Crime Correspondent

Hunger strikes at California prison renew debate over confining prison gangs

<blockquote>The sun rarely shines on the kingpins of California's prison gangs. To stop them from orchestrating mayhem on prison yards and neighborhoods across the state, prison officials condemned hundreds of reputed gang members to years of isolation in windowless cells. For five years, the tough strategy worked, wardens insist. Quarantined crime bosses lost contact with their followers. No one could hear what they had to say. At least, not until July 1, when some of the most securely held prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison stopped eating and broke through their shuttered lines of communication with a mass hunger strike that spread into prisons across the state. "Am I an innocent lamb? By no means, but I can tell you this: I never deserved to be locked up in a dungeon for seven years just because they allege I'm a gang member," said Ronnie Yandell, one of the leaders of the hunger strike that lasted three weeks and spread to 12 other prisons with promises of more strikes to come. Now, as a court-ordered mandate forces California to reduce the number of low-level criminals in its overcrowded prisons, protests of inhumane conditions for the most hardened, violent criminals are forcing the state to rethink another problem: How can powerful and savvy prisoners be stopped from directing violence on the outside without their rights against cruel punishment being violated on the inside? Life in 'The SHU' Yandell and the other 1,110 men in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit -- known as "The SHU" -- spend at least 22 1/2 hours each day in their concrete, bathroom-size cells. Some inmates have a cellmate and some do not. Prisoners can have TVs but little human interaction. Their daily outing is a solitary 90-minute break in a barren exercise pen lined with 15-foot-high concrete walls and a limited view of the sky. Hearing about the hunger strike through a network of family members and activists, more than 6,000 inmates across California joined in. The prisons weighed each hunger striker daily, finding only about 11 percent of Pelican Bay's protesters lost weight during the 21-day strike. One lost 30 pounds. No one died, but after weeks of unwanted attention and a legislative hearing in late August, top prison officials now say they are reviewing how long and why they segregate and isolate some inmates in the state's harshest cellblocks. "Everything we're doing with these men is lawful and constitutional," said Pelican Bay Warden Greg Lewis. "I really didn't see the need to negotiate anything. On the other hand, in the department, we need to evolve and change with the conditions that are going on." Dogged with mistreatment complaints and lawsuits since its inception, Pelican Bay's conditions were found by a federal judge in 1995 to "hover on the edge of what is humanly tolerable." But judges have also repeatedly upheld California's practice of confining inmates in isolated conditions, and in March commended Pelican Bay for improving conditions. Still, experts say, the prison realignment prompted by the court order to reduce prison populations offers an opportunity to reconsider the practice of isolating criminals. "There's a growing consensus that these ultra-isolation prisons are a bad mistake," said criminologist Barry Krisberg, director of research at UC Berkeley's Earl Warren Institute. "The theory behind these prisons was we'll collect all the worst people in one place and that will make the rest of the prisons safer and easier to manage. But they weren't necessarily the most dangerous, violent criminals. " And the levels of violence in the other places didn't really go down." 'Living like dogs' Prisoners promise another fast could begin next week inside the remote facility, just south of the Oregon border, if their demands for better conditions and an easier path out of isolation are not met. Prison officials said the strikes are a dangerous, costly and ineffective way for prisoners to voice their complaints. Yandell said it is the only way anyone will pay attention. "We're tired of living like dogs," the former Contra Costa County resident wrote in a handwritten letter to this newspaper, one of several interviews conducted between the newspaper and self-defined leaders of the strike. "Not even terrorists at Guantánamo Bay are treated like this." Convicted of killing two men in El Sobrante a decade ago during a drug deal, Yandell was placed in Pelican Bay's SHU -- the oldest and biggest of three similar units around the state -- after prison officials designated him a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white-only gang. The only way out of solitary confinement was to "debrief" -- to convincingly denounce his gang affiliation and ideology and name former collaborators. But many prisoners never find their way out of the SHU; the average time spent inside the state's isolation units is 6.8 years, and some prisoners have been there for decades.</blockquote>

Hunger strikes at California prison renew debate over confining prison gangs

The sun rarely shines on the kingpins of California's prison gangs. To stop them from orchestrating mayhem on prison yards and neighbo...

Criminal gangs are stealing everything from power lines, metal railings and farm animals in highly organised hits.

Thieves regularly put their lives at risk by hacking away live copper cabling to try and cash in on increasing scrap metal prices. British Transport Police has said the thefts cost a staggering £43m pounds in the past three years.<div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Risky: Criminals are endangering their lives to steal live cabling from power lines and railway tracks" class="blkBorder" height="313" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/18/article-2038764-0039B49000000258-539_468x313.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" />Risky: Criminals are endangering their lives to steal live cabling from power lines and railway tracks</div>While some of the thieves are believed to know how to cut the 1,500 volt cable without being electrocuted, there are fears that teenagers are also being used to carry out some raids. In July, a 16-year-old boy who broke into a disused power station in Leeds was killed after touching a high-voltage cable. Commuters are suffering during rush-hour with more than 16,000 hours of delays in the past 12-months.Travellers were also left stranded last week when overhead power cables were stolen and caused delays between London Liverpool Street and Stansed Airport.Bermondsey in south London was also targeted when 65-metres of cable was ripped up. It led to 146 trains being cancelled with 840 being delayed.Callous criminals are also targeting grave sites and and only last week more than 50 brass memorial plates were taken from a crematorium in Crawley, West Sussex.<div id="ext-gen1217" class="moduleHalf" style="min-height: 1px; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Callous criminals are also targeting grave sites and and only last week more than 50 brass memorial plates were taken from a crematorium in Crawley, West Sussex. </div>Loved ones of the deceased were left devastated when boss Adrian Barbour contacted families to break the bad news.Homes are also being stripped of highly-prized metal garden ornaments and telephone cables are also being hacked away.BT has reported 900 cable thefts in just six months and has said 100,000 customers have been affected and left without vital communications.<div class="thinFloatRHS" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 10px; min-height: 1px; width: 235px; float: right; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Farm animals are also being targeted and a 1,500-strong flock was stolen" class="blkBorder" height="354" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/18/article-2038764-07E577E7000005DC-239_233x354.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="233" />Farm animals are also being targeted and a 1,500-strong flock was stolen</div>There have been calls for tougher sentencing for cable thieves, some of whom come from other European countries to carry out the crimes. Deputy chief constable Paul Crowther for British Transport Police said: 'There have been incidents around the country in which homes, businesses and even hospitals have suffered power cuts and surges as a result of criminals stealing copper from power substations.'He told the Sunday Express that police were devoting hours of manpower to try and tackle the problem. There has also been a massive increase in sheep rustling with highly organised gangs using lorries and sheep dogs to round up farm animals.A 1,500-strong flock was taken from fields in Lincolnshire in what is believed to be one of the biggest cases of rustling in the UK.NFU Mutual insurance company said it was a 'remarkable achievement', which has left authorities baffled.A spokesman told the Sunday Times: 'It would have involved sheepdogs, up to five articulated lorries and three men with each truck.'There would have been a lot of whistling and calling to the dogs.'

Criminal gangs are stealing everything from power lines, metal railings and farm animals in highly organised hits.

Thieves regularly put their lives at risk by hacking away live copper cabling to try and cash in on increasing scrap metal prices. British T...

Another shipment of cocaine inside plastic bananas seized in Spain

National Police have seized almost half a ton of cocaine which had been smuggled into Spain hidden inside plastic bananas transported in a normal cargo of the fruit. It’s a method which has been used by drug smugglers before, leading to four arrests after 162 kilos of cocaine were seized at Algeciras Port this January. The Interior Ministry said in a press release on Thursday that the drugs were imported from Ecuador in containers of bananas by an import company which was set up for that purpose in San Roque, Cádiz province. The group is understood to have sent over a number of containers of real fruit from Ecuador before sending the cargo of cocaine. The gang’s rented warehouse in San Roque was kept under surveillance and raided after three containers were transported there at the end of June, where plastic bananas containing 448 kilos of cocaine were discovered amongst the fruit. Three people were later arrested in Roldán, Murcia, and in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, followed by a fourth suspect who was taken into custody in August in Alicante.

Another shipment of cocaine inside plastic bananas seized in Spain

National Police have seized almost half a ton of cocaine which had been smuggled into Spain hidden inside plastic bananas transported in a...

11 of the 54 prisoners in Menorca jail are British

11 of the 54 prisoners being held in prison on Menorca are British, according to the prison authorities, who says their presence on the is...

Brazil judge's murder points to vigilante power

Judge Patricia Acioli was known for wielding a "heavy hammer," especially against rogue police who have formed illegal vigilante gangs. She had put more than 60 officers behind bars, most of them for murder. The Rio de Janeiro state judge paid for that fearlessness: Acioli was shot to death in front of her house last month. And all of the 21 bullets that hit her came from a lot issued to police, including some in Sao Goncalo, the city where she worked. While violence and impunity are common in Brazil, the brazen murder of Acioli was an especially heavy blow, a message of intimidation from the vigilante militias. The slaying was "a wound to the lawful state, to democracy; the figure of the judge is a symbol of justice," said Denise Frossard, a retired judge who presided over some of Rio's first cases against the militias in the 1990s. "If she is a judge and can be killed, how can a citizen feel secure enough to be a witness?" Acioli's death was the first murder of a judge in the state's history, though Frossard herself survived three assassination attempts and had eight security guards ensuring her safety while she was on the bench. Violent militias have grown in power and scope in recent years, taking over poor communities formerly controlled by drug dealers and coercing residents to pay for illegal utility hookups, transportation, and security. Their members include former and current police, firefighters and jail guards. Investigators say they have elected members as state and city legislators. They also have been praised by politicians, including Rio de Janeiro's mayor, for taking back swaths of territory from drug gangs. A probe by the state legislature in 2008 found militias were connected to execution-style killings, far-reaching extortion schemes, and the kidnapping and torture of a group of journalists investigating the gangs' activities. Acioli had been repeatedly threatened for taking on the police officers who were part of the gangs, and she had written letters to her superiors requesting protection. One week before her murder, she went to Rio police's internal affairs office and said she was being threatened by officers from Sao Goncalo, where she worked, and Niteroi, where she lived. The last case on her docket on Aug. 11, the day she died, involved policemen charged with executing an 18-year-old man in a slum. One of her last acts as a judge was to authorize their arrest. A month later, three of the same Sao Goncalo police officers were charged with her murder. The suspects knew the judge would ask for their arrest, and wanted to stop her, said Felipe Ettore, the head of Rio's homicide division, in a press conference this week. They didn't know she'd already issued the order. "Their way of stopping her was to kill her," Ettore said. "They went to court and followed Patricia to her front door." Nationwide, the lives of 134 judges are currently under threat, according to the National Council for Justice, which oversees the judiciary branch in Brazil. Requests for protection from magistrates jumped 400 percent in the month since Acioli's death, according to the Brazilian Association of Judges. The killing prompted the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, to urge Brazilian authorities to protect those charged with enforcing the law. "The assassination of Judge Acioli is evidence of the existence of a pervasive and serious problem regarding the protection of judges in Brazil," said Knaul, a Brazilian judge herself. Acioli's caseload was taken on by three other judges. Seven prosecutors are now working with them. "Her death did bring on a fear among prosecutors and judges; they're human, and it's natural to think, 'That could be me tomorrow,'" said Claudio Lopes, Rio state's attorney general. "But if this was done to intimidate justice, it is backfiring. We will be more rigorous than ever." The work is not only dangerous, it's difficult. Militias infiltrate the state from local police departments to state legislatures. They have a particularly nefarious effect on the legal system because they blur the boundaries between legitimate agents of the law and criminals, Lopes said. "They're often composed of people credentialed by the state to promote public safety, and they turn against the state, against the public," he said. "They usurp the authority of the state. In this way, they are a danger that goes deeper than drug traffickers." Even a few years ago, some politicians still praised militias for doing what the state couldn't do: take on drug dealers entrenched in the city's shantytowns. Former Rio Mayor Cesar Maia welcomed them as a "lesser evil" and a form of "community self-defense" against drug gangs, according to the newspaper O Globo in 2006. Current Mayor Eduardo Paes praised militias in a July 2008 interview on Globo television, saying they "brought peace to the population" in areas where the state had lost sovereignty to drug lords. Such views are changing as the body count rises. The 2008 investigation led by Marcelo Freixo, head of the state legislature's human rights commission, led to the arrest of one state representative and six city council members for militia activity. Hundreds were arrested on other charges because of information detailed in the report. One of those arrested, Rio City Councilman Luiz Andre Ferreira da Silva, is accused of plotting to kill the city's police chief and Freixo. In Sao Goncalo, 34 officers were put on leave after Acioli's death because they face serious criminal charges such as murder, according to Rio state's Supreme Court. Arrest warrants have been issued for 28 of them. In spite of the threats to Acioli, court officials had cut her security detail from four to one in 2007, said Tecio Lins e Silva, an attorney representing her family. "This is a matter involving my life, and it is very important," Acioli wrote in a letter appealing the decision. "I don't understand the treatment being given to the case." But the security officers were not reinstated. At the moment she was shot, no one was there to protect her.

Brazil judge's murder points to vigilante power

Judge Patricia Acioli was known for wielding a "heavy hammer," especially against rogue police who have formed illegal vigilante...

Boxer Scott Harrison released from Spanish jail

SHAMED Scottish boxer Scott Harrison is a free man after being released from a Costa del Sol prison. Harrison, 34, walked free from the notorious Botafuego jail near Algeciras after serving two and a half years for assaulting a policeman, and factory worker Jose Manuel Ortega in 2006. The former WBO title holder was jailed in 2009 for the assault – which took place in Alhaurin el Grande – but could still face extra jail time for another alleged attack in a Costa del Sol brothel in May 2007. He and cousins David McGill, 37, and Edward McGill, 39, were accused of battering bar boss Rafael Sainz Maza, 31, with Harrison facing three counts of assault. Following his release on Saturday, the Glaswegian spent time with his family at an apartment in Estepona’s Albayt Resort before strolling along Bermuda Beach with his fiancee Stacey Gardner, 27, and two-year-old son Jack. The father-of-three returned to the UK on Sunday, flying from Gibraltar in a possible bid to avoid the Spanish airport authorities. In 2009, Harrison told the Olive Press of his determination to rebuild his career once he was released. “I can tell you now that Scott Harrison will be back. I want to repay the fans for the faith they have shown in me,” he said. “I have never been so focussed and determined in my entire life. Being locked up helps develop that. “I’ll have a clean slate – a new start and the determination to show everyone I’m back.”

Boxer Scott Harrison released from Spanish jail

SHAMED Scottish boxer Scott Harrison is a free man after being released from a Costa del Sol prison. Harrison, 34, walked free from the no...

UBS Has $2 Billion Trading Loss; Police Arrest Man in London

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaspUOr54-VvHszNdK0zTKi_qLsVgIpm0Dk_Qo1thz-iIy5eD2qVRShb0eNjAVYozwLGQFsAJuKN0oMlXJpiz0ZkOJYgRQao87AvLl76rGwFux8ojEx2J78kUpQ348DoXlj_surowb6dk/s1600/ubs_logo_1895.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaspUOr54-VvHszNdK0zTKi_qLsVgIpm0Dk_Qo1thz-iIy5eD2qVRShb0eNjAVYozwLGQFsAJuKN0oMlXJpiz0ZkOJYgRQao87AvLl76rGwFux8ojEx2J78kUpQ348DoXlj_surowb6dk/s320/ubs_logo_1895.gif" width="320" /></a></div>UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, may be unprofitable in the third quarter after a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trading at its investment bank. London police arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of fraud. UBS management aims to “get to the bottom of the matter as quickly as possible, and will spare no effort to establish exactly what has happened,” the bank’s group executive board, led by Chief Executive Officer Oswald Gruebel, said in a memo to employees today. “While the news is distressing, it will not change the fundamental strength of our firm.” The bank tumbled as much as 9.6 percent in Swiss trading following the announcement, which deals a blow to Gruebel’s attempts to revive the investment bank after the division recorded 57.1 billion Swiss francs ($65 billion) in cumulative pretax losses in three years through 2009. The trading loss may revive calls for Gruebel to shrink or shut the unit. “How many times do we have to see huge UBS losses?” said Simon Maughan, head of sales and distribution at MF Global Ltd. in London. “It looks unreformed, unwieldy and ultimately unsustainable. This could be a critical tipping point for UBS’s strategy.” UBS fell 79 centimes, or 7.2 percent, to 10.14 francs by 11:43 a.m. in Zurich, bringing the drop this year to 34 percent. UBS said in a statement the matter is still under investigation, and that the “current estimate of the loss on the trades is in the range of $2 billion.” No client positions were affected, UBS said, declining to comment further. Arrest in London An unidentified 31-year-old man was arrested in central London at 3:30 a.m. on “suspicion of fraud by abuse of position,” the police said in a statement. The man remains in custody and an investigation has been started, the statement said. Switzerland’s Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper, citing the bank, reported that the trading loss took place in the equities unit in London, and was discovered yesterday afternoon. UBS spokeswoman Tatiana Togni declined to confirm or deny the report. UBS had to raise more than $46 billion in capital from investors, including the Swiss state, to make up for the record losses during the credit crisis. The investment-banking unit had pretax earnings of 1.21 billion francs in the first half of 2011, while UBS as a whole had net income of 2.82 billion francs in the period. The bank’s tier 1 capital at the end of the second quarter was 37.39 billion francs, giving it a tier 1 capital ratio of 18.1 percent, compared with 14 percent at Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank. Risk Management While the loss is “manageable” for UBS, it’s “obviously not helpful for sentiment and confidence in the bank’s risk management following the near-death experience of 2008-2009,” said Andrew Lim, a London-based analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, in a note. Lim had estimated third-quarter net income of 1.1 billion francs for UBS. UBS last month said it will eliminate about 3,500 jobs, with about 45 percent of the reductions coming from the investment bank, as stricter capital requirements and market turmoil hurt the earnings outlook. The bank in July scrapped the target of doubling pretax profit from last year’s level to 15 billion francs by 2014. Gruebel, 67, and Carsten Kengeter, 44, who runs the investment bank, have been trying to revive earnings at the division for two years. They hired more than 1,700 people across the investment bank and brought in new business heads to replace those that left or were fired. They’ve also increased risk- taking to improve earnings opportunities. Kerviel, Leeson The investment bank last had a pretax loss in the third quarter of 2010 when what Gruebel called “very low levels of client activity” and a charge related to the bank’s own debt hurt revenue at the division. Gruebel, who formerly ran Credit Suisse Group AG, was brought out of retirement by UBS in February 2009 to take over from Marcel Rohner after the company posted the biggest annual loss in Swiss corporate history. A former bond trader, Gruebel doubled profit at Credit Suisse between 2004 and 2006. UBS isn’t alone in suffering from unauthorized trading. Societe Generale SA of Paris said in January 2008 that the bank lost 4.9 billion euros ($6.7 billion) after trader Jerome Kerviel took unauthorized positions on European stock index futures. Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, had a loss in the first quarter of 2008 in part because of writedowns on debt securities that were intentionally mispriced by a group of traders. Nick Leeson piled up $1.4 billion of losses that brought down Barings Plc in 1995. --With assistance from Paul Verschuur and Carolyn Bandel in Zurich and Gavin Finch in London. Editors: Frank Connelly, Stephen Taylor

UBS Has $2 Billion Trading Loss; Police Arrest Man in London

UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, may be unprofitable in the third quarter after a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trading at its invest...

Holloway lawyer smuggled drugs into Pentonville Prison in oversized shoes

Five people are facing years behind bars after smuggling drugs and mobile phones into Pentonville Prison – including a lawyer who stuffed illicit goods into his oversized shoes. Ritesh Brahmbhatt, 31, took phones, high-strength cannabis and the stimulant mephedrone into the prison in Caledonian Road, Holloway, in a pair of size-12 slip-ons bought from menswear store High and Mighty. The revelations come within a month of a scathing report by the prison’s independent monitoring board, which revealed a drug problem is stoking gang trouble and violence in the jail. It also emerged that a drugs counsellor from Canonbury is to stand trial next year accused of smuggling cannabis into the prison in an unrelated case. Dismissed Brahmbhatt, who was dismissed from law firm Mordi and Co in Holloway Road, Holloway, when caught, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and other prohibited items into Pentonville in July – but details have just emerged after his four accomplices were convicted on Friday after denying the charge. David Sterling, 28, of Mallory Close, Bromley-by-Bow, Desmond Brown, 27, of Montague Road, Leytonstone, Brown’s girlfriend Danielle Porter, 24, of Saltern Court, Barking, and Calvin Chance, 26, of Birch Grove, Leytonstone, were convicted at Blackfriars Crown Court following a trial. Rufuz D’Cruz, prosecuting, said: “Ritesh Brahmbhatt entered into a crude criminal conspiracy to smuggle prohibited items into prison with his clients, Sterling and Brown, who at that time were serving prisoners, and Chance and Porter.” Mr D’Cruz said he abused his position of trust and “chose to routinely undermine the rule of law”. The gang was snared after a prison officer spotted his suspiciously high number of legal visits – 15 between February and September in 2009. He was caught with a mobile phone, earphones, a pair of electronic scales and a small quantity of mephedrone, or “meow meow”, in his right shoe and 25g of high-strength “skunk” cannabis in his left, while a further 80g of cannabis was stuffed down his trousers. The lawyer intended to pass the contraband to inmate Sterling, who was wearing a full-length Muslim robe. Two more mobile phones – which can fetch up to £1,000 each inside – were discovered in his jail locker and an envelope with £300 of cash. Police found text messages and financial information linking the five, while several phone calls and visits were known to have taken place. Nearly £20,000 passed through bank accounts belonging to Brahmbhatt, Porter and two others. The five defendants have been remanded in custody awaiting sentencing. A Prison Service spokesman said: “We are working hard to keep contraband out of prison, using a range of security measures to reduce drug supply, including working closely with police forces and carrying out random mandatory drug tests.”

Holloway lawyer smuggled drugs into Pentonville Prison in oversized shoes

Five people are facing years behind bars after smuggling drugs and mobile phones into Pentonville Prison – including a lawyer who stuffed ...

Aussie Poker Pro David Saab Gaoled For Drug Smuggling

Professional poker player David Saab from Victoria in Australia faces a lengthy period away from the game after being convicted of smuggling 14.6kg of cocaine into the country.  The drugs, which had an estimated street value of AU$6.5 million (£4.22m) were hidden inside agricultural machinery imported from Canada.  Saab was convicted alongside fellow players Darren Francis Hughes and Robert Alan Remeeus; he faces 14 years in prison while his accomplices both received 8-year sentences. The highlight of Saab’s poker career was his victory in the Manila leg of the Asian Poker Tour in 2008, a win which netted him $280,000.  He has also appeared on tv screens in Britain, when he participated in a heat of the UK Open.  He came 46th in the Main Event at the 2008 World Series of Poker.  His total live tournament earnings amount to more than $550,000. Sentencing Saab, Judge Liz Gaynor said: “It is clear that you were the principal organiser in Australia of this importation and would derive the most benefit from it.”

Aussie Poker Pro David Saab Gaoled For Drug Smuggling

Professional poker player David Saab from Victoria in Australia faces a lengthy period away from the game after being convicted of smuggli...

Briton arrested for drug smuggling

Customs and Excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 6.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (shabu-shabu) worth Rp 13 billion and arrested a British national. The head of the Customs Office, Oza Olivia, said the suspect was identified as Gareth G.D, 32, who flew from Istanbul, Turkey and arrived at the airport with Turkish Airlines on Tuesday evening. “Members of our tactical unit conducted profile analyses of passengers at Terminal II-D and began to suspect him of carrying illegal items,” she told reporters on Wednesday. Oza said officers were suspicious and decided to search the suspect’s luggage. They found the drugs hidden inside the luggage. The suspect, a construction worker in his home country, later confessed that he received an order from a Turkish man, whom he identified as A, to transport the drug to Jakarta and was promised US$1,000 when the delivery was made. Oza claimed that by intercepting the drug delivery, her agency managed to prevent thousands of youths becoming drug addicts. She also said that in collaboration with the National Narcotics Agency, the Customs Office is still investigating the case. Drug smuggling attempts through the country’s main international gate continues to rise despite the threat of the death penalty. Drug smugglers can be charged under Article 113 of the 2009 Law on Narcotics, which carries a possible death sentence.

Briton arrested for drug smuggling

Customs and Excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 6.5 kilograms of crystal methampheta...

Puddy in heated call to murder-accused

The best mate of missing multimillionaire businessman Craig Puddy has told a Perth court of a heated phone conversation between Mr Puddy and the bar manager accused of killing him. Cameron James Mansell, 39, is on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for the murder of Mr Puddy, 45, who has not been seen since May 3 last year when he was allegedly killed in his $3.5 million Mt Pleasant home. Mr Puddy was part-owner of a bar called Basement On Broadway, in which he had invested $700,000, and Mansell was the manager. Defence lawyer Anthony Eyers has said Mansell fled the state after witnessing a "brutal" attack on Mr Puddy over a drug debt. But Prosecutor Bruno Fiannaca alleges Mr Puddy and his business partner, Martin Rogers, believed Mansell was mismanaging the bar and stealing money from the safe, which led to a confrontation between Mr Puddy and Mansell. Mr Puddy's "best mate" Paul Vesa told the court on Wednesday he was present on the morning of May 3 when Mr Puddy took a call from the National Australia Bank telling him the rent on the bar had not been paid and the bank was going to foreclose on the lease. He said Mr Puddy left a message for Mansell and called Mr Rogers to ask him why the rent had not been paid. When Mansell returned Mr Puddy's call, Mr Vesa heard his friend say, "Oh, you decide to f***ing ring me now?" Mr Vesa also said Mr Puddy seemed in "disbelief" that Mansell had suggested money was missing from the bar safe because Mr Puddy had taken it. Mr Puddy's sister, Nadine Puddy, told the court earlier on Wednesday that although her brother used cocaine and ecstasy "on social occasions" he did not like to associate with drug dealers. Ms Puddy said her brother became involved in the bar as an "indulgence" but he became unhappy about the running of the bar and wanted to sell it. Ms Puddy, her mother, Mr Vesa and a few friends went to Mr Puddy's house on May 4 after no one had heard from him since the previous night. She saw "bright red spots splattered" on a wooden chopping board in the kitchen, and when she looked up to the ceiling, she saw what she knew for sure was blood. The prosecution alleges Mansell hit Mr Puddy on the head with a blunt object at least twice before putting his body in a wheelie bin and disposing of it at an unknown location. The trial before Justice Michael Murray and a jury continues.

Puddy in heated call to murder-accused

The best mate of missing multimillionaire businessman Craig Puddy has told a Perth court of a heated phone conversation between Mr Puddy a...

Police blast bikies' recklessness after shots fired

Neighbours on a quiet Darch street feared for their lives after shots were fired at the home of a Comanchero bikie gang nominee early yesterday. Det-Supt Charlie Carver said that two men and a woman, aged in their 20s, were watching TV in a back room of their Matlock Heights home just after midnight when three men tried to force their way inside. The trio fired up to five shots at the front door and window and at a car parked outside. "They are co-operating to a certain extent but I will say the code of silence . . . involved in organised crime is prevalent," Det-Supt Carver said. One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she ducked inside her house as the shots were fired. "We heard yelling and screaming, and banging on windows and doors, then we heard one gunshot and three quick ones," she said. "My husband called the police. When we came back to the window to have a look, they were gone." Det-Supt Carver said there were up to a dozen security cameras around the heavily fortified house, and windows and doors were fitted with security mesh. He slammed bikie gangs for their disregard for the safety of the community. "There have been numerous incidents where they use firearms with no regard for other people," he said. Det-Supt Carver said that the Comancheros did not have a big presence in WA. Police are looking for a vehicle described as a dark red HiLux-type utility with shiny bar work on it.

Police blast bikies' recklessness after shots fired

Neighbours on a quiet Darch street feared for their lives after shots were fired at the home of a Comanchero bikie gang nominee early yest...

Three bailed over murder of ex-gangster Dave Courtney's stepson Genson Courtney

THREE men have been released on bail over the murder of Genson Courtney in Greenwich. Police found Mr Courtney suffering from gunshot wounds in a black Volkswagen Golf at around 10.50pm on July 3 in Banning Street. The 23-year-old, stepson of ex-gangster Dave Courtney, was taken by ambulance to hospital but was pronounced dead at 3.43am. A post-mortem gave the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the head. Three men, aged 28, 34 and 27, who were arrested at addresses in east and south London on suspicion of murder, have been released on bail to return on November 8. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Gower from the Met’s Trident unit is still appealing for witnesses. He said: “I am appealing to anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious to contact the police. "I would like to reassure anyone concerned about contacting the police that Trident has great expertise in protecting witnesses and there are a huge variety of measures that can be put in place to protect you."

Three bailed over murder of ex-gangster Dave Courtney's stepson Genson Courtney

THREE men have been released on bail over the murder of Genson Courtney in Greenwich. Police found Mr Courtney suffering from gunshot wou...

Businessmen guilty of £8m "boiler room" shares scam share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona,

share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona, although many of them used false names and claimed to be calling from offices in Frankfurt, Stockholm or Amsterdam. The SFO said the business prospects of the company were inflated by WBR’s directors and salesmen. WBR eventually went into adminstration in 2007 following a petition by creditors. It is now officially in liquidation. Of the £8.2m attracted from investors, about £4m ended up in off-shore accounts in Cyprus, Jersey and Spain, the SFO said. It began its investigation after complaints from people who bought shares. WBR was later included on a warning list published by the Financial Services Authority. SFO director Richard Alderman said: “Boiler room fraudsters prey on vulnerable people, they also deprive genuine businesses of the capital they need to grow. Quite bluntly, they ruin lives. I am delighted that the SFO is playing its part in bringing down operations like these and bringing fraudsters to book

Businessmen guilty of £8m "boiler room" shares scam share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona,

share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona, although many of them used false names and claimed to be cal...

Woman caught bringing heroin to her prison pal

WOMAN pal of a man jailed over a €440m drugs seizure has been caught smuggling €6,000 of heroin into his prison. The middle-aged woman was caught by prison officers last week when she arrived at the Midlands Prison for a visit to Joe Daly (44). He is serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of possessing the biggest cocaine haul in the State's history -- a seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine at Dunlough Bay in 2007. Prison staff contacted gardai, who then arrested the woman. She was brought to Portlaoise Garda Station where she was questioned by detectives before being released without charge. A file is now being prepared for the DPP. Captured Sources say if the heroin had got into the jail, it would have had a value of "well over four times" the estimated street value that gardai put on the drug. The woman was not allowed to visit English national Daly after being caught with the drugs. Daly and three other English criminals are serving lengthy jail terms for their role in the plot to smuggle €440m worth of cocaine into Ireland in July 2007. Martin Wanden (48), police- killer Perry Wharrie (51), Gerard Hagan (27) and Daly were captured after diesel, instead of petrol, was put into the fuel tanks of their boat, which was carrying the drugs off the coast of Co Cork. When the vessel capsized, 62 bales of cocaine weighing over 1.5 tonnes were thrown into stormy seas, scuppering a huge drugs operation that had been months in the planning. Liverpool criminal Hagan admitted his role in the enterprise and was jailed for 10 years. However the other three men contested the charges but were convicted after a marathon 10-week trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court which heard from 200 witnesses. Two of the defendants claimed in direct evidence that they were entirely the victims of circumstances, coincidence and bad luck. Joe Daly said he had only gone to west Cork as a favour for his brother, who had wanted a RIB delivered. But it would later emerge that Joe Daly's brother was Michael Daly (50) -- a former Metropolitan Police detective who is now serving combined sentences totalling 29 years in a UK prison in relation to the Co Cork plot and another cocaine importation plot. Gardai believe that Joe Daly became involved in the drugs smuggling operation through his older brother, Michael. Daly presented a defence that depicted him as very much under the influence of the brother. Children Born in London to Irish parents from west Cork, Daly worked as a bricklayer with his own business, JD Bricklaying, is married with three children and lived in Bexley, Kent. It emerged that he had a number of previous convictions in the UK for offences including threatening and abusive behaviour, assaults on police officers and possessing a blade. During the trial, his uncle, Tom Lydon, told how Daly visited him on the day before the drugs seizure and watched the Munster football final between Cork and Kerry on TV. He described him as very obliging -- "the first man to come around" if anyone needed help.

Woman caught bringing heroin to her prison pal

WOMAN pal of a man jailed over a €440m drugs seizure has been caught smuggling €6,000 of heroin into his prison. The middle-aged woman wa...

shut down drive-through drug operation near University Mall, expect more arrests

One by one, motorists arrived, rolling down windows and giving up cash, as they would at a fast-food restaurant. This drive-through opened at 11 a.m. some days, but lunch was never on the menu. Instead, customers could order cocaine, oxycodone, ecstasy and marijuana. Guns, too. At a news conference Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office announced that it had broken up a drug trafficking ring that caught even investigators by surprise. About 11 months ago, deputies began building cases against two men reputed to be dealing drugs in a neighborhood near University Mall. Investigators thought Zavien Brand, 28, and Joseph Nurse, 35, might lead them to a few more people, maybe six or eight, said sheriff's Maj. J.R. Burton. But the small undercover probe soon turned into a larger investigation — dubbed Operation Pandora's Box — as deputies realized the area's loose-knit group of dealers included dozens of people. On Wednesday, sheriff's officials announced they had 54 warrants and, as of 4 p.m., 32 arrests, most on drug and gun possession charges. "We had no idea this was going on," Burton said. They focused on several addresses in the neighborhood near Nebraska and Fletcher avenues. The drive-through was at the Pines I Apartments at 11720 N 14th St., deputies said. Deputies took 29 guns off the street, including seven assault rifles and two weapons believed to be linked to shootings in the area. Also seized: about 1.3 pounds of crack cocaine, 0.64 ounces of powder cocaine, 0.25 ounces of oxycodone and some ecstasy — valued at about $75,000 total, Burton said. Burton hopes the operation sends a message to an area that has long struggled with crime, and he wants residents to know that deputies aren't done. Brand was charged with dealing crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of a gun. Nurse was charged with dealing crack cocaine, marijuana and stolen property. Deputies planned to continue executing search warrants until they arrest all 54 suspects.

shut down drive-through drug operation near University Mall, expect more arrests

One by one, motorists arrived, rolling down windows and giving up cash, as they would at a fast-food restaurant. This drive-through opene...

DEA Bans Synthetic Cocaine Masked As Bath Salts

<img alt="" height="407" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-dmPG0QTl_E8/Tm8QYaBw1MI/AAAAAAAABNs/FSOugKt83A8/%25255BUNSET%25255D.jpg" style="float: left;" width="640" />The U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's war on drugs continues with a nationwide ban of synthetic cocaine. Labeled as bath salts, the hallucinogenic drug has become more available in the Grand Junction area as part of a trend seen across the country. In response to increased emergency room visits, the federal agency has moved to emergency control these synthetic stimulants. This action makes it illegal to possess or sell Mephedrone, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), and Methylone or any products containing them for the next year. These chemicals are most often found in forms of 'legal ecstasy' or 'legal cocaine.' During the temporary ban, the DEA will team up with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to further study whether these chemicals should be permanently banned. In June, we introduced you to these bath salts in this article. Back then, they were an unregulated drug taking the place of recently banned synthetic forms of marijuana. "It is actually like a synthetic cocaine slash methamphetamine," Jim Schrant with the DEA told us at the time. "So, it's really the worst of both." The bath salts sell at a price of $40 per gram. They are mainly sold at smoke shops. But, in June, Schrant told us that his agency could not find any local dealers. Today, there are at least two. "They're putting it into packaging which is pleasing to the eye with market names of "Blue Dreams," things like that," Schrant said. "And, they're intentionally trying to target that young adult crowd." As part of this emergency control, businesses and citizens have 30 days to get rid of the banned products. At that time, the DEA will publish a Final Order in the Federal Register making the drugs Scheduled 1 substances. That category is the harshest and is reserved for unsafe, highly abused chemicals with no known medical use in the U.S. Violating that law is punishable by jail time. Employees at smoke shops in the area tell us that synthetic cocaine isn't that popular. But, local high school students have heard all about it. "I don't think they care if it's legal," Grand Junction High School freshman Hannah Rady said of some of her classmates. "Nobody does." Just like K2 and Spice, bath salts are labeled "not for human consumption." But, these students say that is not stopping anyone and neither is the law. "People just ask me 'Have you done spice before?' I'm just like, 'No,'" GJHS freshman Emilio Lazcano said. He knows Governor John Hickenlooper made those forms of synthetic marijuana illegal starting July 1, but he says fellow classmates continue to tell bother about it. "They're like 'Oh, well you're supposed to smoke it like this and that,' and I'm like 'Oh, well cool. I'm not really into that stuff.'" "They tell us that it doesn't make their eyes red, so it's way easier to bypass by your parents," GJHS junior Joe Gedscad added. The most common symptoms of these synthetic stimulants include impaired perception, reduced motor control, disorientation, extreme paranoia, and violent episodes. The DEA says the long-term physical and psychological effects are not known but potentially severe. Including Colorado, 33 states have already taken action to control or ban other synthetic stimulants. Most states pass these laws after the DEA files an emergency control on certain chemicals.

DEA Bans Synthetic Cocaine Masked As Bath Salts

The U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's war on drugs continues with a nationwide ban of synthetic cocaine. Labeled as bath salts, the halluc...

South London men face furniture drug smuggling charges

Six men have gone on trial accused of conspiring to smuggle more than £2.5m of cocaine into the country. Kevin Hill, 27, of Cartmel Gardens, Morden, Wayne Smith, 19, of Westmoreland Way, Mitcham and Carl Charles, 33, of Yorkshire Road, Mitcham, face charges of attemtping to import 13.5kg of the drug. Three other men Craig Hughes, 35, from Orpington, Conrad Crandon, 55, from Edmonton and Terence Tremblett, 32, from Brixton, also face the same charge. The offences date back to October and November, in 2009, when border agency officers at Tilbury Docks, in Essex, flagged up a container holding a number of items of wicker furniture and brush mats. After closer inspection, the jury heard, the officers found the brush mats had been injected with cocaine which, when separated, came to a total of more than £2.5m. Simon Wild, prosecuting, told the court that a respectable removal firm, called Grants of Cheam, based in Coomber Lane, Croydon, had allegedly received a phone call from a Keith Thompson in late October, 2009, who said he wanted to store a shipment. Grants of Cheam, unknowingly, agreed to take on the shipment but they did not hear from Mr Thompson for two weeks, the court heard. On November 10, 2009, Mr Thompson allegedly arranged for the furniture and mats to be delivered and they arrived that day. There followed a series of arrests after the items had reached Croydon and all six men were charged with conspiracy to smuggle, which they all deny. The trial, which started at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday (September 7), is expected to last three weeks.

South London men face furniture drug smuggling charges

Six men have gone on trial accused of conspiring to smuggle more than £2.5m of cocaine into the country. Kevin Hill, 27, of Cartmel Garde...

GANGWAR in central Dublin exploded into violence as two separate gang feuds ignited

<img alt="" height="393" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ScZVlxtYeYA/TmntHMeXcxI/AAAAAAAABNY/J4gp_fwagzQ/%25255BUNSET%25255D.jpg" style="float: left;" width="236" />streets of north inner city Dublin are among the most heavily policed areas of the country because of the bitter feud that has claimed five lives. But the gang war -- sparked when paedophile gangster Christy Griffin was charged with raping his girlfriend's daughter -- is not the only feud which has blighted the area. Another north inner city war has been raging since 2006, resulting in two murders. Like the Christy Griffin feud, the separate Summerhill feud is deeply entrenched, motivated by astonishing levels of hatred and revenge. The last murder linked to either feud was in June, when Michael Taylor (53) was shot six times in the head and chest with a handgun as he stood outside a caravan in a park in scenic Donabate, north Co Dublin. Taylor was not known to gardai for involvement in organised crime but was involved in feud-related incidents over five years. The first murder linked to the Summerhill feud happened in 2007, but full details of it can't be disclosed here for legal reasons. Taylor was closely associated with a man who was questioned about that murder on the northside. The feud began when two criminals in their 20s from the north inner city were involved in a bitter row over a woman in late 2006. Family members on both sides then got involved. Cars and motorbikes belonging to one side were damaged in a vandalism incident which directly led to an associate of Michael Taylor being stabbed three times while he walked in the north inner city with a small child. He received only minor injuries -- but less than a week later the suspected knifeman was shot dead in revenge. A month later a hand grenade was thrown at the home of a family associated with Michael Taylor in Summerhill. Miraculously, none of the 10 occupants was injured in the attack, which came a night after the two rival groups clashed in the Mater Hospital as one family visited a relative. In that incident, a woman was stabbed in the hand while a man suffered head wounds. Abused In another, one of the main protagonists was found with a knuckle-duster in his back pocket after being searched by gardai. He claimed he had the weapon for his own protection. Then, in December 2007, a female associate of the first murder victim was caught with a loaded pistol as she drove through the north inner city. The woman, in her 30s, was given a three-year suspended sentence after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard she got the gun after her associate was shot dead and there were serious threats against her life. There can be no doubt about the vicious nature of the 'Summerhill feud'. But it is the gang war that started after mob boss Christy Griffin was arrested and charged with raping a young girl that has made most of the headlines. Griffin was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in April 2007. At that stage, once-loyal comrades had turned on each other. Two tense trials followed during which gardai were forced to set up an armed checkpoint outside the victim's family home. This brave woman, who gave crucial evidence, had been regularly sexually abused by Griffin from the age of eight to 16. While this reign of sexual terror was going on, Griffin became one of Ireland's most prolific armed robbers, a senior member of a gang of over 30 men and women who made a fortune robbing from cargo containers in Dublin's docklands and from drug dealing. Everything changed when Griffin (42) was charged with the sex offences in 2004. In a further blow for the gangster, his brother 'Collie' was shot dead in a botched post office robbery in Lusk, Co Dublin. When the jury failed to reach a verdict at his first trial at the Central Criminal Court, in May 2006, there were violent scenes outside the Four Courts when associates of Griffin clashed with family friends of the rape victim in front of frightened onlookers. Throughout that summer, tensions mounted in the north city, and it wouldn't be long before the dispute erupted into all-out war. Gerard 'Batt' Byrne (26), a key ally of the rape victim's family, became the first fatality when he was gunned down in Dublin's IFSC on December 13, 2006. A fortnight later, small-time crook Stephen Ledden (28) was coldly executed in a revenge attack as he slept on a couch. By this time, Griffin had moved from his north inner city base to Swords, where he survived separate grenade and gun attacks. These were followed by revenge attacks on the rival faction. Handing him a life sentence,for his litany of crimes, Judge Paul Carney, who was placed under armed garda protection for the trial, delivered a scathing judgment, describing Griffin's previous record as "horrendous". But the life sentence did not end the feuding. With both sides having links to other crime gangs across the country, including all of Dublin's crime syndicates and Limerick's deadly McCarthy/Dundon crew, the factions had the firepower and muscle to continue the violence. Paranoid The Griffin-backed mobsters were determined to avenge the death of Stephen Ledden, killed in a case of mistaken identity. They got their chance in July 2010, when Ledden's killer, Stephen 'Madser' Byrne (32) was gunned down in broad daylight at the junction of Sheriff Street and St Laurence's Place East. Byrne, from Mariner's Port, Sheriff Street, knew his life was in grave danger after he'd shot Ledden dead, instead of targeting another man. After his murder, Madser's dad Noel explained the paranoid life his son had been leading. "He couldn't go outside the door. Anytime he wanted to go out he asked me to go with him. He phoned me on the night be died and I said no. I said I wasn't able to go out because I was not well and that we would go out some other night. So he went out on his own and this is what happened. He was a prisoner in his own home," he recalled. "I knew he was going to get one man, or one man was going to get him. I knew it was going to happen. The police had told him there was a contract on his head and he knew who was going to do it." By the time of his murder, 'Madser' had built up 30 criminal convictions, including a 12-year sentence for a string of armed robberies. Byrne was one of three first cousins murdered in the bloody feud. 'Batt' Byrne was shot dead in 2006 and Aiden Byrne (32) was shot dead in February 2010. Separately, Madser's brother, David (26), died in July 2009, after being hit over the head with a sock filled with batteries in Mountjoy prison. His body was then desecrated by criminals who broke into an inner city funeral home and wrote 'Rats' across his forehead. The murder of Stephen 'Madser' Byrne was the last killing linked to the Christy Griffin feud. Sources believe that a reason for this is massive garda raids in November 2010 that targeted members of the faction opposed to the rapist Griffin's mob. Only a month before the raids, Gary O'Reilly (34), a nephew of Griffin, was lucky to escape with his life when he was shot in the arm and leg in an attack at his home in Swords.Within an hour of the O'Reilly attack, a man from the opposing faction was given a severe hiding by a gang of men in the north inner city after dropping his children at school. Weeks later, in an unprecedented show of force, on the morning of November 8 last, over 300 gardai met at Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park and in Wexford and Cork stations from 4am before raiding over 30 locations in a co-ordinated pre-dawn operation. They searched 33 addresses in Dublin, Cavan, Wexford, Cork and Kildare. Some 13 people, including all of the key targets, were arrested -- nine of them in Dublin, and two in both Cork and Wexford. Detectives seized a small quantity of cocaine and confiscated mobile phones, computers and bulletproof vests. Records linked to property investments were also taken from the offices of solicitors and accountants by members of the Criminal Assets Bureau. The last major shooting incident linked to the feud happened on January 25 when shots were fired at the home of slain hitman Stephen 'Madser' Byrne. The garda response to this incident was prompt and less than 24 hours later. "Gardai have well and truly got to the grips with the situation," said a source.

GANGWAR in central Dublin exploded into violence as two separate gang feuds ignited

streets of north inner city Dublin are among the most heavily policed areas of the country because of the bitter feud that has claimed fiv...

Cops make big arms find in Las Cuevas

Police yesterday made a major discovery of 15 high-powered firearms and more than 10,000 rounds of assorted ammunition—the largest since the state of emergency was declared two weeks ago. Officers, in search of marijuana, discovered a cache of arms buried two miles in the Rincon Forest, Las Cuevas. The guns, wrapped in plastic and newspapers, were greased. Detectives said the firearms belonged to a notorious gang leader. Officers of the North Eastern Division said they received a tip-off and headed to the forested area around 4 am. The exercise was headed by Supt John Daniel and included Sgts Stephen Dorridge, Daryl LaPierre, Cpls Dale Emmanuel, Andrew Stannisclaus and PC Goyton Ramcharan. Detectives said the firearms belonged to a “notorious” gang leader. They claimed that since the state of emergency was declared, several gang members had fled to the north coast. Investigators said the firearms would be sent for ballistic testing. No one was detained, but investigators said an arrest was imminent. They said officers of the Crime Investigations Unit would continue inquiries and also conduct forensic analysis on the seized firearms. At yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference, National Security Minister John Sandy commended the lawmen on the seizure. Meanwhile, Customs and Excise Division seized five disassembled rifles at the TTPost facility in Piarco. A release said a package from the United States arrived for trans-shipment to Thailand on Tuesday. Upon X-ray, the package contained what appeared to be firearm components. The package was declared as “used motorcycle parts.” It was handed over to the Preventive Branch of Customs and Excise where an examination was done in the presence of army and police personnel. “Investigations are ongoing in conjunction with officers of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau in Thailand and the United States,” the release said.  Meanwhile, a 50-year-old retired soldier was up to late yesterday under interrogation after a recently-issued radical design army kit was found at his home in Lopinot Village. Police said the suspect left the army in 1985. That exercise was led by Northern Division officers and included Supt Samuel Bullen, Insp Ramnarie Seecharan and acting Sgt Ganga Singhons. The guns, ammunition and other items found yesterday were:  Two self-loading rifles;  four pump-action shotguns; one 1.25 rifle, three 303 rifles; one mini Uzi; one Uzi; one Tec 9; one flare gun; a nine-millimetre submachine gun; 10,000 rounds of assorted ammunition; two bulletproof vests; a gun telescope; one kilogramme of marijuana; and One ski mask.

Cops make big arms find in Las Cuevas

Police yesterday made a major discovery of 15 high-powered firearms and more than 10,000 rounds of assorted ammunition—the largest since t...

Elderly fugitive sentenced on drug charges

A Manitoba fugitive who spent more than 30 years on the run before being arrested in Florida earlier this year has pleaded guilty to drug-smuggling charges. Ian MacDonald, 72, appeared in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday morning and offered a guilty plea to one count of conspiring to import narcotics. The Crown and defence lawyers submitted a joint recommendation of a conditional sentence of two years less one day to be served in community. MacDonald, who has been in custody at the Remand Centre since he was extradited from Florida and returned to Manitoba in March. He had been arrested in January after being tracked to his central Florida home but it took some time to arrange his extradition. As part of the conditions of his sentence, MacDonald is under 24-hour house arrest with the exception of medical appointments or emergencies. He can leave his home for four hours a week for personal business, if accompanied by a person approved by the court. MacDonald must also abstain from drugs alcohol and he cannot leave jurisdiction without permission from the court. In 1980, MacDonald — then known as "Big Mac" — was arrested in Florida on a warrant issued by Manitoba police, who suspected he had helped smuggle a large amount of marijuana into the province. While in custody in June of that year, he faked a heart attack and was taken to hospital, where he escaped by conning a guard into removing his leg shackles, Barry Golden, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service, told CBC News in January. He escaped and lived on the lam for many years, until an officer who had been assigned to the file in 2009 found information in it that led investigators to a home in Pennsylvania, where MacDonald and his wife had once lived under an assumed name. While speaking with people in the area, officers learned the couple had moved to a town in central Florida, where he was located and arrested.

Elderly fugitive sentenced on drug charges

A Manitoba fugitive who spent more than 30 years on the run before being arrested in Florida earlier this year has pleaded guilty to drug-...

UVF supergrass trial

<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14790519"> </a>Fourteen alleged members of the UVF, including one of its former leaders Mark Haddock, are due to appear at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday for the start of the first so-called "supergrass" trial to be held in Northern Ireland for 26 years. The charges include the murder of leading UDA member Tommy English during a loyalist feud. Critics say the process being used is unsafe and unjust, while the police and prosecutors insist it is legally sound. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Vincent Kearney looks at the background to the case. The police bristle at the very mention of the word "supergrass" because of its association with a series of high profile trials in the 1980s. Hundreds of republicans and loyalists were convicted on the word of informers and suspects who agreed to give evidence against them in return for reduced sentences and new identities and lives outside Northern Ireland. There were claims that many also received financial rewards. The deals were arranged at a political level, approved by the Secretary of State, and the details were secret. No-one, not the defence teams, the relatives of victims, nor the accused, knew anything, and in many cases there were question marks over whether convicted informers actually served any time in prison at all. Credibility The trials were the largest in British criminal history. In one in 1983, 22 IRA members were given jail terms totalling more than 4,000 years. But 18 of them had their convictions quashed three years later, and the vast majority of the others convicted in a series of similar trials were also released on appeal. The system collapsed in 1985 because of concerns about the credibility of the evidence provided by the so-called supergrasses, with members of the judiciary complaining that they were being used as political tools to implement government security policy. The police and prosecutors say the trial starting today is based on an entirely different legal foundation. The investigation has centred around the activities of the UVF in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast New legislation introduced in 2005, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, enables an accused to enter into a written agreement indicating that they will help the prosecution by giving evidence against other criminals. Where this happens, the court may take this into account when passing sentence. The journey that led to the trial beginning today began with an investigation by the former Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan into the activities of the UVF in Mount Vernon in north Belfast. In January 2007, she published the results of Operation Ballast. 'Impunity' It was a highly critical report which said members of RUC Special Branch had allowed UVF informers to act with impunity, and that the gang may have been involved in up to 15 murders. Mark Haddock wasn't named in the report, but was referred to as Informant 1. Alarmed by the findings, the then Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Orde, asked the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) to take over Operation Ballast. Then, in 2008, two brothers, Robert and David Stewart walked into Antrim police station, admitting that they were members of the UVF, and their role in more than 70 offences. They offered to give evidence against a number of alleged former comrades under the teams of the 2005 legislation. The HET then spent more than a year debriefing them, and arresting suspects as they went along. But, despite being given additional funding, the investigation became too big for the team to handle. In December 2009, the case was given over to the PSNI. The investigation is now led by Crime Operations Department headed by Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, and is now called Operation Stafford. As a result, just over four and a half years after Nuala O'Loan published her report, Mark Haddock and 13 others will appear in court on Tuesday. They will appear before a judge sitting without a jury because of fears of intimidation. Haddock and eight others are charged with the murder of Tommy English and a range of other offences. The remaining five face a range of charges, possession of firearms, kidnap and assault. The latest investigation into the Mount Vernon UVF began following a report by the former Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan Sealed containers The two chief prosecution witnesses, the Stewart brothers, have been held in isolation at Maghaberry prison, protected by a team of highly trained guards. Their food is brought into the prison in sealed containers to ensure they are not poisoned. They have admitted a total of 74 offences, but were sentenced to just three years each because the judge took into account their offer to testify. Their sentence was determined in open court, not secretly by the Secretary of State. The 2005 legislation contains penalties. If it emerges that the assisting offender is guilty of serious crimes they may not have admitted to, they are in breach of the agreement. If this is discovered after the trial, they can be re-arrested and charged with the additional offences. If they tell the truth but re-offend at a later stage, they can be re-arrested and charged. Supporters say this system is much more open and transparent than the discredited system used in the 1980s. Those on trial, and their families and supporters, insist that only the name has changed.

UVF supergrass trial

Fourteen alleged members of the UVF, including one of its former leaders Mark Haddock, are due to appear at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday...

former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses.

<div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="File photo of former MP Margaret Moran " height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Politics/Pix/pictures/2011/9/6/1315305303567/File-photo-of-former-MP-M-007.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">File photo of former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses. Photograph: Michael Stephens/PA</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The former Labour MP who claimed for dry rot treatment on a home more than 100 miles from her constituency will be charged with fiddling her expenses by more than £60,000, prosecutors said today.Margaret Moran, one of the last politicians investigated over the scandal, will appear before magistrates facing 21 charges relating to her parliamentary claims.Moran, former MP for Luton South, will appear before City of Westminster magistrates' court on 19 September, the Crown Prosecution Service said.</div>

former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses.

File photo of former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses. Photograph: Mic...

police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Ireland

The police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Ireland.Detectives from a specialist public order inquiry team are hoping the public will help them identify the men in these images as part of their investigations into rioting in east Belfast and Ballyclare during June and July.Three people were shot during three nights of sustained sectarian violence at an interface on the Lower Newtownards Road in Belfast in June.In Ballyclare six officers sustained whiplash when a hijacked bus rammed a police vehicle during riots that erupted after Union and paramilitary flags were removed from lampposts in July.<img alt="" src="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00621/riots_621316a.jpg" style="border: initial none initial;" />Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said the response from the public appeals to date had been “positive”.A second tranche of photographs will be released on Thursday showing suspects police want to speak to in connection with rioting in north and west Belfast during July.Last month all of Northern Ireland’s main news organisations wrote to the PSNI Chief Constable to protest at having to hand over riot footage of trouble in east Belfast.The letter highlighted to Matt Baggott the “genuine fear that terrorists and rioters will target the media whom they perceive to be evidence gatherers for the State” if the PSNI continues to demand the disclosure of material gathered for news purposes.The PSNI has declined to comment on the source of these latest images.

police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Ireland

The police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Irel...

TV cameras to be allowed into criminal trials

David Cameron is expected to pave the way for the historic move in a long-awaited speech on crime planned for later this month. However, t...

NSW businesses warned of travelling conmen

Residents and businesses in NSW are being urged to be on the lookout for travelling conmen and itinerant domestic gangs. A nationwide crackdown aims to have scammers who visit Australia seasonally removed from the country and barred from re-entering, as well as local gangs that travel around conning people. NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts on Monday warned of conmen specialising in scams such as bitumen laying, roof painting and back-of-truck dealings on electronics. "We want to catch these crooks, hold them accountable for their crimes and keep the market fair and free of rip-offs," he said in a statement. "What we are dealing with is organised, criminal activity that creates market distortions as legitimate businesses face unfair competition." The conmen structure their operations so consumers are often unable to get remedies in courts, consumer tribunals or through dispute resolution. They are the focus of a new nationwide strategy finalised at the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs in Canberra earlier this year. "All Australian consumer protection jurisdictions are working together under the new Australian Consumer Law with concerted, nationally coordinated operations using new prosecution powers and remedies," Mr Roberts said.

NSW businesses warned of travelling conmen

Residents and businesses in NSW are being urged to be on the lookout for travelling conmen and itinerant domestic gangs. A nationwide cra...

New U.K. Tabloid Dragged Into Hacking Scandal

One British newspaper has already been felled by the escalating scandal over the interception of public figures' voicemails. Now storm clouds are gathering over the Trinity Mirror group, the publisher of Britain's left-leaning Mirror tabloid, amid allegations that phone hacking was rife there as well. James Hipwell, who used to work at the Mirror, said hacking was a common tactic among his former colleagues. "It was seen as a bit of a wheeze, slightly underhand but something many of them did," James Hipwell was quoted as saying by The Independent on Saturday. "After they'd hacked into someone's mobile they'd delete the message so another paper couldn't get the story," Hipwell said. Hipwell declined comment when reached by The Associated Press, saying he was seeking legal advice before revealing anything more to the media. But he confirmed that the interview was accurate. The allegation isn't exactly new. Hipwell, who was fired from the Mirror in 2000, first aired the claim nearly a decade ago. His dismissal from the Mirror, coupled with a conviction for market manipulation several years later, may have also gone some way toward denting his credibility. Still his claim has received renewed attention given the intense focus on Britain's media following the eruption of a phone hacking scandal which has shaken British politics, tarnished the reputation of the country's top police force and weakened Rupert Murdoch's media empire. It's been backed by allegations of misbehavior at the Mirror's sister tabloids. The New York Times last week quoted five former journalists at The People, a Sunday newspaper which is also published by Trinity Mirror PLC, as saying that phone hacking was commonplace there from the late 1990s to early 2000. Trinity Mirror PLC itself has repeatedly declined to address claims of past misbehavior at its titles, sticking to a one-line statement saying that "our journalists work within the criminal law and the (U.K. press watchdog's) code of conduct." "That is our only response," Trinity Mirror spokesman Nick Fullagar said in a recent email. <img alt="" height="300" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-UJSmfZJq_KE/TixpeObhodI/AAAAAAAAHnQ/Z0HoevUh4jw/%25255BUNSET%25255D.jpg" style="float: left;" width="400" />CNN star Piers Morgan, who was in charge at the Mirror when Hipwell was working, has said that any suggestion that he was involved in phone hacking is "a falsehood and I suspect maliciously done." The phone hacking scandal exploded earlier this month with revelations that journalists at the News of the World tabloid hacked the phone of a 13-year-old murder victim while police were still searching for her and broadened to include claims reporters paid police for information. That set off a firestorm which hit at the highest reaches of British society. It forced Murdoch to shutter News of the World, prompting a spate of high-profile resignations and departures at News Corp. and delivering the 80-year-old media baron and his son to be grilled before lawmakers. So far Hipwell is the only journalist who has gone on the record with his claims. In an online message, Hipwell denied having an ax to grind, saying he's speaking out because he was "bored of the lies/dissembling/denials." In any case he's not alone in alleging other papers shared in the News of the World's dishonorable practices. "I believe it to be widespread," said Max Clifford, a celebrity publicist who got a hefty payout from the News of the World after his phone was hacked in an earlier scandal. Clifford, who gave Hipwell a job after he was fired from the Mirror, said the News of the World may have been the worst offender, but it wasn't the only offender. "They weren't isolated," he said. "They weren't the only ones."

New U.K. Tabloid Dragged Into Hacking Scandal

One British newspaper has already been felled by the escalating scandal over the interception of public figures' voicemails. Now storm c...

Russian Officer Jailed for Chechen Murder Is Killed

A former Russian tank commander who was paroled early after being jailed for the murder of a young Chechen woman was shot to death in central Moscow on Friday in what the police said was probably a contract killing. The commander, Yuri D. Budanov, once a decorated army colonel, was the highest ranking officer to be punished for atrocities committed during two wars in Chechnya, a mostly Muslim region, and his early release in 2009 was met with widespread outrage there. Though reviled in Chechnya, he became a kind of hero to Russian nationalists, and the police were put on heightened alert on Friday in case clashes erupted over his death. Mr. Budanov had stepped outside a notary’s office for a cigarette around noon on Friday when a gunman shot him four times in the head, according to televised remarks by Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee. Mr. Budanov was killed instantly. Mr. Markin said the gunman was seen escaping in a light-colored Mitsubishi Lancer. The vehicle was later found abandoned and partly burned, with a pistol equipped with a silencer lying on the seat, Mr. Markin said. He offered no details about a possible motive. The Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed law enforcement official as speculating that the killing was an act of revenge. Mr. Budanov never denied having abducted the young woman — Elza Kungayeva, who was 18 — from her Chechen village in March 2000. At his trial, he claimed that Ms. Kungayeva was a sniper, though this was never proved. He tied her up in his quarters and strangled her in a drunken rage, the court found, and ordered his men to bury her body in a nearby forest. Russia’s second campaign in Chechnya was reaching its height at the time, and Mr. Budanov’s unit, the 160th Tank Regiment, was part of a surge of Russian forces that had swept into Chechnya to put down a violent Islamist insurgency. Human rights groups say that in the process, Russian soldiers routinely kidnapped, tortured and killed civilians. Few soldiers were ever punished, but Mr. Budanov was an exception. In 2003, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and stripped of his rank and awards. For Chechens, Mr. Budanov became the personification of all the tortures endured during nearly two decades of intermittent war, and his release in 2009, four years before the end of his sentence, set off street protests in Chechnya. Chechen officials did not react immediately on Friday to Mr. Budanov’s death. Visa Kungayev, Elza Kungayeva’s father, said the killing brought little sense of closure. “If I had killed him myself, then justice would have been done,” Mr. Kungayev said by telephone from Norway, where he has been given asylum. But he added, “A dog deserves a dog’s death.”

Russian Officer Jailed for Chechen Murder Is Killed

A former Russian tank commander who was paroled early after being jailed for the murder of a young Chechen woman was shot to death in centra...

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week,

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week, killing 12 students before turning the gun on himself. The homicide division of Rio's police department made the announcement Saturday, the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency reported. The motives behind why Wellington de Oliveira, 23, shot the students and himself remain unclear. Locksmith Charleston Souza de Lucena is charged with helping de Oliveira acquire a gun. After he did a job for de Oliveira, according to police, de Oliveira asked where he could find a gun. Souza de Lucena introduced him to Isaias de Souza, who helped him secure the .32-caliber handgun used in the mass shooting, police said. The origins of a second gun used in the shooting, a .38 revolver, remain unknown, police said. Both men told police that they would never have sold de Oliveria the gun if they had known how he would have used it, Agencia Brasil reported. Ten children remained injured in the hospital, the state health and civil defense secretary said. Those who were killed were buried on Friday amidst heavy commotion. Meanwhile, no one has come to identify and claim de Oliveira's body, Agencia Brasil reported. If no one claims the corpse within 15 days, he'll be buried as an indigent. Thursday's mass school shooting, which is rare in Brazil, has energized the country's anti-gun lobby. Twelve red flags were raised Sunday at a demonstration at Copacabana beach calling for greater effectiveness against weapon and ammunition trafficking. "Where is the ammunition coming from? Where are the guns coming from? Are we safe?" event organizer Antonio Carlos Costa said, according to Agencia Brasil. The principal of the school where the shooting took place said Sunday that he hopes to reopen the school April 18. Cleanup of the scene is scheduled to begin Monday, Luis Marduk said. Also Sunday, the official TV Record posted a suicide note purportedly from de Oliveria, which included burial instructions. The note also asks that his house, which has been under police surveillance after vandals defaced it, be turned into an animal shelter "because the animals are being very despised and need much more protection and care than human beings."

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week,

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week, kill...

Serial killer on the loose?

Police found what appears to be a human skull Monday on the outskirts of a bird sanctuary in Long Island, New York, a county police officer said, potentially the ninth set of remains discovered in the probe of a suspected serial killer. Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department said the skull was found around 3:30 p.m. in Oyster Bay. About four hours earlier, a New York state police officer and his cadaver dog spotted another set of remains about a mile and a half away, and authorities worked to determine whether those remains are human. These discoveries come on the first day that authorities probing the deaths of several young women searched for evidence in and around Nassau County. Since December, eight sets of human remains have been found in Suffolk County, just to the east of Nassau County and roughly five miles from the sites of Monday's discoveries. "It's just been very startling, all of it has been," Smith told reporters Monday. "It's just amazing that we're finding these things. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do." Authorities are working on the presumption that a single person is responsible for the women's killings. The five victims who have been identified thus far all advertised prostitution services on websites such as Craigslist, police have said. "Collectively, we want to bring to justice this animal who has obviously taken the lives of a number of people," said Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano on Monday. Authorities would not describe what type of remains were found on Monday morning, and Smith did not detail the condition of the skull found in the afternoon. But police have said that the bodies discovered earlier were in various stages of decomposition, including at least one that could have been there for as long as two years, according to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. Watch the sister of a missing woman tell her story The remains have included four female bodies found in December stuffed in bushes along a quarter-mile strip of beachfront property. Last week, three bodies were uncovered within a few miles of each other, fueling speculation that they could be the work of a serial killer. A woman's body was also found March 29 off Ocean Parkway, west of Cedar Beach. The missing woman who prompted authorities to initiate the search -- 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert -- has not yet been identified. K-9 units and dive teams had been added to the search operation in an effort to locate Gilbert, who was last seen alive in May in the Gilgo Beach area. Search for missing women expands Gilbert's sisters said Shannan was an escort who was visiting a client. They said she ran from the man's house and called 911, claiming that someone was trying to hurt her. Several neighbors also called 911, witnesses say. Police came more than 30 minutes later, but by then Gilbert was gone and has never been heard from again. "You want to believe everything was OK with her," Sherre Gilbert said. "But at the same time, so much time has passed it's impossible to really think that she is still alive." Sherre Gilbert said even if her sister is never found, the search has led to one positive outcome: the discovery of the other women's bodies.

Serial killer on the loose?

Police found what appears to be a human skull Monday on the outskirts of a bird sanctuary in Long Island, New York, a county police officer ...

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