Seven police officers were hurt Thursday when a bomb detonated at a hotel in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo

Seven police officers were hurt Thursday when a bomb detonated at a hotel in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, authorities said. The blast occurred at 7:30 a.m., a source in the Tamaulipas state Attorney General's Office told Efe. The injured state police officers were taken to a hospital in the city, which lies just across the border from Laredo, Texas. Authorities are still trying to determine whether the bomb was inside the motel or in a car parked outside. The explosion at the motel followed arson attacks on three Nuevo Laredo nightclubs and coincided with gunbattles on city streets, media outlets said. Nuevo Laredo has been rocked in recent weeks by major clashes between gunslingers from the rival Sinaloa and Los Zetas drug cartels, which are vying to control smuggling routes into neighboring Texas. The Mexican army took charge of public safety in the city nearly a year ago amid concerns that the municipal police department had been penetrated by organized crime.

The Sinaloa and Los Zetas gangs increasingly are using public massacres to terrify civilians

The two most important criminal organizations in Mexico are engaged in all-out war, and the most spectacular battles are being fought for the cameras as the combatants pursue a strategy of intimidation and propaganda by dumping ever greater numbers of headless bodies in public view — the victims most likely innocents. No longer limiting themselves to regional skirmishes, the older, established drug-smuggling Sinaloa cartel now is fighting the brash, young paramilitary Los Zetas crime organization across multiple front lines in a desperate fight, according to U.S. and Mexican law-enforcement officials and security analysts on both sides of the border. The two gangs and their surrogates continue to kill each other quietly, but they also are staging public massacres to terrify civilians, cow authorities and taunt outgoing President Felipe Calderón, who has made his U.S.-backed confrontation against the cartels a centerpiece of his administration. "What was once viewed as extreme is now normal. So these gangs must find new extremes. And the only real limit is their imagination, and you do not want to know what is the limit of psychopaths," said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst with the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, a nonpartisan think tank. In the past month alone, in what authorities describe as a gruesome version of text messaging, the two criminal groups and their allies deposited 14 headless bodies in front of city hall in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, and hanged nine people, including four women, from a bridge in the same city. They have left 18 dismembered bodies in vans near Lake Chapala, an area frequented by tourists and U.S. retirees near Guadalajara. They used a dump truck to unload 49 more corpses, missing not only heads but also feet and hands, outside Monterrey, Mexico's main industrial city. To guarantee the widest possible audience, they posted a video of themselves dumping the bodies, plus a banner: "Gulf cartel, Sinaloa cartel, marines and soldiers, nobody can do anything against us or they will lose. ... " It was signed with names of Zeta leaders. "We've had over recent weeks these despicable inhuman acts in different parts of the country that are part of an irrational struggle mainly between two of the existing criminal organizations and their criminal allies," Interior Minister Alejandro Poiré said. Many of the victims have not been identified, and in the case of the 49 decapitated corpses, their heads have not been recovered. It appears likely the victims might not have been members of the warring groups but street criminals, addicts, civilians or migrants passing through on their way to the United States. "The killings are done to draw a response from the media, from the government, to bring in the military," said Jorge Chabat of the Center for Investigation and Economic Studies. "So these victims, they are not members of the organizations. They are just random guys. All the evidence suggests this. "They have never been very careful about who they kill. They just kill." For the past few months, based on wiretaps, intelligence from informants and arrests, U.S. and Mexican law-enforcement agents say they have been watching the Zetas make incursions deep into the Sinaloa cartel's traditional territories — even in Sierra Madre towns such as Badiraguato and Choix, once believed to be impregnable strongholds for Sinaloa's leader, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, Mexico's most wanted man. The motivation behind the massacres? "These acts show force. They tell the world, the government, their opponents, that 'I am alive! You have not defeated me. I still am here.' They show muscle," said Martin Barron, an expert on security at the National Institute of Criminal Science. "Now why have things gone so far? Such brutality? Why cut off the heads, hands and feet? Previously, these organizations settled matters with a bullet in the head. Not anymore. Now there is a psychopathology at work. Some of these people obviously enjoy this, and they are teaching their surrogates, teenagers, to enjoy it," Barron said. To bolster their defense of regions they control, and to destabilize their opponents, both groups have taken the fight to the other's territory. Part of this strategy is to "heat up the plaza" — a plaza being a city or town where a criminal group controls corrupt officials and police as well as smuggling routes, a network of safe houses, armories of stashed weapons, and teams dedicated to spying, collecting money and killing. By heating up a plaza, the warring sides hope to bring in a forceful response by authorities — sending in the army or marines, who round up local crime cells and put pressure on the dominant group. The assassins almost always leave "narcomantas," neatly printed manifestos full of expletives and obscure rants that claim authorship for killings. The manifestos sometimes are accurate; other times they are designed to confuse. In the case of the 49 mutilated bodies left last week outside Monterrey, the Zetas first asserted responsibility, then denied it in other banners hung across the state, then finally took credit, perhaps reluctantly, when Mexican military forces arrested Daniel Elizondo, alias "The Madman," a leader of the local Zetas cell. Elizondo told authorities he had been ordered by the Zeta leadership to dump the bodies in the center of Cadereyta, an industrial town on the outskirts of Monterrey, but that he became frightened and put them on the highway leading outside of town. There is no way to know whether Elizondo's confession was true or made under duress. Those arrested for massacres never are tried in open court, records are almost impossible to obtain, and most never are put before a judge but sent to jail and eventually released. Mexico's prosecution rate for homicides is low. U.S. law-enforcement and Mexican analysts say the outbreak of war is not designed to influence the July 1 presidential election directly. But front-runner Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which hopes to return to power after 12 years, has stressed he is more interested in lowering violence than in drug trafficking. This would put Peña Nieto squarely against the Zetas, who specialize more in carjacking, kidnapping, extortion and smuggling migrants than in smuggling cocaine and marijuana.

Mexican navy finds fake uniforms for use by drug gangs

The security forces in Mexico have raided a workshop making fake Mexican military uniforms and body armour. Officials said the uniforms were used by Mexican drug cartels to set up road blocks and carry out kidnappings. They said the uniforms made it easier for criminals to approach their victims, who did not realise they were being targeted until it was too late. President Felipe Calderon deployed the military six years ago to help fight Mexico's drug gangs. Marines found the workshop in the northern town of Piedras Negras across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, after receiving an anonymous tip-off. They seized hundreds of combat trousers and shirts, as well as body armour, some with the Marine logo. A Navy spokesman said the find showed "criminal groups wanted to discredit the Navy" by wearing their uniforms while committing crimes. Over the past months, the security forces have arrested a number of alleged cartel hitmen wearing counterfeit uniforms. More than 50,000 people are estimated to have been killed in drug-related violence since President Calderon came to power and declared war on the drug cartels in 2006.

27 charged in Bloods gang investigation

two dozen alleged members of the Bloods gang, many of them from the Charlotte area, have been charged in a racketeering enterprise that involved drugs, robberies and murder conspiracy. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that 27 members of the United Blood Nation, or simply the “Bloods,” were arrested May 18 following a two-year investigation involving the FBI, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, Gastonia police, Gaston County police, the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office, Shelby police and the N.C. Department of Probation and Parole. An indictment says the suspects operated as a gang in North Carolina and elsewhere from 2007 to May 2012 as they engaged in drug trafficking and used the proceeds to help finance other criminal activities. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the suspects committed armed robberies and home invasions, as well as acts of violence against rival gang members. Then they tried to conceal their crimes by threatening potential witnesses, prosecutors said. The suspects identified other gang members by their street names or area codes. Prosecutors said “704” was used to refer to gang factions in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties. The indictment also reveals that gang members met regularly and talked about past crimes and violence. They also discussed people they thought were cooperating with authorities and what actions might be taken against them. During those meetings, prosecutors said, the suspects planned and agreed to carry out more crimes, including murder, robbery and drug trafficking. The suspects face charges that include racketeering conspiracy, cocaine possession, conspiracy to commit murder and gun violations. “The FBI is committed to dismantling the gangs that threaten the safety and stability of our neighborhoods,” Chris Briese, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Charlotte Division, said in a statement. “This two-year investigation is an outstanding example of what federal, state, and local law enforcement can accomplish when we attack the gangs that operate in our communities.” Charged in the indictment are: • James Anderson (“Stank”), 28, currently incarcerated. • Alan Boyd Donta Barnett (“Big Al”), 37, of Gastonia. • Eric Eugene Brice (“Bug”), 40, of Gastonia. • Travis Lamar Brice (“Trap”), 28, currently incarcerated. • Quinton Lavar Brown (“QP” or “QB”), 20, currently incarcerated. • Rafas Gene Camp (“Tick”), 32, of Shelby. • Joston Jamal Clemmer (“Ace”), 21, of Gastonia. • Kemmey Nicole Cooke (“Gangsta Wu”), 29, of Chesapeake, Va. • Jaimel Kenzie Davison (“I-Shine”), 28, currently incarcerated. • Wesley Tyler Floyd (“West Coast”), 26, of Gastonia. • Davon Yakeen Futrell (“Smooth”), 24, of Gastonia. • Tristan Daquane Goode (“Buck”), 20, of Ranlo. • Nathaniel Graham (“Nasty”), 23, currently incarcerated. • Joseph Dranell Gray (“Killa”), 38, currently incarcerated. • Dominque O’Neill Jackson, a/k/a “DJ”, 23, of Gastonia. • Jimmy Lionell, Jones (“Buddhist” or “Buddha”), 37, currently incarcerated. • William Amir Knox (“Poo Nuk”), 28, currently incarcerated. • Kentrell Tyrone McIntyre (“Mustafa”), 32, currently incarcerated. • William Lewis Dontars Meeks (“Willie” or “Rock”), 34, of Gastonia. • Kevin Jerome Morris (“Kato”), 34, of Shelby. • Franklin Robbs (“Frankie Boo”), 41, currently incarcerated. • Maurice Terrell Robinson (“Hell Rell”), 22, of Lincolnton. • Andrew Eugene Stowe (“Coco”), 36, of Gastonia. • Marquise Deshawn Watson (“Rambo”), 20, of Gastonia. • Melinda Charmane Watson, 36, of Gastonia. • Daryl Wilkinson (“OG Powerful”), 47, currently incarcerated. • Samatha Williams (“Samantha Wilkinson” or “Lady Sam”), 43, of Bronx, N.Y. • Perry Gorontent Williams (“P-Flame” or “Flame”), 26, currently incarcerated.

If Chicago were a war zone, it would be a deadlier one for Americans than Afghanistan.

In fact, according to the Department of Defense and FBI data, the number of Chicagoans murdered is two and a half times U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001. With NATO in the rear-view mirror, area law enforcement officials and politicians will turn their attention away from unruly protestors back to the city's rising murder rate - up 54 percent from last year, according to police data. Last week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a new strategy to combat gang activity in crime hot spots to halt the killing. The strategy, called a "wraparound plan," focuses on improving neighborhood services after police descend on an area to target and remove gangs. "Once we make arrests, and we eliminate a narcotics organization, we are committed to holding onto that turf, to that territory, to squeeze out the drug market and the violence," said Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy last week. Homicides in Chicago have spiked this year, though overall crime is down. Chicago has had 169 murders in 2012, compared to 110 at the same date last year. Overall, the city's crime rate is down 11 percent from last year. According to FBI and Department of Defense data, 5,056 people have been murdered in Chicago since 2001, compared with 1,976 total U.S. deaths in Afghanistan since 2001. Chicago's murder rate even outpaces total NATO coalition fatalities in Afghanistan since 2001 by a difference of more than 2,500 killed. The proposed wraparound plan is part of McCarthy's broader strategy to use data to concentrate police resources in troubled parts of the city, a strategy that reduced overall crime rates in New York by 80 percent in the 1990s. One of the programs developed in New York in the 1990s was a data-mapping system used to identify crime hot-spots. McCarthy brought the system, called CompStat, to Chicago last year; it helps police identify neighborhoods in which crime is likely to occur by tracking crime report trends. "Smart policing is about using resources and information to prevent violence," said Andrew Papachristos, a Harvard sociologist who studies street gangs, violent crime and gun violence. "It's not about going out and arresting people, it's about cooling people down." According to the Chicago Crime Lab, a research program at the University of Chicago, New York's turnaround in the 1990s was accomplished without mass incarcerations. Incarceration rates actually decreased by 28 percent in New York, while the national incarceration rate increased by 65 percent during the same period. Controversial strategies used in New York, such as the aggressive "stop and frisk" program, have not been adopted in Chicago. Explanations for the surge in Chicago murders range from the unseasonably warm winter to a police personnel shortage due to budget cuts. According to City Hall, the police department is short nearly 2,300 officers. Papachristos, however, argues that despite Chicago's need for more cops, a good policing strategy can still reduce crime. "Smart policing is better than more policing," he said. "It's not about how many people you have on the street, but having the right people on the street - one good cop is better than three average cops."

Drug War in Nuevo Laredo Poses Possible Problems for US Law Enforcement

The April 2012 murder and dismemberment of 14 people whose bodies were methodically placed in front of a lengthy and detailed narco-banner apparently didn’t make enough of an impact to satisfy Sinaloa Federation Cartel leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera. One week later, Mexican authorities found nine more corpses hanging from a bridge. The heads of fourteen additional bodies were discovered near Nuevo Laredo’s city hall.   The brutality reportedly was El Chapo’s work – he was sending a message to rival transnational criminal organization (TCO), The Los Zetas, that he would exact punishment on them for invoking negative media and law enforcement attention to this city just south of Laredo, Texas.   A portion of the banner read: “This is how I am going to finish off all the fools you send to heat up the plaza.” It was followed with the warning , “We'll see you around, you bunch of parasites.”   The border crossing from the Tamaulipas state city of Nuevo Laredo into Laredo, Texas is one of the busiest along the southwest border, particularly for commercial vehicles. The port of entry (POE) consists of five bridges over which more than 13,000 cars, 32,000 passengers, 4,000 commercial vehicles and 9,000 pedestrians cross on average cross each day. In fiscal year 2011, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Laredo POE seized almost 17 tons of narcotics, $4.7 million in currency and made 1,746 federal arrests.   Thanks to the endless possibilities for smuggling drugs in so many cars and trucks, the Nuevo Laredo-Laredo corridor is one of the most lucrative for TCOs -- and thus one Mexico’s TCOs frequently fight for control of.   The first major battle over Nuevo Laredo started around 2003. At that time, the fighting was between El Chapo’s Federation Cartel and the Gulf Cartel (or, CDG for Cartel del Golfo). However, the Los Zetas Cartel also were part of the mix at the time because they were working as CDG enforcers. The head of the CDG at the time, Osiel Cárdenas Guillen, was arrested in 2003, and it’s possible that Los Zetas felt it now had a bit more freedom to engage in increasingly brutal behavior due to his absence.   The ensuing battle between these cartels introduced beheadings and dismemberments -- a style of violence that is commonplace today. Many experts though believe the warring between these ruthless TCOs at the time marked the start of Mexico’s modern drug war, and not the inauguration of President Felipe Calderón in December 2006 and his widely touted “war on drugs.”   But while drug-related deaths spiked in Nuevo Laredo at that time, they didn’t reach the sorts of astronomical numbers that occurred years later in cities like Ciudad Juárez, and this is probably why this shift is often overlooked.   While border violence spillover today is hotly debated, there is little doubt that the conflict between the Federation and CDG in Nuevo Laredo between 2003-2006 had a negative impact on its American sister city to the north. During this time, the murder rate skyrocketed in Laredo, Texas. Murders increasing from seven in 2002, to 29 in 2003.   The surge in killings was largely attributed to members of Los Zetas crossing the border and carrying out assassinations in the city. A major drug dealer in Dallas had partnered with Miguel “Z-40” Treviño Morales -- now second in charge of Los Zetas -- to move cocaine through the corridor into Texas, and the TCO needed to establish control over the “plaza.”   Morales set up drug stash houses throughout Laredo and dispatched at least four hit squads to eliminate dozens of people. Media and law enforcement reports indicate the Los Zetas’s hit list at the time had the names of at least 40 people in the United States, many of them in the Laredo area.   The situation in Laredo has greatly improved since then. After the hostilities between the TCOs stabilized, the murder rate dropped from 22 in 2006, to ten in 2007. Last year there were 11, and in 2010, there were nine. So far this year, there have only been seven homicides in this city of 236,000 people. In addition, between 2009-2011, the rates for robbery, theft and auto theft were all down -- the latter by 67 percent.   Laredo Police Department Public Information Officer, Investigator Joe Baeza, believes the security situation in Laredo is calm and relatively stable, especially compared to their sister city across the border.   “It’s not what people believe, when it comes to the situation in border cities,” Baeza said. “Law enforcement agencies here are very in tune with what’s happening in Mexico, and they’re doing a good job of mitigating any crossover violence.”   Asked about his city’s past role in the drug war, Baeza acknowledged there were problems. “We learned a lot from those years [2003-2006],” he said. “We saw not so much cartel-on-cartel violence, but a lot of directed hits.”   Thanks to that unfortunate, but important experience, Baeza said he believes his department and other agencies in the region are prepared to deal with any potential spillover from this current battle over one of the border’s most lucrative smuggling corridors.   Consequently, the outlook for The Los Zetas in Laredo today looks very different than it did nine years ago. It’s less likely they’ll go on a killing spree there simply because they’re expected, and law enforcement will be waiting for them. Still, it’s important to note that their members, as well as members of the CDG, continued to engage in violent behavior this past year in south Texas.   The main problem is that it’s usually the younger, less experienced recruits and co-opted US-based gang members employed by the cartels who are the ones who are trigger-happy and get themselves into trouble. Hopefully the Zetas and the CDG will remember that violence on the US side -- especially in a lucrative smuggling “plaza” like Laredo -- is bad for business and take measures to rein in their hot-headed foot soldiers. That way, US law enforcement in Laredo can focus on stopping narcotics rather than bullets.

Daniel Jesus Elizondo, known as El Loco, or The Madman, was arrested by troops.

The Mexican army says it has arrested a man suspected of ordering the brutal killing of 49 people a week ago. The bodies were found dumped by a roadside near the city of Monterrey in northern Nuevo Leon state. An army spokesman said Daniel Jesus Elizondo, known as El Loco, or The Madman, was arrested by troops. The authorities say he is the local leader of the Zetas drug cartel, which, they say, left threatening messages with the bodies. In a statement, Mexico's defence secretary said Mr Elizondo was detained on 18 May in Cadereyta municipality, where the 49 bodies had been found six days earlier. However, information about the arrest was only made public on 20 May. Turf war Security officials said the 43 men and six women had been decapitated and had their hands cut off, making identification difficult. Cadereyta is on the road from Monterrey to Reynosa on the US border. Mexican authorities blamed the killings on a conflict between rival drugs gangs - a note left with the bodies said they had been killed by the Zetas cartel. It is the latest in a series of recent massacres in northern Mexico. The Zetas drug cartel has been accused of carrying out the Cadereyta massacre The Zetas have been fighting the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels for control of smuggling routes into the US. Security officials said the bodies, some of which were in plastic bags, appeared to have been killed at another location up to two days ago and dumped from a truck. Nuevo Leon's prosecutor, Adrian de la Garza, said the fact that hands and heads had been cut off made it difficult to identify the victims, but he said it was possible they were Central American migrants. Around 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed the army to combat the cartels. The three main candidates to succeed Mr Calderon in July's presidential election have all said they would work to end the violence, but have not offered any concrete plans.

Three suspected employees of Mexico’s Los Zetas drug cartel were arrested in the eastern province of Zacapa after a gunfight with security forces

Photo: Guatemala Police

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Three suspected employees of Mexico’s Los Zetas drug cartel were arrested in the eastern province of Zacapa after a gunfight with security forces, the Guatemalan interior minister said Thursday.

The clash Wednesday in the town of Gualan resulted in no casualties, Mauricio Lopez told reporters in the capital.

He identified the suspects as Vicente Enrique Estrada, 21, Salvador Vargas, 31, and Luis Orlando Vargas, 35, and said all three are Guatemalan citizens.

Authorities have reason to believe Orlando Vargas runs the Zetas’ extortion and kidnapping rackets in eastern Guatemala, the interior minister said.

Police seized an AK-47 assault rifle, a 9 mm pistol and a bulletproof vest from the suspects.

Los Zetas, founded by deserters from an elite Mexican military unit and regarded as the most brutal of the country’s drug cartels, has had a presence in Guatemala for at least four years.

Officials do not have detailed figures on the number of killings carried out by Los Zetas in Guatemala, but they say the cartel has been behind at least a dozen massacres that have claimed the lives of about 100 people since 2008.

The most dramatic incident was the slaughter of 27 peasants in the border province of Peten.

Torture probe officer hails jail sentence

THE detective who led the hunt for a gangland enforcer who tortured his victim during a clash over £50,000 of drug money has welcomed the six- year sentence he was given. Dean Buchanan, 33, forced Mark Morris into a van in Bathgate, West Lothian before inflicting serious injuries on him in August 2010. Morris, 39, told how he feared for his life during an attack by “ten or 15 men”. Detective Chief Inspector Phil Gachagan, who led the inquiry, said: “This was a particularly disturbing incident that left the victim with potentially life-threatening injuries. “Officers not only investigated the circumstances surrounding the attack, but carried out robust enquiries into Dean Buchanan’s involvement in organised crime. “His arrest and subsequent sentence should serve as a reminder to others involved in serious and organised crime that we will continue to gather evidence against you to bring you to justice and remove you from our communities.”

Murder of Honduran reporter blamed on drug gangs

A prominent Honduran radio journalist was killed by drug gangs in retaliation for a government crackdown on cartels, the country's security minister said on Wednesday. Alfredo Villatoro, a well-known media personality, was found shot in the head on Tuesday a week after being kidnapped, the latest attack on the media in the violent Central American nation. The attack on Villatoro comes as police have stepped up arrests of traffickers and prosecutors have pushed for extraditions "(Drug gangs) are trying to frighten Honduran society," said Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla in a statement to a local television station. Honduras has the world's highest murder rate - more than 80 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants last year - as the isthmus nation is increasingly used as a transit route for cocaine moving from South America to the United States. Villatoro was a director of HRN radio, one of the oldest broadcast stations in the country. He is the second reporter killed this month after journalist and gay-rights activist Erick Martinez was murdered last week. Four other broadcast journalists were murdered last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Last month, gunmen fired at the home and car of two television reporters, though no one was killed. "We believe this is a message from organized crime. The government must take responsibility and stop this killing spree," Carlos Ortiz, president of the Honduran Press Association said. Mexican drug cartels have become more active in Central America in recent years and are blamed for much of the violence. Lawmakers last year approved legislation that allows the extradition of suspected criminals wanted abroad, particularly in the United States.

victims dissolved in acid San Diego jury convicts 2 of murders linked to Mexican drug gang

jury convicted two men Wednesday of first-degree murder in the killings of two men whose bodies were dissolved in acid for a Mexican drug gang. Prosecutors said the gruesome case is one of the worst examples of Mexico’s horrific drug violence spilling over the border into the United States. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post Jose Olivera Beritan and David Valencia could face maximum terms of life in prison without parole when they are sentenced July 19. Prosecutors said they were part of a group of alleged assassins acting on behalf of a Mexican trafficker who moved to the San Diego area and directed a cell that had broken away from the Tijuana-based Arellano-Felix cartel. The men were the first to go on trial among 17 people indicted in a case involving nine killings in San Diego. Nine of the 17 remain in custody, while the others were fugitives. The two strangled corpses were placed in 55-gallon barrels of acid heated by propane tanks on a ranch in San Diego County. More than two years after the killings, a witness led investigators to the ranch, where human remains were recovered. Olivera was also convicted of a third count of first-degree murder of man whose body was stuffed into the trunk of a stolen car and abandoned. Valencia was not in the gang at the time of that killing, prosecutors said. Jurors found the men guilty of kidnapping but not guilty of torture. A victim who survived was Eduardo Gonzalez Tostado. Prosecutors said he was chained and blindfolded for eight days until he was rescued in an FBI raid on a home in Chula Vista in June 2007. Authorities found three boxes of muriatic acid in the house. Defense attorneys for Valencia and Olivera argued during the trial that two of the prosecution’s key witnesses had been given deals for their testimonies and were not credible. The defense could not be reached for comment after the verdicts were read Wednesday. Deputy District Attorney James Fontane applauded the jury and said the verdicts send a strong message that San Diego County will not tolerate the “brutality that we’re seeing just south of the border.” “We will not sit by and let drug gangs conduct their business on our streets,” he said. He called it the worst case of drug violence that has been seen along the southwestern border of the United States. Despite the staggering drug violence that has sent murder rates soaring in Mexican border cities like Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana in recent years, U.S. cities directly across from them remain among the safest in the nation. Prosecutors said the men acted on behalf of a cell called Los Palillos, or The Toothpicks. The cell broke away from the Arellano Felix cartel around 2002 when its leader was killed in an internal feud. The Arellano Felix cartel was considered Mexico’s most vicious and powerful but has been largely crippled over the past decade by arrests and the killings of its top people. During the three-month trial, prosecutors called 80 witnesses and presented 700 items of evidence. The leader’s younger brother, Jorge Rojas, moved to the San Diego area and allegedly directed the cell in trafficking drugs and kidnapping and in killing perceived rivals until his arrest in 2007. Rojas, 32, was convicted of kidnapping in 2008 and sentenced to life in prison. He will be tried later this year on additional charges that may make him eligible for the death penalty, if convicted.

Shootings not my fault, says ex-bikie Wissam Amer

THE man believed by police to be the central figure in a bikie feud has declared he is not at fault for Sydney's spate of drive-by shootings and says they are the "act of a coward". Wissam Amer, 28, broke his silence to The Sunday Telegraph to say he was not at the heart of the current shootings between the Hells Angels and Nomads outlaw motorcycle gangs. Last week The Sunday Telegraph revealed police believe Amer was the source of the conflict after he defected from the Hells Angels to the rival Nomads. Speaking through his lawyer Maggie Sten, the former bikie said unequivocally that he was no longer part of any gang and disputed police claims he's responsible for the feud. "The conflict between the Hells Angels and the Nomads is dead and buried - it has been for a while," Mr Amer said through his lawyer. "It has got nothing to do with me." Mr Amer was previously a member of the Bandidos, but left the group during a large scale "patch-over" of its members to the Hells Angels more than a year ago. Police believe he then tried to leave the Hells Angels to join the Nomads and burned bridges along the way - however he disputes this. Ms Sten said Mr Amer now wants to clear the record and confirm he is not part of any gang and is attempting to get on with a "normal life". What is not in dispute, however, is that Mr Amer was the target of two drive-by shootings over the past seven months. One was a drive-by at a Merrylands Oporto, two days after he was released on bail; the other happened three days later at his previous address at Canley Vale. Police believe both attacks were committed by Hells Angels, however Mr Amer said he could not prove this and neither could police. Mr Amer is unsure who the perpetrators were. "It could have been anybody - it's a dirty game, it could have been someone that I'd had a run-in with years ago," Ms Sten said on Mr Amer's behalf. "I live my life with no fear - I live now as a normal person." What Mr Amer was sure about was that drive-by shootings on himself or anyone else was a despicable act. "It's as weak as scratching somebody's car - anybody who drives a car and attacks you at 1am is a coward," he said through Ms Sten. "Especially when you know the people you're looking for are not there," referring to cases where the alleged targets were in jail. He could not explain the forces behind the current wave of shootings, but agreed with a police theory - revealed by The Sunday Telegraph - that a third party is trying to reignite animosities between the groups. Authorities brokered a peace agreement between the two gangs in January, but that faltered on April 16 when shots were fired at a home and car in Pemulwuy. "We believe it's other people trying to stir the pot," Ms Sten said for Mr Amer. "This is the perfect time for people to attack because they know the Hells Angels and Nomads were in a previous conflict which no longer exists." Police Strike Force Kinnarra has locked up 13 people in relation to the nine shootings that happened last month. Detective Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis said the conflict was firmly between the two gangs.

Eighteen people beheaded in Mexico, drug gang suspected

Police found the decapitated and dismembered bodies of 18 people near Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest atrocity by the country's most brutal drug cartel. Thought to have been carried out by the Zetas gang, it was one of the biggest mass beheadings in the recent history of Mexico, where decapitations have become alarmingly common. The bodies and heads were stuffed into two vehicles abandoned on the side of a highway in the small town of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, said Tomas Coronado, chief prosecutor for the state of Jalisco. Some of the bodies had been refrigerated before they were dumped, Coronado said. A policeman at the scene in Ixtlahuacan said some victims had been so badly mutilated that officers could not determine whether they were male or female. The officer said a note by the bodies was signed by the Zetas cartel, a criminal militia led by former Mexican soldiers and blamed for some of the worst atrocities in Mexico's drug war. Guadalajara, known for its high-tech industry, mariachi bands and tequila, has been a strategic base for drug traffickers since the 1980s. Violence has flared in the once-tranquil city as the Zetas moved in to challenge the smuggling turf of other gangs in western Mexico. Soldiers arrested a high-ranking member of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel in the city in March, causing his supporters to block streets with 25 burning cars and trucks. Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos lies 18 miles south of the center of Guadalajara on the road to Lake Chapala, a site popular with foreign tourists and American retirees. Attacks between the Zetas and their rivals have flared up across Mexico since the beginning of the year. On Friday, nine corpses were hanged from a bridge in the border city of Nuevo Laredo just hours before 14 bodies were dismembered and shoved into garbage bags and ice boxes. Five days of intense battles in western Sinaloa state last week also left 34 dead, adding to the body count in Mexico's drug war, which has killed more than 50,000 people in the past five years.

Recent Gunfights in Mexico may Signal a Shift in Turf Wars

The recent deaths of at least a dozen people in clashes in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, as rival groups linked to the Zetas move into "Chapo Guzman's" home territory, may be evidence that the concept of the "plaza" dominated by a single group is losing its force. According to the Sinaloa newspaper Riodoce, the fighting started when an army patrol was ambushed. After receiving reports of a gunfight in a rural community in the municipality of Choix, in the remote Chihuahua-Sinaloa border region, an army patrol, supported by local police, went to investigate and was attacked. They called for backup, and a helicopter which arrived on the scene also came under fire. The initial outburst of violence was followed by further fighting in an adjacent community, resulting in the deaths of several more alleged criminals. Initially, Excelsior and other media outlets, based on local officials' reports, put the figure at 30 dead, which would have made the incident one of the most violent firefights in recent years. However, authorities later said that only seven died, before correcting the figure to 13. One Air Force sergeant and one municipal police officer were among those killed in Choix, with the remainder of the dead coming from the armed group that initiated the attack. Firefights that leave dozens dead are relatively uncommon in Mexico, but not unprecedented. Last May, 30 people were killed in a running battle between criminal gangs along a highway in the Pacific state of Nayarit. In July 2010, a group of human traffickers battled against hitmen just south of the US border in Sonora, leaving 22 victims. In May 2007, gunfights between state and federal authorities in Cananea, Sonora, left 22 dead, the majority of them suspected criminals. Choix sits within the so-called Golden Triangle, the remote portion of Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental where the states of Durango, Sinaloa, and Chihuahua come together. The region is the traditional home of Mexico's marijuana and opium production, dating back to the 19th century, and Sinaloa is the home state of many of the nation's most notorious traffickers. While its remoteness gives the groups operating there a measure of protection against the federal forces, it remains relatively too close to border crossings in Chihuahua and Sonora, which adds to its value for criminal organizations. Initial reports said that the Choix attackers belonged to a cell linked to the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes' clan, the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), and the Zetas. Officials say that the mountainous region around Choix is controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the primary enemy of the three groups named above. However, the cell identified by authorities has reportedly been operating in the region for several weeks, and has engaged in a series of skirmishes with Sinaloa Cartel forces. The fighting is a manifestation of the ongoing turbulence in Sinaloa, which is ostensibly the home base of Guzman, widely considered the most powerful trafficker in Mexico. Typically, airtight control by a single capo brings a measure of peace to a given region, but Sinaloa remains one of the bloodiest states in Mexico. Indeed, in 2010, only Chihuahua had a higher murder rate or higher total number of murders than Sinaloa. Last, just four states witnessed more killings, and Chihuahua was again the only state with a higher murder rate than Sinaloa's. Much of this violence stems from Guzman's inability to definitively stamp out his rivals in the BLO, which was part of his group until 2008. Guzman is widely perceived as the winner of the years-long battle with the BLO, which has fractured into several different groups, but gunmen loyal to the Beltran Levyas, who are also from Sinaloa, have continued to operate in the Pacific state. As reports demonstrate, they have paired up with Guzman's principal enemies, increasing their significance. This is not the first time this coalition of Sinaloa enemies has managed to inflict damage on Guzman's forces. Written messages, known as "narcomantas," taunting Guzman have repeatedly appeared in recent months in the Sinaloa city of Guasave, crowing over the murders of Guzman subordinates and claiming that the drug lord is colluding with the state government. Interestingly, the Choix gunmen were said to be from Guasave. Reports emerged late last year that the Zetas, supported by the BLO and Carrillo Fuentes, had also made their way into Culiacan, Sinaloa's capital. These incidents suggest the continued vulnerability of Guzman's forces, even in his own backyard. That doesn't mean, however, that Guzman is passively losing ground; like his enemies, he has been busy trying to expand. The violence in Choix comes just weeks after the appearance of a series of narcomantas in Nuevo Laredo, the northeastern border town that serves as one of the Zetas' most important strongholds, heralding Guzman's arrival into the area. One of the messages, which bore Guzman's name and appeared alongside 14 dead bodies, accused Zeta boss Miguel Angel Treviño of using Hector Beltran Leyva's forces to target Guzman's people in Sinaloa. Taken together, these incidents suggest that the concept of the "plaza" -- the city or region controlled by a single drug trafficking organization, whose dominion is respected by its rivals -- has grown more vulnerable. If they continue, such forays into the enemy's turf are bound to provoke escalating acts of bloodshed.

TWENTY-EIGHT people died yesterday in one of the bloodiest days in Mexico’s drug wars.

Two women and three men, all in their early 20s, were killed in a shoot-out in Mexico City. In another incident, five men and four women were blindfolded and strung from Nuevo Laredo bridge, near the Texan border. And in a third, police found the cut-up bodies of 14 people in garbage bags and ice boxes dumped near Nuevo Laredo’s police station. Blood-soaked heads were in some boxes. Bloody ... scene of crime A total of 50,000 have died since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on traffickers in 2006. Clashes have spiralled since special forces sent to quell the carnage formed their own gang, the Zetas. At least one of yesterday’s attacks was carried out by them against the rival Gulf gang. Both are also battling with the Sinaloa cartel — named after a north-west state where violence surged last week. Sinaloa is the home turf of feared drug trafficker Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman, Mexico’s most wanted man. FOURTEEN people died in a blaze at a drug rehabilitation centre near Lima, Peru, yesterday after an inmate set fire to a mattress.

new breed of bikie as brutal gang war ignites over borders

The bikie old guard is being pushed aside by a violent new breed of steroid-pumped, amphetamine-taking young rebels who are flexing their muscle in many of Queensland's 14 outlaw motorcycle gangs, crime experts say. Increasingly, the modern bikie is likely to be in his 20s or 30s and of Middle Eastern or Eastern European descent. Some, like members of Sydney's Lebanese-dominated Notorious gang who are starting to infiltrate the Sunshine State, do not even ride motorbikes. This comes as a bloody battle between the Hells Angels and Bandidos is threatening to erupt into a national war – with bikies from interstate on standby to back up their Gold Coast members. The gangs - already at war in Sydney - are brawling over the Gold Coast's lucrative drug trade. Hells Angels numbers have swollen since 2010, to the detriment of the Bandidos. The Sydney members, which include a large proportion of Middle Eastern and Pacific Island bikies, have been flying north to the Gold Coast and operating as "nomads" without reporting to the Queensland chapter. After a major crackdown on the gangs and guns behind Sydney's violent shooting epidemic resulted in 555 people being arrested and 908 charges laid. Weekend's shooting The double shooting of a bikie and an innocent bystander at a Gold Coast shopping centre on Saturday has reignited debate about whether measures to deal with gang violence and organised crime are working. The offender, believed to be a member of a rival bikie club, remains on the run. New breed of bikie Gone are the old-school leathers and long, straggly hair - today's bikies are more likely to sport designer clothes and haircuts, trendy sunglasses and gangster bling. Assistant police commissioner for the southeast region, Graham Rynders, said the bikie demographic was changing. "The traditional long beard, long hair is going," he told a media conference yesterday. "We're seeing more like a younger set - well-groomed, well-presented (and) trying to portray themselves as professional people." Police say the heavily tattooed man who opened fire in the Robina Town Centre on Saturday, wounding a female shopper and a senior Bandido, fitted the mould of the new breed of bikie - young, well-built, brazen and possibly Middle Eastern. "The major problem with this new breed of bikie is that they simply don't care," a source told The Courier-Mail. "Many combine steroid and amphetamine use and it makes them feel 10-foot tall and bullet-proof. Many of them think nothing of pulling a gun in public, but to actually discharge it in a crowded shopping centre is an extraordinary and frightening new escalation of bikie violence." The source said many older bikies who joined gangs mainly for brotherhood and a mutual love of motorbikes and partying were being replaced by younger members who used clubs as much for business as pleasure. "That business revolves around the drug trade, extortion and standover," he said. "Over the last 10 years, the bikie gangs have seen an influx of young men from the Middle East and the Balkans. They are very tribal and many of them are extremely dangerous." Police Assistant Commissioner Mike Condon, responsible for State Crime Operations Command which includes anti-bikie squad Taskforce Hydra, said his officers were "constantly monitoring" the influx of new bikies and gaining intelligence from interstate colleagues. He said Queensland's "top three or four high-risk" bikie gangs were all involved in criminal activity "at some level, sanctioned by the club". Jacques Teamo, the Bandido shot at Robina on Saturday in front of his two children, is refusing to co-operate with police and Mr Condon admitted the bikie "code of silence" was frustrating investigations into gang activity. Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said yesterday the woman caught in the shooting was likely to be in hospital for some time. Mr Atkinson released five images of the muscular, tattooed offender in hope of identifying him. A succession of Gold Coast bikies, many of them Finks, have been jailed for contempt in recent years for refusing to answer questions about criminal activity in secret Australian Crime Commission hearings. Some refuse to even confirm they are bikies, despite sporting prominent club tattoos. But Mr Condon said Taskforce Hydra had arrested more than 1000 bikie gang members and associates on 2800 charges - including attempted murder, extortion and firearm and drug offences - since 2007. "Those persons have been sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment," he said. Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said it was "more likely than not" that several rival gangs were involved in the latest wave of violence. Despite fears of a bloody and now dangerously public bikie war, Mr Condon said there had been violent confrontations between rival gangs for decades, including a pitched battled between Finks and Hells Angels at the Royal Pines Resort in March 2006. Another incident In another worrying sign for the depleted Bandidos, a junior and senior gang member argued at a Gold Coast shopping centre on Friday with angry words exchanged after the junior member threw a rolled-up paper napkin at the senior Bandido. The older bikie is said to have taken offence and threatened revenge against the junior member, with the seemingly innocuous incident now set to lift tensions within the outlaw motorcycle outfit. Hells Angels bikie associates who have moved to the Gold Coast for "a better lifestyle" for their families are trying to take advantage of fractures inside the Bandidos. Police said there had been signs an all-out bikie war was brewing. The rise in gun crime and growing bikie gang activity south of the border has brought simmering tensions to the fore on the Surfers Paradise strip.

LA Gang Patrol Unit Under Investigation for Forming Own Gang

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Gang Enforcement Team of the LA County Sheriff's Department has become the subject of an internal investigation after it emerged its officers may have formed their own shoot-happy police-only gang. That group members allegedly style themselves The Jump Out Boys, which is even lamer than the name of the "gang" my dad claims to have been involved with in 1950s South Philly. (I won't print that name here; ride or die, Dad.) The probe was reportedly launched after someone in the department discovered a pamphlet laying out a code of conduct for the group's members, so at least we know the Jump Out Boys had put some real thought into this and were taking it seriously. According to anonymous sources cited by the Times, the pamphlet was, in some ways, not unlike a Boy Scout handbook; for one thing, it extolled the value of "hard work and other positive virtues." It also encouraged, in a roundabout way, that deputies become involved in the shootings of Los Angeles gang members, noting that officers who had been involved in such events commanded a level of respect others did not. Official department policy states that officer-involved shoot-outs be regarded as a last resort, rather than as something it might be cool to do. A spokesman for the sheriff's department said that, while detectives are actively gathering evidence and conducting interviews, it's unconfirmed whether the group even exists. "We're going to be looking at this right now, but it really could be a fantasy, something that's not true…" Which could mean that somebody dedicated a lot effort to putting together a nice, high-quality pamphlet for nothing.

Shooting a 'warning' from rival bikie gang

SIMMERING tension between rival bikie gangs exploded on the Gold Coast yesterday with the drive-by shooting of a tattoo parlour in the heart of Bandidos territory. Police fear the attack could be a push for territory by the Hells Angels as the outlaw gang seeks a toehold on the lucrative Glitter Strip. Less than 24 hours after police commissioner Bob Atkinson told the Bulletin that bikie gangs were "one of the greatest challenges to face law enforcement", the Bandido-protected Mermaid Beach tattoo shop was hit by at least four shots in the early hours of yesterday morning.  High-ranking police yesterday said it was "inevitable" that the violence that has plagued Sydney would eventually spill across the border. "We do not believe it is directly connected to the war between the Hells Angels and the Nomads that has been unfolding in New South Wales," said police. "But it is a similar style of attack. "We know the Hells Angels have been pushing to establish a chapter on the Gold Coast -- that push is coming from Sydney. "Tradelink Drive is not their most profitable chapter." While detectives have attempted to play down the shooting, police say there is "no doubt" it was intended as a warning. The Bandidos are the largest and one of the most secretive bikie gangs on the Gold Coast. The club has gained strength as its main rival -- the Finks -- have been severely weakened with so many senior members behind bars and Bandido territory stretches south from Broadbeach. Police said last month's Hells Angels National Run was intended as a direct message to all gangs on the Gold Coast. More than 200 patched gang members descended on Surfers Paradise for the run. "These clubs are so well organised, they do nothing without a reason," police said. "You can bet they had some purpose in coming to the Gold Coast. "They taunted the Finks and nothing happened, now the Bandidos tattoo shop is shot up in the same way the gym controlled by the Hells Angels was hit a few months ago. "You join the dots." The shop is owned by a senior member of the outlaw gang who has been a patched member of the Bandidos "for years", police say. In an exclusive interview with the Bulletin, Mr Atkinson said the danger of bikie gangs was "under-rated" by the community. "The outlaw motorcycle gangs nationally present one of the greatest challenges to police. "I think the degree of that challenge and the risk they present to our society is underrated." The Gold Coast has one of the highest populations of bikie gangs in the country. Mr Atkinson said he would not be surprised if the Hells Angels were not considering a move closer to the Glitter Strip. "They are businesses, they look for opportunity so that wouldn't be a surprise," he said. "They market themselves as a group of mature men who have a love and interest in motorbikes and they do that very cleverly. The reality is they are highly sophisticated, well organised criminal enterprises that pose a genuine risk to the community and many are well represented by the finest and best lawyers who they retain to represent them." South East Region Assistant Commissioner Graham Rynders said the gangs were constantly looking to expand. "One of things about OMCGs is they look for opportunity for criminal enterprise," Mr Rynders said. "Throughout Queensland, throughout the country, probably throughout the world they are looking to expand. It is obviously dictated to by territory, depending on who or what other groups exist in what areas."

Jury hears grisly details about murder scene

Police discovered a grisly scene on Sept. 10, 2000, when they entered a Cogmagun Road home in Hants County. “It was a very brutal scene,” Cpl. Shawn Sweeney, who was a constable with the Windsor rural RCMP detachment that day, testified Tuesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Kentville. It was the second day of trial for Leslie Douglas Greenwood, 42, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Barry Kirk Mersereau, 48, and his wife, Nancy Paula Christensen, 47. Sweeney, a Crown witness, testified that he and four other police officers who responded to a 911 call found Christensen sitting upright in a chair in the living room of her Centre Burlington home with a bullet wound in her left cheek, under her glasses. She had a cup of tea in her hand and a small dog was sitting in her lap. There were several bullet casings and lead fragments scattered on the floor. Mersereau was lying face down, with pools of blood around his head and body. Another dog, believed to be a German shepherd-Rottweiler mix, was hiding under covers on the bed in the master bedroom. A third dog was tied to the front porch and another had run off into the woods. Sweeney told Chief Justice Joseph Kennedy and the seven-woman, five-man jury hearing the case that the house appeared to be neat and orderly, with no signs of struggle. “It didn’t appear to be a house that was rifled through or things thrown around,” Sweeney testified. Const. Glenn Bonvie told the court it was immediately obvious that Mersereau and Christensen were dead. “There was no movement. There was no doubt that they were deceased.” Crown witness Ronald Connors owned a hunting cabin in the woods about half a kilometre away from the couple’s house. He testifed that he heard several shots at about 8:15 p.m. on Sept. 9. Connors said he heard six shots fired in quick succession, followed by a pause and a couple more shots. Moments later, there were more shots. He said he thought at first someone might be jacking deer, but Connors concluded that the shots didn’t sound like those from a high-powered hunting rifle. The jury was shown a video of the two bodies as they were found. Former RCMP officer David Clace, then in charge of the RCMP’s forensics identification unit in New Minas, said a large amount of money was found in plastic bags in a gym bag in one of the bedroom closets. The bag was later determined to contain about $65,000 in cash. Crown attorney Peter Craig has told the court that the victims were shot to death in their home in an execution-style killing as part of a Hells Angels-ordered killing. “They were killed in their home in a quiet community, with a teapot on the stove, with no signs of struggle and their baby in the next room,” Craig told the jury. He said evidence presented by as many as 40 Crown witnesses will show that Michael Lawrence and Greenwood murdered the couple on the orders of Jeffrey Lynds, a former Hells Angels operative who died recently in a Montreal jail of an apparent suicide. Lawrence, who owed Lynds money, pleaded guilty last January to three charges of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Also killed that day, by Lawrence, was Charles Maddison, an innocent man who picked Lawrence up hitchhiking. Lawrence shot him to take his truck to commit a planned robbery. Craig said Lawrence, expected to be a crucial Crown witness, will testify that he and Greenwood shot the couple, one with a .357 Magnum, the other with a 32-calibre handgun, in what he called “planned and deliberate” killings. The couple’s 18-month-old baby boy was safely recovered from the house by neighbour Ruby McKenzie, who went to the victim’s home the day after the shootings. McKenzie said she brought the baby back to her mobile home and called police. Greenwood sat quietly during the proceedings, occasionally exchanging comments with his lawyer, Alain Begin. Begin is expected to argue that Greenwood went to the Mersereau house the day of the shootings to buy drugs, and that Lawrence shot the couple while Greenwood was waiting outside. Also charged with first-degree murder in the killings is Curtis Blair Lynds, 36, who is serving time in a federal prison for drug trafficking. A preliminary inquiry in his case is scheduled to begin July 16.

Santa Ana gang member gets life in teen's death

Santa Ana gang member was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday for his role in the 2010 death of a 16-year-old who was shot in the back as he fled semiautomatic gunfire, the Orange County district attorney's office said. Sarith Yin, 25, was found guilty in January of murder, street terrorism and being a felon in possession of a firearm, with sentencing enhancements for the crime's connection to a street gang. The sentence adds 30 years on top of life without parole. Yin had been convicted of street terrorism and second-degree burglary, among other offenses, in recent years. Prosecutors said Yin and John Saway were dispatched by fellow gang members after a confrontation between gang members and a group of teenagers in Tustin on Jan. 10, 2010. Yin and Saway, 25, drove to Tustin from Santa Ana, armed with semiautomatic weapons. The teens fled to nearby apartments, prosecutors said, but two others -- Carlos Rodriguez, 16, and an unidentified 16-year-old girl -- tried to hide behind a tree. Prosecutors said Saway approached the tree and began shooting at the two, while Yin provided cover. As the teens tried to flee, prosecutors allege, Saway shot Rodriguez in the back and the bullet pierced his heart. A man in one of the nearby apartments came outside with a rifle and began shooting at Saway and Yin, allowing a window for the young woman to escape. Yin fired back as the pair fled to a getaway car. Saway faces charges of murder, street terrorism, possession of a firearm by a felon, attempted murder and assault with a firearm -- with the sentencing enhancements for gang-related crimes. He has prior convictions for vehicle theft and being a felon with a gun. Prosecutors said Saway's trial is scheduled to begin next week.

9 arrested on federal charges in Englewood drug investigation

Side culminated Thursday with the arrests of nine people charged in separate indictments returned by a Federal Grand Jury and in a criminal complaint filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The arrests and charges were announced Friday morning by the FBI’s Chicago office, Chicago Police and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office. All of those arrested were taken into custody Thursday at various times and locations in and around Chicago, without incident, by members of the FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs and officers from the CPD, according to a release from the FBI. All of the defendants named in separate indictments were charged with possession and/or distribution of a controlled substance, either heroin or cocaine, while one defendant was also charged in a criminal complaint with distribution of a controlled substance (heroin). All of the charges are felony offenses. The three-year investigation leading to the filing of the charges announced Friday is part of an ongoing and coordinated effort by local, state and Federal authorities to identify and dismantle the many highly organized street gangs operating in Chicago, whose primary source of revenue is the sale of illicit drugs. This investigation, which resulted in the recovery of five weapons, over a kilogram of cocaine and nearly 500 grams of heroin, employed the extensive use of sophisticated physical surveillance techniques, the controlled and undercover purchase of illegal drugs and the court authorized interception of telephone conversations involving the defendants, the release said. This investigation was led by the Chicago FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs, which is comprised of FBI special agents and CPD officers. Additional assistance was provided during the investigation and arrests by the CPD’s Gang Intelligence and Organized Crime units; the Criminal Investigative Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Cook County State’s Attorney Office. “Our office will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to target those groups and individuals who choose to engage in the sale of illicit drugs, which often leads to entire neighborhoods being held hostage,” Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago FBI office, said. Those arrested yesterday are identified as: Valdemere Collier, 27, of the 6400 block of South Peoria Street; Terrance Elane, 40, of the 0-10 block of East 9th Street; Derrick Green, 33, of the 6400 block of South Morgan Street; Denitra Harris, 37, of the 6300 block of South Sangamon; Kalvin Harris, 34, of the 6600 block of South Wolcott; Eddie Hill, 54, of the 6600 block of South Normal; Mavric Johnson, 37, of the 5700 block of South Michigan Avenue; Clarence Jones, 39, of the 6200 block of South Langley Avenue; and John May, 39, of the 6400 block of South Peoria Street. All of those arrested appeared in U.S. District Court late Thursday, at which time they were formally charged. They were ordered held without bond, pending their next scheduled court appearance and will be housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. If convicted of the charges filed against them, the defendants in this case face possible sentences ranging from five years to life in prison.

Police fear Winnipeg summer gang war

Winnipeg police want to avoid a second summer of gang-related fire-bombings and assaults in the city, so they have started taking action now. The Winnipeg Police Service and federal prosecutors have taken the unusual step of applying in court for peace bonds for nine known biker gang members. The bonds impose various conditions on individuals, even if they have not been charged with a crime. Conditions could include curfews and orders to stay away from other gang members. Wiretap information connect the nine men to a turf war that erupted last summer between two motorcycle gangs: the Rock Machine and the Redlined Support Crew, a Hells Angels puppet group. In an affidavit filed with the court, police outlined last summer's violence between the gangs and raised concerns about public safety. "There were 20 reported and almost as many unreported incidents of violence between the Redlined/Hells Angels and the Rock Machine, including shootings, assaults and firebombings of properties," the affidavit states in part. Police said several arrests have been made, but most of the incidents remain unsolved. "The war has been quiet in the past few months, but the rivalry still exists and it appears the Rock Machine … are still intent on expanding their presence here and across Canada," the court document says. "More violence is predicted between these two groups." Two men have agreed to the peace bonds to date.

Gang members held on gun charges in SE Fresno

Fresno police patrolling southeast Fresno arrested two gang members on firearms charges Monday night. Sgt. Pete Boyer said the arrests marked the third straight day that officers have seized guns from gang members in the area as part of an effort by police to curtail violence involving gangs and tagging crews. Monday's arrests took place about 9 p.m. in the 5000 block of East Lane Avenue. Boyer said officers were talking to two men in an apartment when one man walked away and attempted to hide a handgun under a sofa. That prompted the officers to take both men, 18 and 20 years old, into custody.

Police to probe soldiers shot in gang brawls

 

The Jakarta Police said Monday they would question two soldiers who were shot while allegedly as part of a motorcycle gang that carried out vigilante acts on Jl. Pramuka in Central Jakarta last week. “The two wounded soldiers were part of the group of motorcyclists that was on Jl. Pramuka that night. Right now, the two are still being treated at hospitals. We hope they get well soon so that we can start questioning them,” said police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto. First Seaman Sugeng Riyadi and Second Pvt. Akbar Fidi Aldian reportedly suffered gunshot wounds inflicted during the brutal attack on Jl. Pramuka. Witnesses reported that both soldiers were shot by unidentified men driving a Toyota Yaris hatchback. “The men [in the car] immediately drove away after firing the shots. We are still unable to identify who fired the shots,” Rikwanto said. Akbar was shot in the chest and is currently receiving treatment at the Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital in Central Jakarta, while Sugeng was shot in the right ear and is currently hospitalized at the Mintohardjo Navy Hospital, also in Central Jakarta. A series of widespread attacks occurred in seven spots across North and Central Jakarta in the early hours of April 13, leaving at least eight people injured and one dead. The final attack took place on Jl. Pramuka at around 3 a.m., with Anggi Darmawan and Nendy Haryanto as the last victims. Two motorcycles were burned and three others were destroyed in the attack. The group of bikers also vandalized a 7-Eleven convenience store on nearby Jl. Salemba Raya, attacking and robbing the store’s customers, and damaging several motorcycles parked in front of the store. It was widely reported that the attackers were similar in appearance, with athletic builds and crew cuts. The police have also revealed that the assailants used military lingo when addressing each other and that some of them attached yellow ribbons to their shirts. “However, we are still looking into whether [Sugeng and Akbar] also attached yellow ribbons to their shirts,” Rikwanto said. According to him, the bullets that struck Sugeng and Akbar were still at the respective hospitals that treated the two soldiers. “We will request [the hospitals] to submit [the bullets] to us so that we can keep them as evidence.” Friday’s early morning violence was the latest in a series of four attacks allegedly involving biker gangs in Jakarta in the past three weeks. The first assault took place in Pademangan, North Jakarta, in which First Seaman Arifin Sirih was killed. Another attack occurred seven days later in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, which took the life of Soleh, 17. The next day, four teenagers were assaulted by a group of 30 bikers in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. Separately, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said Sunday that he had ordered the police and the military police to work together in arresting the motorcycle-riding perpetrators of the recent spate of violence across Jakarta as soon as possible. “No matter who they are, military personnel or civilians, they must be taken to court if they are found guilty of such crimes,” he said as quoted by tempo.co.

Girl killed in gang shootout

12-year-old Cape Town girl was killed during a deadly shootout between rival gangs and cops. And the victim’s sister and cousin were rushed to hospital after they were also shot in the crossfire on Saturday night. Sade Boltman, 12, her 17-year-old sister Tiffany and their cousin Quade Fredericks, 12, were walking home from their grandmother’s house when they trapped in the shootout. The children and three other relatives – including Quade’s mother Gaynor Schwartz – were walking in Vlamboom Road, Bonteheuwel, when a shootout broke out between two rival gangs and police. Cops claim the victims were shot by the gang members before they arrived. But residents insist the cops were at the scene before any of the children were hit. Sade’s heartbroken family were Sunday night trying to come to terms with the senseless killing of their beloved daughter. Tiffany and Sade’s father Anthony Boltman, 38, says the children were planning a surprise party for their grandmother who celebrated her birthday last week. “They were on their way home and just as they took the bend at Vlamboom Road, people were shooting,” Anthony tells the Daily Voice. “We don’t know where the shots came from (police or gangsters).” Anthony says his daughter was still alive when he arrived at the scene at around 10pm. “I was the last person to see her,” he says. “I spoke to Sade as she was on the floor and told her not to leave me. “She just looked at me as if to say ‘Daddy, please help me’. “They were going to surprise their grandmother at church [Sunday] for her birthday.” Sade was rushed to hospital with her injured sister and cousin. Medics battled to save her life – but she died hours later from her injuries. Sade’s sister was shot in the right foot and is recovering in hospital. Her cousin Quade, who was shot in the jaw, underwent surgery to remove the bullet. Sade’s mother Sherri was too distraught to talk to the Daily Voice at the family home in Bonteheuwel Avenue on Sunday. Scores of friends and relatives arrived to offer their condolences to the family. Neighbours also placed floral tributes at the scene of the fatal shooting. Police and Vlamboom Road residents on Sunday night gave different accounts of the bloody shootout that resulted in the death of the 12-year-old girl. Locals are adamant the shootout was between police and gang members. But cops claim their officers only arrived at the scene after a separate shootout between rival gangsters. Resident Gail Brooks says several shots were fired outside her home, close to where the children were hit. “They were walking down the road when the shots were fired,” she tells the Daily Voice. “Police said they were looking for someone wearing a red top but they didn’t find anyone. “There were lots of shots fired.” Bishop Lavis police spokesperson Captain Marie Louw claims the fatal bullet was not fired from any of the officers’ guns. “According to a witness there was a shooting between two gangs when one of the gang members walked towards the children and started shooting at them,” she tells the Daily Voice. “Sade was shot in the chest and neck and died as a result of her injuries.” Louw claims police arrived minutes later when the suspects allegedly opened fire on them. “The police fired back and managed to arrest a 21-year-old man from Yellowwood Street,” she adds.

Sydney rocked by escalating gun war between gangs

An escalating gun war in Sydney saw five overnight drive-by shooting attacks, Australian police said Tuesday, April 17, as they struggled to bring the gangland violence under control. According to AFP, there have been eight shootings across the city in four days and 19 so far this month, mostly in Sydney's west and southwest. Three homes and two tattoo parlors were sprayed with bullets in the latest attacks. No one was hurt but five young children were lucky to escape injury in one of the houses. Police believe a dispute between two biker gangs - the Nomads and Hells Angels - was behind four of the five attacks. Assistant Police Commissioner Frank Mennilli said the police were working on stamping out the violence. "This is where we have just individuals who've got a total disregard for the law of this state and its community," he told ABC radio. New South Wales state opposition leader John Robertson urged the government to authorize police rewards of up to Aus$50,000 (US$51,700) to any person who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction. "This gangland war is going to continue and people in Sydney are going to continue to live in fear," he told reporters. New South Wales state Premier Barry O'Farrell defended the police response. "I share the public's concern that even though these are clearly targeted shootings, only one stray bullet is needed to seriously injure or kill someone who is innocent," he said. Federal Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said more needed to be done to halt the illegal trade in firearms with more than 10,000 handguns on the streets of Australia. He suggested a firearms unit be established to collate intelligence gathered by customs and federal and state police on the illegal gun trade. "We already have that with drugs, and it works very well," he said.

Police in downtown Los Angelese are fighting crime by predicting offences - before they have even happened.

Unlike the usual method of responding to 911 calls, cops use computers which show them 'red spots' where an incident is most likely to occur.

They are then deployed onto the streets in a bid to deter thugs, burglers and gangsters from going on their next crime spree.

Technical: LAPD cops study an enormous computer screen showing 'red spots' where the next crime is most likely to committed

 

The 'predictive policing' system pulls together crime statistics and pinpoints the areas where most offences are being carried out. Police are then sent to patrol those streets

The programme has some similarities with the hit science fiction film Minority Report.  The movie is set in 2054 and a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes.

However, unlike LAPD's system who use computer data, those in Minority Report employ special psychics called 'precogs'.

Tom Cruise plays 'PreCrime' captain John Anderton but the system eventually predicts that he will commit a future murder and he has to take flight.

 

 

Such disturbing situations are unlikely to happen with LAPD's system, which uses crime statistics - and not premonitions - to pinpoint the next likely incident.

The system has been trialled in the Foothill division of downtown LA since November and could be rolled out to other areas if it is successful

The 'predictive policing' system being used in the Foothill Division of downtown LA has been developed from the same kind of mathematical calculations used to predict earthquakes and aftershocks.

It analyses the times, dates, and places of recent crimes such as burglaries, break-ins, and car thefts. It also looks at the frequency of offences and predicts how many are likely to be carried out if the trend continues.

If a spate of crimes have happened in one area, or a crook appears to be moving across the region, this is flagged up the software. The data is then aggregated and 'hot spots' are formed.

Capt. Sean Malinowski says the system is able to put police on the streets before crimes have happened.

Futuristic: Tom Cruise, left, as John Anderton in the science fiction hit Minority Report, which uses psychic 'precogs' to predict future crimes

Complex: Anderton uses his special powers to predict crime to map future offenders on a giant computer screen. The premonitions backfired when he was himself accused of a future murder

'Sixty-five percent of our crimes are burglary, grand theft auto and burglary from a motor vehicle. And that's what these boxes represent,' he told CBS.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said the main goal was to prevent crime. Since the system was introduced burglaries are down 33 per cent and violent crime is also down 21 per cent.

Police Chf Beck said: 'I love catching people - it's what I live for - but what I'd rather do is live in a place and work in a place where crime didn't happen.

'Everybody thinks they do their profession as well as it can be done and so they don't need any help. If this old street cop can change the way that he thinks about these things, then I know my kids can do the same.'

He added that the system helps police to use their officers more effectively. It has been tested in the Foothill Division since last November and if it is found to be successful it could be roled out across more divisions in LA.

British terror supergrass sentence cut by two years

jailed British terrorist has had his sentence cut by two years in a supergrass deal after giving evidence about an al Qaeda-linked “martyrdom” plot in New York, it was revealed today. Former teacher Saajid Badat was jailed for 13 years in 2005 for plotting with shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a transatlantic airliner in 2001 in what an Old Bailey judge said was a “wicked and inhuman” plot. He has now had his term reduced by two years under the first “supergrass” deal involving a terror convict, after providing intelligence to US prosecutors investigating an alleged plot to blow up the New York subway on the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attack. Details of the deal — kept secret for more than two years — were revealed today by the Crown Prosecution Service as a trial of the alleged al Qaeda plotters began in New York. Defendant Adis Medanjanin, a 27-year-old Bosnian-born US citizen, is charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing “material support” to al Qaeda. He is said to have had terrorist training in Pakistan in 2008 and then returned to begin a plot to use beauty parlour chemicals to blow up the subway. Badat, from Gloucester, joined Reid’s shoe bomb conspiracy but pulled out at the last minute.

Western embassies targeted in Afghanistan attacks

 

Gunmen have launched multiple attacks across the Afghan capital Kabul. Western embassies in the heavily-guarded, central diplomatic area are understood to be among the targets as well as the parliament building in the west. There are reports that up to seven different locations have been hit. The Taliban has admitted responsibility, saying their main targets were the British and German embassies. There is no word at this stage on any casualties.

Taliban free hundreds from Pakistan prison

Hundreds of prisoners are believed to have escaped from a jail in northwest Pakistan after it was attacked by anti-government fighters armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Some of those who escaped from the facility in the town of Bannu, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, early on Sunday morning were "militants", an intelligence official told the Reuters news agency. "Dozens of militants attacked Bannu's Central Jail in the early hours of the morning, and more 300 prisoners have escaped," Mir Sahib Jan, the official, said. In Depth   Profile: Pakistani Taliban "There was intense gunfire, and rocket-propelled grenades were also used." Many of those who escaped following the raid were convicted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters, Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder reported from Lahore. A prison official in Bannu confirmed that "384 prisoners have escaped". A police official identified one of the inmates who escaped as a "dangerous prisoner", who took part in one of the attempts to kill the former president, Pervez Musharraf. The TTP, an umbrella organisation for anti-government groups that are loosely allied with the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda, took responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for Hakeemullah Mehsud, TTP's leader, confirmed to Al Jazeera that the group was responsible for the attack. Another Taliban spokesman told Reuters: "We have freed hundreds of our comrades in Bannu in this attack. Several of our people have reached their destinations, others are on their way.".   Our correspondent said the attack took place in the early morning and had resulted in an exchange of fire that had left several people wounded. "After the attack the paramilitary and regular military forces came to that location and tried to surround the area," he said. "They have arrested up to a dozen men, but most of the people have indeed escaped." The injured were rushed to a local hospital in Bannu. Sources told Al Jazeera that as many as 150 fighters were involved in the attack. After blowing up the gates of the main prison at around 1:30am local time (20:30 GMT on Saturday), they entered the compound and freed the inmates, the sources said. The attackers had arranged for the transportation of the inmates from the facility. A police official told Reuters that Bannu's Central Jail held 944 prisoners in total, and that six cell blocks had been targeted in the attack.