LATIN AMERICAN TIMES

Britain's FBI 'abandoned chasing crime Mr Bigs because it's too difficult'

<blockquote>The elite unit set up by Labour to fight major criminals has failed to catch crime bosses because it is ‘too difficult’ and may even have been infiltrated by the underworld, says a whistleblower. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is supposed to be Britain’s answer to the FBI. When it was launched, Tony Blair pledged the organisation would ‘make life hell’ for the country’s ‘Mr Bigs’. It recruited from the cream of the police, immigration, customs and MI5 and had more than 4,000 staff in offices all over the world.  But Tim Lee, a former intelligence officer with SOCA, claims the agency has been blighted by corruption and bureaucracy. Mr Lee, 58, who joined SOCA in Nottingham when it was formed in 2006, paints a damning picture of his five years in the organisation. He claims: An investigation into a crime boss was mysteriously dropped when a SOCA officer with alleged links to the suspect took over the running of the case. Allegations of serious sexual misconduct made by a female SOCA worker against a male colleague were covered up. Hostility arose between police, customs and immigration officers when operational units were first formed in 2006.</blockquote>

Britain's FBI 'abandoned chasing crime Mr Bigs because it's too difficult'

The elite unit set up by Labour to fight major criminals has failed to catch crime bosses because it is ‘too difficult’ and may even have ...

B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in Chase — a community in B.C.'s Shuswap region — photos of himself lying on the floor beside a giant pile of money. In the accompanying email, Stirling told Shawn Martin that he wouldn't repay cash he owed him despite being flush after a recent trip to the South American cocaine centre. Bizarre details of Stirling's feud with his neighbours, Martin and his mother Myrna Beckman, over loans totalling $30,000 are laid out in a suit and counter-suit filed in August and September in Kamloops Supreme Court and obtained the Vancouver Sun. Stirling was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 18 just north of Colombia with 400 kilograms of cocaine secreted aboard his sailboat. He is currently detained in a Miami Detention Centre where he told officials "there was nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking and that the United States should mind its own business." "He further remarked that if Canada didn't have such high taxes, (he and his co-accused) could get legitimate jobs." If allegations in the B.C. court documents are accurate, some in the town of 2,500 were aware of Stirling's plan to import cocaine. Martin and Beckman, who live down the road from Stirling and his wife Marlene, say in their court claim they heard at a barbecue last March "that the plaintiff John Stirling was in Colombia setting up a massive cocaine deal." Martin and Beckman said their efforts to get repayment on several loans to the Stirlings were met with threats and harassment. They also said accusations by the Stirlings that the neighbours were the aggressors in the dispute are ridiculous — Martin has dwarfism and gets around with crutches and a wheelchair; his mother, 63, is his caregiver. Both Martin and Beckman declined to comment to the Sun because their case is before the courts. Marlene Stirling did not return calls. The documents show that Stirling, a 60-year-old convicted cocaine trafficker, struck first against his neighbours, filing a suit on Aug. 29 asking for $10 million in damages. Stirling said in a brief synopsis that over the last two years, his disabled neighbour and mom have threatened the Stirlings "with bodily harm and death." "The defendants have written the plaintiffs blackmail letters for money," Stirling wrote. "The defendants have caused anxiety, depression, stress, loss of sleep requiring medical care to the petitioners. "The defendants have caused travel to become necessary from Colombia for John Stirling at great expense and loss from work to protect his family . . . The defendants have or have attempted to hire Hells Angels to cause murder or physical harm to the plaintiffs and have made statements by phone and email of that intent," the Stirling claim said. The neighbours fired back in a detailed defence filed Sept. 14, denying all the allegations and making a counter-claim. They said that, unlike Stirling, they have no criminal record and no connection to the notorious biker gang. "The defendants do not know any Hells Angels or Hells Angels associates and have never had dealings with them or hired them to do anything," Martin and Beckman said, adding the only information they have about the Angels came from the Stirlings themselves. "The plaintiff Marlene Stirling also told the defendants that two Hells Angels members sat at her kitchen table and had coffee on multiple different times," the documents said. They said they learned in an Internet search of Stirling's 2001 bust on his fishing boat, the Western Wind, with 2.5 tonnes of cocaine owned by the Hells Angels. He was never charged. Tensions escalated between the former friends in August, when Stirling "was back from Colombia and was bragging that he had two suitcases full of money containing in excess of $200,000," the mother-son team said. Martin fired off an email, "asking John to pay the rest of the money the plaintiffs owed the defendants for loans from June 1, 2007, to Feb. 23, 2011." On Aug. 23, Stirling sent his neighbours "an email with a picture of him laying on the floor of his Adams' Lake residence with a pile of money in front of him, holding a piece of paper with Aug. 19, 2011, written on it," the claim said. The email said: "I told you if you waited you would have got paid, but since you didn't, you will never receive a dime and everyone else has been paid back for their investment but you." They said Stirling warned them that he would go to court and ruin them if they didn't back off. "The defendants have videotape evidence of the plaintiff John Stirling threatening to kill more than one person at gunpoint," the documents said. "On Sept. 10, 2011, the defendants were informed that the plaintiff John Stirling has been seeking to hire people to burn down the defendants' house and cause physical harm to them." Martin and Beckman said "a man calling himself Ryan showed up at the defendants' residence wearing a black leather jacket with a Hells Angel patch and was looking for the plaintiff John Stirling because John apparently owed this guy Ryan money." Martin said in the court statement that he called Stirlings' house and warned Marlene that someone was looking for John "and that he sounded really p—ed off."

B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in...

New Orleans homicide rate is 10 times the national average. But gangs and drugs don't explain it.

<div id="articleTabs_panel_article" class="mastertextCenter" style="padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; clear: both; height: 3437px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; margin: 0px;"><div class="padding-left-big" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 15px; margin: 0px;"><div id="article_story" class="col6wide colOverflowTruncated" style="float: left; width: 571px; position: relative; z-index: 10; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div id="article_story_body" class="article story" style="padding-top: 11px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="articlePage" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><h3 class="byline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.583em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 8px; font-weight: normal;"> </h3><a name="U5031389375964OC"></a>New Orleans<a name="U5031389375960XE"></a>At half-past midnight, as Halloween stretched into All Saints Day, a thick crowd of revelers was milling around the corner of Bourbon and St. Louis streets in New Orleans' famed French Quarter when a series of gun shots erupted. On security footage later released by police, the crowd scattered as suddenly as a school of bait fish at the approach of a barracuda.<a name="U503138937596OVC"></a>But for eight in the crowd it wasn't quick enough. Seven were wounded and one, 25-year-old Albert Glover, the target of the attacker, died on the scene.<a name="U503138937596KZG"></a>Just over an hour later and six blocks away, gunfire rang out again. This time Joshua Lewis, 19, and three other teenagers were cut down in a fusillade of 32 bullets fired by a single assailant following a brief altercation. Lewis later died at a local hospital. In all 16 people were shot in New Orleans on Halloween night, a butcher's bill that shook even the jaded citizens of America's deadliest city.<a name="U503138937596ZF"></a>The violence left New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas strapped to the hot seat. Appointed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu in May of 2010, Mr. Serpas—the former police chief of Nashville, Tenn.—came into office vowing to stem a tide of violent crime and reform what he called "one of the most dysfunctional police departments in American history." In Mr. Serpas's first 18 months more than 60 officers have been fired or have resigned under investigation, including members of the department's top brass. Overall, nearly 200 officers have left for a variety of reasons.<a name="U503138937596WVH"></a>Over the same period, the city's murder rate has risen. As of this week, 164 homicides have been committed in New Orleans in 2011, on pace to eclipse last year's total of 172. To put that number in perspective, New York City, with more than 20 times the population of New Orleans, had 536 murders last year. If New York had New Orleans's homicide rate, more than 4,000 people would have been murdered there last year, about 11 every day.<a name="U503138937596GJD"></a>In response to public outcry over the bloodshed, Mr. Serpas has offered a plethora of reform ideas. His public statements are peppered with references to his 65-point plan to remake the department, the adoption of crime-interdiction strategies such as Project Safe Neighborhoods, and enhanced community policing efforts to help repair the police department's tattered image.<div class="insetContent insetCol3wide embedType-image imageFormat-D" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 8px; font-size: 1em; zoom: 1; width: 264px; float: left; clear: left; text-decoration: none; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="insetTree" style="font-size: 1em; float: left; position: relative; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div id="articleThumbnail_1" class="insettipUnit insetZoomTarget" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; float: left; top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="insetZoomTargetBox" style="font-size: 1em; position: relative; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="insettipBox" style="font-size: 1em; position: absolute; bottom: -5px; left: -5px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="insettip" style="font-size: 1em; cursor: pointer; position: relative; left: 0px; background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a style="display: block; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; background-color: #eff4f8; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 8px; min-width: 70px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap; border: 1px solid #999999;">Enlarge Image</a></div></div><a style="display: block; cursor: pointer;"><img alt="ccmccollam" border="0" height="174" hspace="0" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AO536_ccmcco_D_20111111143714.jpg" style="float: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; border: 0px none initial;" vspace="0" width="262" /></a><div id="articleImage_1" class="insetFullBracket" style="font-size: 1em; visibility: hidden; position: absolute; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; z-index: 100; clear: both; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="insetFullBox" style="font-size: 1em; box-shadow: #222222 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 3px solid #333333;"><div class="insetButton" style="font-size: 1em; position: absolute; top: auto; right: auto; left: -5px; bottom: -5px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a class="insetClose" style="display: block; cursor: pointer; background-image: none; height: auto; width: 68px; white-space: nowrap; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; left: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.25em; min-width: 70px; text-align: center; background-color: #eff4f8; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 8px; border: 1px solid #999999;"></a></div><img alt="ccmccollam" border="0" height="369" hspace="0" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AO536_ccmcco_G_20111111143714.jpg" style="float: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; cursor: pointer; border: 0px none initial;" vspace="0" width="553" /></div></div></div><cite style="font-style: normal; text-align: right; display: block; color: #666666; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Associated Press</cite>The French Quarter in New Orleans</div></div></div><a name="U5031389375965KG"></a>With his outlines, flow charts and ready recitation of reams of statistics, Mr. Serpas sounds every inch the embodiment of a modern police commander. Early in his tenure such proficiency was a welcome change from the questionable competence of his predecessors. But as the murders have persisted and department morale has sagged, his penchant for data-speak has worn thin on the citizenry.<a name="U503138937596GH"></a>To be fair, from the outset Mr. Serpas has been somewhat circumspect about his department's ability to reduce homicides. When pressed he is apt to say things like there is no "silver bullet" and he comes close at times to suggesting that the murder epidemic is beyond his power to stem—a point which, whatever its accuracy, does not instill confidence in a traumatized populace.<a name="U503138937596DAH"></a>At a city council hearing following the Halloween shootings, Mr. Serpas was pressed to identify the source of the murder problem. Were more police the solution? Not really, he responded. He's brought in nationally recognized researchers to advise the department on the root of the murder problem, but they didn't have any easy answers: "People who've studied homicide their whole life say 'Why is that number that way?'" he told the council.<a name="U5031389375969GG"></a>In March, the Justice Department (which is negotiating a consent decree regarding court supervision of the New Orleans Police Department) released an analysis of the city's crime problem that did contain some insights. Contrary to popular perception, it found that New Orleans' overall crime rate—including its rate of violent crime—is lower than that of other cities of comparable size. It's even lower than the crime rate in such family-friendly destinations as Orlando, Fla.<a name="U503138937596RRB"></a>But that news comes with a giant caveat: The Big Easy's homicide rate (52 homicides per 100,000 residents) is 10 times higher than the national average and almost five times that of other cities of its size.<a name="U503138937596NLF"></a>Why is the city such a murder outlier? In many jurisdictions, the Justice Department notes, gangs and drugs are principal drivers of the murder rate. Not so in New Orleans, which has comparatively little gang activity or organized violence related to the drug trade. Nor do the killings tend to happen in back alleys or vacant buildings as they often do in other places. More often they occur in residential neighborhoods in close proximity to witnesses. And more often the motivation is not random robbery, but revenge or argument.<a name="U503138937596JE"></a>In short, the killing in New Orleans is personal. "What appear to be different about homicides in New Orleans are the circumstances of the events," Justice Department investigators noted. "In reading the narratives of the offenses, one is struck by their ordinariness—arguments and disputes that escalate into homicide."<a name="U503138937596OUB"></a>This presents Mr. Serpas and his troops with a different sort of policing challenge. Law enforcement can disrupt gangs and target drug kingpins. But what does it do about a culture in which Glocks have become the preferred tool for settling petty disputes?<a name="U5031389375964FD"></a>The word Mr. Serpas and other officials frequently invoke to describe their approach is "holistic," a term more commonly associated with ashrams and yoga gurus than big city cops. But at bottom, the superintendent insists, the bloodshed in New Orleans isn't going to be solved just by putting more cops on the beat or cracking down on minor violators. After all, Mr. Serpas noted, the Halloween night shooting of eight people on Bourbon Street happened with policemen standing a few feet away from the gunman. "It did not make a difference in this young man's mind."<a name="U503138937596ZB"></a>Changing the mindset of young men who settle beefs with bullets is a tall order for any community. To make an enduring dent in the murder rate, the cops will need to get into the neighborhoods, at a granular level, using street intelligence, diversion programs and targeted sweeps on a sustained level. And even then, breaking the city's crippling culture of violence will take more than a reformed police force can provide.</div></div></div></div></div>

New Orleans homicide rate is 10 times the national average. But gangs and drugs don't explain it.

New Orleans At half-past midnight, as Halloween stretched into All Saints Day, a thick crowd of revelers was milling around the corner of Bo...

James Murdoch is preparing to concede that News Corporation should have acted faster over the phone hacking scandal

<div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="James Murdoch" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/11/6/1320605271701/James-Murdoch-007.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">. Photograph: Miguel Villagran/Getty</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/jamesmurdoch" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on James Murdoch">James Murdoch</a> is preparing to concede in front of MPs that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/news-corporation" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on News Corporation">News Corporation</a> should have taken further action earlier to investigate allegations that phone hacking was more widespread at the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newsoftheworld" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on News of the World">News of the World</a> than the actions of a single rogue reporter.The News Corporation boss is to appear before the culture media and sport select committee on Thursday ready to admit that more could have been done between 2007 and 2010 when first insiders and later rival<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newspapers" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Newspapers">newspapers</a> said the illegal practice was widely deployed.Fighting to save his career, Murdoch is aware he has to appear informed about how News Corp dealt with the hacking allegations – and he has to be prepared to admit that mistakes were made, including by himself.However, with advisers such as News Corp's acting chief lawyer Janet Nova flying in, it is not clear how far the company's legal team will allow James Murdoch to make the limited concessions planned. Friends of Murdoch say he is "surrounded" by people giving him advice, making it hard to proceed.The News Corp boss also plans to sidestep any questions about the size of the severance payment made to former <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newsinternational" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on News International">News International</a> chief executive Rebekah Brooks. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/05/murdoch-phone-hacking-rebekah-brooks" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="Murdoch gave loyal lieutenant Rebekah Brooks 1.7m pay-off, car and office">It was reported</a> at the weekend that the figure received was £1.7m, although it is understood the payment was in fact larger than this.Acutely aware of what is becoming a sensitive issue at the company, Murdoch is expected to say any payments made to Brooks cannot be discussed due to contractual confidentiality. News Corporation has no legal obligation to disclose the size of the severance because Brooks was not a director of the US-listed company.Murdoch was in charge of the News of the World and the company's other British newspapers as part of his job as executive chairman at UK subsidiary News International. He took over from Les Hinton at the end of 2007, nearly a year after News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed for his involvement in hacking into phone messages left for Prince William and Prince Harry's staff.Before Murdoch arrived Hinton agreed to pay Goodman a severance of £240,000, after Goodman launched an unfair dismissal claim. News International has said it found no evidence at the time that hacking went on more widely.A year later, Murdoch agreed to pay football boss Gordon Taylor £425,000 plus £200,000 to settle a phone hacking lawsuit. Controversy surrounds the payout – with former News of the World editor Colin Myler and chief lawyer Tom Crone saying Murdoch was told of an email that made it clear hacking went beyond Goodman. Murdoch has told the committee he had no knowledge of the email.He has also said he was not shown a separate report prepared for Tom Crone by QC Michael Silverleaf – which said that there appeared to be a "culture of illegal information access" at the News of the World. It is understood that he will offer new additional information about what he knew at the time.</div>

James Murdoch is preparing to concede that News Corporation should have acted faster over the phone hacking scandal

. Photograph: Miguel Villagran/Getty James Murdoch is preparing to concede in front of MPs that News Corporation should have taken furthe...

Fears of global recession as Italy teeters on brink

On a day of unremitting gloom and yet more market turbulence, the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, won a late-night confidence vote in parliament after making a speech in which he promised to start power-sharing talks to form a caretaker coalition government. Although he won the vote, 153-145, he is expected to step down, with a national unity government likely to take over. In a sign that the spread of the debt crisis to Italy could break up the single currency, the British Chancellor, George Osborne, admitted Treasury was undertaking crisis planning for a euro zone collapse. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, hinted at worse to come, saying this was only ''a stage of the global crisis''. There had been hopes that the G20 would agree to increase IMF resources by as much as $US250 billion to more than $US1 trillion, but disagreements about the wisdom of doing so, its structure, size and the contributors to the fund forced world leaders to pass on the issue to a meeting of G20 finance ministers in February. In financial markets an early rise in share prices was reversed after it became clear that divisions in the G20 would prevent a deal in Cannes

Fears of global recession as Italy teeters on brink

On a day of unremitting gloom and yet more market turbulence, the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, won a late-night confidence vot...

UK Border Agency hit by fresh 'bribes for visas' scandal

Scotland Yard says a high-level employee, whose job was to vet thousands of visa applications from Africa, accepted bribes for allowing Ni...

Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life.

<blockquote>Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life. An initiative I instigated at European level is to try and ensure the CAB model is replicated in every European country so we have a framework in place," he said. "Those engaged in gangland in Ireland who have used their assets to acquire properties abroad will discover there's no hiding place. We'll have sister organisations in every EU country who we can rely on to secure the assets of those who have gained from their criminality." And he pledged to continue to support the work of the Garda in continuing to tackle criminals who have ruined so many lives. COMPLACENT "They have no respect for human life and that lack of respect extends to the products they sell -- the drugs they bring to the street are destroying lives in our cities and towns," he continued. "They have done it over the decades, they continue to do it and they have no concern for the lives they're destroying. "It's my job to ensure that An Garda Siochana have the resources and the support from all political parties on all levels in the work they do." He was speaking at the launch of Paul Williams' new book Badfellas which was launched at the Harcourt Hotel last night. But he said he could "never be complacent" about the fight against organised criminality. "Unfortunately as one gang disappears and a group is sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, there always seems to be another group to fill their space," he added.</blockquote>

Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life.

Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life. An initiative I instigated at...

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria. Girls were forced into prostitution by threats, which included alleged practices of voodoo or abduction of family members. Ten people have been arrested in the Andalusian village of Roquetas de Mar in a raid in which seizures also included 20,000 euros in cash, a large number of passports of women from sub-Saharan origin and documentation relating to their criminal activity on the site of the Yegua Verde. The investigation began in late 2010 when police discovered the existence of a group of victims who had all been sexually exploited by the organization. The network, now dismantled, had been bringing women from Nigeria since 2005 and then the introducing them illegally into Spain before forcing them into prostitution. The organization, members of which were all Nigerian nationals, recruited women in various towns in Nigeria. The recruitment was carried out by relatives of the leaders of the organization. They also formed an association to attract women, called "The Nigerian Women’s Progressive Movement", through which they had even applied for grants from the Junta de Andalucía, although this was not granted. The women arrived in Spain by boat having spent many days walking through African deserts.  The victims were transported by land with false documents from Nigeria to Morocco, crossing through many other African countries such as Benin, Niger, Mali and Algeria. Once on the Moroccan coast, the organization made contact with citizens of Morocco, who in exchange for large sums of money, provided them with places on a boat which made the journey across to the peninsula. During this journey which could often last several months, the girls suffered numerous tragedies. After crossing the strait, and once in Spain, the network took many of the victims to Roquetas de Mar (Almería) where they were forced into prostitution with constant beatings and threats. Among the forms used by the criminals to coerce the women were included alleged practices of voodoo by which method they were made toto submit their will to the control of the organization. They were also threatened with the kidnap of their families in Spain and Nigeria. Debts of up to 50,000 euros The women were forced to work for more than two years until they eventually obtained freedom having paid of debt which could easily amount to 50,000 euros, although, depending on how the victims might behave they would often find the cost of their living expenses, clothing or other support dramatically increased. As a result of painstaking research, carried out by a National Police operation in Roquetas de Mar ten members of the network, six men and four women, have now been arrested and charged. In addition, agents found four homes and a brothel located in the Paraje de la Yegua Verde where they also found involved 20,000 euros in cash, numerous sub-Saharan women's passports, a large amount of documentation relating to the sexual exploitation of the women and various instruments of voodoo. The Police were assisted in their investigation by members of the Central UCRIF led by the Commissioner General of Immigration and Borders at the Provincial Police Station UCRIF Almeria.

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria. Girls were forced...

'I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.

<div class="clrd" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; min-height: 1px; zoom: 1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The 39-year-old, who is a father to three-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, has been in a relationship with Carlos for four years.<div class="art-img" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 12px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; float: right; width: 304px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="Ricky Martin is apparently keen to marry Carlos Gonzalez (Getty Images)" height="185" src="http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/dn/2011/11/05/800787506_14039120-596x362-1320521838319_304x185_inline.jpg" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="304" /><span class="img-cap legend" style="padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 6px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 6px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; color: white; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Ricky Martin is apparently keen to marry Carlos Gonzalez (Getty Images)</div><p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">He chose to apply for Spanish citizenship in order to take advantage of the country's decision to legalise same sex marriage in 2005, reports El Pais.<p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The government was seemingly pleased to welcome the Livin' La Vida Loca star and, unusually, did not ask him to renounce his Puerto Rican or US citizenship.<p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Ricky is yet to comment on the reports, but the newspaper claimed he intended to tie the knot in Spain rather than one of the US states that allows same sex marriage, as he wanted to pay tribute to prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's support for gay rights.</div><div class="clrd" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; min-height: 1px; zoom: 1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="art-lft" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; float: right; width: 480px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div id="intelliTXT" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The singer surprised many of his fans when he came out last year by releasing a statement that read: 'I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.'</div></div></div><span style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 10px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">

'I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.

The 39-year-old, who is a father to three-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, has been in a relationship with Carlos for four years. Ricky ...

Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro now have Spanish nationality.

<span class="index_summary" style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.2em; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; padding: 0px;">The concessions were granted by the Spanish cabinet on Friday<div class="img-desc2" style="position: relative; width: 300px; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 10px;"><img align="left" alt="Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE" class="piclarge" src="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/spain/uploads/5/beniciodeltoroandrickymartin.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 2px solid #e5e9f9;" width="300" /><cite style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #111111; opacity: 0.55; bottom: 1px; position: absolute; left: 1px; width: 290px; padding: 5px; margin: 0px;">Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE<a href="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/spain/uploads/5/beniciodeltoroandrickymartin.jpg" rel="milkbox[gall1]" style="color: #035a89; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE"> <img alt="enlarge photo" border="0" src="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/images/mag.png" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a></cite></div>  Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro now have Spanish nationality. The news of the concession was given by the Government on Friday to the artists who were both born in Puerto Rico.  Spokesman José Blanco made the announcement after the Friday cabinet meeting. He said that the two ‘recognised in different artistic facets’ wanted to share their Spanish nationality with all the Spanish people and therefore the Government congratulated them for it. There is widespread speculation that the decision will allow Ricky Martin to marry his boyfriend, the economist Carlos González, in Spain. Also granted nationality on Friday was Yisi Pérez, wife of the El País journalist, Mauricio Vicent, whose accreditation as a correspondent in Cuba was removed by the Cuban authorities.  Read more: <a href="http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32580.shtml#ixzz1cmPtmd1C" style="color: #003399; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32580.shtml#ixzz1cmPtmd1C</a>

Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro now have Spanish nationality.

The concessions were granted by the Spanish cabinet on Friday Benicio del Toro and Ricky Martin - Archive photos EFE Ricky Martin and Beni...

Ricky Martin granted Spanish citizenship

Puerto Rican pop singer Ricky Martin was given Spanish citizenship today, the country’s government said. The star, who came out in 2009 reportedly wants to take advantage of Spain’s gay marriage laws. Spokesman Jose Blanco told a news conference that ministers had agreed to grant him a “letter of naturalization”, issued in special circumstances, because of his “personal and professional links with Spain”. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that Martin sought citizenship in order to marry boyfriend Carlos Gonzalez Abella, with whom he is bringing up his twin three-year-old sons. Spain passed legislation allowing same-sex marriages in 2005, only the third country to do so at the time, with 20,000 gay couples entering into marriage since. Appearing on the Larry King show last year, he had said: “I would get married… There are many countries around the world where same-sex marriage is a right. Not in Puerto Rico, unfortunately. And not in many states in America. “Yes, we could go to Spain and get married. We can go to Argentina and get married. But why do we have to go somewhere else? Why can’t I do it in my country where the laws are – you know, protecting me?” He added: “I can go to Spain. I have many friends in Spain. And get married. And make it very beautiful and symbolic. But… I [can't] do it in the backyard of my house. I want to have that option. I don’t want to be a second class citizen anymore. I pay my taxes. Why can’t I have that right?

Ricky Martin granted Spanish citizenship

Puerto Rican pop singer Ricky Martin was given Spanish citizenship today, the country’s government said. The star, who came out in 2009 r...

Man arrested over alleged police payments named as Sun journalist

A Sun journalist has been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into alleged payments to police officers by newspapers. The reporter is believed to be Jamie Pyatt, district editor of the paper. The arrested journalist was taken to a South West London police station at 10.30am on Friday. Pyatt, 48, has been working at the Sun since 1987. He is the sixth person arrested by detectives working in Operation Elveden, which was set up in July following allegations that police officers had received up to £130,000 over several years from the News of the World for information, including contact details of the royal family. News International refused to comment on the arrest and saying it had "a very clear duty of care to employees and would not be making any comment on individuals". Scotland Yard also refused to confirm the identity of the person it arrested, but said in a statement earlier that it had arrested a 48-year-old man in connection with Operation Elveden. Its statement said: "He was arrested outside London on suspicion of corruption allegations in contravention of section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, and is being brought to a south-west London police station." Operation Elveden is one of three Met investigations relating to alleged illegal activities by newspapers. The others are Operation Weeting and Operation Tuleta, set up to examine phone hacking and computer hacking, respectively. On Thursday, Scotland Yard confirmed to the Guardian that the number of people whose phones may have been hacked had reached 5,800 – 2,000 more than previously stated. So far 16 people have been arrested and bailed on allegations of phone hacking.

Man arrested over alleged police payments named as Sun journalist

A Sun journalist has been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into alleged payments to police officers by newspapers. T...

Italy government hangs by thread as coalition crumbles

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fate hung by a thread Friday and desertions from his crumbling centre-right coalition may have already robbed him of the parliamentary numbers he needs to survive. Berlusconi, caught in the crossfire from European powers and a party revolt at home, agreed at a G20 summit in France to IMF monitoring of economic reforms which he has long promised but failed to implement. But this may soon be irrelevant for the Italian leader, who will return to Rome later Friday to face what looks increasingly like a deadly rebellion by his own supporters. With financial markets in turmoil over the situation in Greece and Italy viewed as the next domino to fall in the euro zone crisis, calls are mounting for a new government to carry through reforms convincing enough to regain international confidence. Berlusconi has consistently rejected calls to resign and says the only alternative to him is an early election next spring, rather than the technocrat or national unity government urged by many politicians and commentators. Yields on 10-year Italian bonds reached 6.36 percent by early afternoon, creeping closer to 7 percent, a level which could trigger a so-called "buyers' strike" where investors take fright and refuse to buy the paper. Two deputies from Berlusconi's PDL party this week defected to the centrist UDC, taking his support in the 630-seat lower house of parliament to 314 compared with the 316 he needed to win a confidence vote last month. But at least seven other former loyalists have called for a new government and could vote against the 75-year-old media magnate. "The (ruling) majority seems to be dissolving like a snowman in spring," said respected commentator Stefano Folli in the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore. Other commentators spoke of an "inexorable" revolt against Berlusconi. Even Defence Ministry undersecretary Guido Crosetto, a Berlusconi loyalist, said on television: "I don't know how many days or weeks the government has left. Certainly a majority relying on a few votes cannot continue for long." PATRONAGE Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, still has significant powers of patronage and he and his closest aides are expected to spend the weekend trying to win back support for a parliamentary showdown Tuesday. Some rebels have already threatened to vote against Berlusconi in the vote to sign off on the 2010 budget. Berlusconi faced concerted calls to resign when he lost a previous vote on this routine measure, which was almost unprecedented. Although it is not a confidence motion, he would come under huge pressure if he suffered a second defeat. "Unpopular prescriptions are necessary and this challenge cannot be faced with a 51 percent government," said UDC leader Pier Ferdinando Casini, in a reference to Berlusconi's weakness and a widespread feeling that the reforms can only be passed with a broad consensus. The premier has promised European leaders that he will call a formal confidence motion within 15 days to pass amendments to a budget bill incorporating new measures to stimulate growth and cut Italy's huge debt. That will be in the Senate where he has a more solid majority but it could still bring him down. Berlusconi, beset by a string of sex scandals and court cases, has consistently resisted pressure from groups ranging from a powerful business lobby to the Catholic Church to stand down.

Italy government hangs by thread as coalition crumbles

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fate hung by a thread Friday and desertions from his crumbling centre-right coalition may h...

Wall Street markets are suffering huge falls this morning as fears grow that Europe's plan to save the euro will unravel

Wall Street markets are suffering huge falls this morning as fears grow that Europe's plan to save the euro will unravel before it can even kick in.Greek Premier George Papandreou said he will put Greece's bailout through a referendum, throwing the long-awaited deal into disarray.Financial markets around the world have tumbled in reaction to the shock announcement today and U.S. stocks have also fallen at the open.<div class="artSplitter" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img alt="Wall Street: Financial markets around the world have tumbled in reaction to the shock announcement and U.S. stock futures are down on Tuesday" class="blkBorder" height="492" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/01/article-2056123-0E9D8C7E00000578-893_634x492.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="634" />Wall Street: Financial markets around the world have tumbled in reaction to the shock announcement and U.S. stock futures are down on Tuesday</div>The Dow Jones opened down 258 points, or 2.2 per cent; the Nasdaq fell 78 points, or 2.9 per cent, and the S&P fell 33 points, or 2.7 per cent. ‘The market did not see this Greek referendum coming, which is potentially a killer,’ said Vermont investment strategist Paul Mendelsohn. <div class="relatedItemsTopBorder" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </div><div class="relatedItems" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><h4 style="min-height: 1px; font-size: 1em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"></h4></div> ‘It could knock the wheels off the bus of the whole (Europe rescue) plan.’

Wall Street markets are suffering huge falls this morning as fears grow that Europe's plan to save the euro will unravel

Wall Street markets are suffering huge falls this morning as fears grow that Europe's plan to save the euro will unravel before it can e...

Welcome to Oculto Café – Cordoba’s infamous Satanic saloon.

GLASSES shoot across tabletops, busty vamps serve blood-red cocktails, and twisted locals raise a toast to an image of Aleister Crowley. Welcome to Oculto Café – Cordoba’s infamous Satanic saloon. The bar is situated in a maze of narrow, winding streets in the ancient ‘Old Town’ district. Stepping outside for a Marlboro, I scan my surroundings. It’s a chilly, moonlit night and the streets are deserted. Strain your ears, however, and you’ll hear muffled voices coming from dark balconies. It’s like a scene from Interview with the Vampire. As I re-enter, the room falls silent. A cross-eyed chap stares at me… well, I think it’s me… it’s hard to tell. Had my gothic guy-liner run, or had he caught a whiff of fresh meat? In this insular atmosphere, I feel as welcome as Gary Glitter at Tivoli World! Forget fruit machines and pool tables, it’s ouija boards and tarot cards that keep these punters amused. A little weakened, I seize a newspaper and hide in the corner. Alongside ads for ‘Black Angels’ and ‘Colombian Swallowers’, the classifieds are swarming with clairvoyants. I’m shocked! Isn’t Spain supposed to be a God-fearing country? But the truth is, up until the Inquisition (1478), Iberia was a hotbed of magic and sorcery. With the coming of Catholicism, however, mystics – including ‘witches’ and ‘healers’ were round-up and executed. For survival’s sake, Spaniards severed their ties with the ‘other side.’ Today, however, there is growing evidence that Spain is returning to its supernatural roots. Church-going is down (just 14.4%), and stories of Satanism are everywhere. In March 2011, an Almerian church was littered with satanic scrawls. Investigators claimed that the site had been used for a “black mass.” Tenerife’s Arona Cemetery has also been targeted by sinister cults. In 2008, graves were desecrated and animals sacrificed during “bizarre nocturnal rituals”. For sceptics, it’s easy to blame rebellious youth or drug-addicts for these atrocities. However, as someone who’s experienced dark forces – first hand – I try to keep an open mind. It all started in 2001 when I was filming a documentary at Devon’s Berry Pomeroy. In the castle grounds, I indivertibly captured an inhuman figure on camera.  Whilst replaying the footage to BBC colleagues, the office computers went wild. In 2009, I moved my family to a 15th century cottage on the West Pennine Moors. Unbeknown to us, our ‘dream house’ was built on a Quaker burial site. During our six-month stay – we endured stamping noises, icy chills and orbs zipping round the lounge. At night, the constant thumping would deprive us of sleep, and we’d trudge into work like a couple of zombies. However, my most recent spooking occurred right here in Andalucia. One evening, I watched a can of Asturiana cider move sideways, hover and then drop off the table! Earlier that day, an old drinking buddy had been buried in Devon – was this his final ‘chin-chin’? Whatever it was, it scared the bejesus out of my missus and she hasn’t slept properly since. Two weeks on, and we’re sitting in Oculto, trying not to blush at orgy paintings. After some Dutch courage, I enquire about a séance at the bar. A black-toothed midget points towards a battered wooden door. Timidly, I wander down the corridor and knock on wood. It’s opened by a raven-haired gypsy. She’s both beautiful and grotesque: Penelope Cruz’s mum meets the Bride of Chucky. Without speaking – she beckons me in with a long, black talon. With low ceilings, purple walls and an absence of windows – the room is claustrophobic and unsettling. Under flickering candlelight, the Victorian death portraits seem to eyeball you from the walls. But it’s the cold air and fetid stench that’s really sending shivers down my spine. The woman glides over to a monolithic Ouija board and orders me to sit. She lays out a clutch of cards, including The Hanged Man, The Fool, The Stig, Jeremy Clarkson, Dog the Bounty Hunter, The Archbishop of Canterbury and Boy George. Okay… I lied about Boy George – but it’s all the scary ones! Suddenly, my stomach churns and I shout ‘Stop!’ I apologise for wasting her time – but I’ve got the heebie-jeebies. A floating cider is hardly The Ring – so why risk opening a fresh can of worms? I chat to Jose, a Pepe Reina lookalike in his late 20s. Around us, weirdoes chuck darts at an image of the Pope (only joking….it’s Desmond Tutu!) Jose is erudite and speaks fine English. Over Osbourne brandies, I pose the question: “So….Are you a Satanist?” “Of course”! Jose replies: Usually, I’d grab my coat, but by now, I’m immune to the madness. After dispelling myths of “priest-beating” and “baby-eating”, Jose insists that Satanists are “Perfectly normal.” Apparently, the only difference is they choose “indulgence over abstinence’, and prefer “vengeance” to forgiveness. Oh…..and they enjoy kinky sex and coke-snorting – but hey… so does the cast of Skins. By 1am I’m craving a Horlicks and a late night snack. I thank Jose and wish him a “hell-of-a-life.” We leave Occulto and hot-foot it to the Corredera for a greasy kebab. After filling our faces, we clamber into a taxi. We’re only 10-minutes from the hotel – but I’m bloated on beer and lamb offal. Back at the room, Jose’s words haunt me. Having spent the last five hours binge-drinking, ogling rude pictures and eating crap – could I be accused of “indulgence”? If Christianity equals modesty, chastity and turning the other cheek, what about all those times I’ve bought designer togs, belted a thug or lusted over lesbians? Perhaps I’m more Satanic than I thought? By bedtime, I’d seen no demons, virgin sacrifices or people snacking on goats’ head soup. This said, not everyone was as friendly as Jose, and the yokels at the bar seemed quite menacing. I’ve yet to decide whether Satanists are ordinary folk – daring to be different, or psychopaths to be avoided at all costs. I DO know, however, that pentangles are not for me. For one – I like animals too much to put their heads on sticks – and secondly, I root for the “goodies” when it kicks off on Buffy. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time at Occulto and found the experience enlightening. Whatever they are (or aren’t), there’s a pub full of them in Cordoba, and if you ever feel like taking a walk on the wild side, you know where to head.

Welcome to Oculto Café – Cordoba’s infamous Satanic saloon.

GLASSES shoot across tabletops, busty vamps serve blood-red cocktails, and twisted locals raise a toast to an image of Aleister Crowley. W...

Body found in boot of crashed car on Alicante motorway

Firemen called out to an accident on the A-31 Alicante-Madrid motorway early on Monday found an unidentified body in the boot of a car whi...

Hells Angels have had a rough year in California.

The Hells Angels have had a rough year in California. Three Northern California members have died violently in the last month amid a turf battle with a rival biker gang. And law enforcement officials on both ends of the motorcycle club's home state are pursuing and jailing members, with 26 Angels and their associates arrested recently in San Diego. The violence spilled into public view in the unlikeliest of places two weeks ago when thousands of Harley-Davidsons rolled up to a San Jose cemetery on a sunny Saturday afternoon to bury a Hells Angels leader who was gunned down weeks earlier in a Nevada casino. A Hells Angel allegedly shot and killed a fellow member at the cemetery and fled — the latest sign of the in-fighting and violence that has plagued the gang in recent months. And if the deadly gunfire were not enough, a member was plowed down by a van a week later near Oakland, the alleged the victim of road rage. While no one is predicting the demise of the notorious outlaw motorcycle club, law enforcement officials and gang experts said the Hells Angels' recent woes still stand out for an organization they describe as violent, sophisticated and disciplined with loyal-to-the-death members. "They are the heavyweight champions of the biker gang culture," said Jay Dobyns, an agent with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who infiltrated the Hells Angels in Arizona for two years beginning in 2001. "And every other biker gang wants the belt." The organization has a long history in California, dating to its founding in 1948 by returning World War II veterans in the dusty town of Fontana and including a notorious incident during a Rolling Stones show in Altamont in 1969 in which a spectator was stabbed by a Hells Angel working security. A jury later acquitted the killer, finding he acted in self defense. The U.S. Department of Justice says the Hells Angels now have as many as 2,500 members in 230 chapters in 26 countries, and are a major source of drug-trafficking. Federal, state and local police have pursued the club for decades, infiltrating it with undercover agents, prosecuting suspects with harsh charges once reserved for the Mafia and indicting members on charges ranging from drug trafficking to mortgage fraud. Yet the club flourished. They opened chapters worldwide, aggressively enforced their trademarks in court like a responsible Wall Street corporation and won high-profile acquittals and other legal battles with law enforcement. The ATF, which handles many federal biker cases, said it arrested more outlaw motorcycle gang members last year than any other since 2003. Police in Germany, Canada and elsewhere also report a surge in motorcycle gang violence, with much of it connected to the Hells Angels. The California Hells Angels' current problems are partly rooted in a battle with the Vagos, a California-based motorcycle club founded in the 1960s. The clubs have been bitter enemies dating at least back a decade to a violent 2001 confrontation at a Costa Mesa swap meet. "These groups are trying to expand their membership and dominance," said Kent Shaw, the California Attorney General's acting head of law enforcement. "There's going to be a number of clashes and it seems to have gotten worse over the last couple years. It seems to be coming to a flash point." After dozens of Vagos took over a bar in Lakeport, Calif., and rode their motorcycles up and down the main drag, officials went so far as to close the downtown to traffic on May 14. Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero said the Vagos were making a statement about controlling the region after one of its members was allegedly beaten by Hells Angels earlier in the year. So Rivero put up a road block that day after the California Highway Patrol and FBI warned that Hells Angels were traveling toward town. The Angels turned back before reaching the road block. But now the district attorney is investigating whether the sheriff violated the club members' civil rights with his plans to stop them. The sheriff is unapologetic. "It's a basic response," Rivero said. "I'm not going to tolerate gang violence in Lake County." A month later, a Vagos member and a friend were severely beaten in a casino. Four Hells Angels have been charged with assault. Three were arrested and the sheriff said they were bailed out by fellow Angel Steve Tausan, who owned a bail bonds company. A fourth is being sought. In September, the two gangs fought again. San Jose Angels leader Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew was slain during a wild shootout with rival Vagos in a Reno-area casino on Sept. 23. It was at Pettigrew's burial where more violence occurred. Two shots were fired, and Tausan, Pettigrew's good friend and high-ranking Angel, lay bleeding with a mortal wound. Police suspect fellow Angel Steve Ruiz of firing on Tausan after they argued over the casino shooting and whether enough was done to protect Pettigrew, the president of the San Jose chapter. Police are now searching for Ruiz, who reportedly was hustled into a waiting car, leaving behind his motorcycle. Investigators initially feared Ruiz was killed and went so far as to dig up Pettigrew's grave in search of a body. But now police believe he is on the run with his girlfriend. San Jose police were out in force Saturday as Tausan was laid to rest at the same cemetery where he was killed during the Oct. 15 funeral. A police spokesman said there were no reports of any disturbances or violence. The Hells Angels didn't respond to numerous phone calls and email messages sent to their clubhouses in San Jose and Santa Cruz, where Tausan served as the chapter's sergeant at arms. The Angels have always maintained they are a club of motorcycle enthusiasts who are unfairly regarded as an organized crime syndicate because of the crimes of a few members acting independently. The club participates in charity events, such as "Toys for Tots" motorcycle runs and blood drives. "When we do right, nobody remembers," the club's Web site states. "When we do wrong, nobody forgets." Karen Snell, a lawyer who won a $1.8 million settlement in 2005 after the San Jose chapter filed a lawsuit claiming illegal police searches during a murder investigation, said Pettigrew, Tausan and the others involved with the case were serious businessmen with families. "They were really responsible clients," Snell said. "In my all my interactions with them, they were always gentlemen." Now Pettigrew and Tausan are dead. "We lost our brother, our father, our son and our friend," said Karen Tausan, Steve's sister. "He left a big hole in our family and we can only hope this will come to an end now."

Hells Angels have had a rough year in California.

The Hells Angels have had a rough year in California. Three Northern California members have died violently in the last month amid a turf ...

Authorities detained one of Mexico's most controversial and wealthiest politicians on suspicion of illegally keeping an arsenal of over 80 guns and automatic rifles in his house

Authorities detained one of Mexico's most controversial and wealthiest politicians on suspicion of illegally keeping an arsenal of over 80 guns and automatic rifles in his house, setting off a political furor. Soldiers acting on a tip burst into the Tijuana home of Jorge Hank, 55, a former mayor and a pillar of the Mexico's former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party's establishment, and detained him and 10 employees in the early hours of Saturday morning. On Sunday, Mr. Hank was flown to Mexico City and was being questioned by police officials in charge of investigating organized crime. Mr. Hank's detention sparked demonstrations in his favor by supporters in Tijuana, as well as a flurry of angry statements from PRI party barons. In a letter written to Mexico's human rights commission, Mr. Hank claimed Sunday he had been set up by the army after eight hooded men burst into his bedroom as he slept. "Around 5 am, they told me to stand by some weapons that were on the floor and they took photographs," he wrote in the letter which was shown on Mexican television channel Milenio TV. "The weapons were on the floor and I had never seen them before nor do I recognize them." Mr. Hank's lawyer Oscar Téllez did not immediately return a telephone call left at his office. Earlier, Mr. Téllez told reporters he had not been able to consult with his client, and Mr. Hank's wife told reporters the guns, which according to Mexico's Defense Ministry included 48 automatic rifles, had been legally acquired. "We will not allow political witch hunts, repressive acts or intimidation," said PRI president Humberto Moreira. Mr. Hank is closely linked to the PRI's political machine in the State of Mexico where the party's candidate for governor, Eruviel Ávila is poised to win the governor's seat in key elections next month. The state of Mexico elections will serve as a run-up to next year's presidential election in which the PRI's presumed candidate Enrique Peña Nieto, the current governor of the state, also holds a wide lead in the polls over potential rivals. Mr. Ávila's campaign manager quickly distanced the candidate from Mr. Hank. "There is not one cent of Mr. Jorge Hank Rhon's money in the campaign of Eruviel Ávila," said campaign manager Luis Videgaray. In a statement, the ruling conservative National Action or PAN party defended Mr. Hank's detention and said the government was simply applying the law and preventing acts of "impunity." But despite the PAN's disclaimers, some analysts did see an overt political motive in Mr. Hank's detention. "This is a scalp that President Felipe Calderón wants to hang on his wall before he leaves office," said George Grayson, an expert on Mexican politics at the College of William and Mary. "I suspect it's the first of several scalps he will place on his wall before elections as a way of discrediting the PRI." Mr Grayson said Mr. Hank was an easy target. "He doesn't have a closet full of skeletons, he has a warehouse full of skeletons," he said. A self-proclaimed billionaire, whose company Grupo Caliente, or "Hot Group," operates a Tijuana dog track as well as a string of casinos and off-track betting parlors all over the country, Mr. Hank is one of Mexico's most colorful—and notorious—politicians. The father of 19 children, Mr. Hank is also known for operating a private zoo stocked with exotic animals. Mr. Hank has been the frequent target of accusations of political corruption, drug ties and even of murder. His bodyguard and another employee were convicted for the 1988 killing of a reporter who worked for Tijuana's investigative weekly Zeta magazine. In full page advertisements, Zeta still continues to accuse Mr. Hank of being the mastermind behind the murder, although Mr. Hank was never charged with the murder. A 2009 WikiLeaks cable signed by the U.S. consul in Tijuana says "Hank is widely believed to have been a corrupt mayor and to be still involved in narco-trafficking." The cable recounts how Baja California state police refused to follow an alleged drug trafficker who took refuge in Mr. Hank's Tijuana dog racing track, right across from the consulate. "There are still plenty of safe havens for organized crime in the border region," the diplomatic cable says. In the past, Mr. Hank has said accusations against him are lies. The former mayor is the son of the late legendary PRI politician Carlos Hank, known as "The Professor." The late Mr. Hank rose from being a humble school teacher to being governor of the state of Mexico as well as mayor of Mexico City. He is most remembered for coining a famous aphorism, which described the corruption of the PRI, the political party that ran Mexico for seven decades before losing power in 2000: "A politician who is poor is a poor politician."

Authorities detained one of Mexico's most controversial and wealthiest politicians on suspicion of illegally keeping an arsenal of over 80 guns and automatic rifles in his house

Authorities detained one of Mexico's most controversial and wealthiest politicians on suspicion of illegally keeping an arsenal of over ...

member of the powerful Zetas gang cartel arrested in connection with the deaths of more than 140 people.

The Mexican Navy has said it has captured a suspected leader of the Zetas drug gang allegedly behind the mass killings of more than 100 people in northeastern Mexico. Martin Omaar Estrada Luna, said to be the local leader of the gang, was captured on Saturday. He is accused of masterminding the murders of 145 people in Tamaulipas state near the US border. Their remains were discovered in a mass grave earlier this month. A navy statement said Estrada Luna, alias "El Kilo", is also the main suspect in the massacre of 72 central and south American migrants last August, also in the same township of San Fernando in Tamaulipas. He was one of six people arrested in a navy operation on Saturday, the statement added. A series of bus hijackings alerted authorities to the killings. Since April 1, officials have found about 20 mass graves in San Fernando alone. The Zetas, a notorious gang formed in the 1990s by ex-military commandos, is now engaged in a fight to death with its former bosses. Seven major drug gangs are operating in Mexico, and over 34,000 people have been killed since December 2006 in the raging wars for control over smuggling routes and government efforts to crack down on illegal activities.

member of the powerful Zetas gang cartel arrested in connection with the deaths of more than 140 people.

The Mexican Navy has said it has captured a suspected leader of the Zetas drug gang allegedly behind the mass killings of more than 100 peop...

Interpol launches an operation to target 203 fugitives in South America

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has launched an operation targeting 203 fugitives wanted for serious offenses, inc...