Organized Crime
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Organized crime groups

Bikers

Gangs

Mafia

Cartels

Pirates

Nathanson Centre for the study of Organized Crime and Corruption

Asian triads and Sidewinder

     

Too many packages

TORONTO - The discovery of a series of suspicious packages inside the Amazing Party and Costume Store has now prompted an investigation by the organized-crime unit and raised questions as to why a business as harmless as selling Halloween costumes has become the target of a not-so-harmless act.  (Toronto Star)   MORE:  Owner lashes out   Reward offered

 

War on drugs has failed

The global war on drugs has failed with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world, argues a new report.  (AP)   REPORT:  Global Commission on Drug Policy   .pdf    Drug war unwinnable   White House defends war on drugs   War on drugs, on drugs   US drug kingpin list   Additions to kingpin list

Fugitive in Mexico

Michael Chamas, the alleged “banker” for a Mohawk-based marijuana smuggling ring, is a wanted man in Canada, but recent RCMP efforts to nab him internationally haven’t slowed his globe-trotting ways.  Chamas travelled from Dubai to Mexico City this week to shore up his bid to buy Mexicana.  (APTN)  PREVIOUS:  APTN - Operation Cancun

 

Tobacco smuggling

MONTREAL - A criminal organization specializing in tobacco smuggling in Quebec had become so efficient that it could reap profits of $ 2.5M in a few months, in addition to depriving the state of $6M in tax revenues.  (Cyberpresse)    MORE:  Arrests in smuggling ring

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Global ring

NEW YORK - A New York City crackdown on suspects allegedly involved in forged credit cards and identity theft led authorities to a $13M global crime ring, (CNN)   MORE:  Fraud ring   Crime ring was sweet on Apple

 

Prosecution seeks 8 years

MONTREAL - Ronald Chicoine pleaded guilty in 2008 to laundering millions of dollars for organized crime figures, and saw assets worth nearly $50M seized by authorities.    (CTV)

 

Plea deal for vor

NEW YORK - The feds secretly recorded Armen Kazarian's often-profane threats by tapping his phone while investigating a massive, $163M Medicare fraud scheme that led to charges against him and more than 70 others last year.  (NY Post)   PREVIOUS:   OC members charged   Vor = Thief in law

 

'Bank' for criminals

WINNIPEG - If you wanted to buy a car, Nello Chiapetta was the man who ironed out your financing.  Court documents made public allege the former Eastwood Truck and Toy Centre finance manager was also the go-to guy for city gangsters looking to launder their ill-gotten gains.  (QMI)   MORE:  Associate pleads guilty

 

Man denies criminal ties

CALGARY - His business card dubs Dung Kien Luong “manager” of Leung Ky Meat and Seafood, but authorities allege he is much more than an employee of the Forest Lawn butcher shop.    (Calgary Herald)

 

Chemical seized

VANCOUVER - Officials in Vancouver have seized more than 6 tonnes of a chemical suspected to be a precursor to methamphetamine after an investigation that began with a container ship full of counterfeit running shoes.   (CTV)

 

Human trafficking report

OTTAWA - The RCMP, in its first expansive assessment of trafficking in humans, revealed that there are currently 36 cases before the criminal courts in Canada and that most victims are Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are not necessarily recruited from overseas.   REPORT:  Human trafficking in Canada  Majority of trafficking for sex trade   Teen prostitution ring

 

No surprise

CALGARY - Don't be shocked Calgary police are investigating an apparent attempt by organized crime to infiltrate the justice system.    MORE:  Shock to the system    Top cop warns of corruption   Bad fellas have edge

 

'Friends and family'

LONDON - Colin Gunn, an underworld godfather who ordered the execution of two grandparents, has been able to correspond freely with up to 565 “friends” on the social networking site for the past two months.   (Times online)   PREVIOUS:  Jailed for life

Plot won't stop war on crime

TRINIDAD - PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar   said that the alleged plot to assassinate her and other cabinet ministers was linked to the fight against criminals.  (Trinidad Guardian)   MORE:  Act of treason   Assassination plot  

 

Poker site lawsuit

CALGARY - Potentially thousands of Canadian online poker players have been cheated by troubled gaming site Full Tilt Poker out of their holdings, alleges a class-action lawsuit. (QMI)     MORE:    Gambling Commission applies brakes     Full Tilt Poker    Full Tilt Poker founders

 

Recession driving truckers into OC

In these hard economic times, more honest truck drivers are being lured into carrying illegal goods, and then gradually trapped in the lifestyle.   (Tyee)  REPORT:  Assessment of OC in the trucking industry  .pdf    OC hijacking trucking industry

 

Battle for control

LOS ANGELES - Law enforcement officials unsealed indictments naming nearly 100 people who they allege are gangsters and members of the notorious Mexican Mafia, who through violence and control of Orange County jails exerted their influence over Latino gangs on the streets.   (Orange County Register)

 

OC arrests

TORONTO - Police have arrested 39 people and laid 192 charges, including attempted murder and firearm trafficking, as part of an organized crime investigation.  (Toronto Star)

 

UN drug update

BANGKOK - Political instability in military-ruled Myanmar (Burma) has helped make it the region’s prime source of methamphetamine pills, according to a UNs’ report on the illicit drug trade.   (AP)   REPORT:  Asia and the Pacific drugs  .pdf    UNODC

 

Chinese gangs step in

ROME - Chinese gangs have exploited a gap in Italy's crime world, expanding into northern and central cities while the traditional mafia concentrates on the country's south.   (Telegraph UK)

 

Money-laundering ring

MONTREAL - Police say they've dismantled a Canadian money-laundering ring that used dummy international companies to recycle illicit cash.  Four people were arrested as officers swooped down on a number of targets in the Montreal area - including Ronald Chicoine, 57, the owner of Speedo Financial Corporation and the scheme's alleged mastermind.  (CTV)  MORE:  Fraud ring  

 

Last of the Asian Godfathers

It was 1994 - the Year of the Dog - and Frank Ma was in a quandary.  Mr. Ma, a 40-year-old crime boss, had just arranged the murder of his longtime heroin supplier, who, on his orders, had been gunned down in a Los Angeles parking lot. He had recently found a new supplier: Golo Keung, a member of the Big Circle Boys, one of Hong Kong’s largest criminal triads.  (NY Times)

     

OC threat assessment 2011

HAGUE - Organized crime is changing and becoming increasingly diverse in its methods, group structures, and impact on society, reveals Europol’s 2011 Organized Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA).   (Europol)  

EU OCTA 2011   .pdf 

New drugs becoming available

EMCDDA new drugs 2010  

OC in fake drug business  

Not what the doctor ordered

 

 
     

Guilty of race fixing

LONDON - 4 jockeys and 2 licensed owners face lengthy bans from racing after being convicted of corruption offences in a landmark prosecution by the British Horseracing Authority.  (Telegraph UK)   

11 found guilty

Match-fixing arrests 

Turkish Football Federation  

Greek match-fixing

Warner resigns, inquiry closed

Jack Warner    Warner resigns  

FIFA finds ‘comprehensive evidence'

'Shame'

Cricket heats  

Pakistan cricket fixing controversy  

Greed is a guilty habit

FIFA opens ethics probes

CONCACAF

Whistleblower retracts story

Corruption u-turn  

World of cash-stuffed envelopes    

Qatar accused of buying 2022 Cup  

Storm clouds gather  

FIFA president to face committee  

Bribery allegations  

Alleged bribes  

Match-fixing trial begins

 

FIFA suspends Hammam, Warner

Sepp Blatter   Mohammed Hammam   

Host country voting system changed

'FIFA not likely to purge itself

FIFA 'not in crisis'  

Only candidate left re-elected   

Hunt on for match-fixing bosses

FIFA officials took bribes

FIFA

Media speculation

Russia to host World Cup 2018  

Russia won a fair fight  

FIFA officials took bribes  

IOC to probe FIFA corruption

FIFA chief denies bribery claims  

Convicted match-fixer ran empire

FIFA corruption scandal   

FIFA corruption in bidding process  

Executive members of FIFA accused

FIFA pledges match-fixing crackdown

$28M to tackle betting gangs

Players to be questioned under caution

ICC charges and suspends trio  

Suspicion falls on 80 matches  

Cricket match fixing claims  

'Betting scam'   

Match fixing scandal    Cricket    

Cricket in the dock  

Match fixing scheme  

'Crashgate' scandal

 

Officials banned in FIFA scandal  

Fake match   FIFA World Cup  

Vote selling claims  

FIFA World Cup bids  

Votes for cash allegations  

FIFA executive committee

Match fixing trial opens

Match-fixing trial opens  

World cup qualifier fixed

Soccer match fixing

Soccer in hands of gamblers

The problem with the 'big society'

John Higgins 

Betting scandal  

Match-fixing   UEFA

F1 race-fixing claims

'Crashgate'   Flavio Briatore 

Formula 1

Warning over match-fixing

Michael Franzese,

Age of complacency over

Suspicious betting detected

Michael Franzese  

Gambling Commission

Snooker match fixing

Snooker champion accepting bribe

Snooker bribe probe

Unusual betting at Wimbledon

Sports gambling corruption

US protects US gambling    Sportingbet

 
     

Guns and cash

LOS ANGELES - James “Whitey” Bulger’s image seemed set in stone. He was a Boston “Southie,” a street punk who climbed out of the projects on a ladder of crime.  (Toronto Star)

Rewarded

James 'Whitey' Bulger

Bulger loses 1st round

Would you buy a house from this man? 

Court appearance  

Frail, paranoid  

Will Burlger spill the beans?  

Life on the run  

 

New England Mafia weakened  

Bulger hid in plain sigh  

FBI not to blame in murders

Ex-cop tells of secret search

Family to challenge ruling  

Kin loses award

Still looking

Flemmi details slays

Deborah Hussey

Flemmi testifies

Stephen Flemmi

Mob boss arrested  

Whitey arrested  

Ex FBI agent says witness was killed

Lawsuits vs. FBI to open in Boston

The search for 'Whitey' Bulger

Louis Litif

John J. Connolly

Jury convicts Connolly

Case comes due for ex-FBI star

$2M reward

The Departed

 
     

Dudus captured

KINGSTON - The capture of Coke, who is wanted by US authorities to answer drug-trafficking and gun-running charges, comes just short of a month after he escaped from his former stronghold of Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston.   (Jamaica Observer)    

We've got him  

2010 Kingston unrest

Under fire over assault

Christopher 'Dudus' Coke

Crushing Coke  

Family feud behind chaos  

Politics and criminality  

Shower posse Toronto  

Kingston unrest

 
     

Legislation targets criminal groups

WINNIPEG - Attorney General Andrew Swan introduced legislation that will create a process to put "key criminal organizations" on a list so that Crown prosecutors don't have to repeatedly prove to a judge a gang like the Hells Angels is a criminal organization.  (Winnipeg Free Press)  

OC 15% of world GDP

SINGAPORE - Deputy US Atty. Gen. David Ogden, speaking at the 78th general assembly of the global police agency Interpol, told delegates that they needed to act more forcefully to combat transnational organized crime groups whose proceeds now comprise up to 15% of the global gross domestic product.  (LA Times)

 
     

Arrest

BUENOS AIRES - Colombian beauty queen has been arrested in Argentina on charges of leading a drug trafficking ring.  Angie Sanclemente Valencia, 31, is accused of persuading young women to smuggle cocaine from Argentina to Europe via Mexico.   (BBC)  PREVIOUS:  Drug gang   Angie Sanclemente Valencia

$1.2M found

THUNDER BAY - Police searching a home in northern Ontario have literally uncovered a whopping $1.2M in cash buried outside.  The enormous sum of money in denominations of $20 and higher was found buried 20 to 25 centimetres underground in a large Tupperware-like container. (CP)   MORE:  Police seize cash

 
     

Scam organization

TORONTO - California resident Van Thu Tran, 45, pleaded guilty in an American court to scamming millions of dollars from Casino Rama near Orillia, Ont., and 28 other gaming resorts across Canada and the US.  (QMI)  PREVIOUS:  Tran Organization cheating scam

Gangs behind US crime

Criminal gangs in the USA have swelled to an estimated 1M members responsible for up to 80% of crimes in communities across the nation, according to a gang threat assessment compiled by federal officials. (USA Today)  REPORT:  National gang threat assessment 2009  .pdf

 
     

Vehicles stolen in GTA shipped around the world

TORONTO - Two factors have exacerbated the problem: Canadian border officials don't routinely check shipping containers to see if the cars inside are stolen, and police auto theft squads have weakened over time.  (Toronto Star)  MORE:  Top 10 stolen vehicles   Motor vehicle theft in Canada

Drug lord convicted

TORONTO - A Brampton man who's considered a modern-day Robin Hood has been convicted in the US of leading a drug smuggling ring that trucked at least 36,000 kilos of cocaine from California to Toronto.  (Sun Media)   MORE:  Convictions in drug case   'Biggest there is'     Bakersfield drug bust    Drug dealers with a big heart

 
     

Where the money is

WASHINGTON - Organized crime gangs are exploiting a new target for illegal profit: Medicare and Medicaid.  Experienced in running drug, prostitution and gambling rings, crime groups of various ethnicities and nationalities are learning it's safer and potentially more profitable to file fraudulent claims with the federal Medicare program and state-run Medicaid plans.  (CNN)

Security crackdown

OTTAWA - The government is launching a security crackdown on more than 100,000 workers at Canada's airports and marine ports. The initiative comes through a new deal signed by the federal Transport Department and the RCMP to weed out organized-crime operatives from restricted areas. (CanWest)   MORE:  RCMP study reveals OC web   Project Spawn   .pdf

 
     

Organized crime goes carbon

LONDON - Seven people have been arrested and 27 addresses raided over a suspected Ł38M fraud involving the trade of carbon credits to avoid paying value-added tax (VAT).   (Telegraph UK)  

Breaking up Government and Corporate 'Organized Crime'

As noted in the "Godfather" movie, one man with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.   (Hernando Today)

 
     

Canada's #1

WASHINGTON - The 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report highlights the growth of methamphetamine “superlabs” throughout the country, particularly in BC and Ontario.  The report says Canada has become the No. 1 source of ecstasy south of the border.  (CP)   REPORT:  2009 INCSR report

Ponzi scheme took in $370M

NEW YORK - Nicholas Cosmo, founder of Agape World Inc in Hauppauge, New York, swindled investors out of more than $370 million and used the money to pay for limousines, fund a baseball league and pay off a restitution order from an earlier fraud.  (Bloomberg)   MORE:  Cosmo owed money to the Mob    Cosmo gambled it away

 
     

UN debates drug policy's impact

VIENNA - The UN's Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is meeting in Vienna to review the effectiveness of drug control over the past decade. Critics say the policies are flawed, contributing to organized crime, violence and instability in the developing world.  But the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says there has been progress.  It says the number of drug users, about 5% of the world's population, has stabilized over the past few years.  (BBC)

SCC upholds proceeds of crime

OTTAWA - Provincial governments were spared the prospect of returning millions of dollars in seized property when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Crown has the power to confiscate the proceeds of crime.  (CanWest)  JUDGMENT:  2009 SCC 19   Feds seize $281.4M in assets from crooks    Seized property directorate grows   Ontario criminals pay hefty price   BC hits criminals in the wallet    Grower forfeits home

 
     

$1M ransom paid in kidnap case

VANCOUVER - Three people were abducted and held for four weeks in 2006 and ransom payments totalling more than $1 million were made in Vancouver, Toronto and China in a case going to a pretrial hearing.  (Vancouver Sun)  PREVIOUS:  Rescue ended month in captivity

Record ransom

ATHENS - Kidnappers released an ailing Greek shipping magnate eight days after abducting him at gunpoint near his home, police said.   The 74-year-old tycoon, Pericles Panagopoulos, was freed hours after his family paid the kidnappers a multi-million dollar ransom, police said.    (CNN)

 
     

Blacklisting criminal gangs

OTTAWA - Parliamentarians are considering whether the Conservative government should create a list of banned criminal organizations - starting with the Hells Angels - just as terrorist organizations are officially blacklisted.  (CanWest)

 

List of illegal gangs won't stop the violence

New law of criminal organizations in Canada  .pdf

Wikipedia: List of criminal organizations

 
     

Suspected loan sharks

VICTORIA - CBC News has obtained documents that show 33 cases of suspected loan sharking were reported around BC's casinos in a two-and-a-half-year period from 2002 to 2004.  The documents show that out of 33 cases of suspected loan sharking, police were called only three times.  (CBC) 

Loan sharks feeding at River Rock

'Chess club' probed

Victim had been ordered deported

Yan not a suspect in Wong murder

Life & death of 'Big Sister' Betty

Suspected money laundering at casinos

Money launderers suspected of using casino slots

Criminals target BC casinos

Legacy of husband's casino debts

CBC tests system

Casino loophole lets criminals launder cash

Richmond casino is a crime magnet

River Rock Casino

Casino loan sharks draw complaints, no charges

Casino related crime on the rise

 
     

9 charged

HONG KONG - Police have charged nine men over the killing of a Hong Kong triad boss who was hacked to death by suspected rival gang members.   (AFP) 

Joint crackdown on triads

Sun Yee On triad

Wo Shing Wo triad

Triad society

Chinese criminal organizations

Gangs in Toronto

 
     

Drug baron guilty

ST HELIER - Drugs baron Curtis Warren  who is believed to have amassed a fortune of Ł300M was convicted of trying to smuggle Ł1M worth of cannabis.   (Daily Mail)  

Kingpin guilty

Bounty

Ben Kinsella

Adams family,

Plan to target organized crime

SOCA annual report 2008/09  .pdf

SOCA annual plan 2009/10   .pdf

Getting Organized  .pdf

Comprehensive approach to tackling serious OC

Police create map of criminal gangs

UK's 5,000 most wanted

2,800 gangs

'Running empires from jail'

Britain's 'Godfather' behind bars

Terry Adams

Police joined dark side

Colin Gunn

Nottingham's 'godfather of crime'

Drug mastermind jailed for 30 years

Brian Brendan Wright

 
     

Army on alert

CONAKRY - Guinea's military leaders have uncovered a plot to overthrow the government in the poor, unstable West African nation, state radio reported.  It said in a report Saturday night that military ruler Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara put the army on high alert after learning of a planned attack from fighters in neighboring Guinea-Bissau and Liberia.  It said the coup plot appears to be backlash from drug traffickers deposed by Camara when he seized power in December.  (AP)  

Guinea on alert for 'attack plot' by cartels

Crime lords 'ruining West Africa'

West Africa

UNODC

Organized crime plundering West Africa

W Africa transit for $1B in cocaine

TV confessions

New Senegal record cocaine haul

Senegal

Africa - new front in drug war

 
     

Money laundering scheme

HOUSTON - Thi Phoung Mai Le, 43, of Ottawa, Ontario, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for her role in an international narcotics money laundering scheme. (BackgroundNow)   PREVIOUS:  Convicted of money laundering

Why gangs took over shoplifting

Shoplifting and retail losses represent a growing crime and one where sophisticated and organized criminal rings have joined the smaller players in targeting everything from Oil of Olay to baby formula to widescreen TVs.  (Vancouver Sun)   MORE:  The war on retail crime

 
     

Accused was 'ecstasy kingpin'

TORONTO - A drug dealer wounded in a botched Harbourfront transaction once masterminded America's largest Ecstasy smuggling ring, which employed naive Hasidic Jews as couriers.   (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS:  Dealer's reduced term   Man shot at Harbour Castle former drug dealer    3 arrested in hotel shooting   Holy Rollers

Raid nets family members

TORONTO - Sataya Vongkosy, 32, faces 180 charges after the massive police bust, which targeted an illicit drugs-for-guns operation that spanned much of Southern Ontario and reached into the US.  (Toronto Star)   MORE:  Project Blackhawk results in more than 440 charges   Charges after guns, drugs blitz   'This is a big deal'

 
     

Abductors free Canadian

PORT-AU-PRINCE - A Canadian woman abducted last week in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has been released and is in good condition, United Nations Police have confirmed. (CTV) 

Canadian kidnapped in Haiti

Canadian woman held for ransom

UN stabilization mission

US travel warning for Haiti

 
     

Yakuza swaps charity for reconstruction

TOKYO - In the aftermath of the devastating March tsunami, Japan's underworld made a rare display of philanthropy, handing out emergency supplies to survivors, sometimes days before aid agencies arrived.  Three months later, however, the yakuza appears to have dispensed with largesse and is instead hoping to cash in on the daunting clean-up effort in dozens of ruined towns and villages.  (Guardian UK)  

'We have to evolve our business model'

'Melt-through'  

Japan unprepared for nuclear disaster  

Fukushima nuclear accidents  

Boss out of jail

Kenichi Shinoda  

Japan's not-so-secret mafia

Bosses take legal classes

No bailout results

Yakuza

Yamaguchi-gumi

Sumiyoshi-kai

Inagawa-kai

After livers, cash to UCLA

Tadamasa Goto

 
     

Police raid two currency exchanges

VANCOUVER - Two Langley downtown currency exchanges were raided by heavily armed police resulting in four arrests and the seizure of large amounts of cash.  Police raided the Capital Forex storefront at 5560 204 St. and also the Global Tourist Centre Currency Exchange located at unit 106, 20505 Fraser Hwy.  Both businesses are apparently owned or managed by Robin Rathor, who could not be reached for comment.   (Langley Advance)   MORE:  Mounties accuse 4 of money laundering   Cash houses under fire

Net gain for gangsters

VANCOUVER - Growing evidence suggests that Canada’s Pacific fishing fleet is also being used to facilitate other criminal activities, including the transport of drugs and illegal firearms by outlawed biker gangs and former Soviet Union crime syndicates, according to the National Study of Crime in the Australian Fishing Industry.   (Asian Pacific Press)   PREVIOUS:  Australian Institute of Criminology     Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

 
     

Police seize arsenal in traffic stop

AJAX - A Montreal man who police say was caught driving an SUV loaded with guns, drugs, lab equipment and a grenade is facing 64 charges after being pulled over in Ajax, Ont.  Police say Hanna Anastas, 34, was driving a vehicle matching the description of one wanted by police.   (CanWest)

Trucker guilty

SEATTLE - A Chilliwack trucker faces at least five years - and possibly 40 years - in jail for conspiracy to smuggle marijuana into the US.  A jury in US federal court in Seattle deliberated for a day-and-a-half following a week-long trial before convicting Corey Wirsz, 26.  (Vancouver Province)  MORE:  Trucker guilty of smuggling pot

 
     

Ottawa denies report

The Conservatives are denying a report that Canadian journalist Mellissa Fung was released by her Afghan captors in a swap for two Taliban leaders.  She was released after a month of negotiations between CBC staff, Canadian and Afghan officials and her captors.   (CTV)

Kept in a hole in the ground

3 arrested

CBC journalist set free

Rescue raid planned, aborted

Abducted CBC journalist released

Blackout on kidnapping posed dilemma for media

 
     

Holy land gangland: part 5

ISRAEL - This is the fifth and final installment in a five-part series about organized crime in Israel.  (Tablet) 

Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4

Mob boss assassinated

Car bomb kills crime kingpin

Police recommend billionaire be charged

Significant achievements

Yaakov Alperon

Israeli mafia

Team hunts killer

Record sentence

Gang war

Son vows revenge

'Earthquake' for the underworld

 
     

Dirty lawyer off to prison

MONTREAL - Pierre Boivin, 59, a specialist in financial law, found himself on the opposite side of the prisoner's dock when Quebec Court Judge Paul Chevalier ruled in a case that had been stalled for years by an attempt by the lawyer to withdraw the guilty plea he entered in September 2005, along with two co-accused.  (Montreal Gazette)

1 year community service

VANCOUVER -  Zhen Ai Xu, otherwise known as Pinky, gets to keep her silver BMW SUV.  But she has had to give up to the BC government one of her houses,.  (Vancouver Province)   PREVIOUS:  Warrant reveals pimp's life   Top madam earned millions   Police bust Pinky's places

 
     

Government and organized crime: History of co-existence

MOSCOW - A government is the organization which is the governing authority of a political unit, also the ruling power in a political society, and the apparatus through which a governing body functions and exercises authority. Government have the authority to make laws, to arbitrate disputes, to issue administrative decisions, and a monopoly in authorizing force. (Pravda)

Mobsters without borders

WASHINGTON -  Launching a campaign against such international criminals, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said they were more adaptable and sophisticated than La Cosa Nostra and other syndicates the US government set out to defeat half a century ago.  (Reuters)   MORE:  Criminals target energy, financial markets   AG targeting international organized crime   Center for Strategic and International Studies

 
     

Europe’s Future Mafia States

The National Intelligence Council released its latest study on the world’s future last week, Global Trends 2025.  Buried on page 33 was this tantalizing tidbit: “Crime could be the gravest threat inside Europe as Eurasian transnational organizations become more powerful and broaden their scope. One or more governments in Eastern or Central Europe could fall prey to their domination.”   (Center for Public Integrity)

Transportation, smuggling and OC

EU strips millions from Bulgaria

EU reports on Bulgaria & Romania

EU grant riches are plundered

EU suspends funding

EU subsidies 'looted' by Bulgarian mafia

Post-Communist sleaze

Bulgarian Mafia

The morphing of organized crime

Crime groups 'buy' politicians

OC invested in Bulgaria's elections

The drug market in Bulgaria

 
     

Yacht seized

DUBLIN - A luxury yacht packed with cocaine worth more than half a billion pounds was towed ashore under armed guard today after it was seized off the Irish coast (Guardian UK)  

How drug ship was tailed from Caribbean to Cork

Wave of cocaine   Cocaine yacht

UK top of EU cocaine league

British criminals believed to be behind cocaine

2008 the state of the drugs problem in Europe

Opium glut

 
     

Clan nabbed

The image of former Toronto resident  has been splashed throughout the Italian media over the past 24 hours as American authorities announced one of the largest international drug busts in history.    (Toronto Star)

Giuseppe Coluccio

DEA 'Project Reckoning' 

175 arrested in crackdown on Mexico's Gulf Cartel

International bust

Scores held in global drug bust

Wiseguys smoked in global drug bust

'Ndrangheta   Gulf Cartel   Mafia   Cartels

 
     

LA Gangster Part 7

LOS ANGELES - When the coroner put Jack Whalen's body on a slab, it measured 72 inches, just 6 feet. For years, people had described him as 6-foot-2 or 6-4. But "the Enforcer" was smaller in death than life. (Los Angeles Times)

LA Gangsters Part 1   LA Gangsters Part 2

LA Gangsters Part 3   LA Gangsters Part 4

LA Gangsters Part 5   LA Gangsters Part 6

Gangster Squad

 
     

Ex-Soviet crime ring in Toronto

TORONTO - Crime rings of former Eastern European mobsters use Toronto as a base for local and international law-breaking, including kidnapping, extortion and identity theft, say organized crime experts. .  (Toronto Star)

Crime boss killed by drug gang

DUBLIN - Murdered gangland figure Paddy Doyle was shot dead in Spain after falling foul of an international drugs gang.  (Independent)   PREVIOUS:  Gang chief shot dead in Costa ambush

 
     

Organized crime goes green

MONTREAL - Organized criminals in Canada are going green, turning to environmental crime as an increasingly lucrative way to raise money.  A report released yesterday by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada says crime networks have developed underground markets for electronic waste and scarce natural resources. (CP)

CSIS 2008 report on Organized Crime

Police 'not on top of organized crime'

BC gangs control meth sales, crime report says

Information is crime's new opiate

OC groups centred in big cities

Canada a top ecstasy supplier

 
     

Super labs

VANCOUVER - Drug labs are becoming factories, according to RCMP Inspector Brian Cantera who says they're now being defined as "super labs". .  (News 1130)

'Super lab' biggest in BC

Homes evacuated

10 homes evacuated

Lab bust

Lab dismantled

 
     

Bounty

WASHINGTON - The US has placed a $100,000 bounty on the head of suspected Russian crime boss Semion Mogilevich, the alleged mastermind of the YBM Magnex scandal that defrauded investors in the Canadian company out of an estimated $650M and undermined confidence in Canadian stock markets.    (National Post)

Russian spin

Godfather shot

Vyacheslav Ivankov

Only criminals with any code of conduct are the Russian mafia

Criminal king receives pompous funeral

Oligarch linked to mafia boss

Peter Mandelson

Oleg Deripaska

Mandelson denies 'favours'

Who's who of Russian mobsters

Russian mafia boss arrested

The end of 'Brainy Don'?

The people traffickers

Russian Mafia      The Russian Mafia

Russian banker's killer 'found'

Billionaire at bay

Putin to rescue Deripaska over $2.5B loan

Andrei Kozlov

Russian Central Banker assassinated

Russian money laundering

Dozens 'sickened' in Russian gas attack

Corrupt officials hinder investigation

Vladimir Barsukov

Tambov organized crime

Police detain suspected gang leader

 
     

Too little, too late

There are ghosts among us, slaves who are invisible to most of us, including police.  They are people who have been trafficked either into Canada or from some other part of Canada.  (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS:  Human trafficking    Rise in human trafficking   RCMP's human trafficking unit

Armed gang raids court

JOHANNESBURG - South African police are investigating an audacious raid on the Johannesburg High Court.  An armed gang stole documents related to a number of high-profile organized crime cases.  (BBC)  PREVIOUS:     Brickbats & bouquets for Shabangu   Susan Shabangu    'Kill the bastards'

 
     

Bail

ST-JEROME - One day after 55 people were arrested in a massive drug raid that involved more than 500 officers from four police forces in Kanesatake, Akwesasne, Oka and Montreal, 45 of them were released on bail.   (CTV)  

Drug bust  

Mohawk reserve pot raid  

Police swoop down  

Blow to Mohawk drug organization

Feds bust pot ring on reservation

US bust Canadian pot ring  

Police go to pot  

Raids on Mohawk reserves

 
     

Manitoba pot busts

WINNIPEG - RCMP in Manitoba have arrested 16 people from British Columbia after raiding more than a dozen rural properties investigators said housed marijuana grow operations.  RCMP executed search warrants on 13 properties Tuesday in rural areas around the province's capital region.  (CBC)

NY grand rabbi pleads not guilty

LOS ANGELES - Naftali Tzi Weisz, 59, the Grand Rabbi of Spinka, and the others were arrested after an indictment was returned Dec. 18 accusing the group of 37 counts including conspiracy, mail fraud and money-laundering. (AP)  PREVIOUS:  Rabbi and associates charged    Spinka financial controversy

 
     

Air Canada worker suspect

VANCOUVER - An Air Canada employee is at the centre of an international investigation after authorities at Vancouver International Airport seized a large quantity of cocaine before Christmas. .  (Vancouver Province) 

RCMP rejects US claim

VANCOUVER - The head of the RCMP's national drug branch is debunking claims by the United States' drug czar.    (CP)   PREVIOUS:  Altered ecstasy from Canada flooding US    Canadian made, meth-laced ecstasy being dumped into US

 
     

Trail of gold

LONDON - The gold 'grains' - carefully wrapped in plastic and wedged inside travel luggage - were hidden inside a deposit box raided by the Metropolitan Police last week as part of a huge two-year investigation into the proceeds of organized crime.    (Guardian UK)  PREVIOUS:  Brinks Mat robbery

Police safety deposit box raids

Raids yield drugs, cash & guns

Safe Deposit Centres

'Aladdin's cave of criminality'

SOCA abandons hunt

Serious Organized Crime Agency

Battle to break Britain's crime lords

Police chiefs 'rewarded for failure'

Police smash cocaine empire

Police smash into home of 'cocaine kingpin'

UK drug trade

Armed gang convicted

5 convicted

Gang found guilty

Securitas depot robbery

 
     

The beer belly mules

BERLIN - Once the work of South Americans and Africans, Germans are now serving as human couriers to smuggle cocaine into Europe inside their bodies..  (Spiegel)

RCMP botched a sting

VANCOUVER - Inter Maritime looked just like any other nondescript company with an office on Howe St. in Vancouver's financial district in 2003.  (Toronto Star)

 
     

Commercial grow-op

100 MILE HOUSE - Police said they executed a search warrant on a rural home near Abel Lake and found "a large outbuilding built to grow marijuana on the property."    (QMI) 

RCMP PR  

Grow-op busted

RCMP Hope 

Underground grow-op

RCMP Sicamouc  

BC pot bust  

Era of big pot  

High finance & corporate pot  

Harvest 'best ever'

Competition

Grow-op raided

Growers fear 'Wal-Marting' of weed

Another grow-op fire in Mission  

Edmonton pot busts

Grow-ops going rural

Mounties seize pot plants

Grow-op factory

Cops raid grow-op

Grow-op bust leads to more arrests  

Case closed on brewery grow-op

Major pot bust in abandoned brewery

Grow-op financed by banks

Grow-op busted

BC grow-op bust  

Massive grow-ops appearing

Canada's spreading cannabis crop

Grow-op king duped homeowners

Grow op

Pot farm   Pot farm video  

Locate and destroy    

IB Times  

 
     

Gang targeted corrections officer

TORONTO - A correctional services officer was the target of an alleged murder plot uncovered as Toronto police try to stop a notorious street gang in its tracks.   (Toronto Star)  

Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)

MS-13 seeks Toronto toehold

Police arrest members of MS-13

Gangsters set up residence

 
     

Rejected refugee deported

VANCOUVER - Jose Francisco Cardoza Quinteros, the self-admitted killer who said he was once a member of the notoriously brutal Mara Salvatrucha gang, has been deported from Canada.  (Surrey Leader) 

Refugee killer must stay in jail for now

Putting Canadians at risk

Immigration decision a mystery

Japanese, American gangsters latest deported

Gangsters' presence irks cops

Anti-gang head says progress is being made

More immigration insanity

El Salvador too dangerous for admitted killer

Admitted killer walks free

Refugee will await claim behind bars

'Stunned' admitted killer is free

Assassin walks free in Surrey

Authorities can't get rid of poster boy

 
     

ICBC sues 95 accused in car thefts

VANCOUVER - Ninety-five BC residents, including two young men awaiting trial for a gangland kidnapping, were sued by ICBC Friday in a massive fraud case involving more than $1.2 million worth of stolen vehicles.    (Vancouver Sun)

Stolen designer clothing found

BASSANO, AB - Mounties aren't ruling out that organized crime may be behind the bust of a Bassano shop caught selling $1-million worth of designer clothing stolen from Calgary. (Calgary Herald)

 
     

Hundreds mourn Taiwan gang boss

TAIPEI - The body of one of Taiwan's most infamous crime bosses, Chen Chi-li, has been flown back to Taipei, where hundreds attended a memorial service.  Chen, a leading figure in the Bamboo Union, Taiwan's largest gang, died of cancer in Hong Kong earlier this month.  (BBC)   PREVIOUS:   Triad society

Murder mystery solved

TORONTO - Answers to a crime that shocked and mystified Toronto for almost 15 years - when bold, professional killers literally shot their way into a suburban warehouse and executed two workers - have finally been revealed in New York, as two Chinese crime bosses now face life in prison for arranging the massacre.  (National Post)  

 
     

Conditional sentences after plea

WINNIPEG - Two accomplices of criminal mastermind Gerald Daniel Blanchard have been sentenced after pleading guilty.  Dale Fedoruk, 36, of Winnipeg, and Angela James, 22, of Edmonton, both got two-year conditional sentences on Monday after pleading guilty to fraud charges.  (Winnipeg Free Post)

Police unravel confessions

Not a bad person

Mastermind pleads guilty

Crime ring boss to plead guilty to theft

Accused mastermind's lair raided

High-tech gear, high-powered weapons found

Blockbuster crime spree

 
     

Organized crime loves BC

BC holds a prominent place in the organized crime world, according to a recent report that says the number of gangs in Canada is on the rise.   The report identifies BC as a "hub" for organized crime group activity, such as drug production and distribution.   (Vancouver Province)

Crime boss sentenced

Proceeds of crime

Police sought to freeze suspect's property

'We've chopped the head off the snake'

Police 'chop head off' alleged drug ring

Cops crack global drug-trade ring

Canadian links to drug cartel

BC at hub of global drug trade

Fast facts on BC drug trade  

Botched kidnap plots nets jail time

8 years for ecstasy lab

CISC: Annual report 2007

Illegal drug production thriving

Tracking the techie mobster

Drugs fuel crime boom

Licence to kill

Ecstasy  

Ecstasy smuggling surges

High life on the lam

Credit card fraud charges follow raid

Major credit fraud ring busted

Gangster worth $400M

CACP focus on Organized Crime

Organized Crime

Police reveal extent of OC's long reach

RCMP can't dent organized crime

OC gangs aiding terrorists: RCMP

Dong v. Liu 2008 BCSC 1795   .pdf

 

 

OC groups recruiting

TORONTO - Canada's top organized crime groups are recruiting workers at Pearson and other major airports to help them smuggle drugs and contraband into the country.   (QMI) 

Corrupt workers

Nexus smugglers

Nexus program

US jail for smuggling

Drug seizure

14 years 

30 months

Smugglers sentenced

2 mules face drug charges

'Broke' business owner turned to pot

8 years for smuggling

Air hostess jailed

Suitcase thrown overboard

Case ends in jail time

Border search violated rights

Dealers using truckers to smuggle

Smuggling scheme

Bean cans

7-year probe ends

Sentenced

Trafficking bust

Smuggling sentence

US feared by Canadian criminals 

Guilty plea for drug smuggling

6 year investigation

Police arrest 11

7 arraigned after Italian cafe raids  

29 charged in drug lab bust 

Man charged

Businessmen caught hiking

$9M drug bust

Major drug bust  

Police seize drugs

Trucker sentenced

12 years

2nd arrest

Drug sting ensnared ex-boxer

Cocaine central

Bummer dudes

'Anti-social' caretaker

Abbotsford bunker

Cocaine charges

Sentence for cocaine smugglers

7 tonnes

$1M in cocaine

House that crack built

Ottawa's drug problems

BC funding Calif. sheriff's office

Sailboat bust

Drug labs raided

More than a tonne of cocaine

Cocaine seized

Alleged trafficking ring walks

 

Border arrests  

Border guard busted

Proceeds hidden in horse trailer

Border bust

Abbotsford a hotbed of trafficking

Witness is a suspect

Drug trial postponed  

Olympian charged in conspiracy

10 years

Copter schools weed out smugglers

Border guard probe widens

Ecstasy bust

Poppy bust

Pot network

10 years for cocaine haul

Free after a day in pen

Drug lord busted

Drug don arrested

$1M in cash

Drug bust

Botched drug deal

2 Canadians arrested

Cocaine ring busted

Border jumpers

Police release names

Trucker charged in US smuggling case

Drug lab crackdown

Police break trafficking ring

 

Hockey bags seized

Seized heroin

Heroin haul likely Vancouver bound

X-ray of shoe leads to record heroin

Border guards' image takes blow

Customs officer in drug ring bust

Ex-cop gets 30 months in jail

Scared into new crimes

Don't keep me in jail

Drug bust at Peace Arch

4 years for marijuana trafficking

Plane loaded with cocaine

Calgary pilot involved in $30M bust

Ex-BC union boss gets 8 years

Seven ordered held in kidnapping

Pot seized

More smuggling at Pearson

Guard triggers $100M bust

Heroin seized

Border bust

Another coke bust

Cocaine found in commercial truck

Cocaine hidden in truck

Badge used to launder money

Abductees tied to missing cash

Police sniff out major pot ring

Tracking cocaine in a can

Ex-border-guard gets jail

Former Blaine border guard sentenced

Prostitute smuggled drugs

 

Store firebombed after extortion bid

Operation Frozen Timber

Wanted: $300,000 Ferrari

Police bust drug smuggling ring

Pot probe targets Harrison Hot Springs

Canada-US drug raid

Cocaine bust

Largest cocaine bust in AB history

Drug ring broken

Quebec man boss of drug operation

RCMP dismantles cocaine rings

39 indicted for money laundering

Canadian arrested in sting

Asian Gangs move grow-ops

Houses linked to Asian gangs  

Cocaine smuggled via 'torpedo'

$770k in airport suitcase

More than 130 arrested in Quebec

Alleged fraud ring busted in Montreal

Border bust

Ecstasy seized 

Border guard accused

Border guard charged in drug bust

RCMP couldn't make case

Border guard busted

Drug rings becoming sophisticated

Drug Situation Report 2006  

Canada major producer of ecstasy

Drug bust nets mastermind

28 suspects arrested

 

 

 

Porn, pop and paparazzi

VANCOUVER - Purloined porn, a pop star and paparazzi made for pandemonium Monday at BC Supreme Court.   Photographers, cameramen and reporters staked out both entrances to the downtown Vancouver facility to get a shot of Edison Chen, the Vancouver-born singer and fashion designer who is a sensation in Hong Kong.   (Vancouver Province)   

Stalking Edison Chen

Edison Chen

Edison Chen photo scandal

Pop star shocked

Chen proposed marriage to avoid triad wrath

Hollywood gossip website

Did Edison leak photos himself

Chen to quit after scandal

Hong Kong ogles, blushes

Film star sex scandal

'Silly' Hong Kong starlet sorry

 
     

O, Canada

VANCOUVER - The deportation of Lai Changxing  counts as a big victory for Chinese officialdom, which has been trying to get him back for a solid decade.  (Economist)   

72 Chinese tycoons died unnaturally

Extradited  

Deportation will test 'honour & face'  

Lai tired by long legal battle

Beijing slams Canada over work permit

 

Chinese smuggling kingpin wins

Chinese fugitive ordered freed

Chinese fugitive loses bid for appeal

Chinese fugitive fights to stay

Lai Changxing

Lai Changxing

Smuggler's blues

631 gangs smashed

Refugee process abused by criminals

Lai cozy with Communists

3500 Chinese spy companies

Organization of smuggling operation  .pdf 

 
     

Saxena in Thailand

BANGKOK - Surrounded by a team of Thai officials, financial fugitive Rakesh Saxena arrived back in Thailand from Vancouver and was handed over to police.  (Vancouver Sun)  

Saxena denied

Fugitive finally loses

Fugitive loses bid to avoid extradition

An expert at slipping the net 

Canada's extradition process

BC Appeals orders another hearing

China eyes its cards in murder case

Canada 'slow' in giving up fugitives

Somalia too deadly for violent inmate

Subhash Agrawal   Gloria & Faustino Chingkoe

Michael Joseph Charles Karas

Raul Ortega  Rodolfo Pacificador  

Rakesh Saxena    Rakesh Saxena

Malkiat Kaur Sidhu & Surjit Badesha

Napoleon Gomez Urrutia

 
     

UK tops EU cocaine abuse

LISBON - A renewed popularity in cocaine use among young adults over the past year has put the UK at the top of the European "league table" for cocaine abuse and now even outstrips the levels seen in the US, according to the annual report of the EU's drug agency (EMCDDA).  (Guardian UK)  

2010 report on drugs in EU

Cocaine use higher in UK  

It's a bird, it's a plane, No it's cocaine

New York blows away the competition

Steep rise in Europe cocaine use

2007 drug problem in Europe

The Thames: awash with cocaine

Italian river 'full of cocaine'

Cocaine in surface waters: a new evidence based tool to monitor community drug abuse

Cocaine traces at EU parliament

Cocaine

 
     

Cross-border human smugglers nabbed

PEACE ARCH - Two parallel investigations north and south of the U.S. border have resulted in indictments against 14 men accused of smuggling people into the U.S.  (National Post) 

Authorities bust cross-border smuggling ring

Ring smuggling illegals from South Asia halted

Mother of all 'snakeheads' gets 35 years in jail

Cheng Chui Ping: 'Mother of snakeheads'

15 days in a metal box, only to be locked up

22 stowaways nabbed at Port of Seattle

Golden venture big sails off to jail

New route for Chinese to get fake UK visas

'Crime network' targeted by simultaneous raids

Seattle labelled 'hot spot' for human cargo

Alleged 'snakehead' boss on trial

Alleged Golden Venture mastermind pleads

Chinese people smugglers jailed

The deadly journey

     

SPVM integrated approach to gangs

List of criminal organizations

 

 

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