Victor Peirce. murder of Melbourne underworld figure

police informer is testifying against a man charged with the murder of Melbourne underworld figure, Victor Peirce.Peirce was shot at Port Melbourne six years ago.26-year-old Faruk Orman is facing a committal hearing for the murder, but has yet to enter a plea.It is alleged Orman was part of a hit team with slain gangland figure Andrew Veniamin.Under cross-examination, the unidentified witness testified he had done a deal with police to give evidence, knowing he could be sentenced to life in prison for drug dealing.The hearing is being heard in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

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Gregory "George" Suny,Alan "Big Al" Wolf Peter Miller,Give us our guns back say Three Hells Angels

In fact, the Angels also want their framed poems, black leather vests, gun permits, drivers' licenses, personal papers and biker memorabilia.
In a federal civil-rights lawsuit, Alan "Big Al" Wolf, of Denver, Pa., Peter Miller, of Pennsburg, Pa., and Gregory "George" Suny, of Upper Darby, say the Philly cops won't give back the items seized during a 2005 raid in West Philadelphia.
So, they're demanding more than $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages from the city, court records show. A source close to settlement discussions claims the Angels have turned down an offer from the city that they consider too low.
Today, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Arnold C. Rapoport takes over the case and is expected to schedule a settlement conference.
The lawsuit, however, leaves out key details of the Angels' short, colorful history, such as the failed bombing of its headquarters that immediately preceded the raid.
It also fails to mention the Angels' bloody battle with the Pagans Outlaw Motorcycle Club, a war that included murder, drive-by shootings, turncoats and beatings to drive the Angels out of Philadelphia.Attorney Michael Caudo filed the lawsuit last July in Common Pleas Court and it was later transferred to Federal Court last October. Caudo said he didn't mention the outlaw motorcycle club by name because: "I don't represent the Hells Angels. [The club] has counsel. "What I was seeking was the return of property - drivers' licenses, permits to carry firearms and firearms," he added.Wolf, Miller and Suny "were never arrested. They were taken in for questioning," he added. "They didn't do anything illegal."Law enforcement officers "could have looked at their [drivers' licenses and gun permits], copied them and given them back," he added.Four months before the raid, Angels chapter president Thomas "Thinker" Woods was fatally shot on the Schuylkill Expressway in what was widely speculated to be the latest incident of an ongoing war between the Angels and Pagans.Then, on May 18, 2005, authorities learned that a homemade bomb had been thrown overnight at the Angels' headquarters.The bomb, believed to be a grenade attached to a container of gasoline, did not explode. But police and FBI investigators found "bits and pieces" left by the explosive device, although not the device, in the Angels' front yard.Later that night, about a dozen Angels were meeting inside when investigators outside the club asked Steve DeMarco, then chapter vice president, to tell where the bomb was "or they would take further action," according to a source close to the probe.Investigators wanted to disarm the device, so it would not harm anyone, especially children, the source said.
So, DeMarco asked the Angels if they wanted to disclose the bomb's whereabouts. They responded with a resounding "NO!," according to a biker source. So DeMarco, in turn, told authorities: "You gotta do what you gotta do."
The next day, the biker source claimed, DeMarco allowed authorities to enter and search the club, before Detective James Kearney obtained a search warrant. DeMarco could not be reached for comment.During the search, police and FBI agents seized the Angels' guns and belongings. The lawsuit claimed the search was illegal."Some of that evidence may be in federal custody and they are suing the wrong [agency]," a law enforcement source said."We're not in the business of putting guns back on the street," the source continued. "They already demonstrated what they want to do with them. They're not using them for hunting. They're using those guns to hunt down Pagans."But Caudo insisted: "You can't just go rounding people up and taking their property."As for three black leather vests - the ones emblazoned with the Angels' death-head logo, known as their "colors," the source said, "Only one set of 'colors' were taken that night, and they were returned when the owner requested them.
"They're lying in the filings" if they say three leather vests were seized in the lawsuit, the source added. "None of those people [Wolf, Miller and Suny] came forward to claim their property."After Caudo filed the lawsuit, he learned that only one vest was taken, and returned a week later. While investigators questioned the Angels, they were in "reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm" and were "unlawfully and improperly assaulted and battered against their will," according to the lawsuit.
Meantime, investigators found the grenade on the railroad tracks under a bridge at 41st and Poplar Streets, about seven blocks from the Angels' headquarters.
"They're all lucky we didn't charge them with hindering an investigation and risking a catastrophe," the law enforcement source said. "They got off easy that night."
But that may not be for long.
There's an ongoing federal-local probe of the recent war between the Angels and Pagans, including the missing bomb, Woods' murder and "a whole series of things," the law enforcement source said.Craig Straw, chief deputy of the civil rights division of the city Law Department, declined to comment.Since the Angels' chapter was closed, some members opened a statewide chapter of Nomads, an elite outlaw biker club associated with the Hells Ang

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More gangland killings in Vancouver

More gangland killings this weekend both victims ambushed outside their homes have provoked what has become a dreary mantra by police spokesmen: a targeted killing, victim known to the police,On Friday, just before midnight, an armed assailant walked up to a Mercedes SUV parked in the driveway of a Surrey home in the vicinity of 90th Avenue and 141A and opened fire on Nhant Truong (Joe) Tran, 23, as he sat in the driver's seat.Tran was killed in his own driveway, in his own car, shortly after arriving home.Surrey RCMP spokesman Sgt. Roger Morrow said Tran appeared to be waiting for someone. Police were called to the home by people who heard shots fired.
"The lone victim was known to police, and while at the initial stages of this investigation, investigators are of the belief that this is a targeted attack.
While IHIT tries to put it all together on the Tran murder, Vancouver homicide detectives are busy trying to solve the murder of 20-year-old Kyle Richard Wong, cut down in a hail of gunfire from an assault rifle in front of his family's townhouse carport in the 8600-block Aqua Drive at approximately 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
The weapon believed to have been used to kill Wong, who Vancouver police said had gang connections, was found a block away, apparently discarded by his killer.A fully automatic rifle is an unusual weapon for such a killing, said Vancouver police spokesman Const. Tim Fanning. Most of the recent gang-style murders have involved the use of semi-automatic handguns, he said.Since 2006, Wong had accumulated 10 charges, all motor vehicle infractions, and was due to appear in court Wednesday on a charge of driving without a valid driver's licence.
Witnesses could only give police a vague description of the vehicle that raced away from the scene. On Monday, Fanning said investigators were re-interviewing witnesses in the hope of getting a more detailed description.According to police only a fraction of gang-related murders are ever solved.
Fanning said the solve rate averages 35 to 40 per cent, whereas in other types of murder, police expect at least a 60-per-cent rate in identifying killers
"The reason for the low rate is that these are premeditated murders that have taken time to plan. The perpetrators disguise their appearance and lurk in the shadows. It usually takes a year to solve a murder like this and we have found that in some cases the victim of one murder was a suspect in another," he said.Fanning would not say if this was the case with Wong.While police intelligence sources close to the gang world might be able to identify a suspect in a targeted killing "the tough part was getting the evidence to lay a charge," said Fanning.
The department is compiling a report on the numbers of solved homicides relating to gangland slayings, which is expected to be released within the next few months, he said.

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Hotel district in the popular resort of Cancun.seized 20 high-powered rifles, 14 grenades and more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition

Mexican police said they seized 20 high-powered rifles, 14 grenades and more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition on Monday in a hotel district in the popular resort of Cancun.Federal police made the discovery in an apartment in the swank housing development known as "The Waves" in the heart of Cancun's tourist district, state Attorney General Bello Melchor Rodriguez told The Associated Press by phone.Among the weapons seized were seven AK-47 assault rifles, two M16 rifles and various grenade launchers, the Public Safety Department said in a statement.The police suspect the weapons were linked to organized crime but no arrests had been made, said a department spokesman who couldn't be named because he wasn't authorized to speak on the record.Popular tourist destinations, such as Acapulco, Cancun and Baja California, have suffered a wave of violence and crime in recent years — in some cases, negatively affecting the lucrative industry.

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Manitoba Hells Angels president Ernie Dew found guilty on all his charges

Manitoba Hells Angels president Ernie Dew has been found guilty on all his charges.
Last month, Dew conceded the Crown had proved its case for six of the seven offences — three counts each of drug trafficking and possessing proceeds of crime — that he was charged with in February 2006, when he was picked up along with 12 other bikers and associates in Project Defence.
This morning, Justice Brenda Keyser also found Dew guilty of the seventh offence — a cocaine deal at his St. Andrews home that involved his wife, but was orchestrated by the biker boss before he went on a hunting trip. In every case, the man buying the cocaine was police informant Franco Atanasovic. That fact may or may not keep Dew out of jail despite being guilty on every charge, because his co-counsel Sarah Inness filed a rare motion last month alleging Dew was the victim of a police entrapment scheme. If Keyser decides there was indeed entrapment, all seven of Dew's charges will be stayed and he will be free, as the ruling would effectively nullify the findings of guilt that were proven during the trial. If she denies the entrapment argument, Dew will be convicted and sentenced on all seven counts.

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Kyle Richard Wong gangland slaying

Kyle Richard Wong was the ninth murder since the new violence suppression team was unveiled last fall.In November, police across the region joined forces to set up the 60-member VST.One month later, during a news conference to update their efforts, Sergeant Shinder Kirk said established gangs like the “Hells Angels”, the “UN” gang, the “Independent Soldiers” and “Red Scorpions” now have competition from smaller players.
"That’s the fluidity of groups we're dealing with. You have groups that are operating in this lifestyle that don't have a name and they do come together and break apart almost as quickly."Vancouver police have confirmed a gun was found near Wong’s body on Sunday morning and they're looking for the driver of a light-coloured import vehicle.

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Zetas equipped with automatic weapons, 50 Cal machine guns, M-60’s, infrared technology body armor, Humvee’s and state-of-the-art communications

The men are known as the Zetas, former members of the Mexican army who defected to Mexico's so-called Gulf drug cartel in the late 1990s. "These guys operate like a military well trained and with precision," said Arturo A. Fontes, an FBI special investigator for border violence based in Laredo, in south Texas. "They have their hands in everything and they have eyes and ears everywhere. I've seen how they work, and they're good at what they do. They're an impressive bunch of ruthless criminals."
Los Zetas are Ex- Army Special forces, regular troopers, police agents and common criminals who work for Osiel Cardenas in the drug trafficking business. Some have received special-forces training under the U.S. Army at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia . The members with military backgrounds can be considered mercenaries working for Mexican drug cartels. The name Zeta comes from a radio code used by the Mexican federal police to locate high-ranking battalion commanders.
Investigators say the feared bands of ex-military elite forces are operating in Texas and other parts of the United States unchecked. A team of rogue Mexican commandos blamed for hundreds of killings and kidnappings along the U.S.-Mexico border has carried out at least five drug-related slayings as far north as Dallas, a sign that the group is extending its deadly operations into U.S. cities, U.S. law enforcement officials say.Dallas and federal officials said that since late 2003 eight to 10 members of the Zetas have been operating in north Texas, maintaining a "shadowy existence" and sometimes hiring Texas criminal gangs, including the Mexican Mafia, M-13 and Texas Syndicate, for contract killings according to the Dallas police dept.. The Texas Syndicate is a prison gang that authorities blame for several murders nationwide.It is also believed by some officials at the CIA that they may have Al-Qaeda and other terrorist connections and maybe helping them breach our borders.The U.S.-Mexico border is becoming like a war zone states Texas sheriff's from El Paso, McAllen, Laredo.The feds in El Paso alerted law enforcement throughout the country, warning them that Mexican commandos are now working for drug cartels.Most Americans are shocked to learn where the commandos were trained.A memo from the Justice Department warns that Mexican commandos were trained by U.S. forces, but switched sides. They are now using their deadly skills to work for the drug cartels often with the Mexican regular army.A recent Intelligence Bulletin from ICE we obtained says the Zetas are responsible for hundreds of violent drug-related murders. It says they've executed journalists, murdered people in Dallas, El Paso, McAllen, Laredo, Tijuana and Juarez. They even detained two DEA agents and recently they've shot at Border Patrol agents, County sheriffs and the US National Guard. At the Texas and Arizona borders with Mexico agents are already seeing a major increase in murder and other violence.Perfecting their commando training, Los Zetas are known to be extremely violent killers and have been blamed for an outbreak of violence along the Mexican border for several years now, with no real resistance from the US Government.Federal agents stationed at the El Paso Criminal Intelligence Center told local law enforcement, "that Not only did they receive some early military training but they developed their own internal training as well increasing their violence far beyond their own original capabilities."
The normally busy streets and busy stores in El Paso, Nogales, Sonora and Laredo on both sides of the river have been less busy due to all the violence and threats. It’s reported that many shop keepers in all of those broader cities and others are scared. Many claim their business has really fallen off since the Los Zetas showed up. Most shop owners like Seth (does not want to use his last name) who fear retaliation say “it’s a direct result of drug wars and random shootings.” Seth says,” the tourists are simply afraid to come to our cities to shop.
U.S. Customs agents, US Boarder Patrol and county Sheriff’s all along the boarder from California to east Texas have been involved in shootouts with an enemy they had not seen before. According to one Texas sheriff’s deputy “ these guys are equipped with automatic weapons, 50 Cal machine guns, M-60’s, infrared technology body armor, Humvee’s and state-of-the-art communications, he said ,” it is a combination of Los Zetas and Mexican military.”As the drug wars heat up and expand between the Gulf Cartel to the east and the Tijuana Cartel to the west, a Justice Department bulletin warns:“The violence will spill over the Mexican border into the United States and law enforcement agencies in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California can expect to encounter Los Zetas in the coming months and years.”
The violence plaguing the border towns has led to dire warnings issued by the State Department saying that narco- traffickers are on the hunt for US citizens.The military training comes in handy with the arms the Zetas carry, including 9mm weapons and infrared technology - all parts of an armory equivalent to an American SWAT team. Drug money pays for it all. The Zeta arsenal could make the group attractive to other groups, like al-Qaeda or the Mara Salvatruchas.
According to one of there own jailed members during an interview with law enforcement said, “there are some of the Maras and al-Qaeda inside the organization”. The phenomenon of the Maras, is a violent Central American gang that originated in Los Angeles and has become a nightmare in the region.While the Zetas are a problem for Mexican police, they also claim to work with drug dealers in the United States. Their work includes cold-blooded killings. They told us they knew of a hit on two men outside a Rio Grande City restaurant, and the murder of two men watching a fight in Starr County according to a TV report aired in Arizona.Law enforcement including Sheriff’s, Police Chiefs and regular concerned citizens along the Mexican American border say the US Government is doing very little to support and protect our hundreds of miles of borders. And say the Zetas are operating with immunity and doing what ever they like without and repercussions. They want something done and right now it is already completely out of hand and is dangerous for there kids and everyone else. Business owners on both sides of the border and even law enforcement are reluctant to talk about the problem fearing retaliation from these thugs.So what are we doing in our country to keep an eye on these people.

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Canadian Tourists murdered in Cancun Gangland

Cancun is more dangerous to Canadians than Israeli or Lebanese beach resorts. But we have a warning for the latter. Cancun and Acapulco are the centers of the drug cartel wars, which have taken more Canadian lives than the Israeli/Lebanon war.
Toews is the latest case of a number of Canadians injured or killed while vacationing in Mexico: Domenic and Nancy Ianiero, of Woodbridge, Ont., were staying at the luxury Barcelo Maya beach resort near Cancun when they were found with their throats slashed on Feb. 20, 2006. The murder remains unsolved. Another Woodbridge resident, 19-year-old Adam DePrisco, was killed outside an Acapulco nightclub last January. Local authorities said he was the victim of a hit-and-run, but relatives say the teenager was beaten to death. In February, Rita Callara, 55, and a Canadian man, both from the Niagara Falls region, were each shot in the leg after a gunman fired a semi-automatic weapon at the Casa Inn hotel in Acapulco.The same weekend the Canadian tourist was attacked this happened; Gunmen attack police chief in Cancun beach resort Coincidence? I think not.


While not apparently connected to the death of the Canadian tourist, it reflects the dangers of the drug wars occurring under the surface in the land of umbrella drinks, sun and surf.In the real city of Cancun — rather than the “Hotel Zone” — the chief of police was ambushed with his entourage. His bodyguard was killed and others wounded. He survived.Some sources estimate 900 people have been murdered since the beginning of the year in Mexico in drug-war violence but that is not confirmed. The AP reported that figure from the Mexico City magazine, Milenio. The government does not confirm any figure.This current cartel war is being waged not only for control of the smuggling plazas into the United States, such as Nuevo Laredo, Mexicali and Tijuana, but also for the locations used for Mexico’s incoming drug shipments, in places such as Acapulco, Cancun and Michoacan, and for control of critical points on transshipment routes through the center of the country, such as Hermosillo.While there has always been some level of violence between the Mexican cartels, the current war has resulted in a notable escalation in the level of brutality. One significant cause of this uptick is the change in the composition of the cartels’ enforcement arms. Historically, cartel leaders performed much of their own dirty work, and figures such as Cardenas and Ramon Arellano Felix were recognized for the number of rivals they killed on their rise to the top of their respective organizations. In the recent past, however, the cartels have begun to contract out the enforcement functions to highly trained outsiders. For example, when cartels such as the Tijuana organization began to use active or retired police officers against their enemies, their rivals were forced to find enforcers capable of countering this strength. As a result, the Gulf cartel hired Los Zetas, a group of elite anti-drug paratroopers and intelligence operatives who deserted their federal Special Air Mobile Force Group in 1991. The Sinaloa cartel, meanwhile, formed a similar armed force called Los Pelones, literally meaning “the bald ones” but typically understood to mean “new soldiers” for the shaved heads normally sported by military recruits. Although the cartels had long outgunned Mexican police, these highly trained and aggressive enforcers upped the ante even further, introducing military-style tactics and even more advanced weapons.
The life of a Mexican drug cartel enforcer can be exciting, brutal — and short. Los Zetas and Los Pelones are constantly attacking one another and some members of the groups even have posted videos on the Internet of them torturing and executing their rivals. Beheading rival enforcers also has become common. The current cartel war has proven to be a long and arduous struggle, and there has been heavy attrition among both organizations. Because of this attrition, the cartels have recently begun to bring fresh muscle to the fight. Los Zetas have formed relationships with former members of the Guatemalan special forces known as Kaibiles, and with members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang.
It is this environment of extreme and often gratuitous violence — killings, beheadings and rocket-propelled grenade attacks — that has sparked Calderon’s actions against the Gulf cartel. Why he is focusing specifically on the Gulf cartel is unclear, though it is possible the government has better intelligence on it than on the others. Or perhaps it is because the Gulf cartel has a more centralized command structure than does Sinaloa, which is a federation of several smaller cartels. Of course, the Gulf cartel itself has argued that the Calderon administration is on the Sinaloa payroll and is being used by Sinaloa to destroy its rival. Another possible reason is that taking out Los Zetas — who have become emblematic of extreme cartel violence — would be a major accomplishment for the new president.

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Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno AKA El Azul controls the drug trade from Laredo Texas to San Diego California

New Mexican cartel boss Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno also known as AKA El Azul & Blue. According to high level Mexican government officials who insist on anonymity say “he now controls the drug trade from Laredo Texas to San Diego California using Los Zetas as his enforcement arm.”According to newspaper reports warring factions of Mexican gangs, cartels, and drug dealers have been fighting and killing for control of the largest drug trafficking enterprise along the border of Mexico and the United States. Esparragoza Moreno has worked his way to the top of the Juárez Cartel organization along with several other men with close ties to cocaine producers in Colombia and Afghanistan, according to the Mexican Attorney General's office and the CIA.

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Violent brawl between outlaw motorcycle gangs

Two men have been charged after a violent brawl between outlaw motorcycle gangs in Newcastle yesterday.Batons, knives and wooden planks were used in the fight between members of the Rebels gang and the Life and Death gang at a pub in Wickham.Two men were arrested and charged with affray and having an offensive implement in a public place. They were released on conditional bail to appear in Newcastle Local Court at a later date

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Nick "The Knife" Forbes,Terror Team, motto is "Violence with Attitude".

Five bikie gangs: Finks, Rebels, Nomads, Lone Wolf and Black Uhlans – all have clubhouses on the Gold Coast.
Outlaw motorcycle gangs have established a substantial beach-head on the Gold Coast in recent years and it has coincided with an upsurge in violence, standovers and drug activity. While Asian, Russian and interstate gangsters have found their way to the Coast, the bikies are easily the most active and dangerous, say law enforcement agencies.But it is the Finks that have been dominating headlines in the past few years, notably the infamous "Ballroom Blitz" at Royal Pines Resort in March 2006. Using guns, knives, glasses and chairs, Finks gang members fought a pitched battle with Hells Angels bikies at a kickboxing tournament in the ballroom of the five-star resort at Ashmore.The violence exploded after a simmering feud between the two gangs over the defection of former Fink, Christopher Hudson, to the Hells Angels, who have a clubhouse at Hillcrest in Brisbane's south.Hudson is in jail awaiting court for a triple shooting in Melbourne's CBD in June that left one man dead.
Finks members and/or associates also have been implicated in a string of violent incidents in recent years, including the December 2004 shooting of Hope Island man Darren Coffey over $7000 in "missing" drug money and the June 2006 shooting of New Zealand man Pita Wilson, who was hit with as many as nine bullets on the Southport Spit.Yassar Bakir, brother of mobile phone entrepreneur and jailed drug runner Schapelle Corby's former white knight, Ron Bakir, has been charged with Wilson's attempted murder. While on bail in Sydney, he was allegedly involved in a wild shootout outside a restaurant;The Finks were in the news again last week when seven bullets were fired into a house at Paradise Point, grazing the arm of a gang associate who was awoken by the early morning volley.At least a third of the Finks membership is behind bars either serving sentences or awaiting trial. They include members of the gang's so-called Terror Team, whose motto is "Violence with Attitude".
Terror Team members include Nick "The Knife" Forbes, who is emblazoned with tattoos including "revenge", "carnage" and "dead man still walking".
The most gruesome recent bikie-related crime did not involve the Finks, however. Members of the Currumbin-based Lone Wolf bikie gang have been accused of slicing off a man's ears in the Gold Coast hinterland over a $40,000 drug debt in November.
He was allegedly told that a grave had been dug for him on a remote bush track.
Police and bikie sources say trouble has been brewing in recent years since young turks, high on amphetamines and steroids, began taking over bikie gangs, pushing older members aside."Things started to change in the mid-1980s when the gangs started to dabble in amphetamines," one source said.The source said structures broke down when the gangs started relaxing membership rules that had forced wannabe members – "nominees" – to serve lengthy probations before getting their colours. Ethnic criminal elements began to infiltrate the clubs."The clubs started being taken over by tattooed, ice-addicted, steroid-injecting s . . . bags who were impervious to common sense," he said. "The older bikies who had families, businesses and mortgages didn't want to be involved in violent crime, but were torn by their loyalty to their club and perhaps captive to their youthful dreams. Their influence began to wane in the face of people who think they are 10 feet tall and bullet-proof, and who are simply out of control."Sources say as well as being involved in businesses, such as tattoo parlours and motor repair shops, bikies have been actively involved running nightclub security on the strip.
"It has absolutely nothing to do with making money out of security and everything to do with the supply of drugs to a ready-made market," one source said. "Some of these gangs are million-dollar enterprises."
A report released this week by the United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board said Queensland was the main supplier of amphetamines to the rest of Australia. Police say bikies are major manufacturers and distributors of amphetamines in the Sunshine State.Raids on bikie clubhouses and arrests of gang members have become more prevalent in recent years – especially since the Royal Pines shootout – as police and other law enforcement agencies step up surveillance and intelligence-gathering.In August 2006, Police Minister Judy Spence chose Royal Pines to announce the formation of a $2 million Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Squad. Codenamed Taskforce Hydra, the secretive squad includes detectives, forensic accountants, intelligence analysts and IT specialists.Hydra, which refused requests from The Courier-Mail for an interview, was involved in the arrest two weeks ago of several Finks associates and the seizure of 5000 ecstasy pills, steroids and $16,000 in cash at a Gold Coast residence. Among those arrested was Francis Keenan, who was jailed for life for the Darren Coffey shooting only to have his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.Other agencies including the Australian Crime Commission and Crime and Misconduct Commission have also been using coercive powers to break the bikies' bonds of silence. Gang members and associates are regularly hauled before secret ACC/CMC hearings where they are compelled to give evidence against their bikie brothers or go to jail for contempt."The bikies are under attack from the forces of good like never before," a legal source said.

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Gregory Wooley Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher's personal bodyguard

The 36-year-old, reputed to be a killer for the Hells Angels, was denied statutory release this week after the National Parole Board ruled he was too high a risk to "kill or cause serious harm to another person" before his sentence ends on Dec. 26, 2009.
He is serving time after pleading guilty in 2005 to conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking and committing an offence for a criminal organization.
Wooley had been tried three times for two different murders committed during Quebec's biker gang war but was never convicted. That, and the fact he was once Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher's personal bodyguard, have probably contributed to Wooley's notoriety among his fellow inmates at a penitentiary in Ontario.The parole board's written decision denying Wooley his release, which had been slated for June, says he wields considerable influence behind bars. He is also considered an impulsively violent man. A psychological assessment in January determined he is a high risk to reoffend.The summary of a hearing held Tuesday in Kingston, Ont., notes: "According to your case management team, no matter where you find yourself in custody, the power conferred upon you by your official status among bikers, and implicitly at the head of street gangs, is of such a scale that no (rehabilitation) program can sufficiently protect the public from the risk you represent."In 2006, Wooley beat a fellow inmate who had criticized him for using his influence to break up a brawl between two gangs inside a penitentiary. A video camera captured images of Wooley punching the man; minutes later, two other inmates were recorded stabbing the same man. The victim survived.
During the latter half of the 1990s, Wooley was a member of the Rockers, a Hells Angels puppet gang founded by Boucher. Because of his Haitian origins, Wooley was unable to join the world's biggest outlaw motorcycle gang officially, because of its policy of excluding blacks.One night in April 2000, he was caught at Mirabel airport, waiting to board a plane with a loaded .44-calibre pistol in his baggage. He was sentenced to 21/2 years. That same night, two drug dealers who worked for Wooley were shot dead outside a Montreal strip club. Wooley was never charged with the killings but police sources said Wooley is believed to have ordered the deaths.
In 2005, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but because he had served considerable time behind bars while he successfully fought a murder charge, he had only four years left to serve.The parole board is required to review its decision within a year

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Who whacked Constantin Alevizos?

Jan. 30 slaying outside a Brampton halfway house where the victim, Constantin Alevizos, was on parole for his part in an Ecstasy operation.
"We like where we are at with this case," Insp. Norm English said. "We are very pleased with the progress we have made." "Nobody has asked me," English said. "In fact, we have not received one tip from the public and not one media call."
It seems the scary-looking Alevizos, who was also known as Rhino Gus, was not warm and cuddly or in many people's thoughts. It seems people are comfortable letting this one go without much interest. Everybody, it seems, but the Peel homicide squad who are all over this. Well, they have seen Mafia killings before. Former boxer and mob heavy Eddie Melo being gunned down in his truck is the most recent. There were no witnesses. Two years later there were two people in custody. Peel cops bat 100% on murder. Last year all 16 homicides were solved. But with this one their batting average might be tested because this one is a real whodunnit! It doesn't intimidate Peel cops. "We have some ideas," said English, who was at the scene outside the St. Leonard's halfway house in the Queen St. and West Dr. area yesterday with Det. Sgt. Sean Lawson and Det. Dan Johnstone. With veteran homicide detectives you must translate. Homicide cops are always thinking court. They don't play their cards loosely. So let me translate: They have a pretty good understanding of who ordered the hit, have a pretty good idea who pulled the trigger and just as solid an idea why. "You have to remember this occurred on Jan. 30 and we are just a month into this," English said. "There is a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done and it absolutely will be done." And he is confident someone out there, who knows what happened, will eventually talk with them. "We know it's dangerous for some to come forward but we encourage them to do this," English said. "We will be pursing people and asking questions, so it would make everyone's life a lot easier if they would come in because eventually we'll be speaking with you." This case could involve a conspiracy with people from Vancouver to Montreal.
With the underworld, police have the advantage of knowing who is in and what their criminal past has been. "Criminals of this sort have their activities well-documented, however it certainly doesn't give you the evidence required to proceed to court. Of course we'd like some assistance and we know there are people out there who could provide that," English said. "Like with any investigation we will eventually connect all of the dots and do our very best to solve this case."
You stand at this murder scene and it's eerie. Big Gus, a former football player who tried out for the Toronto Argos in 1989, got out of his car, where he was shot by perhaps more than one gunman, and the doorway of the halfway house he stumbled into. Just a few metres away you have several office buildings, a gas station and a residential neighbourhood. "We just can't have this," English said. "Anybody could have been struck by a wayward bullet from this brazen gunman or gunmen. "This is totally unacceptable." What the killers may not have seen is the cameras. "They do help," English said. Even professional killers make mistakes and the cops understand there are a number of people with a whole host of nicknames who could have their fingers on this one. Somebody ordered the 6-foot-6, 450-pound mob enforcer's death.
And someone went to a lot of trouble to not only meticulously plan it but to perfectly execute it with almost military precision. an alleged go-between with the bikers and the Rizzuto crime family of Montreal, who was on parole for his involvement in a conspiracy to traffic more than 500,000 pills of Ecstasy.
It was that Mafia association that cops theorize could have resulted in his murder, as well as the fact that after his friend and fellow Rizzuto family traveller Gaetano Panepinto, a co-owner of a discount casket maker, was slain in 2000 he is believed to have gone into his home to retrieve more than half a million bucks that belonged to the Rizzutos. "He played the game and he paid the price for that

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Map locating recent murders by the Camorra

Art students in Naples have produced a map locating recent murders by the Camorra to underscore the local Mafia's deadly presence in the southern Italian city, one of the organisers said Friday."Our aim is to denounce the grip of the Mafia on our city," Orazio Manzo said.The fold-out map pinpoints the sites of some 40 murders attributed to the Camorra Mafia between 2005 and 2007, giving the victims' names and the times and dates of their deaths."We plan to hand it out free in the streets to Neapolitans, but also to tourists to draw their attention to the fact that Naples is not only a city of beautiful monuments but also a crime capital," Manzo said.
"We'd like to give them to the tourist offices, but we're not sure they would take them," he added.Manzo acknowledged that the recent crisis in which 200,000 tonnes of rubbish piled up on the streets of Naples because of a backed-up waste disposal system had not helped the city's reputation.
That crisis was also blamed at least in part on the Camorra, which controls many of the landfills in the area.The Camorra is thought to dominate many aspects of life in Naples and the surrounding region, one of the poorest in Italy.Last December, Italian bakers handed out 20,000 free loaves of bread one Sunday in a main square in Naples to protest against the Camorra's intimidation of their profession.

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Carl Williams pleaded guilty to three murders and was found guilty of a fourth. He's a suspect in several others.

underworld figures wanted to help police stop Melbourne's gangland war but remained silent because they were so scared of killer Carl Williams.
They came forward very soon after Williams was arrested and provided vital information to Victoria Police's Purana taskforce.
Det-Insp Gavan Ryan, who this week handed over leadership of the elite taskforce to Det-Insp Bernie Edwards, said the arrest of Williams was a turning point.
"We knew if we could get Williams behind bars that it would make life difficult for him and his friends," Det-Insp Ryan said.
"Certainly the shooting side of things slowed down when we locked him up. Locking Williams up also gave us an opportunity to talk to people who would not talk to us while he was out in the community.
"We always knew if we could pop Williams in the bin we would have a good chance of getting a lot of information, and that's exactly what happened."
It was the arrest of Williams's hitman Sean Sonnet during a failed 2004 attempt to execute Calabrian mafia money man Mario Condello that led to Purana nabbing Williams. Det-Insp Ryan said Purana had gathered enough evidence to implicate Williams in several murders by the time Sonnet was arrested.
"I rang Purana officer Shane O'Connell immediately after Sonnet's arrest and simply said 'Go and get Fat Boy', and five minutes later he rang back to say he had picked up Williams," he said. "We questioned Williams that day, and he ended up getting jailed for 35 years." Williams pleaded guilty to three murders and was found guilty of a fourth. He's a suspect in several others.
Purana was formed in May 2003 to combat the alarming level of gangland slaughter in Melbourne. In the five years since it has charged 58 offenders with 298 offences after bugging more than 500,000 telephone conversations, taping 53,000 hours of conversations and conducting 22,000 hours of physical surveillance.
Purana was so successful at ending the underworld war that Victoria Police decided to make it a permanent taskforce. Its brief is to investigate established and emerging criminal networks. Det-Insp Edwards this week started as the new head of the permanent Purana taskforce. He brings a wealth of experience. He has been in the homicide squad and detective training school, and at busy stations such as St Kilda and Dandenong, since graduating from the Victoria Police academy in 1980.
"Purana has always been headed by people who are very well respected within Victoria Police. They will be a hard act to follow," Det-Insp Edwards said.
"The pressure is on me -- and Purana -- to keep performing."
Det-Insp Ryan said the keys to Purana's success in the gangland war were the resources support it was given by Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon and Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland.
"Christine and Simon got a terrible caning in the media and elsewhere in the early days of Purana, when it appeared to some that things were not happening quickly enough," he said.
"They backed us, provided us with the resources we needed.
"Having that support was a key to Purana's success. It meant we could make big decisions immediately, expensive decisions, knowing force command was behind us.
"Christine and Simon deserve to get all the subsequent plaudits for Purana's success because they took a lot of the criticism before the arrests started happening."
Det-Insp Ryan said while he couldn't say there would be no more underworld killings, he was confident the spate that Purana was formed to investigate had ended.
"Crooks will always kill crooks. It's like prostitution -- you will never take that away," he said.
"But the nature of that particular war is over."

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'Ndrangheta has almost "exclusive" control over cocaine imports from Colombia, with estimated annual sales of $50bn dollars.

Italian police have seized more than $220m of property and goods from the Calabrian mafia, the 'Ndrangheta. In dawn raids, heavily armed special forces seized a number of houses, cars, land and businesses in Calabria and the northern industrial region of Lombardi. The areas are strongholds of feuding mafia clans under investigation for six murders in Germany last August. Thirty people have been arrested since six Italian men were gunned down in the north-western city of Duisburg. Several bank accounts were frozen as masked police carried out Tuesday's operation. The raids came two weeks after Italian police arrested alleged 'Ndrangheta chief Pasquale Condello, 57, in Calabria. But while the seizure of $220m of assets might sound like a resounding success, it is small change compared to the group's profits.
The 'Ndrangheta has almost "exclusive" control over cocaine imports from Colombia, with estimated annual sales of $50bn dollars. Last week, a parliamentary report noted that its operations have now spread from Italy, to much of Europe, as well as the United States, Argentina and Australia. The 'Ndrangheta has become a far bigger threat than the Cosa Nostra, and what sets this group apart from other crime syndicates is its structure. It relies on close family ties, which means it is less vulnerable to turncoats. It is so tightly organised that it is now one of the strongest, most dangerous mafia groups in the world.

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Plea deals to 60 of the 62 defendants arrested in a massive sweep of reputed Mafia figures

Joseph Corozzo, Jr., an attorney representing his own father in the case that he "threw [the plea deal] in the garbage" because he disputed the government's indictment that his father was dealing drugs."If they want to drop the drug charges, then I will talk to them," he said.Federal prosecutors have offered plea deals to 60 of the 62 defendants arrested in a massive sweep of reputed Mafia figures, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn said. "This is something that came out in court," said the spokesman, Robert Nardoza.He declined to go into further detail about the plea deals, which were offered to all but two defendants Ð reputed Gambino hitman Charles Carneglia, charged with four murders, including three committed in Queens, and alleged Gambino captain Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo, charged with two murders.Corozzo, who was also indicted on state charges by Queens DA Richard Brown for allegedly running a gambling ring in the borough, was said to be a fugitive who has yet to be captured by authorities."We don't comment on pre-negotiations or plea offers," Nardoza said.
Scott Leemon, the attorney for Vincent Gotti, who is charged with murder conspiracy and attempted murder and is the younger brother of former Gambino boss and Howard Beach resident John Gotti, could not be reached for comment.Other attorneys representing some of the 60 defendants said they believed the plea deals were offered by the government to make the sweeping case less cumbersome, according to Newsday.The 82-count indictment naming 62 people, including 50 alleged members of the Gambino crime family, came out of a joint investigation by the U.S. attorney's office and authorities in Sicily.Among those named in the indictment were reputed Gambino acting boss Jackie "Jackie Nose" D'Amico, alleged acting underboss Domenico Cefalu and reputed consigliere Joseph "JoJo" Corozzo.

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Michael Lynch is the Vice President of the Santa Barbara chapter of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang.

The search is on for a Los Osos resident and member of Hell's Angels.
Sheriff's deputies want to talk to Michael Lynch of Los Osos about some stolen property. Lynch is the Vice President of the Santa Barbara chapter of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang. Lynch spoke to Action News back in December when he helped organize a charity toy drive along the Central Coast. Deputies searched Lynch's home Wednesday night and took several items with them.Action News first met 52-year-old Michael Lynch during a charity toy run in December.Lynch and other members of the Santa Barbara Hell's Angels rode through the Central Coast delivering toys to families in need.He told us he wished people would focus more on his gang's charity and less on their bad reputation."When the motorcyclists get together, I don't think there's any reason to panic," Lynch said. "I think you should congratulate them, and thank them for what they donate to the community."There's no congratulations in this case.Dozens of Sheriff's deputies, police and California Highway Patrol officers searched Lynch's home on Bayview Heights Road in Los Osos Wednesday.
"I never saw so many policemen in one position, in one place, pulling out stuff and doing the same thing," said neighbor Everett Whitbeck.Officers pulled several Harley Davidson motorcycles from Lynch's garage. They said the bikes were stolen from the Fresno and San Jose areas.They also seized motorcycle and engine parts, a move that didn't surprise neighbors."There was one guy there, and he moved everything out of the garage, and he was painting the garage floor very carefully," Whitbeck said. "I kind of wondered why somebody who's renting a place for one year is painting the garage floor ."Officers also told us that many of the engines were either missing serial numbers or had new ones printed on them.Authorities have not been able to locate Lynch for questioning, but the investigation is still underway.

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Victor Bout Merchant of Death arrested

One of the world's most wanted illegal arms dealers, who allegedly supplied weapons to terrorist groups, was arrested at a hotel in Silom yesterday after slipping into the Thailand three months ago. Viktor Bout, 41, who goes by the alias Butt, a Russian national and former Soviet air force officer, was arrested at a restaurant on the 27th floor of the Sofitel hotel in Silom by a combined team of officers from the Crime Suppression Division and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The "Merchant of Death", regarded as the world's biggest illegal arms dealer was arrested by Thailand's police in Bangkok. Victor Bout, 41, a Russian who graduated from Moscow's Military Institute and known to be a Major in the KGB, is wanted for engaging in illegal arms trade in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America, Europe, and selling arms and weaponry to the Taleban and Al Qaeda. He is also the most prominent foreign business man known to be breaking UN embargoes on arms sales to Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine and Krygyzstan. Bout was arrested on the strength of a US warrant issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration.Victor Bout, who has the reputation as the "man who makes war possible", is believed to be the inspiration for Nicolas Cage's character in the 2005 film "Lord of War". In 2002, he evaded arrest stemming from a warrant issued by Belgium and interpol when he returned to Russia. The Russian Constitution protected him from extradition. He has also been investigated in several countries but has never been prosecuted for arms dealing. As implied in the movie, the illegal arms dealer is set free by the higher authorities of the very country that arrested him, primarily because these countries use him to sell arms to the enemies of their enemy in a war for wealth and profitable resources.
Bout speaks several languages and owns the largest private fleet of Soviet era cargo aircraft, obtained during the break-up of the Soviet Union.

It is chillingly possible that he has also obtained and sold some of the former USSR's nuclear weapons and ICBMs to countries that are at odds with the western powers. Bout has denied performing illegal acts. How this arrest and seizure of his cargo in Thailand will play out deserves scrutiny. Trade offs and back room deals to prevent information leaks about involvement of other countries and their officials in sanctioning arms selling, could conceal the brutal truth about these transactions and the bloody trail of death, destruction and misery it leaves behind. Bout could certainly be out of the picture, but someone from the same mold will take his place.

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Hells Angels environmental violations

A member of the Hells Angels is due to appear in a New Hampshire court on environmental violations.Attorney Lauren Noether, who heads up the Environmental Protection Division of the state Attorney General's Office, confirms that the state filed a motion in January to impose a jail sentence against Edward Shaughnessy of Gilford and Black Oaks LLC.Shaughnessy was previously convicted of violating a series of environmental protection laws after he built a road through wetlands involving land that he owns.Local authorities say a portion of the property near where the environmental laws were breached is the location of a clubhouse used by members of the motorcycle club.The state is charging that Shaughnessy and the limited liability corporation, which he controlled, have not complied with a sentencing order requiring him to submit a restoration plan and an application for a wetlands permit to the Environmental Services Department.Shaughnessy is expected back in Belknap County Superior Court on Friday.

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Outlaws biker gang gun seized during a massive police operation

A gun seized during a massive police operation against the Outlaws biker gang was sent away for tests to find out if it was linked to a high-profile murder. Officers thought the semi-automatic handgun may have been the one used in the slaying of Hells Angel Gerry Tobin on the M40 last August.Ballistics experts later ruled it out as the murder weapon because it was a different type.The handgun was seized along with a sawn-off shotgun last Saturday as part of Operation Patch.It was the biggest police operation seen in the Forest and followed intelligence from Gwent Constabulary.The swoop involved 84 officers, including firearms teams carrying sub-machine guns, two specially- trained support units in full riot gear and dog handlers.They manned three checkpoints on the main roads into Cinderford.
One was outside Steam Mills Primary School, the second opposite Yew Tree Brake Cemetery in Speech House Road and the third near Littledean CofE Primary School.
All motorcycle riders, regardless of whether they were members of the Outlaws gang, were stopped at the checkpoints and questioned.Several vans and cars were also pulled over and searched as police took the opportunity to look for criminals not associated with the Outlaws. Eight men and a woman were arrested.A police helicopter hovered overhead during the operation. Meanwhile, a Gloucestershire force CCTV van was stationed in the Heywood Road car park in Cinderford, its cameras trained on a flat off the High Street which is believed to be an Outlaws Motorcycle Club HQ.
A police source said: "We'd been told the Outlaws were up to something across the border in Gwent and our aim was to stop anything from happening before they got out of the Forest."We knew they could have guns, which was why we needed the armed back-up. A sawn-off and a semi-automatic were recovered, so the operation was a success. It was thought the handgun may have been used in the M40 murder, although that was later found not to be the case."Det Insp Ian Ginn said: "It's very unusual for us to take action such as setting up checkpoints with armed officers. It was a result of specific intelligence regarding specific concerns."Members of the public should feel reassured that we have the resources and capability to do so to ensure public safety should the need arise."He added: "While information did not lead us to believe offences were to be committed in our force area, the operation led to the seizure of a number of weapons from addresses in Gloucestershire and this can only make the streets safer, both here and elsewhere."Hells Angel Mr Tobin was shot dead while riding on the M40 in Warwickshire on August 17, 2007. He was killed by a single shot as he rode home from the Bulldog Bash biker festival in Long Marston, near Stratford-upon-Avon.Five men accused of the 35-year-old's murder are due to stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court on October 1 this year. They have pleaded not guilty to murder and firearms offences.Two other men, also charged with murder and firearms offences, have not entered pleas.

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Steven "Gorilla" Mondevergine to join the Hell's Angels when he gets out of jail.

First the world's largest motorcycle posse, the Hell's Angels, allegedly bragged that they were coming down to take Philadelphia away from the Pagans, the Delaware Valley's largest outlaw biker gang.Then some of the local Pagans took a look at the odds and switched sides. A group of panicky Pagans signed on with the Hell's Angels and recently started sporting the scary Hell's Angel patch on their denim jackets -- when bikers from one club join another club it's called "patching over" in the biker world. Now comes word from law enforcement sources who investigate outlaw motorcycle gangs that one-time mob associate and former Pagan club President Steven "Gorilla" Mondevergine may join the Hell's Angels when he gets out of jail.
"We hear he's already switched sides," one cop said earlier this week. "When Gorilla comes out he's gonna be a Hell's Angel."
The Gorilla is a former Philly cop and all-around tough guy who was once shot nine times and survived. Gorilla is currently behind bars, serving time for trying to shoot the reputed leader of a South Philadelphia drug crew called the 10th and O gang in November 2000. The police claimed that Mondevergine, a friend of jailed mob boss Joey Merlino, ran an extortion racket for the Mafia, but Mondevergine denied he had any involvement with the mob, despite several public sightings of Merlino and Mondevergine hanging out at area bars and clubs. Mondevergine's lawyer, George H. Newman, did not return calls to City Paper.According to Underworld sources, another other local biker gang, the Warlocks, are pissed off at the Pagans. That's because the Pagans, looking for reinforcements, supposedly gave permission to the Wheels of Soul to wear the Pagan patch on their jackets.Ironically, the Warlocks once planned to invite the Wheels of Soul to wear Warlock "colors." The Wheels of Soul are an African-American club headquartered under the El on Market Street in West Philadelphia. But the Pagans, being a much larger gang with more power, vetoed the Warlock plan. Police sources say there are more than a few diehard white supremacists among the Pagans, and those guys were less than thrilled with the prospect of sharing power with African-American bikers.

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Tung Thanh Danh,Tam Thanh Vo Gang members were sentenced to prison Monday for their involvement in the drive-by shooting death

Two gang members were sentenced to prison Monday for their involvement in the drive-by shooting death of a 19-year-old man in Linda Vista 15 months ago. Tung Thanh Danh, 20, and Tam Thanh Vo, 19, each pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and an allegation that the killing of Tien Phung was carried out for the benefit of a criminal street gang. Danh was sentenced to 16 years behind bars. Vo got 13 years in prison. Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney told the defendants they would live the rest of their lives knowing they had a hand in killing another human being.
"Your gang activity has now landed you in state prison," the judge said, calling the gang life "a dead-end road" and "a worthless activity." Whitney urged the defendants to do their time in prison and give up the gang life. "You've been given a break that this young victim was not given in this case," Whitney told the defendants. "You've got the opportunity that your victim wasn't given."
Police said Phung, who lived in San Carlos, was getting into a car after leaving a house party in the 6900 block of Eastman Street when an occupant of a passing pickup truck opened fire on him about 12:15 a.m. Nov. 26, 2006. A sedan then pulled up, and the driver said something to Phung before taking off. The victim died at a hospital the next day. It was unclear who actually fired the shots.

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Charlie Saleh,Sapphire Suite nightclub shootings outlaw bikie gangs suspected

In the first shooting, a 50-year-old man was shot in the upper thigh as a car drove past the Sapphire Suite nightclub about 8.40pm.The 50-year-old is believed to be Charlie Saleh, the owner of Sapphire Suite.Two witnesses said they thought a bouncer, or someone standing outside the club, was shot as a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, either silver or gold, drove away.The car was last seen heading towards the city. The victim was taken to St Vincent's Hospital and was in a stable condition.One witness said the hooded gunman leaned out of the car and fired "several" shots.
Mr Saleh is the father of Hassan Saleh, a former rugby league player for Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra and the Cronulla Sharks.Hassan is also the club's general manager. He was unavailable for comment this morning.Eight hours later, at 4.20am, three men were walking along Ward Avenue near the corner of Kellett Street when a car pulled up, a man got out and fired at least one shot at the group.The shot missed the men and the shooter got back in the car and fled.A man who lives in an apartment directly above the Ward Avenue shooting, who wished to be identified only as Barry, said he heard two shots."I heard some people screaming and yelling ... and then I heard a couple of shots," he said.
"I didn't know it was a gun - we just take those kind of popping noises for granted around here - and then I heard a car take off."Police closed off Ward Avenue between Bayswater Road and Kellett Street to examine the area.About 7.30am, a forensic officer was seen to remove a small silver knife from the road, where it lay wrapped in cloth.This is not the first time the Sapphire Suite has been the site of a shooting. A bouncer was shot in the leg outside the club in March 2006.Wayne Rodney Schneider, an alleged Hells Angels bikie gang member, was charged over the incident.

owner of a Kings Cross nightclub is in hospital and three men are lucky to have escaped injury after two shootings only eight hours and 200 metres apart overnight.One shooting took place in front of the Sapphire Suite nightclub on Kellett Street. The second took place near the corner of Ward Avenue and Kellett Street.The NSW Police gang squad - which runs the high profile Operation Ranmore - were informed and may take over the investigation into both shootings.Police cautioned there is no evidence the two are related. The shootings left two crime scenes and few witnesses.

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Hells Angels meeting was broken up by armed police in the Forest of Dean

Hells Angels meeting was broken up by armed police in the Forest of Dean on Saturday, following intelligence reports compiled by Gwent Police. The operation, which saw armed officers joined by riot police, culminated in the arrest of nine people for a range of offences, including possession of offensive weapons, theft and being in possession of illegal drugs.
Eight men and one woman - all from Gloucester, the Forest of Dean and Stroud - were arrested during the operation. One man was cautioned, two men were released on bail and the remaining six people were kept in custody. A spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary said: "This is an intelligence-led operation relating to specific individuals who may be intending to commit serious acts of disorder outside the force area."

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South Armagh bandit gangs crime web involving a number of self-styled 'Untouchables'.

The criminal activity being probed includes damage to dwellings and vehicles, assaults, houses burgled and the occupants attacked and threatened ongoing cross-border probe into the horrific killing of the young South Armagh man, Paul Quinn, 21, who was bludgeoned to death at a shed on the republic side of the border in Co Monaghan last October, has led to the exposure in recent days of a crime web involving a number of self-styled 'Untouchables'.And it is understood the gang's reputed ring-leader, who is in his mid-twenties, is based in north Louth, but also operates in the south Armagh area.This emerged earlier in the week in the wake of disclosures relating to the theft of vehicles and other machinery from sites in the border area.Detectives probing the movements of some former associates of the murder victim are now believed to have obtained the names of a number of individuals involved in a recent spate of criminal incidents in the south Armagh and north Louth areas.Some members of the gang are also understood to have been involved in an internecine 'war' over the theft of more than 10,000 litres of diesel fuel in an incident in which a tanker was driven to a yard and unloaded.According to one source in south Armagh yesterday: "We believe the net is now closing on this particular gang which has been involved in a spate of incidents in recent times.
"Detectives are now aware that the carry-on involving these so-called 'Untouchables' goes to the very heart of the atrocity of the murder of Paul Quinn."
It also emerged in recent days that some of the gang have had material posted on a Bebo website which also carried some photographs, including one of the murdered Cullyhanna man.It is understood the key figure in the gang has already been questioned by the gardai and the PSNI over some recent incidents in the Louth area, and also at Crossmaglen and Cullyhanna, but there was insufficient evidence for an arrest.The key suspect is also understood to have been linked by police to an armed robbery in the area, as well as the theft of a mechanical digger from a site in Co Louth.Last week, a Sinn Fein councillor was verbally attacked and given a death threat by a group of youths after emerging from a meeting convened by the Paul Quinn Support Group in Newry.Cllr Brendan Curran has confirmed he has asked the PSNI to investigate the incident in which it is believed some of the individuals who attacked him as he left Newry Town Hall, had links with diesel laundering. Meanwhile, the Garda and PSNI have said that inquiries into the Quinn murder are ongoing, and according to gardai, the investigation is now ''heavily centred'' on the collation of forensic evidence.

Detectives now believe some members of the gang involved in the murder of Paul Quinn had former links with the IRA, but had apparently split from the organisation some years ago

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Gerard Gallant,Gangland hitman sentenced to life without parole

A Quebec man accused of being a hit man for the mob and the biker gang has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Gerard Gallant, believed to have been involved in close to 30 murders, plead guilty yesterday to murder and attempted murder.The 57-year-old was accused of working for the Rock Machine during Quebec's bloody biker war between 1994 and 2001 when the gang battled the Hells Angels for control of drug turf.His alleged targets then were Hells Angels and their associates.

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Hells Angels attempted to kill Rolling Stone front man

The FBI has revealed a plot to assassinate Mick Jagger by a motorcycle gang Hells Angels after the Rolling Stones' infamous gig at a concert in California, an attempt which was thwarted as the boat of the would-be killers got swamped in a storm. According to former FBI Special Agent Mark Young, the Hells Angels had plotted to assassinate Sir Mick after he refused to use their services following a "death" incident at Altamont Speedway Free Concert in 1969 for which the gang provided security. "The Hells Angels were so angered by Jagger's treatment of them that they decided to kill him. A group of them took a boat and were all tooled up and planned to attack him from the sea. They planned the attack from the sea so they could enter his (New York) property from the garden. "The boat was hit by a storm and all of the men were thrown overboard. All survived and there was not said to have been any further attempt on Jagger's life," British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph quoted Tom Mangold, who interviewed Young in BBC radio's series The FBI at 100 , as saying.
However, Sir Mick was never informed of the alleged assassination attempt. The incident at the concert involved the Hells Angels' role in the murder of Meredith Hunter, a 18-year-old black member of the audience, who was stabbed and kicked to death by a group of Hells Angels. The attack near the stage was clearly captured on film by three separate cameras. Alan Passaro, the killer, was arrested and tried for murder in 1972, but was acquitted after a jury concluded that he had acted in self-defence because Hunter was carrying a handgun. The murder at the Altamont concert in California came to be seen as the event that heralded the end of the hippie era of the "Swinging Sixties".

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Bloods street gang from New York City involved in a cocaine and heroin operation

Members of the Bloods street gang from New York City involved in a cocaine and heroin operation in Blair County began to appear in the Altoona area when a couple ‘‘local girls’’ told them it was a good place to sell drugs, Altoona Sgt. John McTigue said Friday.The organization grew substantially between 2003 and 2007, doing thousands of dollars in business daily.‘‘They were moving in an unbelievable amount of drugs. They were taking out a lot of money,’’ said McTigue, the lead investigator.Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said the New York-based drug operation took in an estimated $2 million. Corbett was in Altoona Friday as police made public a statewide grand jury presentment naming the organization’s leaders and its local distributors and runners, identifying 29 people.Not only did the seven leaders identify themselves as Bloods to associates, but New York City criminal investigators also confirmed their identities as gang members, said Corbett and police who were part of Friday’s drug sweep.McTigue said drug investigators became aware of a woman who was selling drugs, and police made a buy in June 2006. The gang was so organized that police informants kept dealing with only that woman.But police didn’t know who was supplying the woman.McTigue and other officers used search warrants to help break the back of the drug ring.Police found 700 bags of heroin worth $28,000 in a house at 206¢ Seventh St. that was searched in late June. They also found two residents of Brooklyn, N.Y., in the house: Terrell K. ‘‘Slim’’ Daniels and Shariff ‘‘Reef’’ Counsil.The mystery began to unravel with that drug bust, McTigue said.An August 2006 drug buy in Hollidaysburg led police to a ‘‘runner,’’ who led them back to a nondescript house on a tree-lined street occupied by Elsebeth Eaton, a middle-aged mother, and her family. Eaton permitted her home at 519 Jones St. to be used as a stash house for the drug or-ganization, police said.That night police, confiscated $11,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin and nabbed another Brooklyn man, Lorenzo Vaughn, 18.Other raids on East Walton Avenue and Burgoon Road and in Allegheny Township netted more crack cocaine and heroin.Drug arrests involving the New York-based distributors continued right up until Nov. 21, when police nabbed a drug runner who took the train to Altoona with a heroin supply.McTigue said the initial raid on Seventh Street ‘‘scared’’ the leaders of the operation. They retreated to New York, where they started sending crack and heroin with its drug runners.‘‘They are the Bloods. We are the clot,’’ he said. ‘‘Our red trumps their red

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Ting Fai Lau ,had criminal ties to Minh Tri Truong,was flown out of Calgary earlier this week.

Ting Fai Lau, 26, was serving a three-year jail sentence for trafficking cocaine in Calgary last year but had his parole accelerated to speed up his deportation. He was flown out of Calgary earlier this week.Lau had criminal ties to Minh Tri Truong, a known figure in the violent world of organized crime who was gunned down in front of his Calgary home June 1, 2007.Lau denied being a gang member to the National Parole Board, but admitted to making and selling drugs and seeking employment from top-ranking gang members. His involvement in organized crime and the city's drug trade stretch back nearly a decade.He also blamed his trafficking on a serious gambling problem he says forced him to sell drugs for gangsters to pay household bills for him and his wife."You have remained in Canada since then, supporting yourself through criminal activity," the National Parole Board stated in a January decision obtained by the Herald."Reports suggest you display an overly blatant attitude of indifference toward your criminal behaviour."Lau came to Canada on a student visa in 1997. It expired in 2001.He was caught trafficking cocaine and sentenced to three years in jail Feb. 26, 2007."Canada won't be a safe haven for criminals," said Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Lisa White."We're committed to removing inadmissible people from Canada, committed to public safety and security."
Lau's associate Truong was identified in 2003 as the mastermind of a "dial-a-dope" operation spanning Western Canada.He admitted using violence to collect drug debts. Police arrested him and found large quantities of cocaine, heroin, crystal meth and ecstasy tablets.Truong was in the middle of a six-year, six-month sentence for conspiracy and drug trafficking, but he had been free to live at home since being granted parole. His killing remains unsolved.

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