Friends of Ours

Iranian Opium Ring Busted In Toronto, Canada

Last week in Toronto, ON Canada police busted an alleged drug ring "that imported more than $20-million worth of opium from Iran" as reported by Henry Stancu for The Star:  "much of the world's opium comes from Afghanistan and Iran is a major exporter of the drug to western markets."  Video

Mexican Cartels & Calabrian Mafia Join Forces

The 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia and the Mexican drug cartels have teamed up in Australia as reported by Mark Schlieb for The Australian:  "The head of the UN's Office of Drugs and Crime in Mexico City, Antonio Mazzitelli, believes Mexican drug cartels have struck deals with Australian members of the powerful Italian mafia group, the 'Ndrangheta, to capitalize on the country's hugely profitable cocaine trade."

The Calabrian Mafia has close ties to Colombian drug lords, and it dominates the European cocaine trade.  Italian authorities estimate that the 'Ndrangheta annually generates $38 billion in drug revenue.

Last Thursday Italian authorities arrested 27 suspected members of the 'Ndrangheta in a drug bust as reported by Adnkronos:  "The group has specifically been accused of transporting tonnes of cocaine between South America, Australia and Europe via Colombian drug traffickers."

Veteran Mob Reporter Richard Connolly Dies

Richard J. Connolly, "a former reporter who wrote extensively about organized crime and helped The Boston Globe win its first Pulitzer Prize," died last week of pneumonia at 84 as reported by J. M. Lawrence for The Boston Globe:  "His crime stories riveted law enforcement circles during gangland killings of the '60s and '70s, and he found a notorious fugitive hiding out in Atlantic City before the FBI."

Charged Mobster Made Campaign Contributions

Albert Cernadas Sr., a former union official charged for his alleged role in a Genovese shake down of longshoremen on the waterfront, apparently "made political campaign contributions to Assemblyman Joe Cryan" as reported by NJ Today.

The Colombo Family Brings Down Itself

Earlier this month the feds arrested 32 suspected Colombo mobsters -- including the family's entire leadership, four captains and eight soldiers -- in a record roundup of reputed Mafia figures, and the G-men apparently had a little help from their friends as reported by Brad Hamilton for the New York Post:

Tommy McLaughlin and Peter Tagliavia were exactly the kind of up-and-coming associates needed to retool the once-proud Colombos:  young, tough, prison-tested and ambitious.  Each had survived shootouts during the family's brutal internal war in the 1990s, which decimated the clan.  Each was considered a stand-up guy.

Instead, they and a third turncoat, Frankie "Blue Eyes" Sparaco, have helped bring down the entire leadership of the Colombos, including former street boss Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli, who was busted last year and faces murder and racketeering charges, and the man who took over that role, Andrew "Andy Mush" Russo.

Other suspected Colombo turncoats include reputed soldier Sebastiano "Sebby" Saracino as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News and reputed capo Dino Calabro as reported by Jerry Capeci for The Huffington Post.

Read more:

"Nephew of Top Mobster Aids in Colombo Family Takedown" by Jerry Capeci for The Huffington Post

Paul Babeu Named Sheriff Of The Year: Warns Of Armed Conflict With Drug Cartels On U.S. Border

The National Sheriffs' Association, the largest law enforcement group in the United States, has named Pinal County, AZ Sheriff Paul Babeu as Sheriff of the Year as reported by Alex Ferri for KNXV.  Last week Sheriff Babeu said "armed conflict in Arizona between sheriff's deputies and heavily equipped drug cartel squads is inevitable" as reported by Ari Cohn for Ahwatukee Foothills News: 

"We're expecting a conflict.  I absolutely believe you're going to see that happen in the next 30 to 60 days. It's not like I'm trying to start a war with the cartels. They're coming through like they own this place, and we're trying to stop them. I pray that every time, they surrender."

Earlier this month Sheriff Babeu rejected gratuitous assertions -- if not outright lies -- by President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano that the Mexico-U.S. border is safer than ever as reported by KSAZ:

Pinal County released a report showing marijuana seizures, vehicle pursuits and general calls to the border have gone way up over the past two years. * * * Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu emphasizes that these numbers do not take into account the increase in violent crime associated with the border battle.

Mexican Drug Cartels Employ U.S. Street Gangs

The Mexican drug cartels increasingly are using U.S. street gang members as foot soldiers to handle their dirty work on the north side of the border.  In San Diego County, CA "police worry . . . as more gang members partner with Mexican drug cartels to do their dirty work" as reported by Ana Tintocalis for KPBS:  "Hispanic street gangs are no longer gritty neighborhood groups. Some have morphed into deeply-rooted criminal organizations with strong ties to the Arellano Felix cartel and other drug trafficking organizations."  Similarly, in Hidalgo County, TX, "it's no secret cartels are using gangs to hide, transport and sell narcotics" as reported by Naxiely Lopez for The Monitor.

Weekly Gang Roundup

***  In Bethlehem, PA police charge suspected members from the Bloods and its juvie branch Yosko Gangsters with 22 crimes:  "Investigators said the Yosko Gangsters, one as young as 13, acted as foot soldiers for older Bloods because if the younger gang members were caught, juvenile penalties for the crimes are much more lenient."

***  Reputed MS-13 member charged with raping an 8-year-old girl in Fairfax County, VA was in the country illegally:  "Federal officials deported Salvador Portillo-Saravia, of Sterling, to El Salvador in 2003, and he sneaked back in illegally. Now, officials are wondering why a much-touted federal program didn't catch him before the rape."

***  Murder trial for reputed MS-13 member who allegedly gunned down an innocent father and his two sons returning from a family picnic in San Francisco, CA is scheduled for June.

***  In San Francisco, CA a long time member and former leader of MS-13 cell pleads guilty to racketeering and other charges, and faces up to forty years in prison when sentenced on March 29.

***  Reputed 18th Street gang members charged "with trying to extort taco truck owners" in Los Angeles, CA.

***  In Los Angeles, CA a Blythe Street gang member gets "30 years to life in state prison in connection with the slaying of a 4-month-old boy."

***  In Stanislaus County, CA street gangs from Southeast Asia "are just as dangerous as their Latino rivals":  "The deadly nature of the Southeast Asian gangs was evident this week in Modesto after a married couple and their adult daughter were killed during an apparent robbery at their Yosemite Boulevard Asian goods market."

***  On Monday in Los Angeles, CA the murder trial begins for reputed Asian street gang member charged with "shooting a Cerritos woman to death and attempting to kill six others in a Cypress restaurant."

***  Rapper 40 Glocc a/k/a Lawrence White arrested on gun charges in San Bernardino, CA:  "White, identified by police as a member of the Colton City Crips, was arrested less than a block from the Arbor Terrace Apartments, an area he and other gang members are banned from congregating near under a 2008 court injunction."

***  Eleven suspected members from Gardena 13 arrested in Los Angeles, CA:  "It involves a few different murders that this gang has been involved in over the years and narcotics trafficking, along with several assaults, robberies and burglaries."

***  Feds target the Lennox 13 gang with racketeering indictment in Los Angeles, CA:  the gang is "suspected of committing violent crimes, extorting money from businesses and trafficking drugs," and "associated itself with the Mexican Mafia about 20 years ago."

***  Mexican Mafia informant gets twelve years in prison "for racketeering activity that includes drug trafficking, extortion and murder" in San Antonio, TX pursuant to cooperation deal. 

***  In Pharr, TX a 14-year-old boy is murdered at his home during a driveby shooting:  "According to authorities the killers yelled out the name of a street gang as they sped away from the scene. They say they were likely members of the Loco 13 street gang."

***  Street gangs "in New Jersey have a foothold in almost half of the state’s municipalities and reach across all 21 counties, according to a State Police report."

***  Fifteen suspected members of the Bloods gang from the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims cell indicted on federal racketeering, drug trafficking, murder and other charges in Essex County, NJ. 

***  In Providence, RI the reputed local leader or primera of the Trinitarios pleads guilty to weapons and drug charges:  the Trinitarios is "a street gang launched in the late 1980s by Dominican prisoners at the Rikers Island jail in New York."

Feds To Appeal Release Of Bartolomeo Vernace

Magistrate Judges in Brooklyn federal court routinely have been granting bail to the suspected mobsters rounded up in last week's raid, and federal prosecutors intend to appeal at least one such order which lets out reputed Gambino capo Bartolomeo Vernace who is accused in the senseless 1981 murder of two Queens barkeeps as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News.

Controversial Muslim Cleric Said Jaziri Smuggled Into U.S. Over Mexico Border

Said Jaziri, a controversial Muslim cleric and Tunisian immigrant who has been banned from France and Canada, was found by U.S. border agents on January 11 in the trunk of a BMW crossing into California from Tijuana as reported by Richard Marosi for the Los Angeles Times:  

Jaziri had allegedly paid a Tijuana-based smuggling group $5,000 to get him across the border near Tecate, saying he wanted to be taken to a "safe place anywhere in the U.S." * * * Jaziri is being held as a material witness in the criminal case against the BMW's driver, Kenneth Robert Lawler, who has been charged with alien smuggling.

Many critics of the U.S. open border policy long have warned that Muslim terror groups may exploit the smuggling routes which have been established by Mexican organized crime groups.

Mexico Arrests Teen Associates Of Boy Hitman

Last December Mexican authorities arrested Edgar Jimenez a/k/a El Ponchis or The Cloak, an American-born 14-year-old, who allegedly admitted to beheading at least four people on behalf of the South Pacific Cartel, and now some of his teen alleged associates have been apprehended as reported by Fox News:  "Giovanni Molina Ortiz, 18, and 15-year-old Antonio M. are accused of being 'falcons,' or lookouts, for the South Pacific drug cartel."

Meanwhile, the suspected boy hitman's mother -- Yolanda Jimenez Lugo -- "pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to being in the United States illegally after a previous deportation" as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune:  "Yolanda Jimenez Lugo, 43, is expected to serve prison time before being deported to Mexico because of a 1997 felony drug conviction."

Drug Cartel Murders U.S. Missionary Nancy Davis

Earlier this week Nancy Davis, a 59-year-old American missionary, "was shot in the head and killed in northern Mexico, possibly because one of the local drug cartels coveted her heavy-duty pickup truck" as reported by Nicholas Riccardi and Tracy Wilkinson for the Los Angeles Times:  "Local police said the type of truck the Davises drove was prized by Mexican cartels."

Brits Face Extradition To Italy

A British judge has ordered the extradition of four individuals, including three from London, to face charges in Italy over a money laundering investigation allegedly tied to the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia as reported by The Press Association:  "The extradition relates to an investigation into Italian telecoms firm Fastweb."

Last February Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Piero Grasso announced the issuance of 56 arrest warrants pursuant to an investigation into an alleged $2.7 billion tax fraud and money laundering scheme, and among those targeted are Silvio Scaglia, the founder of Italian broadband provider Fastweb SpA, and Senator Nicola Di Girolamo, a member of Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party.  In March Di Girolamo resigned from parliament as then reported by Steve Scherer:  "L'Espresso magazine published pictures of Di Girolamo with an alleged mob boss taken after the election in front of bottles of Spumante sparkling wine and a cake that read: 'Good Luck to Senator Di Girolamo and Friends.'"

Dirty New York Politician Guy Velella Dies At 66

January is the cruelest month -- at least for dirty New York politicians.

Guy J. Velella, a former state senator from the Bronx, has died from lung cancer at 66 as reported by Dennis Hevesi for The New York Times:

In May 2004, he resigned from the Senate and surrendered his law license as part of a plea bargain after being indicted on charges of taking $137,000 in bribes to help people win state bridge-painting contracts. His father and law partner, Vincent J. Velella, was also indicted, but under the agreement was not prosecuted. The senator received a one-year sentence and spent 182 days in jail on Rikers Island.

Earlier this month Anthony Seminerio, the long-time Queens Assemblyman who was serving a six-year prison term following his June 2009 conviction for influence peddling, died as then reported by the New York Post:  "The 75-year-old Seminerio, who often boasted that he was 'John Gotti's assemblyman,' was nabbed after a sting operation in which he brazenly brought an undercover FBI agent posing as a businessman looking for state contracts onto the floor of the Assembly."

Junior Gotti Vouches For John Travolta

John Travolta may be playing John Gotti in an upcoming Nick Cassavetes-directed film about the late Gambino boss, and last Wednesday night Junior Gotti dined with the Saturday Night Fever disco star at Italian eatery Amici in Santa Monica as reported by Clemente Lisi for the New York Post:  "Gotti called Travolta a 'tremendous actor' -- saying he was 'totally confident' the actor would nail the part playing his dad, one of New York's most-feared mob dons until he died in 2002 in federal prison."