targeted killings in Monterey County during the past year are the result of gang orders to cleanse the area of those considered traitors by Norteños

targeted killings in Monterey County during the past year are the result of gang orders to cleanse the area of those considered traitors by Norteños and their parent gang, the Nuestra Familia.Recent slayings of at least seven people not in good standing with the gang in Greenfield and Salinas led investigators to conclude that a "cleanup" of the streets in the wake of two large federal racketeering cases is continuing."We're dealing with violence that is spread across the Salinas Valley and beyond," Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier said. "The issues are not in any one city and the solutions will have to involve the region."Gang members, agents and federal prosecutors -- all of whom asked not to be named -- say the FBI is working a new gang conspiracy case in the Salinas Valley. Only San Francisco U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said on the record that the FBI and his office are investigating more gang crimes in Monterey County.The brazenness of some slayings remind longtime gang cops of a bloody era more than a decade ago, when gang leaders in Salinas and points south ordered dozens of killings in a civil war and power struggle within the gang.

In late 1998, several regiment leaders and so-called traitors were slain, with attempts made on many more as Nuestra Familia crew bosses fought over control of the valley.The slayings of three people in and near the Pueblo Inn.motel in Greenfield in December and January point to the possible involvement of a higher "shot caller" presumably still at large, investigators said.
Israel Cota of Soledad, who police say is a Nuestra Familia boss for Salinas Valley, is wanted on warrant by state parole officers. Police declined to say if he is a person of interest in the Greenfield slayings.Police continue to try to apprehend 18-year-old Francisco Tamayo, believed to be the shooter of two women at the motel, but investigators do not consider him to be the gang authority who ordered the crime.
Yliza Martinez and Veronica Gallegos, both 30, were shot in their motel room Dec. 5. Gallegos died that night, Martinez died a week later.Shortly after the slayings, fire crews were summoned to put out a mysterious fire in the motel's hallway.Although police have not speculated on a suspect or motive behind the apparent arson, gangs for years have used arson and fire bombings as warnings to tell would-be crime witnesses not to cooperate with police.On Jan. 14, Gallegos' half-brother Angel Gutierrez, 40, was shot and killed not far from the motel.About that time, officers learned Cota failed to show up for a parole appointment. Cota was released from Monterey County jail in late December.Citing an ongoing investigation, police declined to say whether they are aware of a specific motive for the three slayings, although Gutierrez was known to have had a falling out with Nuestra Familia years ago. Before that, he was "very active" with the gang in Soledad, an investigator familiar with his history said.Some killings likely ordered Salinas police detective Lalo Villegas said that just because a gang member is on a hit list doesn't necessarily mean his killing was ordered by the gang."Norteños can be on a hit list forever and nothing ever happens to them," he said.
Nonetheless, in the past year, he said, "we've also seen some of the true hits."
Gang officers from Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties say current levels of violence are in part the unforeseen consequences of large federal prosecutions.
A leadership struggle at the gang's highest level emerged after the FBI's Operation Black Widow took out the Nuestra Familia's top captains and generals and sent them to a federal supermax prison in Colorado in 2005. Since then, it has been well-documented that two factions in the Central Coast have struggled over control of the gang: Those still loyal to the leaders in federal prisons, and those loyal to the new general, D.C. Cervantes of Chino, in Pelican Bay State Prison, the gang's traditional headquarters.During the past year, investigators say, the Pelican Bay faction has asserted its authority after the government's Operation Valley Star in 2007 swept up key figures in the Salinas and Central valleys still reporting to the old leaders.
A second likely factor in the violence is competition from rival Sureño gangs.
The bloodshed has stepped up in part, police say, because the Nuestra Familia is trying to re-establish territory lost to its archenemy during the Nuestra Familia's recent years of organizational chaos.

"Sureños are definitely getting more organized," said Villegas. "We do know that we've been having some high-ranking people trying to unite them. They're starting to be a little more structured than we've seen before.

"Villegas said the Salinas Valley is seeing Sureños targeting suspected traitors within their ranks, although he said he hasn't seen evidence the killings were ordered by higher-ups.Links to '98 homicide?One curious aspect of the investigations is that police are looking into whether at least two of the past year's victims may have known something about the slaying 12 years ago of Nuestra Familia's Salinas crew leader Miguel "Mikeo" Castillo by Rico "Smiley" Garcia, a case that made dramatic headlines at the time.In 1998, Alberto Arizpe contacted police in an apparent attempt to mislead officers shortly after Castillo's killing, according to a police report.He told skeptical detectives that Castillo's attackers were three Sureños -- members of the Norteños' rival gang. But Garcia later admitted to conspiring to kill Castillo and is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Florida.Arizpe eventually left the gang after he was assaulted and beaten by Norteño gang members in Monterey County Jail.Last summer, he was 28 years old when he was killed along with a female friend in a brazen home-invasion attack on a Salinas residence.Authorities are looking into whether last week's slaying victim, Gutierrez, was connected to Castillo's murder.Suspect not believed to be gunmanThe only person charged in the Pueblo Inn killings is a 15-year-old boy held in Juvenile Hall. Prosecutors say he was not the triggerman in the slayings of the two women, but was present when they were killed.On Wednesday, a county court is expected to decide if the boy will be tried as an adult on two counts of murder.

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Hells Angels violent biker war with the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club

Rising tensions between two biker gangs have Winnipeg police closely monitoring their actions.Police paid close attention to a bar at a St. Boniface hotel Saturday night following a tip that a fight could be imminent.The news follows a serious attack against a Winnipeg member of the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club inside a business on St. Mary's Road about three weeks ago.Sources tell CTV News the victim was lured to the business where he was then beaten.The victim had such serious injuries that he was unrecognizable.Officers say they had received information that the people responsible for the attack were Hells Angels members and a few of their associates.
The group was allegedly unhappy with the victim because he is a former member of the Zig Zag crew, which is a puppet club to the Hells Angels.He had apparently been seen around the city wearing his new gang's vest, which drew negative attention from the Hells Angels.Since the attack, police have been preparing to deal with some sort of retaliation.There were suspicions that members of the Rock Machine were going to attend a bar on Saturday night at the hotel because they knew associates of the Hells Angels frequented the place.Nothing appeared to happen at that bar Saturday night.Still, a number of Rock Machine members from outside the province have been seen in Winnipeg over the past week.Saturday night's events follow the execution of several search warrants, including one last week on Mighton Avenue in Elmwood.A 30-year-old man was arrested and a loaded nine millimetre handgun was seized at the home.CTV News has learned the man who was arrested is a member of the Redlined Club, a group which is considered a friend club to the Hells Angels.This arrest is also believed to be connected to the rising tensions between the gangs, say sources.Police have confirmed they were at the bar on Saturday night, but will not provide any further information.The public's safety was one of the main reasons police say they were there in such large numbers.
There has been trouble between the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine in the past. Both groups were involved in a violent biker war in Quebec in the mid-nineties.
A truce was made but police say they are worried violence could erupt again.

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24-year-old Howard Astorga, found guilty of first-degree murder

Four-year-old Roberto Lopez loved creating artwork out of glitter and sequins at a neighborhood arts and community center in the southern edge of Echo Park. It was while Roberto was near that neighborhood center that he was fatally shot a year ago last month by a gang member on parole. Today, a jury found that gang member, 24-year-old Howard Astorga, found guilty of first-degree murder, according to Associated Press. Astorga was firing his gun at a speeding car but one of those bullets struck Roberto instead. Astorga faces a prison sentence of 82 years to life.Since the murder, several groups have tried to organize residents of the neighborhood, wedged between Temple Street and Vista Hermosa Park, against crime.

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Morgan Hill police are offering $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the gang-related death

Morgan Hill police are offering $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the gang-related death of a 24-year-old Hollister man, the city's first homicide in four years.
Sgt. Jerry Neumayer said today that detectives are still trying to figure out who killed Juan Jose Arrellano Jr. on Oct. 2.
Shortly before midnight that day, police responded to 911 calls from residents who heard multiple shots fired near the Crest Avenue apartments. The arriving officer found Arrellano on the sidewalk, bleeding from a gunshot wound in his upper body. He was pronounced dead at 11:35 p.m.
Witnesses told police they saw at least two young men, between 16 and 20 years old and wearing dark blue clothing, shoot Arrellano with a 9 mm handgun while shouting gang-related slurs.
Arrellano was the first homicide in Morgan Hill since 2005.
Officers flooded the area with the help of dogs from the Santa Clara County sheriff's K-9 unit and air support from San Jose police, but to no avail.

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Capture of Raydel Lopez Uriarte and Manuel Garcia Simental apparently wipes out the existing leadership of the cartel headed by Teodoro Garcia Simenta

Capture of Raydel Lopez Uriarte and Manuel Garcia Simental apparently wipes out the existing leadership of the cartel headed by Teodoro Garcia Simental, who was captured last month. Teodoro and Manuel Garcia are brothers.Lopez, known as "El Muletas," and Garcia, known as "El Chiquilin," were arrested Monday in La Paz, a city in the southern end of the Baja California peninsula, said Amy Roderick, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.Mexico's Public Security Department confirmed the arrests in a brief statement, describing Manual Garcia as the gang's leader after his brother's arrest and Lopez as the current second-in-command. It said the arrests were the result of leads starting with the capture of Teodoro Garcia in La Paz on Jan. 12, but offered no further details on the operations.Roderick said there were no U.S. indictments pending against the suspects.The gang was known for its brutality, having executed, beheaded and mutilated hundreds of rivals in Tijuana, which is across the U.S. border from San Diego. Gang members pinned notes to corpses and dissolved bodies in caustic soda.Tedoro Garcia's arrest netted 19 mobile phones and two laptop computers. Twelve more cartel suspects were arrested in two raids in late January, including two men and a women who were allegedly about to dissolve a body in a bathtub with chemicals.Manuel Garcia is the youngest of three brothers. The oldest brother, Marco Antonio, was arrested in a shootout with Mexican authorities in Tijuana in 2004.
Teodoro Garcia was once considered a top hit man for Tijuana's dominant drug gang, the family-run Arellano-Felix cartel. He launched a new group affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel after law enforcement arrested or killed most of the Tijuana cartel leaders in 2008.

The splintered organizations have been involved in a violent turf battle in Tijuana, a valuable trafficking corridor to the U.S.

More than 1,500 people have been murdered in Tijuana since the beginning of 2008.

Across the country, more than 15,000 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on cartels when he took office three years ago. More than 2,500 of the killings occurred last year in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

The military announced Monday that soldiers had seized more than 12 tons of marijuana found beneath a false floor of a tractor trailer. The drugs were found during a routine search at a checkpoint near San Felipe, a town in the central part of the Baja California peninsula.

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Today another Mexican cartel leader was taken off the street and is no longer able to carry out his bloody turf war

Teodoro Garcia Simental, blamed for a years-long campaign of massacres, beheadings and kidnappings that chased away tourists and caused social upheaval in northern Baja California, was arrested by Mexican federal police without the suspect firing a shot, and immediately flown to Mexico City.The heavyset Garcia, believed to be in his mid-30s, with close-trimmed hair and a goatee, scowled and dabbed at his mouth as he was paraded before television cameras at a police base wearing a zippered warm-up jacket.Better known for savage killing rampages than narco-business acumen, the man nicknamed "El Teo" bedeviled Mexican authorities for years and narrowly escaped capture several times. Last January, authorities arrested the man they said admitted being Garcia's body disposal expert. Known as El Pozolero, or "the stew maker," he claimed, authorities said, to have dissolved 300 bodies in barrels of caustic chemicals.Mexican federal authorities, acting on intelligence provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said they tracked Garcia down after a five-month surveillance operation. He was captured in an upscale area in the southern part of the city."Today another Mexican cartel leader was taken off the street and is no longer able to carry out his bloody turf war," said Michele Leonhart, acting administrator of the DEA. "This was not an isolated event: It exemplifies the growing effectiveness of our information sharing with [Mexican President Felipe Calderon's] administration, and our continued commitment to defeat the drug traffickers who have plagued both our nations."Though Garcia was not considered to be in the top echelon of Mexican drug lords, few reputed crime bosses have had such a ruinous effect on a region. Mexican authorities say he was responsible for hundreds of killings during a nearly two-year power struggle with rivals in the Arellano Felix drug cartel, in which he had once been a top-ranking lieutenant.Garcia is said to have branched out from traditional drug trafficking and focused his criminal empire on extortion and kidnapping, targeting all levels of society. During his reign, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Tijuana residents moved out of the border city to avoid being kidnapped, and more than 42 police officers were killed.

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masked gunman walked into a southern Sacramento County Vietnamese restaurant Wednesday afternoon and executed a 22-year-old man at close range.

authorities are calling a likely gang hit, a masked gunman walked into a southern Sacramento County Vietnamese restaurant Wednesday afternoon and executed a 22-year-old man at close range.No words were exchanged before the unknown assailant fired a black semiautomatic handgun multiple times at the victim, hitting him in the head and chest, said Sacramento County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tim Curran.The gunman fled on foot down 53rd Avenue, and had not been identified by evening, Curran said.Few homicides investigated by authorities, he said, are “as cold and as calculated as this one.”
“It’s very scary,” he said.Curran said detectives suspect the killing to be gang-related because the victim had been validated as a gang member by law enforcement and because the area – near Stockton Boulevard and the 65th Street Expressway – is known for gang activity.Deputies were called to the Pho Ga Hung Vietnamese Cuisine restaurant on Savings Place for a shooting just after 2:15 p.m., Curran said. They found a 22-year-old man, whose name was not released, on the restaurant’s floor. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

He is the fifth homicide victim within the Sheriff’s Department’s jurisdiction in 2010.The victim was eating with three friends – a man and two women – when the suspect walked into the restaurant, up to their table and unloaded his gun, Curran said.

Three employees also were inside at the time, but nobody else was shot at or injured, Curran said. For that reason, he said, detectives suspect the victim was targeted.Witnesses described the suspect to deputies as a man between age 28 and 35, 5 feet, 7 inches tall with a medium build. He wore a dark ski mask and a dark jacket.
Curran said the victim’s friends, who later wept in the parking lot, and the employees were cooperative with detectives. At this point, he said detectives do not believe they were involved in the killing.The call drew roughly two dozen deputies and detectives, including a number of investigators from the gang unit. It also drew spectators, who stopped along the sidewalk of the busy 65th Street Expressway.Richard Sims said he walks by the shopping center often while on his way to the grocery store. He described it as fairly quiet and humble.But he agreed with the Sheriff’s Department’s assessment about gang activity in the area, and noted that people he believes are gang members often congregate at one of the businesses in the center and at another across the street.“There’s something going on,” said Sims, 52. Gesturing toward the deputies, he added, “These cats know – the police know – but they don’t come by here.”
Curran said that’s because budget cuts and resulting layoffs mean deputies have little time for anything but emergencies.“Unless there’s a call for service there, our deputies don’t have time to be proactive,” he said. “They’re going from call to call to call.”

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Danielle Bardsley, 30, wept as she was imprisoned after ignoring a court order

Danielle Bardsley, 30, wept as she was imprisoned after ignoring a court order demanding she pay back some of the money stolen by her boyfriend Peter Anderson.
Last year the M.E.N. revealed how Bardsley, of Barrow Street, Salford, enjoyed a footballer's ‘WAG’ lifestyle thanks to Anderson’s life of crime.
A court ruled she had benefited to the tune of £112,000 but a VW Golf car and a few pounds in a bank account were the only assets of hers police could find.
She was handed a suspended prison sentence and given four months to hand over £5,036 of ‘realisable assets’, mainly the VW Golf.In December, she flouted her suspended prison sentence by failing to keep appointments with her probation worker as required.But judge Anthony Gee gave her another chance after hearing she had become ‘depressed’ because her boyfriend was locked away.She was allowed to walk free although she was handed a curfew to prevent her partying over the Christmas period.But she still couldn’t stay out of trouble.Bardsley was arrested on Monday after snubbing six police letters and a court summons.Yesterday Bardsley sobbed as magistrates in Bolton invoked the jail term handed down last year in the event she failed to pay up.The court heard she had paid £2,000 on November 27 after selling the Golf but she later ignored two letters and a court summons about the outstanding amount.
She claimed she had again been ‘depressed’ and that the value of the Golf had been slashed due to damage.Giving her 72 days behind bars, chairman of the bench Dr Derek Tate told her: “We believe there’s no evidence that you have made a concerted effort to discharge this order.”He added there was ‘no merit’ in her bid to adjourn the hearing to, as her solicitor Vic Wozny said, ‘beg or borrow’ the money from her family.Bardsley’s boyfriend Anderson was jailed for six years in 2006 for a terrifying armed bank raid in Preston.At the previous hearing, a court was told how she had enjoyed a luxury lifestyle while claiming benefits.She wore Prada designer clothes and jewellery, went to a private gym and lived behind wrought iron gates in a comfortable semi-detached house equipped with the latest mod cons, including a Bang & Olufsen flat-screen TV.Bardsley boasted a permanent tan thanks to holidays in Mexico, Florida and Tenerife and had access to a fleet of cars including a Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover Sport and Audi A4.Despite all that, for nearly 10 years the mum-of-two claimed she was unemployed and sponged £30,000 from the state in income support as a ‘single mother’.
She also claimed free school meals for her two children.She admitted money laundering but escaped jail at the first hearing because of concerns over the care of the two children she has with Anderson.

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Stephen Marshall, 38, admitted having butchered the bodies of four other men while working as a doorman for a London nightclub

Stephen Marshall, 38, also admitted having butchered the bodies of four other men while working as a doorman for a London nightclub run by gangsters in the 1990s. Police will reopen a number of cold cases involving missing people and body parts found in the past 15 years.Described as both "charming" and "highly volatile", Marshall will serve a minimum of 36 years for murdering Jeffrey Howe and then scattering his body parts across two counties before emptying his bank account and selling his possessions. His 21-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Bush, was sentenced to three years and nine months for helping Marshall cover up the murder.
Howe's body had been so expertly dismembered that pathologists who examined the macabre finds correctly concluded that the person responsible must have "previous experience of such activity". St Albans crown court heard that Marshall had previously boasted that he used to cut up and bury bodies on behalf of the notorious Adams family, who ran a crime empire in north London. One witness told the jury that Marshall worked as a bouncer for the family and would carry out "additional jobs after hours" – decapitating and dismembering murder victims and burying them without a trace.
Today Marshall's barrister Peter Doyle, QC, told the jury his client had described between 1995 and 1998 working as a doorman at clubs where on four occasions he had been asked to assist in the dismemberment of four unidentified men who had been killed earlier and brought to the clubs during the night. Doyle said Marshall had thought it "sensible" not to ask questions, and following the chopping up of the bodies the parts would be collected by others and taken to Epping Forest in north-east London and buried.After sentencing it emerged that Marshall had a string of previous convictions, including one for battering his first wife in 2003. He was also arrested on suspicion of murdering Minesh Nagrecha, whose corpse was disfigured and burnt when found by police in 1996. Marshall was never charged with the crime, instead appearing as a witness.

When the trial opened three weeks ago Marshall denied being the murderer, instead blaming Bush, a "vulnerable" young sex worker who had given birth to the first of her three children just a few days after her 15th birthday. But in a dramatic about-turn last week Marshall changed his plea and admitted being responsible for the whole crime.Sentencing him, the judge, Mr Justice Cooke, said that Marshall, a heavy cocaine user, now admitted stabbing Howe twice on March 8 last year. The judge said Marshall carried out the murder in a "muddled and no doubt drug-befuddled state" as Howe lay sleeping in bed in his house in Southgate, north London, which he shared with the couple.Today Bush finally admitted perverting the course of justice by helping Marshall cover up Howe's murder. She said she was with Marshall when he dumped Howe's head, unwrapped, in a field near Ashfordby in Leicestershire.
She admitted misleading police and friends of Howe by claiming he had simply "upped and left" while secretly using his money to buy shoes, a laptop, takeaways and other goodsHer barrister told the judge she was "terrified" of Marshall and helped him because she was scared of becoming his next victim. To Bush, the judge said: "You were well aware of what Stephen Marshall had done. You took advantage of Mr Howe in life and then after his death you used his money."Bush was acquitted of murdering Howe but pleaded guilty to helping to dispose of his body parts and giving false information about his whereabouts when police were investigating his disappearance.She was sentenced to three years and nine months for the first offence and to two years and three months for the second one, with the two terms to run concurrently.
She received a relatively lenient sentence because of her upbringing. The court heard she had spent most of her life in care before falling into prostitution and that her first baby died when he was 10 days old. After the verdict, police admitted being "quite surprised" when Marshall's previous involvement in dismembering bodies was aired in court.Detective Superintendent Michael Hanlon, who was in charge of the investigation, said Marshall would be visited in prison and asked to expand on the 11th-hour admissions made moments before his life sentence was handed to him.
Parts of Howe's body began turning up last March, a few days after Marshall had stabbed him to death. Police quickly realised they were dealing with a murder victim whose identity at the time was not known. As more pieces were discovered the victim became known as the "jigsaw man".
Howe's hands have not been found and police say they hope Marshall will show "decency" to the victim's family by giving their location. After the verdict Howe's family issued a statement that described him as a "a jovial, charming character who had a heart of gold". They said they would never be able to comprehend "Jeffrey's death and the macabre actions of those who killed him".

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Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair has said that he always feels "relaxed and safe" whenever he stays in Dublin.

Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair has said that he always feels "relaxed and safe" whenever he stays in Dublin. Adair (46) is currently living in Troon in Scotland but plans to end his self-imposed exile and return to Ireland. In an interview with Dublin's Herald newspaper, the gangster ruled out living permanently in Dublin but said he never felt threatened in the Irish capital. "The thing that struck me about Dublin is how relaxing it was and how safe I felt there," he said. "I wouldn't be as easily recognised in Dublin as I would be in the North or in Britain, so I feel more at ease. "I've been recognised on a few occasions while I was in Dublin but I was never threatened and had no negative experiences, no one seemed to have a problem.
The notorious gangster led one of the most brutal loyalist companies in the history of the Troubles. A spokesperson for the newly decommissioned UDA said: "It will be up to the police to deal with him if he comes back and there's no doubt he'll be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life," he said. However, Adair is determined to come home and start a security firm. He said: "I'll be going back to the North, absolutely. It's not an option at the moment because there are still threats against my life from the UDA."

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Colin Gunn, an underworld godfather who ordered the execution of two grandparents, has now had his social networking site closed down

In one posting,Colin Gunn, 42, said: “I will be home one day and I can’t wait to look into certain people’s eyes and see the fear of me being there.” In another message he wrote: “It’s good to have an outlet to let you know how I am, some of you will be in for a good slagging, some have let me down badly, and will be named and shamed, f****** rats.”

Colin Gunn, an underworld godfather who ordered the execution of two grandparents, has now had his social networking site closed down by prison bosses.It follows last week's revelation that one of the killers of teenager Ben Kinsella used Facebook to taunt his victim's family.The Sunday Times reported that the 42-year-old said in one posting: "I will be home one day and I can't wait to look into certain people's eyes and see the fear of me being there."Gunn, from Nottingham, was jailed over the revenge murders of John and Joan Stirland in 2004.According to the Ministry of Justice, prisoners are prohibited from accessing social networking sites.A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We are extremely concerned that prisoners are able to update Facebook and other social networking sites either through illicit technology or via outside contacts."We recognise that it is deeply distressing for victims and their families and friends and we have made it clear to Facebook that we do not think it acceptable or appropriate for these sites to remain active, something Facebook agrees with."Jade Braithwaite, jailed for knifing to death Ben Kinsella, 16, used Facebook to taunt his victim's family.Earlier this month, relatives of victims of violent crime called for the introduction of electronic anti-social behaviour orders, or "E-Asbos".Justice Secretary Jack Straw said he was seeking a meeting with Facebook bosses."I have sought the assistance of Facebook to have these profiles removed and we will continue to press for removal of these," he said.
"I am also hoping to meet with Ofcom, Facebook, victims' representatives."

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Michael Sammon nickname - the Merchant of Death.

Michael Sammon nickname - the Merchant of Death.Sammon was one of Britain's biggest gun crime lords, bringing murder, terror and violence to our streets.On the run for 11 years, he imported blank-firing guns to the UK, converted them into deadly weapons and sold them at a huge profit to killers and gangsters.Now, as Mickey the Fish begins 30 years behind bars,Sammon and his associates legally bought hundreds of flare guns - normally used to fire CS gas cannisters - in Germany for just £43 each.They smuggled the guns into a crumbling warehouse in Manchester, converted them and sold them on to gangs for £750.
Buyers came from Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Yorkshire, Scotland, Bristol and Wolverhampton. To the gun gang, this was just a lucrative business. But the human cost has been huge - and is still rising.Police believe weapons from this prolific gun factory are behind more than 4,000 crimes nationwide, including kidnap, armed robbery, torture and extortion. Tragically, one was found by a teenager who accidentally shot dead his little sister.Jailing Sammon, 49, a week ago at Manchester crown court, Judge Martin Steiger called him a "merchant of death".
The judge added: "One hundred of the guns are still in circulation, waiting to do their lethal work to innocent victims."The police have tied 42 guns to Sammon, although around 250 are known to have passed through the gun factory in Ancoats.
The crimes committed with them include the fatal shooting of Kamilah Peniston, 12, at her home in Gorton, Manchester, in April 2007 by her brother.
Kasha, 17, had discovered one of Sammon's converted guns - which had been hidden by their mother for a boyfriend - and was "messing about" with it. A single bullet hit Kamilah in the head and, tragically, she died a day later. Kasha was jailed for two years for manslaughter.A month later, lorry driver Brian Walsh, 47, used one of Sammon's guns to shoot his ex-wife Pauline outside her home in Droylsden, Manchester, then he turned the weapon on himself. She survived, he died.Chillingly, crimelord Dominic Noonan, 43, was found with one of the handguns and five bullets when stopped by police near Darlington, Co Durham, in 2005.
Noonan, whose gang has been linked to more than 25 killings, once boasted: "The police reckon I am behind most of the murders in Manchester." He was jailed for nine and a half years over the gun find.
Sammon's guns were also used in an armed raid on a Rochdale post office on October 25, 2005. Owner Jagdish Patel was pistol-whipped and shot, although luckily the bullet just grazed his head.Robber John Welsby, 27, was later jailed for 13 years for his part in the raid while his accomplice Aiden Martin, 18, got six years and eight months behind bars.
Another pistol smuggled in from Cologne was used by bloodthirsty kidnappers in Wavertree, Liverpool, in May 2005. Their victim was tortured with a hot iron.Police were threatened with another gun in September 2007, after they chased a car in Kirkdale, Liverpool.A man was arrested with a gun hidden in his underwear in Manchester in September 2004. And in October 2005, a youngster pulled a ME 38 Pocket revolver on a pub landlord in Bolton, after being refused entry. Drug arrests also led police to finding part of Sammon's deadly haul in some strange locations - buried in an allotment in Newcastle, hidden in a bag on a golf course in Liverpool.An ME 38 Compact pistol was found in a shallow grave at university grounds in Manchester. Guns were found in woodland in Sheffield and at the Top Nosh cafe in St Helens. Several turned up in Manchester's "Triangle of Death" which has been hit by gun crime.Five accomplices were jailed in 2006 but Sammon, who had been on the run since 1997, remained at large, constantly changing his identity and appearance.
He was eventually traced to a caravan park in Southsea in 2008 and is now serving 30 years for conspiring to possess, import, modify and circulate the firearms.
Sammon worked alongside Robert Tyrer, 51, who was jailed for 19 years in 2006. They masterminded the operation and recruited David McCulloch, 52, to convert the flare guns. He is serving six years after spilling the beans on the crime.
Ds Jim Gray of Greater Manchester Police's Xcalibre Organised Crime Unit said: "Sammon needed stopping as he has caused a lot of misery and suffering."
He added: "It's unusual to come across gun factories and never one so big.
"It's fair to say that the weapons converted in this factory are responsible for a big slice of the gun crime in Britain.
"We're always looking at new shootings to see if it's one of these guns. It's frightening that so many of them are still out there. Sammon would sell to anyone.
"Any crime involving a gun with a .38 calibre could be one of his."
Kamilah Peniston, 12, died after being accidentally shot in the head in April 2007. Brother Kasha, 17, found one of Sammon's guns and was "messing around" with it.
When two gunmen raided his Rochdale post office on October 25, 2005, Jagdish Patel was pistol-whipped and shot. Fortunately, the bullet merely grazed his head.
Notorious crimelord Dominic Noonan, 43 - whose gang has been linked to over 25 murders - was found with one of the handguns when stopped by police in 2005.

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Eastside Riva, numbering about 800, as Riverside's oldest and "most violent" street gang, at war with the 1200 Blocc Crips

people with alleged ties to two rival street gangs engaged in a bloody years-long war in Riverside were arrested today in an operation aimed at taking down the gangs' leadership."Operation Promise," a coordinated federal, state and local law enforcement sweep, targeted the Eastside Riva and the 1200 Blocc Crips, leading to the arrests of 50 people, the seizure of 28 guns and two pet rattlesnakes, authorities said."This unprecedented operation is part of my ongoing promise to bring hope and restoration to the people of Riverside," said Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco, who made the announcement during a news briefing at the Regency Tower in downtown Riverside.Pacheco. was joined by representatives from the various law enforcement agencies that participated in the sweep, including the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, the Riverside Police Department, FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement.
A total of 650 law enforcement personnel served warrants on the residences of about 100 suspected gang members during the operation, authorities said.
"The damage we did was to the leadership of the gangs," said Pacheco.
"We were going after the top folks."
In addition to Riverside, suspects' homes in Beaumont, Mead Valley, Moreno Valley, Nuevo, Perris and Rubidoux were raided, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Pacheco said the sweep was the culmination of 14 months' work by the District Attorney's Office and the other agencies involved, with the goal of having "as large an impact as possible, in as many ways as possible."
The district attorney described the all-Hispanic Eastside Riva, numbering about 800, as Riverside's oldest and "most violent" street gang, at war with the 1200 Blocc Crips, an all-black gang numbering around 200, since the early 1990s.
Pacheco said the two sides have caused numerous casualties, including the deaths of innocent people, some of them children. Both gangs are into narcotics trafficking, he said. The Eastside Riva's drug trade is largely managed by the Mexican Mafia from prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Authorities are searching for a man who they say robbed the Anderson Township Sunoco and fired a gun at a witness

Authorities are searching for a man who they say robbed the Anderson Township Sunoco and fired a gun at a witness Sunday evening. No one was injured.According to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect entered the gas station, 6090 Sutton Road, around 7:40 p.m. He approached the counter with a bottle of Vodka and asked the clerk a question, then showed a handgun and demanded cash. He took an undisclosed amount of cash and several packs of cigarettes and ran south on Sutton Road, according to the sheriff’s office.
When a man who saw the robbery began to chase the suspect, the suspect turned and fired one gunshot at the man, according to the sheriff’s office. The witness was not hit. The suspect then got into a dark-colored vehicle and fled north on Interstate 275, according to the sheriff’s office.
The suspect is described as a white man, 18 to 25 years old. He is 5-feet, 5-inches to 5-feet, 8-inches tall and weighs around 160 pounds. He was wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt, dark jeans, a red hat and a black scarf over his face

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man who they believe attacked a UW student on a downtown bike path over the weekend

Madison Police are searching for a man who they believe attacked a UW student on a downtown bike path over the weekend.The victim, a 20-year-old woman, told officers she was walking on the bike path in the 100 block of N. Mills St. Saturday around 7:40 p.m. when a man approached her with a gun and grabbed her purse.She says the robber fled west on the bike path.The suspect is described as a man possibly of Asian ethnicity between 20-25 years old, 5'6", 150 lbs. medium build with dark eyes and heavy dark eyebrows, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt with hood up, black knit mask covering his nose and mouth and dark pants.The gun was black with a long barrel. The victim's purse is dark brown with a light brown trim, rectangular with a peace sign decoration.

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Heavily armed gunman has killed himself after an eight-hour siege in central Queensland.

Heavily armed gunman has killed himself after an eight-hour siege in central Queensland.Police have refused to confirm if the man opened fire on a marked police car while holed up in a house in the coal mining town of Moranbah.
Officers say the man broke into the home on Monday afternoon and while alone inside fired a weapon several times.Negotiators were unable to talk him out and he shot himself, reportedly in front of officers, about 10pm (AEST).The incident will be investigated by the Ethical Standards Command.A report is being prepared for the coroner.During the drama, police prevented some residents from returning home, while others were instructed to stay locked inside their houses.

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Javaris Crittendon, the “other” player involved in the infamous Showdown at the OK Corral style standoff in the Verizon Center locker room

Guard Javaris Crittendon, the “other” player involved in the infamous Showdown at the OK Corral style standoff in the Verizon Center locker room, plead guilty to a misdemeanor gun charges Monday in D.C. Superior Court.Reports of the possibility of Crittendon being charged with a gun crime began to pop up on multiple websites early Monday morning, with the Washington Post first reporting confirmation that Crittendon would be charged Monday afternoon.The charges come on the heels of reports that have surfaced in the weeks following the incident and related charges for guard Gilbert Arenas that seemed to suggest that Crittendon may, in fact, not be charged with a crime at all after investigators interviews with teammates turned up contradictory reports and a search of his Arlington home failed to produce the weapon in question. It is unclear exactly how or when investigators decided to proceed with prosecution of Crittendon despite the absence of the weapon as evidence and the conflicting testimony from teammates.Crittendon plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of possession of an unregistered firearm after early reports suggested he might face a felony count of unlawful possession of a firearm and a misdemeanor count of attempting to carry a pistol without a license. Crittendon was able to work out a plea agreement with prosecutors to drop one of two misdemeanor charges and recommend no jail time for the infraction, which carries a maximum charge of one year in jail. Presiding Judge Bruce Beaudin fined Crittendon $1,250 and sentenced him to one year of unsupervised probation.Following Crittendon’s appearance in court, his attorney, Peter H. White, issued a statement suggesting that the 22 year old guard brought the gun to the Verizon Center “only because he legitimately feared for his life” and that the gun was not loaded, nor did Crittendon threaten anyone with the weapon, as some reports have suggested.
While Crittendon’s legal troubles are effectively placed in the past with his plea agreement, his troubles with the league and the Wizards could be just beginning.
Crittendon has not appeared in a game for the Wizards this season while nursing an injury sustained late in training camp during the offseason. While the team has been standoffish in its approach to disciplining Arenas, a possibility made difficult by the fact that Arenas has not yet been sentenced and by a “double jeopardy” clause in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that would prohibit the team from disciplining Arenas for an infraction for which the league has already imposed punishment, there will likely be swift movement in disciplining Crittendon as the team looks to work past what has been a terribly embarrassing situation for the organization.This afternoon the Wizards’ organization released the following statement. "The charges filed today against Javaris Crittenton and his subsequent plea represent another disappointing development in what has already been a long and frustrating process for the team, the NBA and, most importantly, our fans. Javaris clearly used very bad judgment in this situation and will now face the consequences of his actions.”While Arenas’ contract and status as the face of the franchise make releasing him a near impossibility, Crittendon’s much smaller rookie deal isn’t quite as prohibitive. Washington could, conceivably, release Crittendon without taking a significant hit to the team’s salary cap – a possibility that, according to Internet chatter, could become reality. Kavanaugh said Crittenton voluntarily surrendered his gun to authorities. Police had searched his apartment Jan. 14 but didn't find it.Crittenton's lawyer, Peter H. White, said his client was scared of Arenas. He emphasized that Crittenton, in his third year in the NBA, did not have the stature on the team that Arenas enjoyed.
White said that after Crittenton tossed one of Arenas' guns on the floor, Arenas said: "If I'm giving you these three guns, imagine what I have in my car."
Arenas has said repeatedly that the situation was a misguided attempt at a joke and that he never intended to hurt anybody.White told reporters after the hearing that Crittenton wouldn't make any more statements because he is scheduled to meet with NBA officials Tuesday.Crittenton faces a suspension or fine from the NBA because possession of a gun at an NBA arena is a violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement.NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league had no immediate comment on Crittenton's plea.The Wizards said in a statement Monday that Crittenton used "very bad judgment.""The charges filed today against Javaris Crittenton and his subsequent plea represent another disappointing development in what has already been a long and frustrating process for the team, the NBA and, most importantly, our fans," the team said.A spokeswoman for Arenas' lawyer declined to comment on Crittenton's plea. Arenas, who is in the second season of a six-year, $111 million contract and has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA, is scheduled to be sentenced March 26. Washington Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge Monday, explaining he had a pistol because he feared teammate Gilbert Arenas would shoot him or blow up his car after the two argued over a card game.The hearing marked the first time authorities confirmed Crittenton was the other player involved in the confrontation with Arenas, who pleaded guilty Jan. 15 to a felony gun charge.D.C. Superior Court Senior Judge Bruce Beaudin sentenced Crittenton, 22, to a year of unsupervised probation after Crittenton pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of an unregistered firearm. Beaudin ordered Crittenton to mentor young people in Washington and to help with relief efforts for Haiti.Beaudin didn't order a specific amount of community service but said his lawyer must report regularly on the work.Crittenton must also pay a $1,000 fine and $250 into a victims' fund.
"I accept full responsibility for my bad judgment, my terrible mistake," Crittenton, who appeared in court wearing a gray suit and glasses, told the judge as he entered the plea. "I'm deeply sorry to the city of Washington, to the Wizards, to my family and to the NBA for this embarrassment."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Kavanaugh said the two players first clashed Dec. 19 over a card game on a team flight back from a game in Phoenix. Arenas said he was too old for a fistfight and threatened to shoot Crittenton in the face, and Crittenton replied he would shoot Arenas in his surgically repaired knee, Kavanaugh said.Later, Arenas said he would blow up or burn Crittenton's car, Kavanaugh said.
Two days later, Crittenton put his legally owned, unloaded handgun into his backpack before he left his apartment in Arlington, Va., for practice at the Verizon Center, Kavanaugh said.Crittenton put the backpack in his locker and went to see team trainers, Kavanaugh said. When he returned he saw several guns - Crittenton's lawyer said there were three, not four, as previously reported - on a chair in front of his locker with a sign saying, "Pick 1."Crittenton tossed one of the guns on the floor and told Arenas to get the weapons off the chair. Then, fearing for his safety, Crittenton took the handgun out of his backpack and showed it to Arenas, Kavanaugh said.However, Kavanaugh said there is no evidence Crittenton ever threatened anyone with the gun.Prosecutors said Arenas told Crittenton: "You are going to need more than that little gun."Kavanaugh said Crittenton voluntarily surrendered his gun to authorities. Police had searched his apartment Jan. 14 but didn't find it.Crittenton's lawyer, Peter H. White, said his client was scared of Arenas. He emphasized that Crittenton, in his third year in the NBA, did not have the stature on the team that Arenas enjoyed.White said that after Crittenton tossed one of Arenas' guns on the floor, Arenas said: "If I'm giving you these three guns, imagine what I have in my car."
Arenas has said repeatedly that the situation was a misguided attempt at a joke and that he never intended to hurt anybody.White told reporters after the hearing that Crittenton wouldn't make any more statements because he is scheduled to meet with NBA officials Tuesday.
Crittenton faces a suspension or fine from the NBA because possession of a gun at an NBA arena is a violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league had no immediate comment on Crittenton's plea.The Wizards said in a statement Monday that Crittenton used "very bad judgment."
"The charges filed today against Javaris Crittenton and his subsequent plea represent another disappointing development in what has already been a long and frustrating process for the team, the NBA and, most importantly, our fans," the team said.A spokeswoman for Arenas' lawyer declined to comment on Crittenton's plea. Arenas, who is in the second season of a six-year, $111 million contract and has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA, is scheduled to be sentenced March 26.

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man suspected of attempting to rob the TwinStar Credit Union in Centralia on Monday morning escaped and should be considered armed

man suspected of attempting to rob the TwinStar Credit Union in Centralia on Monday morning escaped and should be considered armed, police said. “He went out the same window he came in,” Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg said. “We should assume he’s armed, because he presented a gun to the employee.”
The man was shot at by Centralia police officer Neil Hoium, but apparently was not hit. He might have been cut when climbing through a broken window, police said, because a small amount of blood was found inside.He did not get any money.
The credit union on Gold Street quickly became a major crime scene, with officers blocking Gold and Kresky streets until around noon.The discovery that the man had escaped came shortly after four explosions were heard at the credit union, which had been locked down after an attempted robbery shortly before 7 a.m.According to a witness at a nearby diner, police threw what appeared to be four flash grenades through the same open window into which they had earlier thrown a hostage negotiation telephone.Police thought the man was still inside the credit union based on remotely viewed video footage, but later discovered that what appeared to be legs under a desk in the video was not the suspect.Around 10 a.m., police broke out a window and threw in a “hostage rescue phone” that picks up all sound in the building. Sounds captured by its microphone revealed that KITI radio was playing in the building. Police went on the radio broadcast to ask the suspect to pick up the phone.Law enforcement originally responded to 1320 S. Gold St. at 6:42 a.m. after a report of suspicious circumstances. Centralia Police Department officer John Panco said that when an officer arrived he was met by an employee near the front door of the building. Part of her arm was hidden behind the door frame, and her position was awkward, as if someone were holding her.“She mouthed the words ‘he has a gun,’” Panco said.Officer Hoium then pulled the woman away from the door, at which point the suspect became visible, police said. The officer fired two shots, but wasn’t sure if he hit the man.The woman was not injured, but police say a knife was held to her neck and a gun “That employee saved our police officer’s life, and that officer in turn saved her life,” Berg said.TwinStar issued a statement via its Facebook page indicating that no employees were harmed during the attempted robbery.The incident has similarities to another bank robbery at the same credit union Jan. 2, 2009.In that robbery, a masked man confronted two employees and forced them into the vault approximately 6:45 a.m. The suspect stole an undisclosed amount of money and fled, leaving the female tellers in the vault.Police tracked the suspect a short distance in the snow before the tracks disappeared. No arrests were made.“It keeps escalating and escalating,” said Kelly Pennington, owner of Kelly’s Diner adjacent to the credit union.

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Stephen Jamieson, Brian McCulloch and Steven Caddis, all from Paisley, and Caddis’s brother Gary, from Glasgow.

huge image, launched today at Pollok Community Centre by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, will be driven around west Scotland in an advertising trailer as part of a new crime strategy .
The controversial step follows the gangland shooting of Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll last Wednesday in daylight in a car park in Robroyston.
It also follows a similar scheme with gun crime in Manchester.
The first gangsters to be featured are Stephen Jamieson, Brian McCulloch and Steven Caddis, all from Paisley, and Caddis’s brother Gary, from Glasgow.
The four men ran a cocaine empire worth millions of pounds and were jailed last October for a total of 29 years.
Different convicted gangsters could be featured in future campaigns.
Mr MacAskill called for a co-ordinated approach to stop “evil” from prevailing in certain communities.
He said: “In tackling organised crime we need to change a culture that describes some as colourful businessmen. They are not. They are gangsters and criminals who prey on our communities.
“That is why all decent people must support the police as they pursue serious organised criminals until justice is done and until they are stripped of their ill-gotten gains.”
Detective Inspector Graham Mayo said: “We want to make clear to everyone, particularly young people, that serious organised crime does not pay.
“One of the issues about this particular case was that a lot of previously innocent people got caught up in the work of this crime group. These individuals thought they were untouchable, but ultimately they were sentenced to a total of
29 years.
“Young people might see those driving about in flash cars and wearing Rolex watches as something
to look up to, but they need to
realise it will end in trouble and jail.”
The four men featured on the poster were caught after a 15-month police surveillance operation involving up to 100 officers a day.
Almost £9million of drugs, a cache of machine guns and other weapons, seven luxury cars and almost £500,000 in cash were seized.

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Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has seized more than €200,000 in cash and a property portfolio from gangland boss Martin 'Marlo' Hyland.

Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has seized more than €200,000 in cash and a property portfolio from gangland boss Martin 'Marlo' Hyland.After pursuing Hyland's profits from drug trafficking and armed robberies over the past two-and-a-half years, CAB yesterday won High Court approval for the seizures.Hyland was shot dead by some of his associates in a house in Finglas, west Dublin, in December 2006 -- after a series of successes against his crime gang by the garda's organised crime and national drugs units.He was the prime target of Operation Oak, which was set up in September 2005 to focus on Hyland and his associates.It resulted in the seizure of 30kgs of heroin, with a street value of €8m; 35kgs of cocaine, worth €2.5m; 1.4 tonnes of cannabis, worth €10m; as well as four stolen vehicles, firearms, ammunition and cash.It also led to 41 arrests and 26 of the suspects are currently before the courts on charges ranging from possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply, robbery and possession of firearms.Hyland was described in court as the leader of an organised crime gang. Some of his assets were lodged in other people's names but Cab proved to the High Court that he was linked to them.In court yesterday, Mr Justice Kevin Feeney ordered the disposal by the State of a house owned by Hyland in Dublin. This followed previous court judgments on another house in Dublin and a property in Co Meath.CAB was also given the go-ahead yesterday to seize €19,150 in cash and a sports utility vehicle (SUV).Earlier, the High Court had ordered the forfeiture of two other cash sums, €161,000 and €37,000, making an overall total of almost €220,000.Some of the money had been put down as a deposit for the purchase of a luxury apartment in Bulgaria.Judge Feeney also appointed CAB's legal officer, Frank Cassidy, as a receiver and he was instructed to sell the property and hand the proceeds into the Exchequer.Since Hyland's murder and the conviction of some of his associates, the remnants of his gang have banded together with other criminals.
They are now under the control of another Finglas-based thug, who is a prime target for gardai and CAB.Two of Hyland's former associates were recently jailed for a combined 26 years for their part in a major drug trafficking operation.

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family of gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll may have to wait months before they can hold his funeral.

The Daniel crime clan lieutenant was shot in the head five times in broad daylight as he sat in a car outside ASDA in Robroyston, Glasgow, last Wednesday.But as police continued the hunt for the assassins, Carroll's body remained in a city mortuary and can't be handed over to undertakers without the go-ahead of the procurator fiscal.
A source said: "The release of the body is way down the line and is not imminent."
When drug dea ler Jim McDonald was shot dead in Cardonald, Glasgow, in May 2007, his family had to wait three months before they could bury him.The hitman, Stuart Robertson, was later jailed for 20 years.And when gangster George Redmond was assassinated outside the Waldorf bar in Glasgow city centre, his funeral didn't take place for five months.That hit, in October 2008, remains unsolved.A week on from the Carroll killing, police were keeping an open mind as to who sanctioned the shooting and why it was ordered.Both the Lyons and the Daniel crime clans have been blamed for the assassination.

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Clay Roueche may be the top-ranking UN gangster to go down on drug charges

Clay Roueche may have been arrested just last year, but the cracks in his United Nations gang started surfacing in early 2005.That's when UN helicopters flying clandestinely across the border hit the radar of police in both Washington state and British Columbia.According to U.S. court documents filed for Roueche's sentencing hearing Wednesday, Chilliwack RCMP were already following around some of Roueche's UN associates by the third week of 2005.They tracked a Robinson R22 helicopter to a hangar at the Chilliwack Airport on Jan. 24, 2005 that was rented by Joe Curry, who had used his credit card to purchase chopper fuel. Like Roueche, Curry was later charged with conspiracy to traffic in the U.S., but he remains in Canada.
A day later, RCMP surveillance followed a car to the same hangar and later to a meeting with someone driving a vehicle registered to UN gang member Daryl Johnson. Johnson's car then was driven to UN Gang member Douglas Vanalstine's business in Abbotsford, B.C., where Vanalstine's car also was parked.Late last month, both Vanalstine and Johnson were charged in B.C. with conspiracy to traffic cocaine after an undercover operation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement. Vanalstine is charged on the same indictment in Washington state to which Roueche has pleaded guilty.The U.S. Attorney is asking for a 30-year-sentence for Roueche, but his lawyer Todd Maybrown says that is unfair and disproportionate to others already convicted in the same international drug conspiracy.And there are many.Roueche may be the top-ranking UN gangster to go down on drug charges, but a whole string of his mules and smugglers also was arrested, charged, convicted and jailed in the U.S., according to courts.B.C. resident Alexander Swanson was arrested on Aug. 12, 2005 — off-loading UN pot in Washington state. Calgary brothers Zachary and Braydon Miraback were arrested in Puyallup on Sept. 21, 2005, with 453 kilograms of B.C. bud that had been flown across by helicopter earlier that day.U.S. warrants were issued for the arrests of two Fraser Valley men — Trevor Schoutens and Brian Fews — who had been followed across the border by U.S. agents several times as they facilitated the movement of marijuana.On Dec. 1, 2005, B.C. resident Greg Fielding got nabbed with 148 kilograms of pot stuffed into hockey bags that had been dropped off by a white float plane on Soap Lake, near Spokane.Three months later, on March 14, 2006, B.C. pilot Kevin Haughton was arrested by the Colville Tribal police after he abandoned a float plane with 142 kilograms of marijuana and 24,000 ecstasy pills.Haughton told police that he worked for Duane Meyer, a UN gangster based in Abbotsford who was gunned down last year in a targeted hit.Nine days later, two Vancouver women — Sharmila Kumar and Shailen Varma — were picked up at Soap Lake where they had also picked up marijuana that had been flown in to the remote spot.On Sept. 25, 2006, Joshua Hildebrandt and Nicholas Kocoski were busted near Rimrock, Wash., after flying undetermined contraband in a rented Piper Cherokee from Chilliwack, B.C.Two days later, B.C. man Daniel LeClerc was arrested near Yreka, Calif., with 144 kilos of cocaine in his aircraft. He was en route to Chilliwack.On Oct. 3, 2006, Chilliwack realtor and close Roueche associate Michael Gordon as well as Alexander Kocoski crossed into Washington state to bail the Kocoski's brother and Hildrebrandt out of jail. Gordon was later shot to death in Chilliwack on Aug. 20, 2008.Many of the Canadians arrested in the U.S. co-operated and pleaded guilty, providing information about their links in Canada. Others claimed not to know those behind the shipments they were ferrying or hauling across the border.But police in both Canada and the U.S. knew the common denominator was Clay Roueche and the UN gang. And they set their sights on bigger fish.The Americans recruited an informant named Ken Davis who had agreed to be one of Roueche's men in the U.S., according to public documents filed in a Seattle court.
Davis gathered incriminating evidence linking the UN leader to marijuana and cocaine smuggling and money laundering in the millions of dollars.Davis visited Roueche in Abbotsford and was given Roueche's contacts in California to which he was asked to deliver about $500,000 a week in drug profits and return to Seattle with 25 kilos of cocaine per trip.When Roueche was away in Mexico or in Asia, he got Davis to call Dan Russell for orders, the court documents say. Russell is now charged in B.C. with conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion associates.Roueche was indicted in Washington by a grand jury in October 2007. But the U.S. file remained sealed until Roueche was nabbed after being turned away from Mexico on May 17, 2008, and forced to land in Texas where the warrant was waiting.
The breadth of his operation and the violence both threatened and inflicted are the reasons why the U.S. attorney wants Roueche locked away for 30 years."The affidavits of the various co-operators paint the picture of a controlled, powerful man who appeared willing to take whatever necessary steps in order to continue his lucrative drug-trafficking business," the U.S. attorney's office says in its sentencing memo."The UN Gang is the type of organized, sophisticated drug trading group that presents a significant danger to the safety, peace and security of the United States."But Maybrown is arguing that the myth of Clay Roueche is bigger than the man himself.
He said that while the U.S. attorney claims in its sentencing documents that UN gang members "have become known for their reputation of extreme violence," no evidence of Roueche using violence has been entered.Two of Roueche's young daughters wrote letters to the judge, pleading to let "Daddy come out because we had lots of fun together."Maybrown pointed Roueche's own words as indication the gang leader has changed.
"Until recently, I did not even think about, let alone understand, the consequences of my actions," Roueche said in a letter to the court."I now understand that I have hurt myself, my family members and others because of my foolish actions. For all of this, I am truly sorry."

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Monro attempted to kill this victim by slitting his throat with a knife while positioning him head down to bleed him out.

•Two counts of Attempted Aggravated Murder
•One County of Assault in the First Degree
•Three counts of Robbery in the First Degree
•Five counts of Robbery in the Second Degree
•Felon in Possession of a Firearm
•Burglary in the First Degree and Theft in the First Degreejury convicted a gang member of holding the victim of a robbery upside and slitting his throat during a home invasion robbery.The victim survived to testify against Shawn Richard Monro, who turns 28 Friday. He will be sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 9 a.m.The trial took more than two weeks. The jury convicted the defendant of 18 felony counts including:
The charges stem from a series of robberies and the attempted aggravated murder of a Eugene man during a home-invasion robbery near Cal Young Middle School.
Monro attempted to kill this victim by slitting his throat with a knife while positioning him head down to bleed him out.
The trial included testimony witnesses who were Westside Gangsters and Gangster Disciple members at the time of the offenses, most of whom are currently serving prison sentences for their roles in these crimes and others. The crimes were investigated by a team led by Eugene Police Department detectives in the course of a multi-year investigation into related gang activities in October of 2006. Other participants in the Eugene home invasion robbery included Paul McCloskey, Robert Jablonski and Michael Vaughan. They are all serving Measure 11 prison sentences. This crime spree culminated in the gang related murder of Noah Thacker by Michael Anthony Vaughan. The day following the Eugene home invasion, Vaughan executed Thacker and then lit his body and apartment on fire. In 2008 Michael Vaughan pled guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

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Gurneerkamal Gill was picked up during a raid

Gurneerkamal Gill was picked up during a raid on his family’s Abbotsford home late Wednesday afternoon.While he has some links to the United Nations gang, he was an independent businessman allegedly running a four-phone drug line to the tune of about $1,000 a day profit, Const. Ian MacDonald said.The arrest is just the latest by the Abbotsford police, who have been targeting front-line drug crews in an effort to disrupt the profits of Fraser Valley gangsters.Members of the Red Scorpions and the UN have been busted in recent months, along with freelancers like Gill, who appeared in court Thursday.“This guy is definitely associated with card-carrying gang members — predominantly on the UN side — but he is what I would characterize as close a freelancer as I have seen,” MacDonald said. MacDonald said Gill was not on police radar until very recently, even though investigators believe he has been running a lucrative dial-a-dope operation for up to two years.During the raid on the home at 2167 Martens St., police seized a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, a bolt-action rifle, ammunition, heroin, cocaine, cash and four cellphones, MacDonald said.

Gill is now facing two trafficking charges and three weapons charges.

MacDonald said Gill was living at home, driving two German-made automobiles worth $100,000 and telling people the money came from his business.
His family did not know about his alleged drug trafficking, MacDonald said.
“He was doing limited distribution through his residence, but the bulk of it he was doing by driving to people’s houses,” MacDonald said.
“In the current climate where you have got gangs at war and where you have got police trying to arrest people and we are looking for information on people, he had isolated himself pretty well by being an independent business guy.”
Gill has no criminal record and is listed in federal documents as the owner of a business called Seven Star Import & Export, operated from the Martens Street house.
“He was the prototypical gangster, not by association to a criminal organization, but by lifestyle. He fits that middle-class gangster mould where you still have a close association to your middle-class or upper middle-class roots, but now you can adorn yourself with all the accoutrements of engaging in illegitimate business.”
With high-profile Abbotsford leaders of both the UN and Red Scorpions in jail, police are now targeting other levels of the drug trade, including independents like Gill.Since November, Abbotsford police have arrested people at drug houses linked to both gangs. One of those charged, Red Scorpion Jason William Brown, appeared in Surrey Provincial Court on Thursday.
“Part of the directive that we have received from the chief and the deputy is that we are going to put gangsters and drug dealers in jail wherever we come upon them, regardless of where they are in the food chain, we are going to make arrests,” MacDonald said. “2010 is going to be a record year for arresting gangsters and drug dealers. Our mandate is to make it as ugly as possible to be a gangster in Abbotsford.”

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Gotti's last three trials for racketeering have ended in mis-trial

Gotti's last three trials for racketeering have ended in mis-trial because of jury tampering or deadlocked juries. The alleged Mob boss is accused of taking over New York's biggest crime family from his infamous father, John "The Dapper Don" Gotti, who died in jail. The latest trial, in its sixth week, heard testimony about how the Mob sought to intimidate jurors. A Mafia turncoat testifying for the prosecution claimed that Mr Gotti mouthed the words "I'll kill you" to him in the courtroom.
Before the trial started, seven jurors asked unsuccessfully to be removed from the case, saying that they were scared of retribution. Judge Kevin Castel dismissed one juror who said that she was brushed by a car while crossing a Manhattan street in an incident that she took as a warning from the Mob. A second juror was dismissed because his hedge fund was losing too much money without him, leaving only four alternative jurors left to step in. Judge Castel questioned the remaining jurors individually on Tuesday about the latest row.

Gotti, 45, voiced concern over an allegation in the letter than Juror No 7 considered his defence lawyer "very handsome". The letter writer mistakenly called the defence lawyer Charles Carneglia, instead of Charles Carnesi - mixing up his surname for that of a Mafia hitman who dissolved his victims in acid.
"A juror thinks the guy representing me is a five-time murderer. What shot do I have?" said Mr Gotti.

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2009 was the bloodiest in Jamaica’s history.

1,680 killings in ’09 highest in country’s history.According to statistics released by the police yesterday, 1,680 murders were recorded in 2009, a four per cent increase over the 1,618 homicides reported in 2008.According to the police, approximately 52 per cent (859) of the murders committed last year “were due to intra-gang and internal gang feuds, in addition to reprisal killings”.
October proved to be the deadliest month last year with a total 177 murders reported. There were 155 murders in May while December rounded out the top three with 152 murders.There was no month when fewer than 100 murders were committed.
Portland, which for many years showed very low murder figures, recorded the largest percentage increase in murders during 2009, moving from 11 in 2008 to 20 last year for an overall 82 per cent increase, the police revealed.Yesterday, police in that parish attributed the increase in murders to domestic squabbles.
“The bulk of the killings committed in the division, we have found out, were domestic-related murders,” Deputy Superintendent Gary Flash in charge of operations told the Observer.“It is a cause for major concern,” he said, adding that the police have already started to put measures in place to address the problem.The police statistics also show that women accounted for almost 10 per cent of murder victims, with a total of 163, while 81 children and 11 cops were killed last year.Guns accounted for 1,293 (77 per cent) of all murders last year, while 227 persons were killed with knives and machetes were used to kill 56 persons.There were also 74 double murders, nine triple murders and three cases in which more than three people were killed in a single incident in 2009.Seventeen murders were committed during drive-by shootings.A total of 1,667 persons were shot and injured in 2009, 139 more than the previous year.The police also said they fatally shot a total of 241 persons and injured another 339. Eight others were killed by licensed firearm holders, five by security guards and one person was killed by a Jamaica Defence Force soldier.But amid the grim news, the police pointed to decreases in murders in five divisions — St Mary with 14 compared to 33 in 2008, a drop of 58 per cent; St Andrew Central with 95 last year compared to 137 in 2008, a decrease of 31 per cent; Kingston Central moved from 71 in 2008 to 54 in 2009 for an overall 24 per cent decrease; St Catherine North with 178 last year compared to 184 the previous year, a decrease of three per cent; and Kingston West which recorded 54 murders in 2009 compared to 57 in 2008, a five per cent decline.Police also reported that they seized 569 illegal guns and 6,068 rounds of assorted ammunition last year.But while murders and shootings continue to spiral out of control, the incidents of rape and carnal abuse have trended down.However property crimes — robbery (3,004), break-ins (3,780), and larceny (511) — have all trended up by 13, 54 and 57 per cent respectively.
Guns were used in 1,979 robberies.

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BLACK PRISON GANGS

Black Guerrilla Family - United Blood Nation - DC Blacks - 415 Kumi Nation - Bloods
Crips - Mandingo Warriors - Black Warriors - Jamaican Posse - African American Council
Nation of Islam - Black Panthers - El Rukns - People Nation - Black P. Stones - Vice Lords
Mickey Cobras - Folk Nation - Black Disciples - Gangster Disciples

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Aryan Brotherhood members make up less than one percent of the nation's prison inmate population,

Aryan Brotherhood members make up less than one percent of the nation's prison inmate population, yet the white prison gang is responsible for 18% of all prison murders.The Aryan Brotherhood picked the name because it showed white supremacy and the shamrock (clover) because it is the sign of the Irish (the original members had to be part Irish). They use the "666", which is the sign of the beast (it's earned for committing a murder), and the swastika, for one that takes pride in being hated & feared by their enemies. Only members of the AB are permitted to wear the "brand" of the gang; individuals found to be wearing the tattoo without consent are subject to being murdered.Sworn code of the AB:

I will stand by my brother.
My brother will come before all others.
My life is forfeit should I fail my brothers.
I will honor my brother in peace as in war.

As legend has it the Aryan Brotherhood formed at San Quentin Prison in California in 1967 in the cauldron of the prison race wars to fight the Black Guerrilla Family, a black prison gang led by the notorious Black Panther, revolutionary and author of Soledad Brother, George Jackson. The white supremacist group, which later became known as the Brand was originally comprised of prisoners of Irish descent and former members of 50's biker tips such as the Diamond Tooth gang and the Bluebird gang. The tips came together in the gladiator school style type prisons under a neo-Nazi banner. The Aryan Brotherhood was for whites only and its members were the most violent and ferocious of their race. By 1975 the gang was all throughout the California system.

As their notoriety increased and membership grew they established a chain of command modeled loosely on the structure of the Italian Mafia with commission that communicated via correspondence through 3rd parties passing orders to their prison based branches all across the US. The 3 man commissions were also a way to channel the gangs’ violence and resolve in-house feuds. They established drug trafficking, security, extortion and gambling rackets in prisons all over the country. The leaders who had multiple life sentences worked out of solitary confinement cells in some of the most secure prisons in the world. From Pelican Bay, the supermax in California, and ADX Florence, the Alcatraz of the Rockies, the Brand ran a prison empire through coded invisible ink letter. The FBI investigated them from 1982 to 1989, but the US Attorney declined prosecution. But the FBI reported that "the purpose of the AB is now power and is not a racial organization as it has been in the past." They even took a hit from John Gotti, the Mafioso, who offered the Brand $100,000 to kill the black prisoner who assaulted him at USP Marion in 1996.

On August 28, 2002, AUSA Greg Jessner indicted virtually the entire leadership of the gang. The indictment reached back 20 years spanning 3 decades and 32 murders. Forty members were indicted of federal racketeering charges in a 140, 10 count indictment. The majority of the gang members were already doing life sentences, so 23 of them are eligible for the death penalty. "This is a homicidal organization," Jessner announced. "That’s what they do. They kill people I suspect they kill more then the Mafia. They may be the most murderous criminal organization in the United States." The indictment is the largest capital case in the history of California and the AUSA indicted the Brand, a prison gang with laws originally passed to target Mafia leaders. "Inmates and others who do not follow orders of the AB are subject to being murdered as is anyone who uses violence against an AB member or anyone who cooperates with law enforcement." The indictment reads.

US vs Mills, No CR02-938 (C) (C.D. Calif.) is the docket number and the alleged leaders of the Brand have become legendary figures. Barry "The Baron" Mills, aged 57 and TD "The Hulk" Bingham, aged 58 are the leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood the government alleges. The indictment says that they've orchestrated the brotherhoods campaign from their cells at ADX, the federal supermax. Mills is doing life for a 1979 prison murder, but Bingham is scheduled for release in 2012, but if both are convicted they'll face the death penalty.


Thomas Silverstein

Another primary in the case is Thomas "Terrible Tom" Silverstein who started the AB-DC Black race war by killing Raymond "Cadillac" Smith, the leader of the DC Blacks in 1982 by stabbing him 67 times in the Marion Control Unit. "Within the gangs’ lore, Silverstein has become the Christ figure," AUSA Jessner said. And the race war with the DC Blacks is the central factor in the governments case as the 1997 killing of 2 DC Blacks at USP Lewisburg was allegedly ordered by Bingham in an invisible ink message written in urine.
Enemies of The Brand
The AB was originally formed to fight the Black Guerrilla Family, which was founded in San Quentin by George Jackson in 1966. The Former Black Panther, revolutionary and author of Soledad Brother had a vile hatred of the system and all things white. The BGF would beat, kill and maim random white when they caught them out of their cells for no other reason than that they were white. This cauldron of hate and atmosphere of tension, which existed at San Quentin at the time fermented the race wars in the California system and led to the rise of the big four prison gangs, which were divided along racial lines-The Aryan Brotherhood, Black Guerrilla Family, Mexican Mafia and Nuestra Familia. The BGF allied with the Nuestra Family and fought a constant battle against the AB's who allied with the Mexican Mafia who was constantly at war with their counterparts from the northern part of California, Nuestra Familia while they represented the southern part of California.
The BGF was the most politically oriented of the gangs. It was formed as a revolutionary organization along paramilitary lines. Its goal was to overthrow the US government. They were led by a Supreme Commander or Chairman and the lowest echelon of gang members were known as soldiers. They originated out of the MAD Adjustment center at San Quentin, the first SHU in the country. They recruit members of black street gangs like the Crips, disenchanted members of radical black organizations and are aligned with the Black Liberation Army. Their founder George Jackson was killed by guards at San Quentin in the early seventies. A victim of his fame and notoriety.

The race wars in the federal system started on Nov 22, 1981 when the body of Robert M Chappelle, a member of the DC Blacks was found dead in his cell at USP Marion. Thomas Silverstein was the killer and Chappelle’s death worried bureau official who thought it might spark a war, which it certainly did.

Raymond "Cadillac" Smith, the alleged national leader of the DC blacks was the next person killed. Terrible Tom struck again on Sept 27, 1982 stabbing Cadillac 67 times in the Marion control Unit and dragging his body up and down the tier so that those locked in their cells could see. The race wars against the DC blacks raged across the feds in the early 1980's and again in the 1990's when 2 DC blacks were killed at USP Lewisburg by AB members who stabbed them 35 and 34 times to death. The violent campaign against the DC Blacks and the alleged race war are at the center of the government’s 2002 indictment against the Aryan Brotherhood.

The DC Blacks are prisoners from Washington DC who usually make up the largest single ethnic group from any single city making up 10 percent of the overall federal prison population. They are well schooled in violence from their time spent at Lorton the infamous DC penitentiary, and are known as notorious locker knockers, petty thieves and for pressuring prisoners for sex. A lot of DC Blacks were members of the Moorish religion at one time.


Timeline

"The most ferocious and notorious of any of the prison groups is the Aryan Brotherhood," the FBI reported. Over its four decade history the gang has evolved from an organization focusing on aggression against blacks to a violent white supremacist group that runs sophisticated gambling, extortion and dope operations in prison across the nation.

The Brand as the gang is called makes it members read The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Machiavelli's, The Prince and Nietzsche's Will To Power, as well as, exercising vigorously to stay in shape and studying Gray's Anatomy books, so as to know where to stab enemies and inflict killing blows. They've been accused of running-a barbed wire empire of terror, drugs and extortion. The case reached back 40 years to include stabbings, strangulations, poisonings, contract hits, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery and narcotics trafficking. A brief history of the gang:

1964: The Aryan Brotherhood is founded in California's San Quentin maximum-security prison. Irish bikers formed the Brotherhood to fight against the Black Guerrilla Family. It is rumored that the AB sprung from a 1950s gang known as the Bluebirds.

1980: Throughout the 1980s, the gang becomes more organized as it establishes a chain of command. Two factions of the gang exist -- federal and California state. The federal faction creates a three-man commission to supervise gang activity in federal prisons. Allegedly, Barry Mills and Tyler Bingham are selected to oversee the gang's actions as high commissioners.

1982: An FBI report states that members of the Brotherhood are recruiting new members from prisons around the country. Prison officials try to disband the group by moving members throughout the correctional system. The AB forms a California commission and council that must approve the murder and assault of gang members who violate the organization's rules.

Oct. 22, 1983: Four guards are stabbed, two fatally, by AB members at the U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Ill. It is the first time in federal prison history that two guards are killed on the same day.

1990s: Authorities relocate most of the Brotherhood's leaders to "Supermax" prisons, where prisoners are held in single cells for almost the entire day. The gang continues murdering prisoners and trafficking drugs.

1992: Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Jessner begins investigating the gang after it is linked to the strangulation of a prisoner in his cell at the Lompoc federal prison in California.

1993: The AB's federal commission forms a council that organizes day-to-day gang activity in the federal faction.

1994: Michael Patrick McElhiney arrives at the maximum-security federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan. He came from the Marion federal prison, where he served time with Barry Mills. McElhiney quickly becomes a much-feared AB gang member. In 2002, he is charged with running the gang's day-to-day operations at Marion and with controlling drug trafficking at Leavenworth.

March 24, 1995: Pelican Bay State Prison, a Supermax facility in northwest California, releases gang member Robert Scully on probation. Six days later, Scully fatally shoots a police officer -- evidence that AB crimes have moved beyond gang grudges and prison walls.

1997: Barry Mills and T.D. Bingham allegedly order a race war at a prison in Lewisburg, Pa., leading to the deaths of two black inmates.

1999: Barry Mills writes letters to paroled gang members, urging them to expand the gang's activities outside the prison. The gang allegedly used paroled members as drug dealers, gunrunners, stickup men and hit men.

Aug. 28, 2002: Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Jessner indicts nearly all the members suspected of being leaders in the gang. He charges them with carrying out stabbings, strangulations, poisonings, contract hits, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, robbery and narcotics trafficking.

March 14, 2006: The first in a series of gang-member trials begins in Orange County, Calif., for Barry "The Barron" Mills, T.D. "The Hulk" Bingham, Edgar "The Snail" Hevle and Christopher Overton Gibson. The four are accused of ordering or participating in 15 murders or attempted murders in the last 25 years. Federal racketeering charges are brought against 40 AB members, including Michael McElhiney. In a 140-page indictment, federal prosecutors outline gang actions that allegedly resulted in 32 murders or attempted murders in and out of prison.

July 2006: The first of a series of trials involving four high level members ended in convictions.Tyler Bingham and Barry Mills were convicted of murder and sent back to United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility Prison (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, where they are serving life sentence with no parole, escaping the death penalty. Edgar Hevle and Christopher Gibson were sentenced to three life terms without the possibility of parole.

September 2006: The nineteen inductees not eligible for the death penalty had plead guilty.

October 2006: Eleven more Aryan Brotherhood members are expected to go on trial in Los Angeles for similar racketeering charges


Aryan Brotherhood Lexicon

The Brand- the name the brotherhood is known by to members and refers to the shamrock or clover leaf tattoo found on members that denotes membership and signifies the Brand.

Blood In, Blood Out- This is the process by which someone is accepted into the gang meaning they have to kill to get in and the only way to get out is by death.

Making Your Bones- This is the initiation into the gang. When you kill someone to get in it is called making your bones.

Rocking Someone To Sleep- This is the process of disarming a target for murder by making him think you are friends. By rocking someone to sleep it makes them easier to kill when they aren't expecting it.

Lie or Die- When questioned by law enforcement types the Brand's motto is to lie or die because if you tell the truth and cooperate with law enforcement you will be marked for death, so you must lie to them and make them think you are telling the truth.

Getting Writted- This is when one AB member has a case and his defense lawyer gets all his brothers and fellow gang members writted in to be defense witnesses in the case at hand so that all the brotherhood members can be gathered at one place to discuss gang business.

Keistered- This is when a gang member in transit or in the hole sticks contraband such as drugs, tobacco or shanks up his ass so that it won't be found in strip searches and body searches.

In the Hat- this term is used when someone is marked or targeted for death. If someone is in the hat in gang parlance it means he will be killed soon.

Burpees- this exercise consisting of a combination of push ups and jumping jacks is performed by AB members on lockdown to stay in good shape. Sometimes thousands of burpees will be done a day.

Polishing the Rock- this term refers to gang members on the outside doing things to further gang and brotherhood business on the outside. Before leaving prison they will be urged to keep polishing the rock.

Kytes- this is what letters or notes to fellow prisoners are called. They might be in invisible ink or coded and are often sent via transferring prisoners or via a third party on the outside who will mail it to the appropriate gang member. Kytes typically contain instructions and order for furthering brotherhood business.

Runners- this term refers to girlfriends, associates and people on the outside who help the gang to achieve their goals by ferrying messages into and out of various prisons. They also gather mail at designated mail drops and forward them to other gang members in different prisons, smuggle drugs for the brotherhood into prisons through the visiting rooms and gather and collect monies sent to the higher ups in the gang either to put on their account or to pay for more drugs coming into the prisons,


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Prisons (and jails) that have reported AB activity within the past 3 years

* San Quentin State Prison in California
* California State Prison in California
* Pelican Bay State Prison in California
* USP Marion Federal Prison in Illinois
* Folsom State Prison in California
* California Institution for Men in California
* Harris County Jail in Texas
* Estelle High-Security Unit in Texas
* Garner Correctional Institution in Connecticut
* Lompoc Federal Prison in California
* High Desert State Prison in Nevada
* Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Mississippi


Allies: Mexican Mafia, Hells Angels, PENI, Nazi Low Riders

Rivals: La Nuestra Familia, Black Guerilla Family, DC Blacks

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LATINO PRISON GANGS

Nortenos - Surenos - Mexican Mafia - Nuestra Familia - Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
Texas Syndicate - Mexikanemi - Barrio Azteca - Pistoleros Latinos - Fresno Bulldogs
Florencia 13 - 18th Street Gang - Latin Kings - Maniac Latin Disciples - Latin Counts
Tango Blast - Los Solidos - Tri City Bombers - Border Brothers - West Texas Tango
Raza Unida - Texas Chicano Brotherhood

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WHITE PRISON GANGS

WHITE PRISON GANGS


Aryan Brotherhood - Nazi Low Riders - Public Enemy #1 (PENI) - Peckerwoods
Aryan Circle - Dirty White Boys - Aryan Knights - European Kindred
Skinheads - Hammerskins - Thorndale JagOffs - Silent Aryan Warriors
Almighty Gaylords - Simon City Royals - Insane Gangster Disciples
Dead Man Inc. - Krieger Verwandt - Brotherhood of Aryan Alliance
United Brotherhood Kindred - Saxon Knights - Aryan Warriors
Neo-Nazis - KKK - TCB Hate Crew - Fourth Reich - American Front
Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in the United States - Henchmen MC
Hells Angels MC - Pagans MC - Sons of Silence MC - Mongols MC - Outlaws MC
Gypsy Joker MC - Diablos MC - Vagos MC - Black Pistons MC - Bandidos MC
Highwaymen MC - Warlocks MC - Brother Speed MC - The Breed MC

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