Gang war was intensifying, and police and community activists were meeting in attempts to quash the violence between the two sides.

Gang war was intensifying, and police and community activists were meeting in attempts to quash the violence between the two sides. It was the summer of 2006, and 18-year-old Herman Taylor III, who attended Belmont High School as part of the Metco program, was walking home from a friend's house in Roxbury.Taylor was gunned down about 500 feet from his front door, an innocent victim in a case of mistaken identity, prosecutors say.His death sent waves of grief and mourning through two communities - in the Humboldt Avenue neighborhood of Roxbury and at Belmont High School, where Taylor was a popular student who excelled academically and as a basketball player.

"Here's why Herman Taylor was killed: He was killed because he happened to be on Humboldt Avenue," said Assistant District Attorney Masai King in an opening statement yesterday in the Suffolk Superior Court trial of Lamory Gray. He is charged with first-degree murder in Taylor's death.

Prosecutors say Gray, whose nickname is "Laws," mistakenly thought Taylor was a gang rival."Laws was a Heath Street soldier," King said. "On July 2006, he went on a mission up Humboldt Avenue to shoot someone from H-Block."Gray, wearing a blue dress shirt and glasses and with his hair in cornrows, sat next to his attorney, James Budreau, as King talked. At one point he glanced over his shoulder toward relatives seated in the courtroom and shook his head from side to side.Gray is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawfully carrying a loaded handgun. He has been held without bail since October 2007, following a 17-month grand jury investigation, according to prosecutors.The defendant's lawyer said prosecutors cannot prove a motive for the crime, and for that reason they are introducing a gang angle. "The word 'gang' is the Commonwealth's evidence here," Budreau said.
At the time of the homicide, there had been at least

50 shootings between gangs from the Bromley-Heath and Humboldt Avenue areas,

King said.Much of the day's proceedings centered on the testimony of a 19-year-old witness, Shumane Garvin. She testified with the jury excused from the courtroom, saying repeatedly that she could not recollect much of what she told a grand jury, forcing King to present her with transcripts in attempts to refresh her memory.King said Garvin's testimony sharply differed with what she had told a grand jury in 2007, telling Judge Frank Gaziano that earlier she had described "seeing the shooter fire a firearm several times in the direction of the victim, Herman Taylor."Garvin testified yesterday that her brother and the 23-year-old defendant were friends. "There's an inference that she doesn't want to be involved in the case and doesn't want to do anything to hurt her brother or her brother's friend," King said.Budreau said that the prosecution's attempt to identify his client as the shooter through Garvin is deeply flawed and that Garvin has never given a positive identification of the assailant.Marisa Luse, the victim's oldest sister, was the first person called to the witness stand. King gave her a photograph of Taylor. She said that it was the last picture taken of her brother and that she snapped it during a birthday party for their sister in June 2006, a few days before his death.Today, the jury was expected to visit the site where Taylor was killed.

A grenade tossed into a cafe, gunfire in the street, dead bodies splayed on the pavement, residents living in fear

A grenade tossed into a cafe, gunfire in the street, dead bodies splayed on the pavement, residents living in fear -- all sounds out of sync with the medieval cobbled streets and copper roofs of the Danish capital.Bloody gang war between bikers and youths of immigrant origin has shattered Copenhagen's customary calm and jolted officials to boost action against violence that has left three dead and 17 wounded in seven months.But a bloody gang war between bikers and the youth of immigrant origin has shattered Copenhagen's customary calm and jolted officials to boost action against violence that has left three dead and 17 wounded in seven months.Two more attacks this week -- one Friday using a hand grenade -- heightened alarm, even if police would not immediately link them to gangs."We won't accept this settling of scores between gangs that is frightening the population," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this month before stepping down as prime minister to become NATO secretary general.Officials, he vowed, would "take all necessary means to halt the escalating violence," as Copenhagen's police chief promised to use "Al Capone-like tactics" to go after the gangs.The battle over drug sales, revenge and wounded honour pits Hells Angels bikers and their offshoot called AK81 against gangs of mainly second and third-generation immigrant youths.
The long-simmering conflict exploded into full-blown war last August, after a 19-year-old man of Turkish origin named Osam Nuri Dogan, who was armed and wearing a bullet-proof vest, was executed on the street.His body was riddled with 25 bullets in front of a Copenhagen pizza parlour.A member of AK81 suspected of the killing was arrested but quickly released for lack of evidence.Since then, violent acts of retaliation have become almost a daily occurrence in the capital -- and raised concern of fuelling anti-immigrant sentiment in a country long sceptical of Muslims where tightening immigration has been the cornerstone of government policy.Early Friday, an unknown assailant launched a grenade at a packed cafe patronized by bikers in Christiania, Copenhagen's giant squat and repair of free spirits and marginals since the 1970s. Four were wounded, including a 22-year-old man whose cheek was ripped out by the blast. came a week after another attack in Christiania in which an AK81 member shot and seriously wounded a 30-year-old man in the stomach. Tabloids said it was gangs settling scores but police, again, would not confirm this.The majority of attacks -- including one Wednesday in which police said "two men on a motorcycle" shot and wounded a 29-year-old man of Egyptian-Eritrean descent -- have occurred in the heavily immigrant Noerrebro neighbourhood.The sound of gunfire there has become all too common but residents were shocked out of complacency two months ago when three separate shootings in as many days killed two people with no links to gangs and wounded four others.Protesters dressed in mourning as for a funeral have repeatedly marched through the capital demanding a "gun-free zone" in Noerrebro so people can take a walk "without worrying about being killed by a stray bullet".Rasmussen personally visited a Noerrebro school in early April to try to calm nerves. "You shouldn't have to have a knot of fear in your stomach when you go outside," he told a worried 16-year-old.Police have dramatically increased their presence in trouble zones.Parliament, meanwhile, has scheduled a major hearing on the gang war on April 29 and the justice ministry is preparing a draft law to bolster legal action.The bill, which parliament is expected to approve before summer recess, will "lead to a doubling of penalties for certain types of serious crimes committed in connection with the retaliatory attacks between gangs," said Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen.It would also dramatically increase jail time for possession of illegal weapons and give police more leeway in tapping phones and holding suspects in custody.'We will give them no peace'

Outlaw bikie gangs heavily armed Tactical Response Group reponds

Police are still hunting a dangerous gunman who fled a shooting in Attadale that is believed to be connected to outlaw bikie gangs.A 30-year-old man was arrested and charged yesterday after a 2.5-hour standoff with police on Hislop Road on Friday.
The street was closed off and the heavily armed Tactical Response Group was called in after the shooting was reported in front of a suburban house about 10.15am.

Calabrian mafia money launderer Mario Condello acted as a go-between for Romanian crime gangs keen to use the Italian secret society

Calabrian mafia money launderer Mario Condello acted as a go-between for Romanian crime gangs keen to use the Italian secret society's distribution network to sell its imported heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. sons of criminal Romanian immigrants have expanded the range of crimes committed by the gangs to include sophisticated frauds, identity theft and credit card scams. Romanians have been charged after credit-card skimming devices were fitted to dozens of ATMs in at least four states.
crime gangs have been the masters of insurance and social security fraud for decades. gangs in South Australia specialise in importing, selling and rebirthing weapons. The former AFP agent said the Romanians were "as good a crime group as you will get", and notoriously difficult to investigate.

Real IRA has carried out at least two murders of drug dealers and shot and injured a number of others, including two in Donegal.

The dissidents’ links with the drugs trade in Dublin are well established, with republicans supplying increasing numbers of pipe bombs to drugs gangs for sums reported to be as much as €30,000. The bombs made by the dissidents are showing signs of increasing sophistication — a development which is causing alarm to security forces on both sides of the border.
Republicans, who last week threatened the North’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, are involved in an increasing cross-border trade in drugs and weapons with Dublin criminals.The PSNI last month discovered a large consignment of cannabis which had been supplied to west Belfast dissidents by a west Dublin gang with no known republican links, who drove the consignment north.Several figures with dissident links are already in prison or before the courts on drugs-related charges, and a number of imprisoned drug dealers have been accepted into the dissidents’ wings of prisons here and in Northern Ireland.According to republican sources in the North, the dissidents in both Derry and Belfast are involved in the drugs trade and in extorting money from non-aligned drug dealers. The Belfast dissidents have even teamed up with former loyalist terrorists who have long been involved in the drugs trade, sharing shipments of drugs smuggled in from Spain.The ’second-in-command’ of the Continuity IRA in west Belfast is currently facing gun and drug charges. The current ‘officer commanding’ of this group in Belfast is a former joyrider and petty thief who has recently acquired an expensive car and, according to local people, is enjoying a lavish lifestyle. They suspect he is also a police informer. So far, the Continuity and Real IRA in west Belfast have confined their activities to “punishment” shootings of local drug dealers who have refused to pay extortion money, but they have also shot and injured at least two innocent victims.In Derry, the Real IRA has carried out at least two murders of drug dealers and shot and injured a number of others, including two in Donegal.The open involvement of the dissidents in the drugs trade is a new development in the world of republican terrorism. In February, the Real IRA in Dublin, a small group composed largely of teenagers and men in their early 20s, shot dead a 21-year-old man, Darren Guerrine, over a small drugs debt.Although the involvement in drugs is public knowledge in republican areas of the North, the dissident groups still appear to be attracting support. It is understood that a former senior IRA man in the north of the city has transferred his support to the dissidents.Police in the North suspect that the dissidents are preparing to launch attacks on Orange parades in the North in order to stir up sectarianviolence. The Troubles in the North escalated when republicans attacked Orange parades on the Crumlin Road interface between the Catholic Ardoyne and Protestant Shankill areas in 1970.Over Easter, the traditional start of the loyalist marching season, an Orange bandsman was badly injured during a parade in the County Antrim town of Crumlin when he was hit on the head by a brick thrown at the marchers.According to republican sources, the rise of the dissidents has accelerated since the Provisional IRA declared itself disbanded two years ago. For the first time this year there was no Provisional IRA ‘Army Council’ statement read out at Sinn Fein-organised Easter Rising commemoration events. It was noted, however, that while numbers appear to be dwindling at the Sinn Fein commemorations, the numbers attending dissident events, though still small, are growing.
Sources in Tyrone said the numbers attending the Sinn Fein-organised Easter commemoration in Carrickmore, traditionally a centre of major support for Sinn Fein and the Provisional IRA, were the lowest in local memory.A veiled threat to Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness came from a Real IRA spokesman wearing a combat jacket and mask who addressed a rally organised by its political wing, the 32-County Sovereignty Committee. Referring to the Deputy First Minister’s condemnation of the dissident killers of the two soldiers and PSNI officer last month as “traitors”, the dissident spokesman said: “Treachery is collaborating with the enemy. Treachery is betraying our country”.The statement, published in a Sunday newspaper last weekend, also admitted the Real IRA murdered former Sinn Fein member and self-confessed former informant, Denis Donaldson at his holiday home in Donegal in 2006. At the time, gardai suspected that the killing had been carried out by a dissident republican related to a former senior IRA figure who was shot dead by the British Army in the Eighties.The Real IRA, responsible for the Omagh bombing in 1998, also threatened to expand its terror campaign to targets in Britain. However, in Derry and in Newry, where their main rallies were held, the bulk of their invective was aimed at Sinn Fein. Over the Easter period a petrol bomb was thrown at a Sinn Fein officer in Derry and paint was thrown at Sinn Fein offices in west Belfast.

war between groups of bikers and ethnic minority youths is being fought out on Copenhagen's streets.

Police sirens wailed as patrol cars started to arrive at the scene of a fatal shooting already lit by the camera flashes of eager reporters. Officers began to collect forensic evidence and question a crowd of onlookers for witnesses.This crime scene did not take place on the streets of New York City or Chicago but Copenhagen, the Danish capital, where such incidents have been occurring with increasing frequency.Like many of the other shootings, this one happened in Norrebro, an ethnically-mixed part of the capital where a violent gang war has recently raged.
The scene was tense as young immigrants watched police reinforcements descend on the area; three young men were arrested. They had allegedly shot a man in his car, believing him to be a member of a rival gang.The word on the street about the gang violence mirrors that on the front pages of Denmark's newspapers. They say a war between groups of bikers and ethnic minority youths is being fought out on Copenhagen's streets.Some say the shootings are part of a turf war over the lucrative hashish trade in the city. Others say it has been inflamed by feelings of alienation and marginalisation among ethnic minority youngsters.While few seem to know just who is shooting whom or why, the sense of danger has become so severe that the National Night Owls Association, a voluntary public safety group that patrols the streets, has decided to pull out of the area."This is the first time the organisation has had to give up on an area," Erik Thorsted, from the association, said. Norrebro members of the Blaagaards gang - a group of ethnic minority youths associated with some of the recent violence.In the week we were there, at least two people were killed in drive-by shootings but as we wrapped up our visit, the situation seemed to take a dramatic turn at the ministry of justice.A proposed anti-gang bill aims to double and triple jail terms for some offences, such as weapon possession, gang violence and witness intimidation, among others.
"If you are a criminal with a foreign background then there is only one way - that is out of Denmark and back to the country where you came from"
Brian Mikkelsen, the Danish justice minister
"We'll give police almost anything they ask for. We need extraordinary steps. We won't give the gangs a moment's rest. We want these criminals off the streets," Brian Mikkelsen, Denmark's justice minister, told a packed news conference.
"We have to come down hard on the obtuseness and brutality of the gang environment. If you are a criminal with a foreign background then there is only one way - that is out of Denmark and back to the country where you came from. I think these measures will have an effect on the gang members. It will make them think twice," Mikkelsen said.If passed, it will be some of the most sweeping anti-crime legislation Denmark has ever seen.Filmmaker and journalist Khaled Ramadan shares his views on Denmark's gang war debate However, others say that these gang tensions have been simmering for years and that the authorities have been too slow to react.Morten Frich, a journalist with the daily Berlingske, says: "The police only recently tried to get on top of this. We have seen this coming for about 10 years."
A 2007 police report was the first official attempt to gauge the extent of the problem.It concluded that what the Danish media had for years referred to as 'street groups' were actually fully-fledged gangs and that 14 of them, with about 1,000 members between them, existed.Khaled Ramadan, an academic based in Copenhagen, says race and integration are at the root of the problem."Unfortunately, Denmark didn't learn from other Western countries' immigration experience. Immigrants have become the politician's and media's scapegoat," he said.
Since Denmark's centre-right opposition won its biggest victory in 80 years in November 2001 following a campaign that focused largely on immigration, relations between immigrants and the Danish authorities have grown increasingly tense.
They were further strained when Denmark's largest newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in September 2005, which the Muslim community said were offensive and insensitive.Ritt Bjerregaard, the mayor of Copenhagen, recently said he believes the conflict carries an ethnic dimension. He told local media that there are fears Copenhagen may become polarised as a large group of citizens are made to feel alienated.
Now gang violence threatens to escalate these tensions further.

Bikie war is about to escalate again

There are fears the bikie war is about to escalate again, with Hell's Angels leaders reportedly ordering their troops to shoot Commancheros on sight.The gang's American leaders believe the Australian Hell's Angels failure to retalitate to a recent spate of attacks has damaged their hard core image.Meantime an alleged member of the Notorious bikie gang has been charged with aggravated robbery with wounding after an altercation in Kings Cross last month.A 51-year-old man with links to the same group is also facing a charge of possessing a drug precursor.Police Minister Tony Kelly said police would respond swiftly to any increase in violence.
"If any of the outlaw motorcycle gangs, including the Hell's Angels, stick up their heads then the NSW police will clamp down on them."They will not let up. They are going to continue their operations to completely eradicate these outlaw motorcycle gangs' behaviour."

Antonio Meza is a Sureno gang member who killed a suspected Norteno gang member.

Antonio Meza is a Sureno gang member who killed a suspected Norteno gang member. Meza did not enter a plea and will appear in court April 17. “The victim had some Norteno gang affiliations,” Waner said. Santa Rosa police are investigating the possible gang connection to the shooting at Grand Avenue and Pressley Street but police stopped short of saying Meza and Suarez were gang members. Waner said the South Park neighborhood is considered Norteno turf and that Meza drove or was driven there “looking for trouble.” Suarez lived in the neighborhood where he was shot around 9:30 p.m. Police said the suspect’s red car had chrome rims and square tail lights. Meza, a Kelseyville resident, and parolee Fernando Mendoza, 20, were arrested Wednesday afternoon after their vehicle was stopped at Santa Rosa Avenue and Court Street. Mendoza was arrested for a parole violation. Waner said he has a weapons conviction. He has not been charged in connection with the murder but Waner said the case is still under investigation. Meza is also charged with a separate count of being a criminal street gang member. Enhancements to the murder charge allege he intentionally discharged a firearm and committed the murder in furtherance of a street gang. Waner said Meza faces life in prison without parole if convicted. Meza’s attorney Jonathan Steele said he also heard allegations his client is a Sureno gang member. He said Meza’s family is moving from Lake County to Sonoma County. Meza worked at farm jobs with his father and in a maintenance position at a Lake County casino, Steele said. He is being prosecuted as an adult but is being held in the Los Guilicos Juvenile Justice Center under no bail.

Dennis Karbovanec sentence is life with the possibility of parole after 15 years

Dennis Karbovanec has pleaded guilty to three counts of second degree murder after confessing to shooting and killing numerous people in the Surrey Six massacre in October 2007. Dennis admitted to shooting dead innocent victim Chris Mohan and drug dealers Ryan Bartolomeo and Michael Lal. His sentence is life with the possibility of parole after 15 years and he can thank his light sentence to his conscience as well as his desire to assist the police with the Surrey 6 shootings.Even though we don’t know exactly what sort of deal Dennis Karbovanec made with the police and the Crown due a heavily contested publication ban, the consensus is that he told the police everything he knew about the Surrey Six murders and as a result, got some sort of considerations when it came to sentencing. We’re not sure if life in jail can be considered a “consideration” but it is what it is. Some people are pleased that even though Dennis Karbovanec could be back on the streets(under “monitoring” for the rest of his life) in 15 years, many other members of the Red Scorpion gang are going to be locked away as a result of Dennis’ information. Others can’t fathom that the so called “serial killer” and “contract killer” might get out on good behaviour while the families of the murdered are going to suffer for life. There is even a debate as some people express sympathy only for the innocent victims of the Surrey 6 murders versus the people that believe that all the victims should receive equal respect, regardless if they were drug dealers or people in the wrong place at the wrong time.Not only will Dennis’ testimony help lock up other Vancouver gangsters, but it will enable others up and down the line to start weighing their options with a realistic view after the police come knocking. Especially the younger gangsters.

Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi's time as king of the outlaws may be coming to an end

Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi's time as king of the outlaws may be coming to an end, with the Queensland meeting that voted on a new code of conduct also deciding his day was over.Hawi, the Comanchero national president, has been widely condemned following his alleged involvement in last month's Sydney Airport brawl, in which Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas was killed.Senior members of more than a dozen clubs have voted to oust the 28-year-old Bexley man.

Gang member chased the pair down in an alley and shot both 27-year-olds.

27-year-old Illinois man is dead and another injured after a gang-related shooting in Milwaukee.In an e-mail, Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz says two 27-year-old gang members from Illinois were walking on the south side when they got into an argument with another gang standing on a porch about 12:30 a.m. Saturday.Schwartz says one gang member chased the pair down in an alley and shot both 27-year-olds. One died at the scene and the other was treated for a graze wound.The victims' names have not been released. Police are still working on family notifications.

Juan Carlos Balderas, 21, of Encinitas died shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday in a Madison Street lot

Juan Carlos Balderas, 21, of Encinitas died shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday in a Madison Street lot adjacent to the park, authorities said.Balderas was at the park with a group of fellow gang members who were later arrested for the shooting, Cain said."It is possible that this was not their intended victim," the lieutenant said.
Police believe that, before the weapon was fired, Balderas and his fellow Encinitas gang members were in some kind of a conflict with someone from Carlsbad, Cain said. One of the Encinitas gang members fired, the confusion and darkness perhaps contributing to Balderas being struck, he said.By the time police arrived, Balderas was dead. According to the medical examiner's office, he died from a shotgun wound to the chest and armpit region.Witnesses in the residential neighborhood reported seeing people running away, Cain said.By Monday evening, police had arrested three men who Cain described as gang members who accompanied Balderas to Carlsbad. A shotgun was recovered Sunday at the La Costa home of one of the men, Javier Lopez, 19, Cain said. Police believe it was the gun that killed Balderas.Jose Angel Barraza, 26, and Victor Virjilio Lopez, 21, were arrested Monday in connection with the shooting, police said. Victor and Javier Lopez are not related, Cain said.
On Tuesday, Barraza and Javier Lopez were being held at the Vista jail without bail on charges including murder and participating in a criminal street gang, according to county booking logs. Victor Lopez was being held on a parole violation.The killing occurred in a residential area south of downtown Carlsbad claimed by the city's only documented gang, Cain said. He said the Encinitas gang members possibly headed to Carlsbad looking for trouble with their sometime-rivals.

18-year-old Damien Ray Garza was arrested Thursday after leaving an apartment in Beaverton, Ore., a suburb of Portland

18-year-old Damien Ray Garza was arrested Thursday after leaving an apartment in Beaverton, Ore., a suburb of Portland. He’s now been charged with the fatal shooting March 26 of 34-year-old Tyrone M. Tinsley.Police said Garza was with some gang friends that evening when Tinsley walked by his house. Tinsley had a bandanna in his back pocket showing his membership in a rival gang, police said.
Garza and Tinsley exchanged insults and Tinsley walked on to buy a beer, police said. On the way back, Tinsley again exchanged insults with the rival gang, police said. Garza and his brother contend Tinsley pulled out a meat cleaver, but others say he’d dropped the cleaver and was unarmed when he was shot, according to police. He was shot in both sides of his head, his chest and his lower back, according to court documents. Garza fled after the shooting, police said.

Makoi boys lucrative trade in drugs from New Zealand, is helping to finance gun smuggling of some heavy weaponry from the United States.

lucrative trade in drugs from New Zealand, is helping to finance gun smuggling of some heavy weaponry from the United States.In Samoa strong tradition balances precariously alongside a growing guns and drugs culture.There is a group in Samoa known as the Makoi boys and their business is selling marijuana and P. Their patch is controlled with their weapons of choice - machetes, rocks and axes.
But in Samoa there is another weapon of choice. Guns of all sizes are being smuggled in from the US, and it's becoming big business.
Weapons are hidden in car boots and sold at prices ranging from $300 to $1,500 depending on the type of gun. Even gang members from the US, Samoans who have done prison time and are then deported back to the islands, are surprised at what is now available. But while high powered weapons are easily available in Samoa they are not often used, it's more about flexing muscle. "If south Auckland had access to the guns you can get here in Samoa, south Auckland would be a war zone, a different place and if kids in south Auckland were running around with AK47s they wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger, whereas here you can't," says Herman Loto Salaria, Security Specialist - Pride. Those smuggling and selling weapons also deal methamphetamine brought in from New Zealand. There are several drug lords whose clients include people in top positions of responsibility, so they work in the shadows as there is too much at stake.It appears young Samoans from New Zealand and others with gang affiliations overseas are attracting unwanted attention by selling drugs to kids.

Vancouver another Gangland Slaying

Shortly before midnight, police responded to calls of shots fired in the 2800 block of Bentall Street in east Vancouver. When they arrived at the scene, they found a man slumped over in the driver's seat of a white SUV in a restaurant parking lot. The VPD Major Crimes Homicide Squad is investigating and several witnesses have been interviewed. It appears to be a targeted shooting and further investigation will reveal whether there are links to gang activity.

Comanchero leader Mahmoud Mick Hawi was charged Monday with fighting in public in a way that caused bystanders to fear for their safety

Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi, leader of the Commancheros, is the sixth member of the gang arrested over the clash that left a Hell's Angels biker bleeding to death in front of terrified travelers at a domestic terminal at Sydney Airport.The slaying thrust long-simmering violence between biker gangs in Australia into the public spotlight, raised fears of widespread reprisal attacks and prompted a crackdown by authorities.Hawi, 28, was due to appear in court later Monday. His lawyer, John Korn, told reporters Hawi would ask to be released on bail.In the March 22 brawl, Anthony Zervas, the brother of a Hell's Angels leader in Sydney, was bludgeoned to death with metal poles after members of both gangs disembarked from the same flight from the southern city of Melbourne.A week later, an unknown gunman opened fire on the brother, Peter Zervas, hitting him several times and badly wounding him as he sat in a car outside his apartment building.No one has been charged in Anthony Zervas' killing. The charges against the Commanchero members are for "affray" — fighting in public and causing bystanders to fear for their safety. They face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.Last week, the New South Wales state government rushed through tough new laws that allow officials to ban gangs and imprison those who defy such a ban for up to five years.Police have also launched a new anti-gang unit to tackle biker violence.
motorcycle gang leader surrendered to police Monday and became the sixth biker charged in connection with a brawl that left a rival bleeding to death before shocked travelers at Australia's busiest airport.The March 22 slaying at Sydney's domestic airport thrust long-simmering violence among biker gangs in Australia into the public spotlight, raised fears of widespread reprisal attacks and prompted a crackdown by authorities.No one has been charged with causing the death of Anthony Zervas, the brother of a well-known Hell's Angels member, who was bludgeoned to death during a rolling melee between Hell's Angels and Comanchero gang members through the terminal.Comanchero leader Mahmoud Mick Hawi was charged Monday with fighting in public in a way that caused bystanders to fear for their safety — a crime called affray — at the airport.
Five other Comanchero members have previously been charged with the same offense, and each faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted.John Korn, Hawi's lawyer, said his client gave himself up Monday. Hawi appeared briefly in court and ordered to jail pending a bail hearing Tuesday.A week after the brawl, an unknown gunman opened fire on the victim's brother, Peter Zervas, hitting him several times and badly wounding him as he sat in a car outside his apartment building.Last week, the New South Wales state government rushed through tough new laws that allow officials to ban gangs and imprison those who defy such a ban for up to five years.Police have also launched a new anti-gang unit to tackle biker violence.Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Monday without naming sources that state Premier Nathan Rees and Police Minister Tony Kelly have been placed under 24-hour guard by armed police because of fears bikers could launch attacks in revenge for the crackdown. Rees and Kelly refused to comment.
Biker gangs have existed in Australia since the late 1960s, and turf battles have ebbed and flowed.

Five suspected gang members were taken into police custody after a gang battle in Sioux City

Five suspected gang members were taken into police custody after a gang battle in Sioux City Wednesday night.
Rescue crews were called to the 400 block of Cook St. just before 7 pm for a report of someone injured in the fight. Sioux City police say a male juvenile suffering from a serious head injury was taken to a local hospital. His condition has not yet been released. Police believe he was assaulted by several people with crowbars and baseball bats. Most of the five people that were arrested in connection to the incident are adults.Arrested were Justin Lynam, 19, of Sioux City, Jose Rodriguiz, 23, and Ashley Lyons, 21, both of South Sioux City. Also arrested were two 16-year-olds, Eddie Sandoval of Sioux City and Rodrigo Rodriguez of South Sioux City. Police say several other suspects were also identified and will be arrested in the future.

Peter Zervas, the 32-year-old brother of Anthony, was shot ,Hells Angel was shot multiple times as he came home, a brothel was peppered with bullets

Hells Angel was shot multiple times as he came home, a brothel was peppered with bullets and hundreds of police are spending every night primed for another outbreak of gun violence but don't worry, our state's police minister is feeling confident, declaring today: "Everything's under control."Minister for Police, Tony Kelly, made the optimistic comment during a radio interview .Hells Angels brother of a man bashed to death in a bikie brawl at Sydney Airport has been gunned down outside his Sydney home.Peter Zervas, the 32-year-old brother of Anthony, was shot three times as he tried to park his car in an underground car park at a Punchbowl Road apartment block in the suburb of Lakemba about 11.45 last night.He had got out of his car to open a mesh security gate allowing entrance to the car park when he was shot.He was treated by ambulance officers and taken to St George Hospital in a critical condition.As of 4am he was being operated on but was in a stable condition."A 32-year-old-man stopped his motor vehicle in the driveway of a unit block ... a number of shots were then fired, hitting the man," Campsie local area commander, Superintendent Paul Lennon, said."Another man was seen ... running from the unit block."
That man was described as being about 175 centimetres tall, of large, muscular build, with collar-length dark hair and wearing dark jeans and a dark, long-sleeved jacket.He was seen running across Punchbowl Road after the shooting."A [white] motor vehicle ... had to sound its horn to avoid colliding with the gentleman running across the road."Police want to speak to both the driver of the white car and the man who ran across Punchbowl Road.
It is not yet known whether another motorcycle club is responsible for the shooting.The shooting comes only two days after Peter Zervas, along with family and members of the Hells Angels and Bandidos, buried his brother.It is also the latest in a string of bikie-related shootings that has swept south western and western Sydney.Both Zervas brothers were involved in a brawl with about 10 Comanchero Motorcycle Club members at Terminal 3 of Sydney's domestic airport on March 2, along with Hells Angels Sydney Chapter president, Derek Wainohu, and other club members.Anthony Zervas was killed after being hit with a metal bollard used in the fight.

Juan Pablo Gutierrez was one of 23 people who purchased 339 weapons in a 15-month period.

Juan Pablo Gutierrez was one of 23 people who purchased 339 weapons in a 15-month period. At least 40 of these weapons have been recovered in Mexico and three have been found in Guatemala, according to court documents

."He was arming an infantry squad," prosecutor Mark White told U.S. District Judge Gray Miller. "He wasn't just arming local street thugs. This defendant was doing something a lot more serious."

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty in January to eight counts of making false statements to a federal firearms licensee, claiming he was buying the weapons for himself.White said Gutierrez refused to identify his customers.But prosecutors suspect Gutierrez was purchasing the guns for a cousin, and White said Gutierrez has a cousin whose father-in-law is Osiel Cardenas-Guillen. The drug kingpin was extradited in 2007 from Mexico to Texas and is set to be tried in Houston in September.After the court hearing, White declined to say if he knew whether the guns were purchased for Cardenas-Guillen's son-in-law."He's scared of the people that got him into this. That's why he didn't cooperate. He's worried for his family's safety," defense lawyer David Adler said.Gutierrez, who was also fined $7,500, apologized to his family and friends before being sentenced, saying he didn't know where the firearms he bought would end up."I've hurt people who I've never met," he said.
Gutierrez bought 20 weapons from Carter's Country, a chain of four gun stores based in the Houston suburb of Spring, from October 2006 to December 2006. Five of these weapons have been recovered at crime scenes in Mexico.

Three of those included two Bushmaster assault rifles that were among an arsenal of weapons seized in April 2007 from a group of 20 suspected kidnappers and drug traffickers in Campeche, Mexico, in the Yucatan Peninsula, and another Bushmaster rifle seized in December 2007 when 11 suspected Zetas — the Gulf cartel's infamous hit men — were arrested in Campeche after assaulting police.

Prosecutors said Gutierrez also bought several FN 5.7 caliber pistols, semiautomatic handguns which can fire armor-piercing bullets and are popular with drug cartels. In all, Gutierrez bought weapons worth more than $17,800. The organization he worked for bought weapons worth more than $366,000.The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began investigating in January 2007 after a routine inspection of Carter's Country's records. A worker at Carter's Country declined to make anyone available to comment on the case. The chain was named Houston's "best place to buy guns" by a newspaper in 2006.Adler said guns dealers share culpability for guns going into Mexico."The problem won't be solved until the government focuses on the conduct of gun dealers," he said.
Authorities say that Gutierrez also used a so-called "straw buyer" to buy eight Beretta 9mm handguns. That person later cooperated with authorities.Gutierrez could have been sentenced up to 10 years for each count he faced and fined up to $250,000.John Phillip Hernandez, another member of this organization, pleaded guilty last year to similar charges in the case and is set to be sentenced next month.Authorities say one of the guns Hernandez bought was recovered from a bloody February 2007 daylight shooting in the resort city of Acapulco, where more than a dozen armed assailants staged simultaneous attacks against two police stations, killing five police investigators and two secretaries.On Thursday, a South Texas man who organized a dozen others to buy guns from licensed dealers so that he could smuggle them to Mexico was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Deputy Marshal Vincent Bustamante Executed in Mexican Town of Executed in Mexican Town of Juarez

US marshal accused of stealing government property has been shot dead execution-style in the lawless Mexican border town of Juarez in the latest murder along the violence-gripped Rio Grande frontier. The body of Deputy Marshal Vincent Bustamante was found with multiple gun wounds to the back of his head, according to Chihuahua state policeThe Mexican government is engaged in an epic war with drug cartels, the unrelenting violence has claimed the lives of thousands of federal troops, police officers, politicians as well as civilians. A favorite pastime of US politicians is to accuse the Mexican government of pervasive and systemic corruption, but we have to give Mexican President Felipe Calderon credit for having the courage to declare war on the drug cartels.The violence has spilled over into American cities along the US-Mexican border, and some Americans blame only Mexico for the drug-inspired violence.
Now that a US Marshal has been killed execution style in the Mexican border town of Juarez some yahoos are demanding that Obama militarize the border. What the "seal the border" crowd fails to mention is that the US Marshall was under investigation by US authorities for theft of US government property. The murder of the crooked US law enforcement official was probably linked to his criminal activity.We can't put all the blame on Mexico for the drug violence, the Mexican drug organization thrive because of the insatiable desire of Americans for illegal drugs. Guns of any kind are very difficult to obtain in Mexico, it's weapons from the US smuggled south across the border that enable the Mexican drug gangs to unleash death and mayhem on the Mexican population. Mexican President Calderon has requested more money from the US to fight the cartels. Obama should immediately send him more aid, considering that the drug gangs would go out of business if it weren't for American guns and American appetite for drugs.

Tasmanian Outlaw bikies had long been linked to criminal behaviour, including violence, drugs and illegal weapon trading

Outlaw bikies had long been linked to criminal behaviour, including violence, drugs and illegal weapon trading.No doubt some Tasmanian gangs were linked to those interstate, and police must act to ensure violent feuds between rival gangs interstate did not leach into this state."I think these are real issues and I believe we need to be very conscious of what's going on interstate," Mr Dean said."Because of what's happening, police should lift it up to another level where they are watching very closely."We do not want (bikies) coming from the mainland to this state and creating the issues that they have on the mainland."A bikie war exploded in public last Sunday when a 29-year-old man was bashed to death after a brawl between two rival gangs - the Hells Angels and the Comancheros - at Sydney Airport.The attack came hours after the Bandidos bikie gang was involved in a series of drive-by shootings at six homes in Sydney suburbs, sparked by a feud with another club, Notorious.The interstate bikie bloodshed continued on Tuesday when two members of the Rebels were gunned down and killed in Canberra.Last year police raised concerns that Tasmania could become a haven for bikie gangs because of a lack of specific legislation targeting organised crime.A federal joint committee inquiry in Hobart questioned whether Tasmania could be a soft target for gangs moving from other states and heard bikie gangs had been linked with organised crime including drug and gun-trafficking, money-laundering and prostitution.The committee heard Tasmania had five active gangs - including Rebels, Outlaws, Satan's Riders and Devil's Henchmen - with 13 chapter houses and about 230 members.

Mr Dean said Tasmania did not experience the same level of bikie violence as other states but that he had seen regular cases of bikie-related crime during his 35 years in the police force.

"There were times when we had immense problems with bikie gangs," he said.

He said drugs were always a problem and recalled a major raid at Latrobe in which police had to use sledgehammers to gain access to a bikie clubhouse.

Mr Dean did not think huge changes to Tasmania's legislation were needed but that there should be better enforcement of existing laws - including enforcement of fortification legislation introduced two years ago to give police power to close fortified bikie clubhouses.

He said there were some very law-abiding motorcycle groups in the community but there were also outlaw groups with a history of violence and crime.

"As far as I'm aware (Tasmanian bikie-gang activity) has been reasonably quiet in recent times," Mr Dean said.

"But that's not to say it's not going to happen. We do have clubs here and with clubs come some problems."

"And while there's nothing to suggest (Tasmanian bikie gangs) are out of control, we certainly need to keep an eye out ... we don't want to go through what's happening on the mainland."

Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Phil Wilkinson said police already kept a close eye on bikies.

"The activity of all the clubs is monitored by Tasmania Police," he said.

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Crispin Borunda raiders overpowered guards and made off with Borunda.

Dozen men armed with automatic rifles raided a Chihuahua City hospital where Crispin Borunda, a suspected drug smuggler, had been transferred from a local prison for treatment of a heart ailment, said a spokesman for state prosecutors.The raiders overpowered guards and made off with Borunda.The prison's warden and 16 others, including guards and doctors, have been suspended and are under investigation for helping Borunda escape, the spokesman said.
Gangland killings have become commonplace in Chihuahua despite a crackdown on drug cartels by police and soldiers, and the escape was just the latest embarrassment to Mexican law enforcement.
Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, snuck out of a high-security jail in a laundry van in 2001 and now presides over one of the country's most deadly organizations, the Sinaloa cartel.

Keith Ennis 29-year-old drug dealer found dead in a Dutch canal last month, and only identified last week, was tortured before he was stabbed to death

Keith Ennis 29-year-old drug dealer found dead in a Dutch canal last month, and only identified last week, was tortured before he was stabbed to death and his dismembered body parts put into refuse sacks. The torso of Keith Ennis showed signs of stab and slash marks. Ennis, of Oakway, Clondalkin, is believed to have been murdered by a Dublin gangster who has killed at least six men.
Ennis fled the Republic while on bail after being charged with possession of cocaine and a Glock pistol in November 2007. Two days after his arrest gardai raided a warehouse in Ballymount Industrial Estate and seized five pistols and nine kilos of cocaine. Two men were arrested at the scene. Ennis was an associate of a Dublin drugs gang controlled by former members of the republican terror group, the Irish National Liberation Army. The gang has close links with former Irish drug dealers now based in the Netherlands who are believed to have tracked down Ennis.The murder is the 11th killing involving Dublin gangs this year. So far all remain unsolved though gardai in the Kevin Street District have sent files to the Director of Public Prosecutions over the murder of "Champagne" Johnny Carroll shot dead in a pub in The Coombe on February 18. More than 20 people have been arrested in relation to that murder and last week gardai arrested and questioned a 61-year-old man related to the prime suspect.Keith Ennis was identified by fingerprints sent by Dutch police to Garda headquarters last week. The body had been dismembered the first time this has happened in a gangland killing.
A bail hearing at Dublin District Court heard that Ennis sold a business in 2006 and intended buying a trucking company. His partner was three months pregnant at the time he appeared in court.
Ennis was granted bail on a surety of €20,000 and on condition that he sign on twice daily at Clondalkin Garda station and observe a curfew. He fled shortly afterwards. His family was notified of his death on Thursday.The gang responsible for the murder is one of the most violent in Dublin and carried out the double murder of Darren Carey, 20, and Patrick Murray, 19, whose bodies were recovered from the Grand Canal on New Year's Day in 2000. It is believed the pair were killed after they stole cocaine worth €30,000 from the gang.
Ennis was arrested in November 2007 after he was recognized by gardai in Pearse Street station. He was carrying €23,000 in cash. When gardai raided his house they found the pistol and cocaine valued at €2,000.The gardai also found documents relating to the warehouse in Ballymount where they discovered the cocaine and five guns.The other gangland killings this year are: The January 8 murders of Michael "Roly" Cronin, 35, and James Moloney, 26, as they sat in a car in Summerhill in the north inner city; Stephen O'Halloran, 20, in Tallaght on January 19; Graham Nally, 35, in Finglas on January 20; Richard Keogh, 30, from Cabra, on January 24 in Spain; Michael Hendrick, 36, in Clondalkin on February 9; John Carroll, 33, in the south inner city on February 12; Michael Murray, 41, in Finglas on March 4; Seamus O'Byrne, 27, in Tallaght on March 12 and Liam Murray, 41, in Rathfarnham on St Patrick's Day.

Sex Money Murder Sentenced David J. Garmon, 24, of Seminole Trail, to serve 13 years before being eligible for parole.

Sentenced David J. Garmon, 24, of Seminole Trail, to the term that will require him to serve 13 years before being eligible for parole. The sentence was negotiated as part of Garmon's plea deal on charges filed by both the state Attorney General's Office and the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office. Garmon told the judge he would get a new lawyer and appeal. In December, he pleaded guilty to weapon and drug charges stemming from an investigation into the Sex Money Murder set of the Bloods street gang, authorities said. It was part of a broader investigation by the New Jersey State Police Organized Crime Control Bureau - Street Gangs Central Unit and the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau into the criminal activities of the Sex Money Murder set. As a result of the investigation, detectives stopped a vehicle in which Garmon was a passenger on Feb. 27, 2008, and Garmon was arrested on outstanding warrants. He was found to be in possession of a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun.Garmon was convicted of aggravated assault in 2004 in Burlington County and therefore was prohibited as a felon from possessing a gun. On Aug. 8, 2008, members of the Pemberton Township Police Department, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Narcotics Task Force and the State Police Teams "C" Unit executed search warrants in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township at homes on Trenton Road and Seminole Trail. Garmon and Rhasaun Conover, 27, of Trenton were arrested in the raids. Officers seized drugs, cash, handguns, a stun gun, ammunition, a digital scale and drug paraphernalia during the raids. At the time, police described both as gang members.
Deputy Attorney General Philip S. Aronow told the judge Garmon continued to rack up charges while out on bail. "On each occasion that he was released, he was able to get a new weapon," he said. "Clearly, he's a danger to the community."
Over the past year, several reported members of Sex Money Murder have been arrested and prosecuted, resulting in convictions with lengthy prison sentence for some ranking members."This case is an excellent example of how we are operating throughout the state, working together across all levels of law enforcement to target street gangs and individuals who bring guns and drugs into our communities," said Attorney General Anne Milgram. "This defendant will be going to prison for a long time."

Philip Collopy fresh gangland bloodbath in the wake of the death of one of Limerick's most notorious gangsters.

fresh gangland bloodbath in the wake of the death of one of Limerick's most notorious gangsters.Detectives warned a new wave of violence may be launched by the notorious Dundon-McCarthy gang after Philip Collopy accidentally shot himself in the head last weekend.The removal of Collopy has tilted the balance of power in favour of his deadly rivals in the bitter city feud.The leaders of the Dundon-McCarthy faction feared 29-year-old Collopy, who was one of the main enforcers on the Keane-Collopy side and a ruthless criminal.Attempts had been made in the past to strike a deal with Collopy, who had a reputation for violence as well as unpredictability."They were afraid of Philip Collopy, mainly because he was a loose cannon, and with him out of the way, it leaves his outfit a lot more exposed and could put the Dundon-McCarthys in the driving seat," one senior garda officer last night told the Irish Independent."This is the first time the Collopys have suffered a loss since the feud started and we don't know yet what sort of impact the shooting will have on either side. But it does mean the power balance has shifted to the other side. "With Collopy no longer there to defend his own family or his former associates, they are beginning to look a bit isolated."Gardai are hopeful the unofficial contact that exists between individual members of the two factions could help prevent further bloodshed.
Officers point out that, despite the feud, there has been some crossover of personnel between the two gangs for specific crimes.
"They are doing deals all the time, irrespective of their gangs' position," one said.In recent months, the Dundon-McCarthys have been more concerned with internal disputes within their own ranks than with their cross-city rivals.Two young men were shot in the Ballinacurra-Weston area of Limerick last month after a falling out over the proceeds of drug trafficking. Previously, both men would have been regarded as drug dealers for the notorious outfit. Another well-known member of the gang was jailed yesterday in Limerick's district court for five months for road traffic offences. An associate of the gang who fled the country following the murder of Shane Geoghegan returned to Limerick at the weekend.
All senior members of the Dundon-McCarthy gang are locked up or have left the country.Former crimelord and head of the Keane gang, Christy Keane was released from prison last month and found a vastly changed crime scene. The 48-year-old has discovered that constant garda surveillance and investigations by the Criminal Assets Bureau have greatly hampered the gang's attempts to carry on with their dealings.

Authorities last week arrested Xavier Gonzalez, 24, Edgar Ginez, 19, and Jacob Hoffman, 18, and booked them into the county jail on murder charges.

Authorities last week arrested Xavier Gonzalez, 24, Edgar Ginez, 19, and Jacob Hoffman, 18, and booked them into the county jail on murder charges. Police said the men punched, kicked and stomped on the head of 21-year-old Armando Castro on March 14 at a house near Pecos Road and Washington Avenue. After the beating, Castro was taken to Valley Hospital Medical Center. He died several days later from his head injuries. Police are searching for a fourth man, Dwayne Romero, 24, who is also wanted in connection with the slaying. In gang culture, potential members are "jumped in" to prove their toughness and to show that they can withstand a beating.The four suspects are reputed members of Vicky's Town, a gang with ties to the Surenos, authorities said. The Surenos are a well-established street gang with members spread across the United States and as far as Central America.A relative of Castro declined to comment about the slaying, saying her life could be in danger.
Witnesses told police Castro had gone with the defendants on March 14 to become a full-fledged member of Vicky's Town. While they were outside a house on the 3600 block of Amazon Avenue drinking beer, Gonzalez told another man to turn on the lights of a truck so they could videotape the beating, according to a Las Vegas police report. Gonzalez told Castro that he was going to get jumped in, he counted to three, and then the beating began, the report says. The men beat Castro for 13 seconds. The number 13 is known to be a common symbol for the Surenos. It represents the 13th letter in the alphabet, "M," and signifies the Mexican Mafia, a much larger gang organization that is said to control the Surenos and smaller gang sets.
Castro was knocked out for about 15 minutes after the beating. When he woke, he was woozy and couldn't stand. The other members taunted Castro and told him he "was in," the report said. They then took photos of him. He was dropped off at his house but was so shaky that he needed to be helped to the door. He told a relative that he was attacked "by some black guys," the report states. After police began investigating the slaying, detectives spoke with witnesses who confirmed Castro was beaten.
Police found a video showing the beating posted on YouTube.com under the title "Vicky's Town 13 Court in.""Court in" is another term for "jump in."
The video showed several men beating the victim and stomping on his head. After the beating, Castro is dragged to the back of a truck and the video ends.The video was posted for about seven hours when police found it. It was taken down shortly after authorities watched it. After police arrested Gonzalez, he admitted he recorded the beating and confirmed that Castro was jumped in. Gonzalez told police that jumping in is "a Southside rule" and that after the beating, the recruit is "welcome into the family," the report says. The three defendants in custody are scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court on Thursday. One witness to the beating, who declined to be identified out of fear for her safety, said the gang members were shocked when they learned that Castro was hospitalized. "When they found out he was in the hospital, everybody felt bad," she said. "They couldn't believe it."

Hell’s Angels member was beaten to death in a Sydney airport, an action which may have been retaliation for a series of drive-by shootings

A Hell’s Angels member was beaten to death in a Sydney airport, an action which may have been retaliation for a series of drive-by shootings on rival gang members’ houses. In Denmark there are reports the Hell’s Angels are waging a war by proxy utilizing Ak 81 to fight immigrant “youth” gangs who have terrorized and shut down large parts of that country. While it is claimed by some journalists that new pushes by the Angels against rivals old and new is simply an attempt to gain greater control of the drug trade, it should be noted that the rival Biker gangs in Australia at war with the Hell’s Angels now (Banditos and Comancheros) Like The Mongols here, these gangs have been altered by recruitment programs which target populations who produce “foot soldiers” more useful to the gang than the old schoolers.The Daily Telegraph reports that the leader of the Comancheros is Mahmoud Hawi, who has displayed Hamas-like media savvy in using Telegraph reporter Lisa Davis to put out propaganda to the Australian public designed to make the Comancheros look like the reasonable aggrieved party when they worked in tandem with Banditos members to murder Hell’s Angel Anthony Zervas, who the media has painted as deserving of his brutal slaying with stories of his violent recent past.
One of the Bandito members arrested in the slaying was Mahmoud Dib. Australian police have been coy about releasing the names of other assailants in the country due to the tensions between Australians and immigrants that exist.A world away, Denmark is a country besieged by violence and the Angels have suggested the violence will stop on their end when immigrant communities there “clean up their act” and stop the rampages that mar Europe with alarming frequency.

South Florida gang member "When we've got to get violent we get violent," he explained. "Whether with other gang members or with people in general

When a group of masked gunmen burst into a Dunkin' Donuts last year in Delray Beach and began indiscriminately shooting customers, they were doing more than just robbing it they were announcing the arrival of a new Crips gang chapter in South Florida. After being caught for that robbery, as well as a string of similar violent incidents in Broward County, one of the suspects bragged about his gang affiliation.
"These are just cold blooded thugs who enjoyed doing this," Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said back in December. "In fact one of them, when asked, `Why did you shoot innocent, innocent people?', his response was he just wanted to up his body count."
Those shootings, as well as a recent spate of violence in Miami Dade County, are all vivid examples of the growing reach of South Florida gangs. "We have seen a resurgence in active recruiting by national gangs in South Florida that, combined with a significant increase in violence arising out of small neighborhood drug-based gangs, has led to an explosion of violence in the last few years," said Frank Ledee, head of the Miami Dade State Attorney's Gang Unit. Ledee estimates the number of active gangs in South Florida at between 160 and 200, with a total membership well in excess of 2,000. And violence is often the currency they trade in for respect – or at least what passes for respect in gang life. "You have many situations where gang members will go out and commit certain acts of violence, shooting someone, a random person on the street, just too either earn rank, or to earn respect within a certain criminal street gang," he said. "Respect is akin to fear. If you can impose fear in the hearts of your rivals, you have won, and that was what they [in the Dunkin' Donuts robberies] intended to do."
A longtime South Florida gang member spoke to CBS4 News on condition that we conceal his identity. He described how gang life has long been a part of the culture here in South Florida and that violence is simply part of that life.
"When we've got to get violent we get violent," he explained. "Whether with other gang members or with people in general, that's just how the gangs get down."
Have you ever shot anyone? "I've shot at people," he admitted. "Either do or die. I was getting shot at so my main thing was to shoot back." He said he doesn't know if he has ever hit anyone, but as we have often seen, gang members often miss who or what they are shooting at -- sometimes with tragic consequences. Nine-year-old Sherdavia Jenkins and 5-year-old Rickia Isaac are just two of the young victims who have been caught and killed in the crossfire The gang member I spoke to said the violence recently in the Dunkin' Donuts cases was foolish. "There is no need to do that," he said. "You do your crime; you do it on the low, do what you have to do, make your money." In the last few weeks, Hialeah police arrested a dozen members of a gang called 3OP for allegedly selling drugs near a school. In Homestead, a branch of the violent international gang MS13 was arrested and its members charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. And in recent months, Ledee has seen a growing number of Bloods the famed LA street gang building a presence in Dade County.
"We have identified packs in Hialeah, we have identified packs in South Dade, we have identified packs on the Beach, as well as in Miami," he said. "We estimate that the Blood groups here are over 300 strong." National gangs, like the Bloods, the Crips, the Latin Kings and the Imperial Gangsters, divide up territory and compete with local gangs, such as the YLOS in Hialeah or the Haitian gangs in Miami.
One thing all these gangs share is that they have no trouble recruiting new members, and it often starts in the schools. "If you are being bullied on, that's how a lot of members become gang members, they become bullied or whatever and they seek protection," the gang member told CBS4 News. And the gangs become their families.
"In the beginning when I got in the gang I needed the attention, I needed the love," he said. "I wanted to be part of something I didn't have." But the newest trend in gang recruitment is the Internet. "It's easier to recruit on the Internet like through MySpace and Facebook and things like that," said the gang member. Ledee says some of the national gangs are so internet savvy, they design their websites as recruitment tools and post videos enticing would-be members. Using a computer, Ledee showed how easy it is to find information on various gangs. "He wants to join the Latin Kings, he goes to MySpace, he types in Latin Kings," Ledee says. "All of the things that they believe in, they actually put on the public web sites. So just by going to one site you have an incredible amount of information for recruitment purposes. This is how they communicate." And the price of admission is allegiance to the gang. "You've got to pay your dues," the gang member explains. "You are out there doing crimes, doing whatever you've got to pay your dues. You've got to make sure you pay the person in charge their dues so that we can have money for whatever reason." And for what reason do they need the money? "Party, that's one, that's the main one, we like to party," he said. "Two, in case one of your gang members gets arrested they need to get bonded out of jail. So we've got some money for that. Gas for our cars – cars break down. What happens if we need to do a drive by but we ain't got a car to do a dive by because the brakes are messed up on the car? We need money to fix that." The biggest misnomer about gangs in South Florida is that it's a problem isolated to the poorest neighborhoods. When gang members need money, they rob or commit burglaries in some of the better neighborhoods.

George Torres seemed to fare remarkably well with local gangbangers and taggers.

George Torres seemed to fare remarkably well with local gangbangers and taggers.
His Numero Uno supermarkets, for the most part, remained as pristine on the outside as they were sparkling on the inside. And, after a rough beginning, he had relatively few run-ins with local toughs.Just how Torres, 52, was able to achieve this apparent status promises to be an underlying theme in his racketeering trial, which got underway this week in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom of U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson.Torres' defense attorneys portray him as a self-made entrepreneur who earned the respect of neighborhood mothers -- and, by extension, their sons -- by bringing fresh meat and produce to their neighborhoods at a fair price. He was a man who treated customers with respect and gave at-risk youths jobs to help steer them from gangs and drugs.Federal prosecutors, on the other hand, contend that Torres is a ruthless businessman who cultivated an aura of danger. He ran his highly profitable supermarkets as a criminal enterprise in which he hired illegal workers, bribed a public official and -- when people crossed him -- arranged to have them killed, prosecutors say.

The case relies heavily on the testimony of current and former Torres employees as well as allegedly incriminating statements by Torres caught on wiretapped phone calls. Torres' brother, Manuel, who worked as a manager and "right-hand man" for Torres at the markets, is a co-defendant.

Steven G. Madison, Torres' lead attorney, suggested to jurors in his opening statement Tuesday that the government's case was the result of an overzealous LAPD detective who had a vendetta against George Torres. Madison also said the case was being held together by convicted felons hoping to win early release by cooperating with prosecutors.By far the most sensational allegations revolve around three murders that prosecutors say Torres solicited, beginning in the early 1990s.According to Assistant U.S. Atty. Timothy J. Searight, Torres' campaign of violence began in 1993, shortly after he bought a small store that he then closed and began remodeling to open as his second market.Soon after Torres bought the store, Searight told jurors, some Primera Flats gang members who hung out across the street began hassling his security guards. A few weeks later, one of the guards was shot in the back of the head and killed.Searight said Torres became convinced that one of the gang members was responsible. He turned to a trusted employee and protege, Ignacio "Nacho" Meza, to retaliate, the prosecutor said. Three weeks later, Searight said, Meza leaned out of the window of a car driven by another man and sprayed a group of Primera Flats members with gunfire. Four people were hit and one, Edward Carpel, was killed.Torres turned to Meza again later that year when a gang member called "Shorty," whom he had hired to provide security after the L.A. riots, tried to extort money from Torres as a "tax" for operating one of his stores in gang territory."You need to take care of Shorty," Searight quoted Torres as saying.
A few weeks later, Jose "Shorty" Maldonado was fatally shot after walking out of a barbershop across the street from the main Numero Uno market on Jefferson Boulevard south of downtown L.A. Searight said Meza pulled the trigger.Four years later, the prosecutor said, Meza was himself the victim of Torres' vengeance.

Searight said Meza, who was also a major drug dealer, was in debt after having some drugs and money seized by authorities. He stole $500,000 from Torres and used the money to repay the debt.

Searight said Torres suspected Meza immediately but pretended he did not. Though Meza had stopped working at the stores, Torres lured him back with a job offer. The prosecutor said Meza disappeared his first day back at work, Oct. 5, 1998."Precisely how he died is not known," Searight told jurors. "His body was never found."Madison, a former federal prosecutor, told the jury that the government's case relied almost entirely on the testimony of two convicted drug dealers, both of whom are serving lengthy sentences in federal prison and hope to have the terms reduced by helping convict Torres.One of the convicts, who is caught in dozens of wiretapped phone conversations with Torres in which the two appear to be talking in conspiratorial tones, is expected to testify that Torres asked him to kill Meza but that he refused.Madison said that despite about 125,000 wiretapped telephone conversations and searches of Torres' home, business and even his garbage, "there is not a single piece of evidence that relates in any way to solicitation to do murder.""These two witnesses are all they have," he said.
He said the case against Torres was initiated by a detective from the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division who appeared fixated on the supermarket magnate. He said the detective ignored compelling evidence that Carpel and Maldonado were the victims of gang-related shootings, and the possibility that Meza fled the country because he was under indictment in a major drug case.Madison said the detective also appeared to violate protocol for dealing with informants, such as the practice of keeping them apart so they don't have the opportunity to concoct a story together. Madison said the detective in the Torres case actually arranged for two informants to share a cell and is heard on tape asking: "Have you guys talked yet? You got it straight?"The trial, which is expected to last a month to eight weeks, resumes today.

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MS-13.Group of 34 illegals were apprehended by agents near Ajo

Group of 34 illegals were apprehended by agents near Ajo. Two of them were members of a notorious and ruthless gang known as MS-13. How did agents find out? Finger prints and tattoos were a dead-giveaway. "These two individuals, not only did their criminal record prove they were gang members, but also their tattoo affiliations," Agent Scioli says. "They're all under 13 as the 13th letter in the English alphabet which links them to the Mexican Mafia, the largest gang running in the US right now."
Authorities say the gang has at least 850,000 members. Many of them have drug and human smuggling ties, great contacts to have when trying to enter the U.S. under the radar.In response to this, local, state and federal officials have beefed up security significantly. Just last week, we got a look at what's essentially an X-ray machine on wheels, which can detect virtually anything that anybody's trying to hide or bring in illegally. But these people aren't coming in through checkpoints and other ports of entry. Many of them are military trained, organized crime members. Last fiscal year, the Border Patrol apprehended at least 60 hardened gangsters in the Tucson Sector. So far this year, they've already arrested 25 and the number is only growing. Says Agent Scioli, "It just proves again that these aren't people coming over for jobs, these aren't people trying to take care of their families back in Mexico, they're coming over to cause havoc."

Mahmoud Dib, 26, "sergeant-at-arms" Bandidos arrested

Mahmoud Dib, 26, is believed to be the "sergeant-at-arms" of the biker gang Bandidos. Sergeant-At-Arms of the Bandidos' Parramatta chapter, Mahmoud Dib, was refused bail today after he was arrested at his Auburn home in a major police operation. The Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad, with tactical and riot squad officers, raided the 26-year-old's house at Park Road, Auburn, while it was still dark at 6am (8am NZ time) this morning.NSW Police are targeting the city's bikie gangs following a fatal brawl at Sydney Airport on Sunday in which the 29-year-old brother of a senior Hells Angels member was bludgeoned to death.Dib was charged with six firearms offences, including possessing a firearm in a public place and possessing an unregistered firearm, after gang squad detectives found a loaded gun in a car owned by Dib parked in a Guildford Street last Monday.Acting Superintendent Angelo Memmolo, from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad, said a .45 calibre semi-automatic pistol, loaded with seven bullets, was found in the car.Dib was not in the car at the time, but was in the area, he said.Acting Superintendent Memmolo said no drugs nor weapons were found in the raid.A friend of Dib was arrested outside Burwood Local Court this afternoon after allegedly spitting on a News Ltd photographer.Five of Dib's friends were in the court as Dib appeared, but he did not make an application for bail.Dib appeared in court wearing a red hoodie and did not speak except for a few moments when approached by his lawyer, Mohammed Masri.The matter will return to court on Friday.Outside the court, one of Dib's friends, wearing a white singlet and the words "Bandit" tattooed on his throat, stuck his finger up at the photographer and appeared to make a slashing movement near his throat before spitting at him.Police officers standing nearby pounced on the man and took him into custody. While on the floor, the man screamed: "I can't breath, I'm claustrophobic."Shooting 'related to feud'Dib was arrested in relation to a series of tit-for-tat drive-by shootings in the Auburn area.The shootings are believed to be related to a feud between the Bandidos' Parramatta Chapter and an emerging gang, called Notorious.Dib's home was the target of a drive-by shooting last Monday. Some bullets punched through the front wall and narrowly missed him, his wife and two young children.It is understood that, later on Monday, police pulled Dib over and searched his car.The next day, two houses in Sydney's west - one believed to be the home of senior Notorious member's mother - were peppered with bullets.Since then, there have been several more drive-by shootings in Sydney's south-west.Police also seized two Harley Davidson motorcycles during the raid.A source close to the Bandidos' Parramatta chapter said police had the wrong guy."This is crazy. [Dib] was trying to shut down the violence. What are they doing about Notorious?"
On Sunday morning, two carloads of men associated with Notorious returned to Auburn and drove to a Pine Road residence of a Dib relative, the source said.The source said that this time the Bandidos were ready, having been tipped off to the planned attack.When the Notorious members arrived in Pine Road, members of the Bandidos opened fire and, in the ensuing gun battle, at least four of the men in the car were injured.One of those involved in the planned attack is believed to be a relative of a Notorious office bearer.An automatic weapon was believed to have been used by one of the groups in the attack and four homes were hit by bullets.It is understood that on the same night, the Bandidos also kneecapped a 19-year-old Auburn man whom they believed was passing information to Notorious.In relation to today's arrest, a police spokesman said that detectives were "seeking further evidence in relation to an ongoing firearms investigation"."In the early hours of Monday, March 16, the same [Park Road] house was a target of a drive-by shooting," he said."Later that day [investigators] carried out a vehicle stop at Granville, arresting a 26-year-old man in relation to a firearms investigation."Six days later [on Sunday] there was a shooting attack on six houses in the vicinity of Park Road [on Cumberland Road, North Street and Pine Road]."Two males, the occupants of one of the properties, were injured.An 18-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to his leg and was taken to Westmead Hospital.A 17-year-old boy was treated for cuts at Auburn Hospital before being arrested. He was later released without charge."With this matter there's a tenuous, and I put it at the highest level as a tenuous, link to outlaw motorcycle gangs," a police spokesman said after Sunday's attack.Australian police arrested a senior biker-gang member on Tuesday (March 24) during a dawn raid in Sydney's west. Police confiscated two motorcycles from his home to check if they are licensed. He has also been charged for possession of a loaded gun and will face court. The police raid came after a spate of drive-by shootings, which sparked fears of a war between rival biker gangs in Sydney. A man was bludgeoned to death during a violent brawl at Sydney's domestic airport terminal on Sunday (March 22) allegedly involving tens of
bikers from different gangs --- Comancheros and Bandidos. Australian authorities promised a crackdown on gang violence on Monday (March 23) after the incident.
Four men were charged with affray after the brawl on Sunday. A 2006 Australian Crime Commission report found there were 35 outlaw motorcycle gangs in Australia, with 3,500 members. Police have blamed club defections for escalating violence including
drive-by shootings at Sydney nightclubs, the firebombing of one gang's clubhouse, and shots fired into the tattoo shop of the Nomads national president. In South Australia, police have been empowered to dismantle gang headquarters and force members to account for any unexplained wealth or income.

Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman multiple rewards of up to $2 million for information leading to the capture of the country's drug kingpins

Mexico published a list of more than 30 men the government says are leading the country's five main cartels, including Guzman's powerful Pacific-coast Sinaloa gang and the Gulf cartel in northeastern Mexico, whose feared Zeta hitmen are known for beheading rivals.Mexico on Monday offered multiple rewards of up to $2 million for information leading to the capture of the country's drug kingpins, including Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said Mexico's security forces would accept tips from rival drug gangs. "We don't rule out that those giving us information are part of (organized crime) groups. The important thing is to capture the wanted person," Medina Mora told a news conference.Mexico's President Felipe Calderon has made controlling rampant drug violence his administration's top priority and has sent 45,000 troops across the country to break up the gangs.Last week, soldiers captured two capos, but despite a string of arrests and historic drug busts, violence surged to a record 6,300 drug-related killings last year. Washington fears the drug war is spilling over into the United States.The conflict is also scaring off tourists and investment along Mexico's border just as the global economic crisis drags the country into recession.

Hybrid youth gangs in the 21st century.“cliques,” “crews,” “posses,”

Law enforcement officers from communities unaffected by gangs until the 1980s or early 1990s often find themselves scrambling to obtain training relevant to what are called hybrid youth gangs in the 21st century. When gang-related training first became widely available in the early 1990s, it often emphasized historical information, such as the formation of the Los Angeles Crips and Bloods in the late 1960s or the legacy of Chicago-based gangs (the Black Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, and Vice Lords).As law enforcement officers learned about the origins of these influential gangs, they sometimes attempted to apply this outdated information in their efforts to deal with hybrid gangs in their jurisdictions. The assumption that new gangs share the characteristics of older gangs can impede law enforcement’s attempts to identify and effectively counter local street gangs, and actions based on this assumption often elicit inappropriate responses from the community as a whole. Citizens may react negatively to law enforcement efforts when they sense that gang suppression actions are geared to a more serious gang problem than local gangs appear to present.

Because of uncertainty in reporting on problem groups such as “cliques,” “crews,” “posses,” and other nontraditional collectives that may be hybrid gangs, some police department staff spend an inordinate amount of time trying to precisely categorize local groups according to definitions of traditional gangs.

When training law enforcement groups on investigative issues surrounding drug trafficking or street gangs, instructors must resist the tendency to connect gangs in different cities just because the gangs share a common name. If the groups engage in ongoing criminal activity and alarm community members, law enforcement officers should focus on the criminal activity, regardless of the ideological beliefs or identifiers (i.e., name, symbols, and group colors) of the suspects. This practical approach would circumvent the frustration that results from trying to pigeonhole hybrid gangs into narrow categories and would avoid giving undue attention to gangs that want to be recognized as nationwide crime syndicates.

The expanded presence of gangs is often blamed on the relocation of members from one city to another, which is called gang migration. Some gangs are very transient and conduct their activities on a national basis. However, the sudden appearance of Rollin’ 60s Crips graffiti in a public park in rural Iowa, for example, does not necessarily mean that the Los Angeles gang has set up a chapter in the community. Gang names are frequently copied, adopted, or passed on. In most instances, there is little or no real connection between local groups with the same name other than the name itself. Gang migration does occur, however.

According to the National Youth Gang Survey, 18 percent of all youth gang members had migrated from another jurisdiction to the one in which they were residing. Although gang migration is stereotypically attributed to illegal activities such as drug franchising, expansion of criminal enterprises is not the principal driving force behind migration. The most common reasons for migration are social considerations affecting individual gang members, including family relocation to improve the quality of life or to be near relatives and friends. Moreover, in the National Youth Gang Survey, the vast majority (83 percent) of law enforcement respondents agreed that the appearance of gang members outside of large cities in the 1990s was caused by the relocation of young people from central cities.

Thus, the dispersion of the urban population to less populated areas contributed to the proliferation of gangs in suburban areas, small towns, and rural areas.Law enforcement professionals may not be able to differentiate among local gangs that have adopted names of the same well-known gangs from other locales but have no real connection with each other until they begin to interact with gang members through interviews, debriefings, and other contacts. “Hybrid” versions will begin to display variations of the original gang, such as giving different reasons for opposing rival gangs or displaying certain colors. Investigators who take the time to cross-check their local gang intelligence with that of other agencies concerning gangs with identical names are likely to find some subtle and some glaring differences

battle between the Bandidos and Notorious has escalated six homes in Sydney's west were hit by bullets

6 homes in Sydney's west were hit by bullets just 12 hours before a 29-year-old bikie was bludgeoned to death at Sydney Airport's domestic terminal.In a dramatic escalation of a turf war between rival bikie gangs, one man was shot, another bashed, and another murdered in the airport attack.NSW police are now faced with a crisis of resourcing with the involvement of the already over-stretched Gang Squad, the Middle Eastern Crime Squad and the Homicide Squad in a series of investigations encompassing a family feud, the escalating bikie wars and 12 allegedly linked murders and attempted murders going back a decade.The drive-by shootings at Auburn on Saturday night, which involved six houses in three streets, are believed to be related to Bandidos discovering that two of the club's Blacktown chapter "associates" were passing information to the rival club, Notorious.
"They found out two Auburn boys were being paid by Notorious to provide addresses of Bandidos members," a source told the Herald."That's how Notorious knew where [the serjeant-at-arms of the Bandidos Blacktown chapter] lived; these guys gave them the address," the source said.The tensions began in February with a drive-by shooting at a tattoo parlour - owned by the Hells Angels - and the bombing of the outfit's Petersham clubhouse moments later.Fears that the 2am blast, which blew cars off the road and tore into the side of a nearby building, was an act of retaliation have been well founded. Since then, the battle between the Bandidos and Notorious has escalated.The Auburn shootings at 1am yesterday left two men aged 18 and 17 in hospital. The elder man was treated at Westmead for a gunshot wound to his leg, and the younger man, after being treated for cuts, was taken to Auburn police station for questioning, then released without charge.The attacks have come during a separate deadly street war between rival Lebanese families, the Darwiches and the Razzaks.

Sydney's bikie warfare has exploded with a violent brawl between two gangs at Sydney Airport's domestic Qantas terminal

Sydney's bikie warfare has exploded with a violent brawl between two gangs at Sydney Airport's domestic Qantas terminal resulting in one man being bludgeoned to death in front of horrified passengers.The attack happened the same day a drive-by shooting in Sydney's west sent two men to hospital with police investigating if warfare between outlaw motorcycle gangs was to blame.Minutes after a group of men disembarked from a flight that landed about 1.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday, another group confronted them in the arrivals section of the domestic terminal.Witnesses told police an altercation ensued and lasted long enough to make its way upstairs to the departures area.One of the men picked up a portable bollard and repeatedly struck a 29-year-old man over the head, leaving him clinging to life just inside the doors of the terminal.Ambulance officers were called to the scene and treated the man before rushing him to Prince of Wales Hospital, where he later died.Naomi Constantine was waiting to go through security to board a flight to Melbourne when she witnessed the attack."They came running through picking up the big metal barrier poles and swinging them, swinging them like swords at each other," Ms Constantine told ABC Television."I saw one of the men lying on the ground and another man came up with a pole and just started smashing it into his head."Detective Inspector Peter Williams said the brawl involved 15 men from rival bikie gangs and was witnessed by up to 50 horrified passengers."It would appear a group of males have exited a plane and they were met by another group of males who we believe may be other motorcycle gang members," Det Insp Williams told reporters at the airport."A fight ensued, the fight moved through various parts of the terminal to the ultimate location where the man was deceased."Four men were arrested over the incident, while the others fled the airport - some in taxis, witnesses reported.The attack raised questions about the level of security at the Qantas terminal and the reaction time of security officers.
A Sydney Airport Corporation spokesman said: "That terminal is operated and managed by Qantas."A Qantas spokeswoman would not confirm whether the fight began in the departure lounge or outside the security screening area.She was also unable to confirm whether security guards were working within the terminal at the time.
"I'm not at liberty to comment on that," the spokeswoman told AAP.An unnamed passenger told the Nine Network that response from airport security "took a long time to get there".Traffic into the airport was reduced to a crawl for hours at the domestic terminals after roads leading to the T3 departures were cordoned off as a crime scene.The attack followed an incident about 1am (AEDT) on Sunday at Auburn, in Sydney's west, where seven houses in three streets were sprayed with gunfire.An 18-year-old man was shot in the leg and a 17-year-old male was treated for lacerations and then arrested but later released.Police seized two vehicles for forensic examination and said the houses were most likely caught in crossfire and not deliberately targeted.The NSW opposition wants the government to crack down on bikie violence, and introduce tough legislation similar to new South Australian laws.The laws are designed to dismantle criminal bikie gangs by declaring membership or association with outlawed clubs, illegal. The act also includes new charges, which carry up to 10 years jail, for bikie club members and their associates who engage in group violence."This horrific episode must finally force (Premier) Nathan Rees to stop standing by and doing nothing as criminal bikie gang members murder each other in broad daylight in public and put the wider community at risk," Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell told AAP.NSW Police Minister Tony Kelly said the government would consider the South Australia legislation."I will be meeting with the police commissioner and the attorney-general looking at additional laws that we can bring into place to round these people up," Mr Kelly told reporters in Sydney.

28-year-old man has died following a brawl at Sydney Airport on Sunday, in what is believed to be a gang related incident.

28-year-old man has died following a brawl at Sydney Airport on Sunday, in what is believed to be a gang related incident. The brawl started when two men who arrived into Sydney Airport and were met by rival motorcycle gang members. Police have arrested four men in connection with the fight in which eyewitnesses described how airport barrier poles were used as makeshift weapons.

fullscale gunfight between the warring Comancheros and Bandido motorcycle gangs.

Milperra Massacre wars in full public view threatens to return Sydney to one of the darkest periods of its modern history.The battle at Sydney airport and rival gangs taking their blood feuds into suburban streets takes the city back to an infamous Father's Day almost 25 years ago.In a gun battle that has gone down in criminal folklore as the Milperra Massacre, two bikie gangs turned a local pub carpark into a killing ground. They fought with automatic weapons, shotguns, chains, knives, baseball bats, iron bars and knuckledusters.It happened at a bike swap meet attended by many of Sydney's motorcycle fraternity. On sale were bike and car parts - second hand, new and hot.First reports on that sleepy Sunday afternoon said a man had gone berserk with a rifle at the Viking Tavern in Milperra and "a few shots" had been fired. But the "few shots" were the start of a fullscale gunfight between the warring Comancheros and Bandido motorcycle gangs.There was tension in the air as the Comancheros arrived at the tavern about 1pm, all heavily armed. Soon after, 30 Bandidos rumbled into the carpark, rifles and shotguns in scabbards fixed across their handlebars. A back-up van followed carrying more weapons.Both sides lined up at opposite ends of the car park.The bloodshed began with a signal from William George "Jock" Ross who had founded the Comancheros in 1968.Waving a machete in the air, Ross bellowed the order: "Kill 'em all."Shotgun blasts were drowned out by screams of terror and cries of abuse as the two gangs went at each other.Bystanders ran screaming from the scene while others hid behind trees and parked cars or ran into the hotel. More than 200 police were called but the battle continued for another 10 minutes while they tried to stop it.When the smoke cleared four Comancheros and two Bandidos were dead. An innocent victim caught in the crossfire was 14-year-old Leanne Walters, who was attending the swap meet with a friend. She was hit in the face by a .357 magnum bullet.Four bikies died from shotgun blasts and two from .357 magnum rifle shots. Another 20 people were admitted to hospital.
The scene in the Viking Tavern carpark that afternoon was horrific.Fallout from the gun battle over the coming years would be widespread.Inspector Ron Stephenson, called away from a family barbecue when the call came through from the police radio room, was not hit by any bullet but he became one of the casualties.Memories of the massacre would remain with him for the rest of his days. Another, Mark Pennington, one of the first on the scene, was awarded $380,000 for psychological damage.
One of the bikie leaders hanged himself in his prison cell.The Milperra Massacre was precipitated by the last mass defection among the powerful bikie gangs when a breakaway group of Comancheros formed the first Bandidos chapter in Australia. But quite a number of the gang members who took part in the battle that day belied their popular image of unwashed and dirty misfits.Among those at Milperra was a truck driver, a pay clerk, a marine engineer and an optical mechanic. One ran a family plumbing business, another played classical piano.The carnage was followed by the longest joint criminal trial in NSW history. Armed members of the tactical response group were stationed in the courtroom and police involved needed armed guards to get them home safely.On June 12, 1987, nearly three years later, a jury delivered 63 murder convictions, 147 of manslaughter and 31 of affray. Nine bikies, including Jock Ross, received life sentences.

Corey Ray Johnson, 25-year-old Joseph Kevin Dixon and 24-year-old David Lee Jr.have been found guilty of several counts each of first-degree murder

Three reputed gang members have been found guilty of several counts each of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of a young man and pregnant young woman.
Verdicts came out Friday in the trial that lasted about five months. The suspects were also found guilty of many gang-related charges.It took all morning for the verdicts to be read for 22-year-old Corey Ray Johnson, 25-year-old Joseph Kevin Dixon and 24-year-old David Lee Jr.The three were found guilty in the murders of 21-year-old James Wallace and 19-year-old Vanessa Alcala, who was several months pregnant.They were shot on McNew Court in April 2007.Alcala's family said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and sister Leticia Veleta was pleased with the guilty verdicts."Very happy, very happy," Veleta said. "We got a good outcome of it."
Veleta said she thinks the guilty verdicts on the gang-related charges send an important message."Hopefully people that are in gangs, they don't have to kill innocent people just because of a gang," Veleta said. "It's not worth it, do something else better with their lives than just kill innocent people."Verdicts were read for Johnson first, but as the judge spoke to the jury about their findings, Johnson denied he was involved."Guilty of what?" he blurted out. "(Expletive) that. Get me out of here."Guards hustled Johnson out of the courtroom.More than a dozen officers ringed the courtroom to provide extra security during the verdict reading. Many of the officers were from the Kern County Sheriff's Gang unit. Extra officers were posted in the hallway and even on the first floor of the courthouse.During a break in the session, relatives of the defendants sobbed in the hallway. None wanted to make any comments. Others muffled sobs in the courtroom when the verdicts were read for Lee.Another of Alcala's sisters said there was justice for the victims but thinks the suspects should pay a steeper price."Their families can still write to them and come visit them and stuff," sister Mayra Pulido said. "We can't bring her back. I feel they should honestly get death."Defense Attorney James Faulkner said the defendants will not face the death penalty. Prosecutor Cynthia Zimmer said the gang charges in the case will mean the three can be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.All three defendants were found guilty on a variety of gang-related charges. That included charges and enhancements like committing murder "for the benefit of" or "in association with" a criminal street gang.Judge Gary Friedman thanked the jury for their work on the long trial. He presented each juror with a special certificate of commendation, and said the court thanked them for their "courageous and dedicated" service.

Johnson, Lee and Dixon are set to be back in court on April 20 for sentencing.

Prosecutor Cynthia Zimmer said this case is important, and a critical part of it were the witnesses who testified at a gang trial.

"We had two witnesses in this case who bravely came forward, who helped us," Zimmer said. "And if we hadn't had them, we wouldn't have had gotten this conviction. So, witnesses that are out there and they know information about gang crimes, you can come forward, (and) we can help you."