Friends of Ours

Los Zetas Boss Arrested In ICE Agent Murder

Mexican marines have arrested Sergio "El Toto" Mora Cortez, a reputed local head of the drug trafficking Los Zetas, in connection with an investigation into the shooting death of U.S. ICE agent Jaime Zapata earlier this month as reported by BBC News.  Last week authorities arrested the six Los Zetas gunmen suspected in the highway ambush against Special Agent Zapata.

Chinese Mafia Harvests Geoduck In Puget Sound

In Washington's Puget Sound waterways the Chinese Mafia illegally is harvesting the geoduck clam as reported by Tracy Vedder for KOMO: 

"It's very similar to what you would see with drug cartels," says WDFW Captain Ed Volz, "except these are clams ... big ugly clams worth a lot of money." In Asia - particularly China - geoduck is a prized delicacy. And here, both law enforcement and a convicted poacher and geoduck insider tell me the Chinese mafia controls much of the market. * * * "We know that in fact organized crime money is being funneled to companies in the continental United States," says Capt. Volz.

Olympic Committee Calls For Mafia Crackdown

Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, warns that illegal betting and match fixing undermine the credibility of sports, and "sooner or later this might occur at the Olympic Games" as reported by Graham Dunbar for The Associated Press:  "'These are mafia links and mafia people and they bet at the same time while manipulating the result of a match,' he told reporters in a conference call."

Motorcycle Club News

***  In Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany a Hells Angels member has been sentenced to nine years in prison for killing a police officer who was executing a search warrant in connection with an investigation into the motorcycle club's suspected role in the Westerwald red light district.

***  Police fear biker war in NSW, Australia following mass defections from Bandidos to Hells Angels:  "It is understood Bandidos were paid to defect and all were granted full membership, which usually takes at least a year. Some got Harley-Davidson motorbikes as a reward."

***  Two Hells Angels members from Manitoba, Canada chapter sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to participation in a criminal organization:  the two admitted "overseeing the Zig Zag Crew -- the so-called 'farm team' of the Hells Angels -- and recruiting new members to commit criminal activity."

***  Phoenix, AZ chapter of Hells Angels provides local tv station with access to funeral services for member in public relations move.

***  A conservative British politician is outed as an alleged member of the Outlaws.

***  Warlocks member convicted of murder in shooting death of man who ran over motorcycles in Orange County, FL. 

***  Former national vice president for the Pagans gets nearly five years in prison following racketeering conviction in Charleston, WV.

Mexican Drug Cartel Raids Include Bandidos Motorcycle Club Arrests

Last week federal, state and local law enforcement agencies coordinated a nationwide raid against the drug cartels which resulted in nearly 700 arrests, and among those charged were several reputed members of the Bandidos motorcycle club in Hondo, TX who allegedly obtained approximately $600 million in Mexican crystal meth since 2000 from the Mongols motorcycle club in California as reported by Guillermo Contreras for the San Antonio Express-News.

Sheriff To Citizens: Take Up Arms Against Cartels

Although the Obama Administration insists that there is no spillover violence from Mexico into the United States as rival drug cartels battle each other for control over smuggling routes through the Juarez Valley into Texas, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West is urging citizens to arm themselves for protection as reported by Thelma Gutierrez for CNN:

Rpt: Franco And Korine Team Up For Gang Fight

Actor James Franco and director Harmony Korine are working together on "a violent new art film including a real and possibly bloody LA street-gang fight" as reported by Page Six for the New York Post:  "Our source said, 'They are looking to film two actual street gangs doing a fight scene.  The twist is they want the two gangs to fight, using real knives.'"  Of course, filming a real-life gang fight -- assuming the report is true and not hype -- won't give the Hollywood pair any street cred:  they'll still be little more than a pretty boy and a dumpy twerp.  Hopefully, LA's "actual street gangs" will nix the idea rather than whore themselves out to Tinseltown.

Weekly Gang Roundup

***  The Texas Mexican Mafia or Mexikanemi wants its dime -- a street tax it extorts from local drug dealers -- at any cost in San Antonio, TX.

***  Four Raza Unida members plead guilty to assorted crimes in Corpus Christi, TX. 

***  Eight reputed Crazy Town Crips members charged with stomping a 14-year-old boy to death in Stockton, CA.

***  Two gang members sentenced to 6 & 10 years in prison for child rape in Visalia, CA.

***  17-year-old MS-13 member gets 28 years for his role in murder of rival 16-year-old Surenos member in Fairfax, VA.

***  Crips member Jason Tisdale gets 30 years for 3 murders in Wichita, KS:  "Tisdale was among 28 men charged in 2007 in the first federal racketeering case ever filed in Kansas."

***  In Nashville, TN a superseding indictment against the Bloods includes more defendants, more charges.

***  A suspected drug trafficking ring tied to the Bloods busted with fifteen arrests in Camden, NJ.

***  Denial ain't a river in Egypt but a problem in Elizabeth, NJ:  Mayor J. Christian Bollwage says no gangs in his town.  God bless his Honor's heart.

*** Gang member takes one for the team in Chicago, IL:  faces 10 years for contempt after refusing to testify against co-defendant.

***  In Chicago, IL the street gangs outman law enforcement by at least a 2:1 ratio:  "It's due in part to a surge in the Chicago region's gang population related to Mexican cartels taking hold of illegal drug sales."

Lady Gaga Is Now Lady Caca

Last Friday the iconic Charo said in a tv interview that "Lady Gaga like Madonna with diarrhea":

"The voice is gifted because she is so powerful with the voice...but why does she have to remind people of Madonna? Why don't she go her own self? I never copy nobody," Charo said in her choppy English.

What's worse:  accused of being sh*t or accused of being derivative?  Of course, Lady Caca is crapping all the way to the bank.

Risky Business On Teen Site Facebook

Last September Craigslist pulled its "adult services" section after law enforcement in multiple states finally got wise to the pervasive hooking on the site, and now many whores are flocking to Facebook -- the social networking site popular among teens and those otherwise in a state of arrested adolescence -- to hock their wares as reported by Rich Shapiro for the Daily News: 

After studying the habits of 290 sex workers, [Columbia University sociologist] Sudhir Venkatesh found that 83% rely on Facebook to lure johns.  "I estimate that by the end of 2011, Facebook will be the leading online recruitment space," Venkatesh wrote in the February issue of Wired magazine.

Further coverage:

"How Tech Tools Transformed New York's Sex Trade" by Sudhir Venkatesh for Wired

Cigarette Wars: The Mafia & Contraband Tobacco

The United States "loses $5 billion in tax revenue every year from the trafficking of illegal cigarettes" according to the documentary Cigarette Wars which premieres on CNBC next Wednesday as reported by Brian A. Shactman:

The crime has several variations, but it's extremely simple. The most common way: Buy cigarettes in a low-tax state and sell them in a high tax state. The tax disparity is straight profit. * * * Historically, the crime is considered a common racket executed by the mafia. But in 2011, the criminals range from gangs to terrorist groups. There are cases of illegal cigarette sales with ties to groups like Hezbollah and the Irish Republican Army.

Thug Claims Amateur Status In Mob Beatdown

Giovanni "John" Monteleone, a thug who participated in the Gambino beatdown of a hapless soul who owed money to a friend of Sopranos actor Anthony Borgese a/k/a Tony Darrow, has pleaded guilty to extortion charges as reported by Mitchel Maddux for the New York Post:  "Monteleone's defense attorney, Mitchell Golub, said his client is not a professional mob enforcer.  'It was a one-time event -- it's not who this man is,' Golub said. 'He's trying to put this behind him.'"  Nevertheless, pursuant to the plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the mob neophyte faces 33 to 41 months in prison for his role in beating "the living sh*t out of" the victim.

Feds: More Charges Coming Against Baby Shacks

Last January Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio, the former reputed boss of the Patriarca crime family, was indicted on extortion charges for allegedly shaking down Providence, RI jiggle joints, and at his arraignment hearing yesterday federal prosecutors announced that more charges against the lifelong bachelor mobster may be forthcoming as reported by Tim White and Ted Nesi for WPRI:

In an extensive new filing Thursday, prosecutors alleged Manocchio has maintained with organized crime since reportedly stepping down around 2009 after more than a decade as the boss of New England's La Cosa Nostra, and said therefore he should remain behind bars. Prosecutors expect more indictments against Manocchio and additional defendants to come down before the case is finished, according to Thursday's filing. They also claim to have made members of the Patriarca family who are prepared to testify in court against Manocchio.

Meanwhile, in court papers federal prosecutors are identifying those whom they believe are running the New England Mafia including "acting boss Peter Limone and underboss Anthony DiNunzio" as reported by Mike Beaudet for FOX 25. 

Mexican Police Whack Juarez Cartel Enforcer

Mexican police shot and killed Luis Humberto Peralta Hernandez a/k/a The Condor during a gun battle in the northern city of Chihuahua last Tuesday as reported by BBC News.  The Condor, previously an investigator for the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office, was a top enforcer of the Carrillo Fuentes Organisation which operates in Ciudad Juarez just over the border from El Paso, TX, and was believed responsible for nearly 100 murders in a city which experienced over 3,000 killings in 2010 during the ongoing war among rival cartels for control over smuggling routes into the United States.

Meanwhile, yesterday in Ciudad Juarez three adolescent girls were gunned down as reported by Nick Valencia for CNN:  "'The intended target of the attack was the father of two of the minors,' [State Prosecutor Spokesman Arturo] Sandoval said. 'The father was involved in drug sales, and the group of armed men came to the house to kill him. That was the motive for the attack.'"

Over "500 women have been killed in Juarez since 1993, with the majority of the cases going unsolved" as reported by Fox News Latino:  "Investigators have not determined who is behind the killings, although there has been speculation that serial killers, organized crime, people traffickers, drug smugglers and child pornographers, among others, may be involved."

U.S. Raid Against Drug Cartels; Houston Cop Shot

Federal and local authorities across the United States have been conducting raids for the past two days against the Mexican drug cartels which so far have netted approximately 200 arrests as reported by Jan Crawford for CBS News: 

In the past two days, officers have arrested more than 200 people and seized more than $6 million, in addition to cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine and more than 100 weapons[.] * * * The operation is not limited to border cities or big cities. Agents in St. Louis, for example, seized a quarter million dollars[.] In New Jersey, they seized $1 million. And in Dallas, agents found seven assault weapons packaged and ready to be sent to Mexico.

Mexican drug cartels have supply lines, distribution networks and operational cells in more than 270 American cities pursuant to which they generate up to $50 billion a year in revenue.

Unfortunately, a Houston, TX police officer was shot and wounded in a raid as reported by Mariano Castillo for CNN:

Nash Patel, 39, was one of several police officers who went to serve a warrant at a home. When there was no answer at the door, the officers forced their way in, and in the process of clearing the house found a man in the back armed with a pistol, police spokesman Kese Smith said. The man looked at the officers, who were wearing police vests, and opened fire, Smith said. Officers returned fire, striking the suspect. The suspect's condition was unknown, he said. Patel was struck in the elbow and lower backside but was in good condition at the hospital, Smith said.

UPDATE:  Pursuant to the raids law enforcement "arrested 676 people and seized more than $12 million, 282 weapons and 94 vehicles around the United States" as reported by CNN:  "In addition, nearly 40,000 pounds of marijuana, 467 kilograms of cocaine, 64 pounds of methamphetamine and 21 pounds of heroin were captured in the operation."