal Mafia, Vito Rizzuto, was shot in the street last December 28. Reportedly, Joseph and two other men were taken to a post SPVM for i A spokesman Anie Lemieux, however, clarified that a person 41 years old (Joseph) and another man were arrested in the west of the city for breach of condition between 11:00 and noon. Ils comparaîtront demain par vidéoconférence au palais de justice de Montréal. They will appear by video conference tomorrow at the courthouse in Montreal. Remember that Joseph was required to observe a curfew from 22h to 7h for his involvement in a case of assault occurred in mid-September in a restaurant on the Boulevard Saint-Laurent. L'ex-chef du gang de rue des 67 avait pu recouvrer la liberté après avoir versé une caution de 50 000$. The former head of the street gang of 67 had been recovered freedom after paying bail of $ 50 000. L'un des coaccusés dans cette cause, Peter Christopoulos, 27 ans, est mort criblé de balles, hier, lors du double meurtre survenu à l'intérieur du magasin Flawnego, une boutique de vêtements pour femmes. One co-accused in this case, Peter Christopoulos, 27, died riddled with bullets yesterday's double murder occurred inside the store Flawnego, a clothing store for women. Investigators of the Montreal police have spent the night searching every corner of Commerce Street Saint-Jacques to find clues that could put them on the trail of the perpetrators of the shooting.

shooting was an apparent flare-up between warring factions of the Gangster Disciples street gang

shooting was an apparent flare-up between warring factions of the Gangster Disciples street gang -- one whose territory is west of Ashland Avenue, the other whose turf lies to the east -- Chicago police said.Police and fire officials said a 34-year-old man shot in the chest was in critical condition at Stroger Hospital this morning. A 24-year-old man shot in the shoulder was in good condition at Loyola University Hospital in Maywood.Also, a 19 year-old man shot in the abdomen was at Stroger Hospital in stable condition, and an 18-year-old who showed up at a nearby police station with a leg wound was treated and released from Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.Only the four were wounded, despite early reports of more victims, police saidPolice said they still had few details because the shooting victims were uncooperative.police say four people were wounded in a gang-related shooting on the city's South Side Thursday night.The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. near 77th Street and Loomis Boulevard.The ages of the victims range from 19 to 34-years old.A 34-year old man was shot in the chest and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious-critical condition. A 26-year old male victim is listed in serious-condition at Loyola University Hospital in Maywood. He was shot in the abdomen.The other two victims, a 24-year old and 19-year old man, also are in the hospital listed in fair-serious critical condition. The 24-year old was shot in the chest and the 19-year old was taken to the hospital by police after he went to a nearby police station.According to the Tribune's Breaking News Center, police blame a flare-up between warring factions of a Chicago street gang.

Simon Overland has dodged a six-figure fine after being caught with live ammunition boarding a flight from Canberra to Melbourne.

Simon Overland has dodged a six-figure fine after being caught with live ammunition boarding a flight from Canberra to Melbourne.
The Victorian Chief Commissioner, who carries a gun because of fears he could be an organised-crime target, was caught with a magazine loaded with bullets at Canberra Airport on Thursday afternoon.Has Simon Overland got off lightly? Tell us what you think in the comments below
But while Mr Overland has avoided a maximum $110,000 fine, a screening officer who missed the banned item - when Mr Overland flew from Melbourne to Canberra - has been stood down.The officer, who works in Melbourne Airport's Qantas terminal, will be retrained for his blunder.Mr Overland inadvertently left the ammunition in his carry-on luggage.Sources have told the Herald Sun he had placed his pistol, believed to be a 9mm semi-automatic Glock, in a locked box before boarding the flight.But while the State Government has backed the Chief Commissioner, former National Crime Authority chairman and prominent barrister Peter Faris, QC, said he should be charged.
"So it's OK to carry bullets on a plane?" Mr Faris said.
"It's a serious criminal offence. Any other citizen would be charged.
"The AFP should charge him and it should be left for a court to consider.
"It's a no-brainer.
"You can't just say he's the Victorian Chief Commissioner so he can't be charged."
But instead of being fined or charged, Mr Overland was cautioned and will be issued with a letter of reprimand by the Office of Transport Security.In a statement, it said it was "consistent with the approach taken where similarly inadvertent incidents have occurred involving police officers".Mr Overland contacted Office of Police Integrity director Michael Strong yesterday to brief him about the incident.An embarrassed Mr Overland told AFP officers at Canberra Airport to confiscate the bullets after being screened and interviewed.
An investigation has been launched by the Office of Security Transport, but no further action is expected.
Mr Overland, however, will have to write a detailed report for the OPI.
Mr Overland normally carries a semi-automatic pistol, but a Victoria Police spokeswoman refused to say if it is a Glock 9mm or how long he has carried a gun.
A statement from Victoria Police yesterday confirmed the incident."The Chief Commissioner had inadvertently carried a magazine containing ammunition through the screening point and when it was discovered he asked AFP members to confiscate it immediately and co-operated fully with them," it said.
Police Association secretary Greg Davies said Mr Overland did not deserve preferen- tial treatment."Our position will be there is one law for everyone," he said.
The only authorities permitted to carry guns on planes are air marshals.

B.C.’s most notorious gang members, Jonathan Bacon, 28, and two associates will face a new trial for weapons and drugs charges

B.C. gangster who escaped 15 criminal charges for weapons and drug offences when a judge tossed out a search warrant must now face a new trial.

Jonathan Bacon - who police have publicly identified as a gang member - was arrested along with Godwin Cheng and Rayleene Burton in August 2005.

Police searched two vehicles and seized marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and more than $90,000 in cash.While officers had been denied a search warrant the day before the arrest because there were not reasonable grounds, after the arrests they were granted the warrant to search Bacon’s Abbotsford, B.C., townhouse.In the townhouse, police found more marijuana, cash, automatic weapons, illegal ammunition, silencers, a bulletproof vest, a police uniform and a police scanner.
At trial, provincial court Judge Donald Gardiner found that the arresting officer didn’t have adequate grounds to make the arrests, making the arrest unlawful and the subsequent search warrant invalid.He threw out all the charges against the accused.
B.C.’s most notorious gang members, Jonathan Bacon, 28, and two associates will face a new trial for weapons and drugs charges that were previously tossed out by a lower court.Bacon, who police have publicly identified as a member of the Red Scorpion Gang, was arrested along with Godwin Cheng and Rayleene Burton in August 2005, after police seized marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and more than $90,000 in cash from two vehicles.Police obtained a warrant to search Bacon’s Abbotsford townhouse, east of Vancouver, where they found more marijuana, cash, automatic weapons, illegal ammunition, silencers, a bulletproof vest and a police uniform.At the original trial in June 2008, provincial court Judge Donald Gardiner threw out all 15 charges against the three accused, ruling police did not have the grounds to obtain a search warrant.
Gardiner said allowing the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.But on Thursday morning, three B.C. Appeal Court justices disagreed, saying the information used to obtain the warrant was a long way from abuse of process.
The judges ordered the three accused to stand trial on the charges again.Bacon’s brothers, Jarrod, 25, and Jamie, 22, were arrested in May 2009 on numerous weapons charges. They each face nine counts of firearms-related charges and are jointly charged with 15 additional firearms offences.Jamie Bacon and two other alleged members of the Red Scorpion gang are also facing first-degree murder charges in connection to the slayings of six people in a Surrey condo in 2007.

insult from a rival gang member was all it took for Riqo Mariano Perea to pull a gun and fire into a crowd gathered for a post-wedding party

insult from a rival gang member was all it took for Riqo Mariano Perea to pull a gun and fire into a crowd gathered for a post-wedding party three years ago, killing two people and wounding two others, a prosecutor told a 2nd District Court jury Tuesday.
"In the gang world, it's all about respect, and it's all about retaliation," Gary Heward said during closing arguments. "Riqo Perea was going to show he was the biggest and baddest." Defense attorney Randall Richards countered that Perea was ordered by an older gang member to "take the rap" for the Aug. 5, 2007, shootings and Riqo confessed to protect his family. Richards claimed "two, three or maybe four guns were used" during the attack, and none of them was fired by his client. Heward countered there was no evidence Perea was taking the fall for someone else. The jury, after 2½ hours of deliberation, agreed with prosecutors that Perea pulled the trigger. The 22-year-old was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder for killing Sabrina Prieto, 22, and Rosendo Nevarez, 29. He also was convicted of two counts of first-degree felony attempted murder for wounding Richard Lee Esquivel, 26, and Keri Garcia, 24. Perea is set for sentencing May 27 by Judge Ernie Jones, who could sentence him to life with or without the possibility of parole on the aggravated murder counts. Prior to the shooting, witnesses testified they heard an argument on the street outside an Ogden home in the 1700 East block of 1050 North, where about 40 people had gathered. The shouting included the names of two rival gangs, "Ogden Trece" and "Norte," followed by one or two shots fired into the air. Moments later, according to four people at the party, a red SUV coasted down the street as someone leaned out the front passenger-side window and fired over the roof of the vehicle. Three of the witnesses did not recognize the shooter, but the fourth, Sarah Valencia, testified it was Perea, whom she had known for about eight years. The SUV's driver and two passengers testified Perea was riding in the front passenger seat. One passenger testified he saw Perea shooting and that afterward the slide on the semi-automatic pistol was locked back, indicating the magazine was empty. The other passenger testified he never saw the gun, but did see the muzzle flash as it was fired.

The driver of the SUV, Dominique Duran, said she saw Perea hanging out of the vehicle and heard shots fired, but she claimed she did not know who the shooter was.
The killings spurred what police believe was a series of retaliatory shootings. In one case, a man was shot seven times and dumped in an Ogden industrial area, but survived. Heward said it was no coincidence that Perea's confession lined up with witness testimony and fits the physical evidence. A key witness for the defense was James Gaskill, a Weber State University professor and forensic scientist who once headed the State Crime Lab. Gaskill claimed that shots fired from the moving SUV would have left empty shells strewn along the roadway. Instead, police found 10 shell casings from a .22-caliber pistol grouped near the driveway of a neighboring home. Gaskill said the grouping indicates there was "an almost stationary" shooter near where the shells ended up. Gaskill also claimed there must have been a second shooter in the backyard of the party house, a third shooter in front of the home and possibly a fourth shooter hiding inside a Chevrolet parked in the driveway of the home. He based his opinion on the wound trajectories of the victims, a parked pickup truck that would have blocked bullets fired from the SUV and a shot-out window in the parked Chevrolet. Gaskill said a shooter in the backyard explained why Prieto was shot in the chest while running from the front of the house. But Heward said the woman could have been hit before she turned to run. Heward also noted that none of the witnesses saw or heard anyone shooting from the back of the home. Prosecutor Christopher Shaw called Gaskill's testimony "illogical" and "unreliable," and said it was not based on facts in evidence.

Hells Angels and Comanchero clubs, which have been involved in a two-year feud over a Hells Angels tattoo parlour in Comanchero territory

Hells Angels and Comanchero clubs, which have been involved in a two-year feud over a Hells Angels tattoo parlour in Comanchero territory, are also in the sights of the NSW Police as they prepare to declare one of the state's outlaw clubs to be a criminal organisation.The Hells Angels' Sydney chapter has a new president, Felix Jonathan Lyle, a man with a long and dangerous history.A kung-fu expert with connections to Sydney's criminal milieu, Mr Lyle was until 2002 a high-ranking member of the Bandidos.After years without a club, he joined the Hells Angels in 2009 as a probationary member. Last month he became president.''Less than a year and he's boss - it's impressive,'' one law-enforcement source said, adding that Mr Lyle's rise could represent a ''criminalisation'' of the chapter.A source close to the Hells Angels agreed with that assessment.''It's a total restructure - the whole ethos will be changed under Felix.''His son, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has also become an office bearer in the chapter. Lyle replaces former RTA safety officer Derek James Wainohu, who has led the chapter for more than a decade and was alleged to have been involved in the airport brawl. Under him the group was seen as being more interested in motorbikes than crime.The chapter has moved its clubhouse 20 kilometres east, from Guildford in Sydney's west to the inner-western suburb of Croydon. The Comanchero have also spent the year re-organising, after a dozen members including national president Mahmoud ''Mick'' Hawi, were charged with murder following the airport brawl.Mr Hawi was replaced as supreme bikie by his right-hand man, Duax Hohepa Ngakuru, who has recruited new faces and seemingly encouraged the club to push into Kings Cross.
It is common knowledge among club owners in Sydney's red-light district that a group of men, which includes a senior member of the Comanchero, have created an off-the-books interest in at least one nightclub.Two weekends ago four Comanchero created a scene outside a nightclub associated with Kings Cross identity John Houssam Ibrahim. One of the men is a member of a family involved in a feud with John Ibrahim and his three brothers.

Donatello Fenner, a 22-year-old leader of a North Baltimore gang shot.

Police found Fenner with several gunshot wounds about 4:20 p.m. in an alley in the 2600 block of N. Calvert St. Fenner was said to be a ranking member of the Young Gorilla Family gang, and that group has been linked to much of the violence recently in the Barclay neighborhood, just south of where Fenner was found wounded, according to police.Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman, said Fenner was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before 5 p.m. Moses said there were "no suspects, no motives."Fenner has eluded serious prison time, but in a June 2008 Sun article, Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III singled him out as someone police were watching as part of an increased effort to target the city's most violent people."We try to keep very good track of him. We think he's a catalyst for violence in the neighborhood," Bealefeld said of Fenner at the time.Fenner was charged a few months later with attempted murder, stemming from a May 2008 shooting, and was ordered held without bond. The charges were dropped by prosecutors in August 2009, and he was released. In November, he was picked up on an assault charge and was awaiting a March 25 court date.Ten people were gunned down in the Barclay neighborhood in 2007 alone, but the area has since emerged as one of the city's success stories. Since 2007, three people have been killed there.

Two suspected gang members are in custody for allegedly shooting a man, his wife and their 6 year old daughter

Two suspected gang members are in custody for allegedly shooting a man, his wife and their 6 year old daughter outside their Anaheim apartment complex.Just before 8:00 p.m. Sunday, the man was shot in his back and leg, the woman was shot in her leg, and the girl was shot in the foot, according to Tim Schmidt of the Anaheim Police Department.Police believe the victims were all innocent bystanders caught in gunfire.
An adult and a juvenile were arrested and booked for investigation of felony aggravated assault and gang enhancements.Their names are being withheld while the investigation continues.The family was standing in the driveway of their residence in the 600 block East Avalon Place apartment complex at the time of the shooting. Police said they were in the process of buying a car, and had paperwork laid out on the vehicle to sign.Investigators say one or both of the suspects apparently got out of a car and were targeting a rival Sunday night when the family was shot.All three victims were transported to UCI Medical Center for treatment, according to Schmidt. Their injuries were described as non-life threatening.

two decapitated men bodies were left on a scenic road packed with nightclubs in the resort city of Acapulco.

two decapitated men whose bodies were left on a scenic road packed with nightclubs in the resort city of Acapulco.In a separate incident, gunmen killed five police officers patrolling in Tuncingo, a rural community outside Acapulco. In the same area, police found bullet-ridden bodies of five men, including two who had been beheaded.Another man was found shot to death on the edge of Acapulco.Police named no motive for the killings early Saturday. It is unclear if they were related.Guerrero state is a key battleground for Mexico’s brutal drug cartels.The Los Angeles Times reports that the murders come just as spring break tourists have started to arrive:

shooting death of a 21-year-old man capped a 24-hour spate of gang violence.

According to police, the latest killing happened shortly after 9 p.m. Friday when someone shot John "Tarzan" Maldonado three times, in his chest, the side of his torso and near his hip.Maldonado was pronounced dead at 9:44 p.m.Police believe Maldonado may have been killed in retribution for the death Thursday of another man, Jerome "Rude Boy" Scarlett.Maldonado's girlfriend, 24-year-old Shameeka Burks, said Maldonado believed he was a gang target.In addition to the two homicides, the violence that struck Newburgh Thursday and Friday included three robberies and a gang assault with machetes. Police have arrested suspects only in the machete attack.

gang from New Ellenton trying to stake a ‘claim’ on Aiken territory.

inner County feud is what witnesses say caused Friday nights’ shooting in Crosland Park. Stephon Carter, 17 was shot in the leg on Sommer Avenue, in Crosland Park around 10:35 p.m. Friday. Aiken Public Safety Investigators say a ‘block’ party turned into a fight when a crowd from another part of the neighborhood stopped by. Witnesses say that ‘crowd’ is actually a gang from New Ellenton trying to stake a ‘claim’ on Aiken territory. “They’re from another hood, so they’re going to come down here and try to get respect or trying to own this territory,” said an unidentified witness.

U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico,Three people killed in two drive-by shootings

Three people connected to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, were killed in two drive-by shootings, a senior White House official told CNN Sunday.
Two of the victims were an American employee at the consulate and her U.S. citizen husband. The husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate was also killed. The shootings happened Saturday afternoon, the official said.US woman working at the consulate in Ciudad Juarez and her American husband were killed in a drive-by shooting in broad daylight as they left a consulate social event, officials said.

The couple's one-year-old baby who was in the back seat of their car was left unharmed.

A Mexican man married to another consulate employee was also killed around the same time in another part of the city after he and his wife left the same event.
Several American citizens have been killed in Mexico's drug war, but it is rare for US government employees to be targeted

The American couple, identified by Mexican authorities only as a woman about 25 years old and a man around 30, were found dead inside a white Toyota RAV4 with Texas license plates

, according to the Chihuahua state attorney general's office.
The woman was shot in the neck and left arm, while the man had a bullet wound near his right eye, officials said.
"We know that the U.S. citizens were targeted," Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz told CNN, saying a police officer witnessed a car shooting at the Americans' car. "We know they were chasing them. We know they wanted to kill them."
Authorities retrieved only one shell casing, from a 9 mm weapon.
About 10 minutes before authorities received the call, they were alerted to a body inside a 2003 Honda Pilot. Inside was the husband of the Mexican employee, identified as Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37. Reyes said the victim was a state police officer who was married to a Mexican employee at the U.S. consulate.
Two children, 4 and 7, were injured in that shooting and transported to the hospital, the attorney general's office said.
Police recovered two shells at that scene from an assault rifle, authorities said.
"The president is deeply saddened and outraged by the news of the brutal murders of three people associated with the United States Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez," National Security Council Spokesman Mike Hammer said in the statement Sunday. "He extends his condolences to the families and condemns these attacks on consular and diplomatic personnel serving at our foreign missions. In concert with Mexican authorities, we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice."
3 associated with U.S. consulate killedIn response, the U.S. State Department authorized the temporary relocation of employees' families working in border-area consulates.
The families of employees at U.S. consulates in Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros, are allowed to leave for a period of 30 days "in response to an increase in violence along the Mexican side of its border with the U.S.," State Department spokesman Fred Lash told CNN.
After 30 days, the authorization can be renewed, depending on a review, Lash said, adding that this was not a mandatory evacuation.
The announcement was part of a warning to American citizens regarding travel to Mexico.
The warning urges U.S. citizens to delay nonessential travel to parts of the states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua, where Juarez is located, because of recent violent attacks. U.S. government employees are restricted from traveling to all or parts of these three states.
The attacks include the kidnapping and killing of two resident U.S. citizens in Chihuahua, the warning states.
"Some recent confrontations between Mexican authorities and drug cartel members have resembled small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and grenades," the warning says. "During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area."
The mayor said the shootings highlight a problem shared by both countries along their border.
"It is not just a Mexican problem -- it's is a U.S.-Mexico problem," Reyes said. "I'm very glad that the U.S. has taken that position."
He said he supported the State Department's authorization to consular families and that "it is important they feel safe."
Mexico on Sunday said that its government was committed to protecting all people, citizens and visitors alike, diplomats or not.
"The Mexican government deeply laments the killings of three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez," Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Mexican authorities are working with determination to clear up the facts surrounding the crime scene and put those responsible before the law."
Juarez is one of the front lines in Mexico's war against the drug cartels that operate in its territory. More than 2,600 people were killed in Juarez in 2009.
Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, has become a focal point of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's anti-drug efforts after the January 31 killings of 15 people, most of whom were students with no ties to organized crime. The incident sparked outrage across Mexico.
In the western state of Guerrero, at least 25 people were killed in a series of violent acts on Saturday, state officials said.
The bodies of 14 people, including nine civilians and five police officers, were found in various parts of the resort city of Acapulco, the official Notimex news agency reported, citing Guerrero Public Security Secretary Juan Heriberto Salinas.
In the small city of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, 10 civilians and one soldier were killed in two shootouts that started when federal officials tried to carry out search warrants on two locations, Salinas said.
Police in the state were on a heightened security alert, he said.
The government has not released official figures, but national media say 7,600 Mexicans lost their lives in the war on drugs in 2009. Calderon said last year that 6,500 Mexicans died in drug violence in 2008.

Gerbil's mob are absolutely raging that the cops are running about in his car while he is still lying in the morgue

£40,000 supercar used by police in their fight against organised crime was seized by cops from slain underworld enforcer Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll,
The Audi Q7 - unveiled earlier this week and used for the first time yesterday - was confiscated by cops before Carroll, 27, was shot dead, it emerged last night But the 4x4 is now a target for Carroll's furious associates. A gangland source said: "Gerbil's mob are absolutely raging that the cops are running about in his car while he is still lying in the morgue."They think it's disrespectful and have vowed that they'll get some sort of revenge against the police."Some of them have mentioned that they'll firebomb the car if they get a chance. They don't want people to think that the cops are laughing at them."The source added: "Gerbil loved those cars. He bought one with cash and when it was taken off him by the police, he went straight out and bought another one."The car was seized after feared Carroll could not prove where he got the money to buy it.It was also used by seven of his associates as a "pool car" as they carried out various crimes.Justice Secretary Kenny Mac-Askill unveiled the Audi at the force's Pitt Street HQ on Monday.Assistant Chief Constable John Neilson said: "We want to send a message that if you are a criminal driving about in a car like this, we will come and take it off you. It's not yours anymore, it's ours."
Yesterday the flash motor was used for the first time when officers swooped on a house in plush Jordanhill, Glasgow.They were seen escorting Jamie Daniel, 52, into the back of the car - which boasts Sky TV, heated seats and rear-view cameras - to the city's sheriff court.Daniel was remanded in custody after denying charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.A neighbour said: "I recognised the vehicle because there were stories saying it had been seized."It had the words 'Seized - with your help - from organised crime'. There was no mistaking it."Gerbil was shot and killed as he sat in the back of his car - another Audi - in a busy supermarket car park in the city's Roybroyston area in January. His masked killers are still at large.

40-year-old Eduardo Ochoa was wanted for violating his federal supervised released after serving a 77-month prison sentence for possessing a firearm.

40-year-old Eduardo Ochoa was wanted for violating his federal supervised released after serving a 77-month prison sentence for possessing a firearm.Authorities say Ochoa also is an investigative lead in multiple homicides within the past month in the Phoenix metropolitan area.They say Ochoa was arrested Wednesday after his vehicle was stopped and a handgun and narcotics were found. Authorities say Ochoa’s has prior convictions for weapons violations, aggravated assault and endangerment.Federal authorities say the Mexican Mafia is one of the oldest prison gangs in the U.S. and operates both within and outside prison.

Collapse of the Hells Angels has created a toxic environment a biker war is imminent.

The Redlined Crew made their first big impression in mid-January when they allegedly attacked a Rock Machine member who had been lured to an auto repair shop that has connections to the Hells Angels."Tensions are extremely high ... Violence is imminent," a veteran police officer with extensive knowledge of the organized crime scene wrote last month in newly released court documents obtained yesterday by the Winnipeg Free Press.
Police explain in detail why they believe the relative calm of the past few months is about to be broken -- including evidence of gang members stockpiling weapons in preparation to take out their rival "by any means necessary." The document was used to obtain a search warrant for a home in the city's East Kildonan neighbourhood, where a loaded handgun was found hidden in a backyard last month.Police say a pair of newly arrived gangs are at the centre of the brewing battle as they try to fill the "vacuum" created by a major undercover sting operation dubbed "Project DIVIDE" that ended last December. Police used a career criminal turned secret agent to infiltrate the Hells Angels, resulting in the arrests of 34 high-ranking members and associates.
Police say every member of the Zig Zag Crew -- the Hells Angels so-called "puppet club" -- was put behind bars while only a handful of Hells Angels remain free. With the demand for drugs as high as ever, the criminal underworld was thrown into turmoil."The Rock Machine has been attempting to establish a foothold in the province of Manitoba due to the arrests in DIVIDE. Members of the Rock Machine have been capitalizing on the fact the Hells Angels members and supporters are low in number and have been 'flying' their colours throughout the city of Winnipeg, enraging members of the Manitoba Hells Angels," police wrote in their affidavit.
The Rock Machine have a long history with the Hells Angels in Quebec, especially during the 1990s, when dozens of gang members were killed. But they are new to Winnipeg.The Hells Angels responded quickly despite their diminished state, according to police. Two long-time members of the gang assembled a new group in January to stand up to Rock Machine members trying to take over Winnipeg's drug scene. The "Redlined Support Crew" is comprised entirely of imposing young men who are free in the community and have previously shown their allegiance to the Hells Angels --at least informally.

most violently ruthless gang in the world, the Aryan Brotherhood

most violently ruthless gang in the world, the Aryan Brotherhood came to bloody birth in San Quentin Prison in 1964. The prison population of San Quentin – called the ‘Q’ – began choosing sides based on skin color. Blacks only socialized with other blacks. Hispanics refused to speak with anyone who wasn’t Hispanic. To protect themselves against the blacks and Hispanics, a few outlaw bikers – who were white – doing time in the ‘Q’ formed their own clique. Back then the cliques weren’t called gangs. Instead they were called “tips.” The black tip was called the Black Guerilla Family, and had ties to the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam. Mexican Mafia or La Eme was the name the Hispanics chose. The white boys called their tip the Diamond Tooth Gang, which referred to their teeth. To add an aura of fear and terror to their persons, the white guys glued bits of broken glass to their teeth. When they smiled, the sunlight glittered off the glass in their teeth. It looked as if they had diamonds in their teeth. A number of gangsta’ rappers later adopted this ‘jailhouse’ dental fashion. The rappers put real diamonds in their teeth. And the current trend of wearing baggy pants real low on the buttocks – called ‘sagging’ – also began in prison and carried over into popular culture.For some reason, after a while they changed the name from the Diamond Tooth Gang to the Blue Bird Gang. No one seems to know exactly why. Whatever the origin of the name, the Blue Bird Gang began to attract other white members at the ‘Q’. Soon this gang of “white warriors,” as they called themselves, dropped the Blue Bird name and designated themselves the Aryan Brotherhood – a direct reference to their skin color.
The Aryan Brotherhood recruited only the biggest, the baddest and the toughest white inmates. It was an exclusive order of white warriors. Their motto was “blood in, blood out.” This meant that each potential member had to “make his bones” before he became a full-fledged member. “Making one’s bones” meant spilling blood in hand-to-hand combat. Either the blood of another prisoner from a rival gang, or the blood of one of the guards. It didn’t matter which, but blood had to be spilled.

Daniel C. Miller and Austin Fry went by the menacing-sounding name of “Omaha Mafia Bloods.”

Daniel C. Miller and Austin Fry went by the menacing-sounding name of “Omaha Mafia Bloods.”On the other side was Julius Robinson, an 18-year-old who had just broken off from that group to form his own menacing-sounding Millard gang — “LOC 228.” The LOC stood for Loc’ed Out Criminals — and the 228 was some combination of Robinson’s and other members’ birthdays.The feud between the groups had heated up in the late spring of 2008, when Robinson was accused of stealing $500 from Fry during a marijuana deal.
Then the spat became deadly when Miller and Fry drove to a southwest Omaha apartment complex to settle it.What happened next is not in dispute: Miller pulled a .357 Magnum revolver and, from the passenger’s seat of Fry’s Chrysler, fired twice — hitting Robinson once and killing him.
What remains in dispute is why.In opening statements Tuesday for Miller’s first-degree murder trial, Miller’s attorney, Greg Abboud, said Miller had no choice but to fire after the car he was in was ambushed by at least 10 members of Robinson’s gang.
“Dan Miller, realizing the gravity of the situation, shot him,” Abboud said. “He shot him in self-defense.
“(Another witness) will tell you the same thing. It was a kill-or-be-killed situation.”Hardly, prosecutor John Alagaban said.
Alagaban equated Miller’s actions to those of a drive-by shooter. Alagaban said no evidence would be presented at trial that Robinson or any of his fellow LOC 228 members had guns.
In fact, Alagaban said, Robinson had taken off his shirt and was brandishing nothing more than a novelty 12- to 18-inch baseball bat when he approached the car carrying Miller.Alagaban said tensions had grown between the groups since Robinson’s departure weeks earlier from the Omaha Mafia Bloods gang.
On June 15, 2008, the two groups made plans to fight at a gas station. Soon after, someone gave word to Miller, who was swimming at a pool.
Miller left the pool and went to his parents’ west Omaha house to get the .357 Magnum he had hidden under his mattress.
He then loaded the revolver with two bullets.
Fry, who is expected to testify for the prosecution, drove Miller and two other OMB members to the apartment complex near 128th and Q Streets.
Abboud said Miller and his three friends were overwhelmed as they drove up. Some of Robinson’s fellow group members will admit that they planned to ambush the car before Miller, Fry and their friends could get out, Abboud said.
That’s exactly what they did, Abboud said.
“It was an ambush,” Abboud said. “They’ll tell you that one of the strategies was, ‘Act first. Don’t let them get out of the car. Then we pull them out of the car and beat them.’
“That’s what the plan was.”
Abboud said Miller will testify that he thought one of Robinson’s gang members had a rifle he was pumping. In reality, Abboud said, that object may have been a pipe that was about the same size and circumference as the barrel of a rifle.
An apartment manager will describe finding a butterfly knife in a bush near where Robinson lay dying — a knife overlooked by police, Abboud said.
Witnesses also will testify that Robinson had crouched behind a sign before jumping out and rushing the car, Abboud said.
At least one passenger in the car with Miller will testify that it was a “kill or be killed situation,” Abboud said.
Alagaban painted a different picture. The prosecutor pointed out that Robinson had his shirt off and carried only a novelty bat — one that a police officer described as a 12- to 18-inch-long Royals souvenir.
“The victim has his shirt off in fistfight mode, (saying) ‘Let’s go,’” Alagaban said.
Alagaban said Miller had several options short of shooting. If they feared for their lives, Miller and his friends had an easy escape by driving on down the street, away from the approaching group.
Instead, Alagaban said, Miller raised his gun as he sat in the passenger seat, fired across Fry and killed Robinson as he approached the driver’s side door.
“Daniel Miller was there on June 15, 2008, to kill Julius Robinson,” Alagaban said. “And that’s what he did.”