Cartel - Blog 2.0 - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-28T12:34:49Z
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/Cartel
Wife of “El Chapo” busted on international drug trafficking charges, aiding husband’s prison break
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/wife-of-el-chapo-busted-on-international-drug-trafficking-charges
2021-02-24T14:30:00.000Z
2021-02-24T14:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wife-of-el-chapo-busted-on-international-drug-trafficking-charges" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237148265,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237148265?profile=original" /></a>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>She led the life of a fabulously rich housewife, Narcos-style, but now she faces a much grimmer reality: locked up in an American prison. 31-year-old Emma Coronel Aispuro is the wife of notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and, prosecutors allege, his partner-in-crime as well.</p>
<p>On Monday, Coronel Aispuro, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, of Culiacan, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Sinaloa" target="_blank">Sinaloa</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mexico" target="_blank">Mexico</a>, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cocaine" target="_blank">cocaine</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Meth" target="_blank">methamphetamine</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Heroin" target="_blank">heroin</a> and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Marijuana" target="_blank">marijuana</a> for importation into the United States.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nypd-cop-who-moonlighted-as-bodyguard-for-el-chapo-s-wife-had-sid" target="_blank">NYPD cop, who moonlighted as bodyguard for El Chapo’s wife</a>, had side gig trafficking cocaine</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Cornel Aispuro is charged in a one count criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the United States.</p>
<p>Additionally, she is alleged to have conspired with others to assist Guzman in his July 11, 2015 escape from Altiplano prison, located in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico. After Guzman was re-arrested in Mexico in January 2016, she allegedly planned yet another prison escape with others prior to Guzman’s extradition to the United States in January 2017.</p>
<p>“El Chapo” was <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-end-mexico-narco-kingpin-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sentenced-to" target="_blank">convicted</a> in 2019 for his role as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and is spending the rest of his life <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/watch-rare-footage-of-drug-lord-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-entering" target="_blank">locked up</a> in a maximum-security penitentiary.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE - December 1, 2021: <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/narco-kingpin-el-chapo-s-wife-gets-mere-3-years-in-prison-for-hel" target="_blank">Narco kingpin El Chapo’s wife gets mere 3 years</a> in prison for helping husband run business</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p><strong>Get the latest on organized crime and the Mafia at Gangsters Inc.'s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=News">news section</a>.</strong></p>
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Sinaloa Cartel distributor who supplied Crips, Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords for two decades gets 15-year term
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/sinaloa-cartel-distributor-who-supplied-crips-gangster-disciples
2019-12-11T00:00:00.000Z
2019-12-11T00:00:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sinaloa-cartel-distributor-who-supplied-crips-gangster-disciples" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237133674,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237133674?profile=original" /></a>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>A Sinaloa <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">drug cartel</a> distributor was sentenced to 15 years in prison for drugs and gun crimes on December 6. 51-year-old Jesus “Pedro” Raul Salazar-Espinoza of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Sinaloa" target="_blank">Sinaloa</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mexico" target="_blank">Mexico</a>, was brought down after a four-year investigation by the Los Angeles Strike Force.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles Strike Force identified Jesus Raul Salazar-Espinoza as a mid-level distributor for the Sinaloa Cartel, who coordinated drug-distribution activities in Mexico, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=LA" target="_blank">Los Angeles</a>, and throughout the United States. The investigation revealed that Salazar had previously been deported to Mexico multiple times over the years, but had illegally re-entered the U.S. to continue his <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Drugs" target="_blank">drug distribution</a> criminal enterprise.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-narcos-profile-of-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-mexico-s-e" target="_blank">The Real Narcos</a>: Profile of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexico’s “El Padrino” of drug lords</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Supplying Crips, Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords</strong></span></p>
<p>Salazar led a Los Angeles-based organization that was fully operational and active for over 20 years. It consistently supplied narcotics, which included <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cocaine" target="_blank">cocaine</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Heroin" target="_blank">heroin</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Fentanyl" target="_blank">fentanyl</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Meth" target="_blank">methamphetamine</a> and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Marijuana" target="_blank">marijuana</a> to major <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/street-gangs" target="_blank">street gangs</a> such as the Compton-based “Santana Blocc” <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Crips" target="_blank">Crips</a>, the Long Beach-based “Insane Crips,” the Long Beach-based “Rollin’ 20s” Gang, the Mississippi-based <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=GD" target="_blank">Gangster Disciples</a> Gang, and the Mississippi-based Vice Lords Gang and career drug dealers nationwide. The investigation further revealed that Salazar would routinely arrange narcotics deliveries and money pick-ups with his Mexico-based sources in the Sinaloa Cartel.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sinaloa-cartel-hitman-extradited-to-united-states" target="_blank"><strong>Sinaloa Cartel hitman extradited to United States</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>“Mr. Salazar’s 15-year prison sentence is a result of the tireless efforts of law enforcement to bring drug traffickers to justice,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “This case illustrates that drug traffickers will face severe consequences for spreading poison across American communities.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/street-gangs" target="_blank">Street Gangs section</a> or <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/black-organized-crime" target="_blank">Black organized crime</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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“Chappi” and the Medellin Cartel: Profile of German crime boss Heinz Bernhard Chapuis
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/chappi-and-the-medellin-cartel-profile-of-german-crime-boss-heinz
2019-07-04T10:53:10.000Z
2019-07-04T10:53:10.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><strong><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chappi-and-the-medellin-cartel-profile-of-german-crime-boss-heinz" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237124483,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237124483?profile=original" /></a></strong>By Milko</p>
<p>German crime boss Heinz Bernhard Chapuis had quite the career. He was once viewed as his country's biggest drug boss. But as many if not all in his line of business, his rise was followed by a downfall, so much so that it prompted a judge to emphasize it when he sentenced him to prison.</p>
<p>Nicknamed “Chappi,” Heinz Chapuis was born in Cologne, Germany. The German media called him “the number 1 in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Germany" target="_blank">Germany</a>’s organized drug underworld since the 1990s.” He allegedly had contacts with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Colombia" target="_blank">Colombia</a>’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Medellin" target="_blank">Medellin Cartel</a> and ran his criminal empire from the city of Lanaken in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Belgium" target="_blank">Belgium</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-of-spanish-drug-boss-sito-minanco-who-can-t-stop-smugglin" target="_blank">Profile of Spanish drug boss Sito Miñanco</a>, who can’t stop smuggling tons of cocaine despite his fame</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237124670,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237124670?profile=original" /></a>On August 9, 1996, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to the court in Cologne, Chapuis headed a drug gang which had trafficked <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cocaine" target="_blank">cocaine</a> into <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/europe-overview" target="_blank">Europe</a> between 1991 and 1994. He did his time and was released from prison in 2006.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Downfall</strong></span></p>
<p>Out on the streets, it didn’t take long for Chapuis to get in trouble again. On April 10, 2008, the now 55-year-old drug boss was arrested again. He was charged with trafficking cocaine and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Meth" target="_blank">meth</a> and allegedly tried to sell an undercover cop 2 kilos of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cocaine" target="_blank">cocaine</a>.</p>
<p>In August of 2008, Chapuis was sentenced to 5 years in prison. The judge pointed out the drug kingpin’s fall from grace, saying: “Back in the day, you wouldn’t have gotten out of bed for 2 kilos of cocaine.”</p>
<p>His criminal career wasn’t the only thing going downhill. On March 3, 2010, Chapuis was released from prison because of his poor health. He was coping with depression, insomnia, and tinnitus.</p>
<p><em><strong>Milko (a pseudonym) is a Dutchman who has studied organized crime in the Netherlands, its history, and its offshoots in foreign countries for over two decades. He is also very knowledgeable about crime in other European countries and is eager to share his information.</strong></em></p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/europe-overview">European organized crime section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
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Mexican drug cartels looking to flood Western Europe with crystal meth
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/mexican-drug-cartels-looking-to-flood-western-europe-with-crystal
2019-06-04T07:10:33.000Z
2019-06-04T07:10:33.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mexican-drug-cartels-looking-to-flood-western-europe-with-crystal" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237123063,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237123063?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Mexican drug cartels have saturated the crystal meth market in the United States and are currently laying the foundations to start flooding Western Europe with their addictive product. Recent arrests in the Netherlands indicate that members of the Sinaloa Cartel are operating meth labs there, producing “Breaking Bad” quality meth to conquer European users.</p>
<p>Dutch police were amazed on May 10, when they discovered a sophisticated <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Meth" target="_blank">meth</a> lab aboard the 85-meter-long ship Arsianco in the harbor of Moerdijk (photo below). Lured by a weird smell, they stumbled on one of the biggest <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Drugs" target="_blank">narcotics</a> operations in the country. They arrested the 65-year-old ship captain and three Mexicans ranging in age from 23 to 37, one of whom is alleged to be a member of one of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mexico" target="_blank">Mexico</a>’s most <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">notorious cartels</a>, police sources told <a href="https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/05/10/crystal-meth-lab-gevonden-in-groot-vrachtschip-in-moerdijk-a3959905" target="_blank">Dutch press</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237122895,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237122895?profile=original" /></a><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Booby trap</strong></span></p>
<p>Further proof of the professionalism of the operation came a few hours later while investigators were gathering evidence. One of them triggered a booby trap which resulted in water coming into the ship, sinking it at a rapid pace. Police were able to stop the flooding just in time, before it could damage a lot of evidence.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Profile of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-of-spanish-drug-boss-sito-minanco-who-can-t-stop-smugglin" target="_blank">Spanish drug boss Sito Miñanco</a>, who can’t stop smuggling tons of cocaine despite his fame</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>A few months earlier, in February, Dutch police arrested two Mexicans, one from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Sinaloa" target="_blank">Sinaloa</a>, at a warehouse in Wateringen. The pair had set up a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Meth" target="_blank">meth</a> lab at the location and had already produced a stash worth $90 million dollars.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237123292,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237123292?profile=original" /></a><em>Photo: A box filled with $67,000 dollars worth' of meth - one of many such boxes discovered aboard the Arsianco ship</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Crystal meth zombies everywhere”</strong></span></p>
<p>“They are trying to sell their crystal meth on the European market,” Jan Struijs, chairman of the Dutch police union, told the <a href="https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/drugskartels-willen-europa-aan-de-crystal-meth-krijgen~ab9f05ec/" target="_blank">AD newspaper</a>. “They first targeted Eastern Europe. You can see crystal meth zombies walking around there everywhere. Now they are trying to do the same in the west.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/zheng-inc-how-two-chinese-nationals-operated-global-opioid-and-dr" target="_blank">Zheng Inc.</a>: Chinese operated global opioid and drug business to supply demand</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The presence of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Mexican cartels</a> has resulted in a price drop for meth and a wider availability of the drug in cities like Amsterdam.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/europe-overview">European organized crime section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Profile of Spanish drug boss Sito Miñanco, who can’t stop smuggling tons of cocaine despite his fame
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/profile-of-spanish-drug-boss-sito-minanco-who-can-t-stop-smugglin
2019-05-19T17:19:09.000Z
2019-05-19T17:19:09.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><strong><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-of-spanish-drug-boss-sito-minanco-who-can-t-stop-smugglin" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237120673,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237120673?profile=original" /></a></strong>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Sito Miñanco is one of Spain’s most infamous drug bosses, with international contacts from the Medellin cartel to Panamanian dictator Noriega. His exploits were turned into a Netflix tv show while he himself was still actively smuggling thousands of kilos of cocaine.</p>
<p>José Ramón Prado Bugallo was born on September 23, 1955, in Pontevedra in the Galician region of Spain. He became known as Sito Miñanco and started out smuggling <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Tobacco" target="_blank">tobacco</a>. The Spanish coastline offered fishermen in the towns that dotted the area multiple opportunities to add to their meager income and trafficking cigarettes was a golden ticket for many of them. Even though, officially, it was a crime.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Smoking</strong></span></p>
<p>But back in those days, the 1970s, everyone smoked. Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, teachers and priests. People even smoked indoors! Ashtrays were just as standard as a salt and pepper set on a dinner table. If you were among the men helping to smuggle this product across the border so it could be sold at a cheaper price, then you weren’t viewed as a criminal, no, you were just as beloved by the community as the thing you trafficked in. Miñanco was no exception and could count on the support of many of the area’s inhabitants.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237121063,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237121063?profile=original" /></a><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Meeting the Medellin Cartel</strong></span></p>
<p>Though he had the support of most of the people, authorities were trying their hardest to bring him down. In the early 1980s, they succeeded, and Miñanco was sent to prison for tobacco smuggling. Inside a penitentiary in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spain" target="_blank">Spain</a>’s capital <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Madrid" target="_blank">Madrid</a>, he met a man that would change his life: Colombian drug lord <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Ochoa" target="_blank">Jorge Luis Ochoa</a>, a man that wasted no time on cigarettes, but made it snow around the world as he and the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Medellin" target="_blank">Medellin cartel</a> showered the globe with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cocaine" target="_blank">cocaine</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/pablo-escobars-war-on-colombia" target="_blank"><strong>Pablo Escobar's War on Colombia</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The main force behind the Medellin cartel was <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Escobar" target="_blank">Pablo Escobar</a>. In those days he was already fast becoming a household name that stood synonymous for death, violence, and drug addiction. Ochoa was one of Escobar’s most trusted and respected partners and as such offered Miñanco a direct connection to the biggest cocaine source in the world.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Dating the niece of a dictator</strong></span></p>
<p>Miñanco, however, found more ways into the coke boom. He traveled to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Panama" target="_blank">Panama</a> and fell in love with Odalys Rivera, the niece of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Noriega" target="_blank">Manuel Noriega</a>, the country’s dictator. Panama was used by Escobar and other Colombian drug lords as a place where they could stash their illicit income. Noriega was paid handsomely to turn a blind eye towards any of the activities the narco kingpins explored in his nation.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-dea-agents-of-narcos-javier-pena-and-steve-murphy-talk-a" target="_blank"><strong>The Real DEA Agents of Narcos Talk Fact & Fiction</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Dating the niece of Panama’s dictator and having done time with one of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Colombia" target="_blank">Colombia</a>’s biggest drug lords, Miñanco established a firm place in a global cocaine pipeline that saw drugs flow from South America and Panama into Spain’s Galician coastal region.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237121478,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237121478?profile=original" /></a>Buying a football club</strong></span></p>
<p>He made millions and began acting in much the same way Pablo Escobar did in Colombia. In 1986, he bought Pontevedra football (soccer) club Juventud Cambados and helped them climb from the bottom leagues up to the Segunda División B. To celebrate the club’s promotion, Miñanco treated all the players and staff to a tour through Panama and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Venezuela" target="_blank">Venezuela</a>. When the club’s old and dilapidated stadium needed a renovation, Miñanco stepped in with cash and built a new stand that could hold 2,000 fans.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Smuggle, bust and rewind</strong></span></p>
<p>Spending money like water on his own football club, big yachts and luxurious cars and mansions annoyed those in law enforcement. In 1990, he was busted smuggling 2.5 tons of cocaine and sentenced to 20 years in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Prison" target="_blank">prison</a>. He got out early and was arrested again in 1997, this time for smuggling 6,000 kilos of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Hashish" target="_blank">hashish</a>. He was also indicted for his role in smuggling 5,000 kilos of cocaine. That shipment earned him a prison sentence of almost 17 years in 2004. He was also fined nearly €400 million euros.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangster-pets-animal-tales-from-the-american-mafia-to-pablo-escob" target="_blank"><strong>Pablo Escobar and his personal zoo</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Each time he was sentenced, Miñanco kept his mouth shut and did his time. Each time, he was released early and went right back into the world of fast money. In February of 2018, he was arrested again. Authorities allege that he ran an international <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Drugs" target="_blank">drug organization</a> - with members from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Italy" target="_blank">Italy</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Albania" target="_blank">Albania</a>, and the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Netherlands" target="_blank">Netherlands</a> - from his prison cell.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237121881,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237121881?profile=original" /></a>Prison bars could not stop Miñanco’s influence. In 2011 it became known he had bribed the warden at Huelva prison where he was locked up. Director Francisco Sanz had received two Mercedes-Benz cars in exchange for favorable treatment inside his penitentiary.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Fame</strong></span></p>
<p>Such exploits intrigued producers of Netflix television series <em>Fariña</em>. They wrote a screenplay which they sent to the imprisoned drug boss. Police agents discovered the play inside his cell during a search. <em>Fariña</em> aired in 2018 on <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Netflix" target="_blank">Netflix</a>, starring Javier Rey as Miñanco. The series was released under the English title <em>Cocaine Coast</em>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/norman-s-cay-from-notorious-cocaine-pipeline-of-the-medellin-cart" target="_blank">Norman’s Cay</a>: From cocaine pipeline of the Medellin Cartel to a fraudulent festival for rich millennials</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite the Hollywood fame, Miñanco continued his criminal activities. He’s operating on an international level and has a brand name built on decades of experience and a solid reputation carved in stone. Whether he will be able to undertake such activities while breathing fresh air as a free man is an outcome that is a lot less certain.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/europe-overview">European organized crime section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Profile of British drug boss Robert “The Voice” Dawes - “He was prepared to use extreme levels of violence”
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/profile-of-british-drug-boss-robert-the-voice-dawes-he-was-prepar
2018-12-23T10:41:24.000Z
2018-12-23T10:41:24.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-of-british-drug-boss-robert-the-voice-dawes-he-was-prepar" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237118287,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237118287?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>British crime boss Robert Dawes is one of Europe’s biggest drug traffickers. His influence reaches beyond the borders of the United Kingdom and into dozens of countries where he has the power to make men rich and end lives with one call.</p>
<p>Born in 1972 in Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, it was clear from the start that Dawes was no Robin Hood. He grew up in a family notorious for its disregard of the law and quickly found his niche trafficking narcotics.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237119284,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237119284?profile=original" /></a>Kingpin in over 60 countries</strong></span></p>
<p>As he made connections, he became known under various nicknames such as “The Derby Man”, “The Voice” and “Franky”. He traveled far and wide to set up <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Drugs" target="_blank">drug</a> pipelines around the world, establishing contacts in mainland Europe, South America, the Middle East, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Russia" target="_blank">Russia</a>, and Asia. One prosecutor claimed Dawes was involved in around 60 countries.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>From Nottingham to Dubai and the Costa del Crime</strong></span></p>
<p>Narcotics moved one way, cash another with Dawes at the center of it all. By 2001 he had become too big and international for the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=UK" target="_blank">United Kingdom</a>. He left the British isle and made luxurious homes in the flamboyant city of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Dubai" target="_blank">Dubai</a> in the United Arab Emirates and on the Costa del Sol – more commonly referred to as the Costa del Crime – in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spain" target="_blank">Spain</a> while his associates held down the shop in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Nottingham" target="_blank">Nottingham</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Profile of</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangster-turned-cage-fighter-lee-murray" target="_blank"><strong>British Gangster-turned-Cage Fighter Lee Murray</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>From his villas and mansions in the sun he directed his criminal empire and all the bloody violence that came with it. One particular case perfectly illustrates not only Dawes’ far and deadly reach but his stone-cold manner of doing business.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237119657,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237119657?profile=original" /></a><em>Photo: Dawes' mansion in Spain</em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Killing a teacher in the Netherlands</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">In the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Netherlands" target="_blank">Netherlands</a>, Dawes worked closely with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Amsterdam" target="_blank">Amsterdam</a> crime boss Gwenette Martha. The pair was involved in the production of ecstasy pills, among other things. On November 24, 2002, Martha and several other men got in a car in Amsterdam and made the long journey north to the Dutch city of Groningen. They were accompanied by a second car with two Englishmen inside.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Their destination was the house of Gerard Meesters, a 52-year-old teacher. The Englishmen rang his doorbell and handed the perplexed man a piece of paper with a Spanish telephone number on it. They told him to call that number and give the person on the other end of the line the location of his sister Jeanet. If he didn’t phone the number, the men said, they’d come back. “And not to have a talk,” one adds.</p>
<ul style="text-align:left;">
<li><strong>READ: Profile of</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/smirking-and-laughing-as-his-victims-died-violent-deaths-profile" target="_blank"><strong>Irish mob hitman “Fat Freddie” Thompson</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align:left;">Unbeknownst to Gerard Meesters, his sister Jeanet got herself in deep trouble with Dawes’ organization. She and a friend allegedly stole a shipment of 1000 kilos of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Hashish" target="_blank">hashish</a> in Spain of which Dawes owned a portion.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Meesters had no idea where his sister was and when he called the number he quickly hung up after the man on the other end of the line refused to say his name. The move sealed his fate. The Englishmen returned four days later. Again they rang the doorbell. When Meesters opened his door, he was shot eight times and died on the scene.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Daniel Sowerby is eventually convicted of this murder and sentenced to life in prison. His accomplice who drove the car received an 8-year sentence. Prosecutors point to Dawes as the man who ordered the killing.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Amsterdam crime leader Martha was convicted of making threats against Meesters, but escaped further punishment. He died in a hail of bullets when he was killed in a gangland execution in 2014.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Nothing personal, just business</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Though Dawes has been linked to other murders, including two more in the Netherlands, this one illustrates how serious he takes his criminal activities. Like the <em>sicarios</em> in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mexico" target="_blank">Mexico</a> and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Colombia" target="_blank">Colombia</a>, he does not care if he kills innocent relatives. You mess with his business, you die.</p>
<ul style="text-align:left;">
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangster-pets-animal-tales-from-the-american-mafia-to-pablo-escob" target="_blank"><strong>Pablo Escobar and his personal zoo</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align:left;">Using bribes, intimidation, violence and murder to run his narco empire, Dawes moves tons of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cocaine" target="_blank">cocaine</a> across the globe. Perhaps he feels his modus operandi protects him from prosecution. But by now he has become too big to ignore.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237119468,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237119468?profile=original" /></a>Intercepting calls and coke</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">In 2013, police in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands and South America set their targets on him. French authorities seize 1300 kilos of cocaine at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in September. The drugs were packaged in 31 suitcases on a flight from Caracas, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Venezuela" target="_blank">Venezuela</a>, to Paris.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had intelligence about the shipment when it tracked members of Dawes’ organization who had traveled to Venezuela to organize the shipment with the De Los Soles Cartel, which translates as Cartel of the Suns. Working with the French Police Nationale and Spanish Guardia Civil they began collecting evidence against the elusive drug baron.</p>
<ul style="text-align:left;">
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-narcos-profile-of-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-mexico-s-e" target="_blank">The Real Narcos</a>: Profile of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexico’s “El Padrino” of drug lords</strong></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align:left;">On wiretaps, Dawes was heard bragging about his involvement in the Paris drug shipment and his ability to move large amounts of narcotics to a member of a Colombian drugs cartel during a meeting in a hotel in the Spanish city of Madrid.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">In November of 2015 investigators had enough proof to link Dawes to drug crimes. An elite team of armed police, accompanied by officers from the NCA and French police, raided Dawes’ mansion in Benalmadena in Spain and arrested him. Guns, cash and encrypted mobile phones were seized from the mansion.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Following the cocaine bust in Paris in 2013 the NCA worked with the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) and Nottinghamshire Police to target members of Dawes’ group active in the United Kingdom. Around 80 people of Dawes’ organization were arrested.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Prepared to use extreme levels of violence”</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Dawes himself was on an airplane to Paris, France to stand trial. After two weeks, the verdict was out: guilty. On December 21, 2018, he was convicted of involvement in the plot to smuggle over a ton of cocaine from Venezuela to France. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">“Dawes was one of the most significant organized criminals in Europe with a network that literally spanned the globe,” National Crime Agency deputy director Matt Horne stated in a press release. “He had connections in South America, the Middle East, Asia and across Europe, which enabled him to orchestrate the movements of huge amounts of drugs and money. This was often facilitated by the utilization of corrupt law enforcement, port workers and government officials.”</p>
<ul style="text-align:left;">
<li><strong>READ: “For him, I am a god” – Profile of</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/for-him-i-am-a-god-profile-of-russian-mafia-boss-and-vor-v-zakone" target="_blank"><strong>Russian Mafia boss, and vor v zakone, Razhden Shulaya</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align:left;">Horne continued: “Dawes was prepared to use extreme levels of violence in order to further his reputation and take retribution against those who crossed him. Members or associates of his criminal group are known to have been involved in intimidation, shootings and murders. Finally bringing him to justice has been an international effort and we have worked closely with partners in France and Spain as part of this investigation.”</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Still, some justice remains to be served. The murder of hard-working teacher Gerard Meesters has only resulted in the conviction of the shooter and his accomplice. The man who ordered the death sentence has not faced Dutch courts yet. That is why prosecutors in the Netherlands are currently building a case against Dawes.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/europe-overview">European organized crime section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Sex Money Murder: The violent rise and fall of deadly Bronx gang ingrained in New York underworld’s history
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/sex-money-murder-the-violent-rise-and-fall-of-deadly-bronx-gang-i
2018-11-07T09:00:00.000Z
2018-11-07T09:00:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sex-money-murder-the-violent-rise-and-fall-of-deadly-bronx-gang-i" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237111261,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237111261?profile=original" width="600" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Twin, Suge, Pipe, and Pistol Pete. The names still haunt the Soundview projects in the Bronx, New York. Their drugs kept the hood from starving, but their violence caused nothing but pain and horror. Their gang Sex Money Murder ruled supreme and has become part of gangland history. “If they hadn’t been taken down they’d probably have become as powerful as a drug cartel.”</p>
<p>Their entire story has now been documented by journalist Jonathan Green in his book <a href="https://amzn.to/2DlgmPI" target="_blank">Sex Money Murder</a> – <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=SMM" target="_blank">SMM</a>: A searing portrait of the crack epidemic and violent drug wars that once ravaged the Bronx.</p>
<p>“I didn’t just want to write a true crime book,” Green tells Gangsters Inc. “I felt this story was a lot more important than that. It goes beyond that. The social civic history of the 1980s and 1990s, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Crack" target="_blank">crack</a> epidemic and how that birthed these <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">gangs</a>, and the formation of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Bloods" target="_blank">New York Bloods</a>. But I also really wanted to show the background that these guys came from and why they ended up in the gang. You sort of hear about it in rap songs and I wanted to tell all that in a narrative. Which I think had never been done.”</p>
<p><a href="https://amzn.to/2DlgmPI" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237111090,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237111090?profile=original" width="200" /></a>Green (right) is originally from England and first came to the United States in the 1980s when he visited family in New York. He began writing for magazines with most of his work focused on crime. He spent time with a SWAT team and Bounty hunter in Los Angeles. After he had enough of flying back and forth between London and New York, he moved to the Big Apple permanently in the early 2000s.</p>
<p>He wasn’t done traveling, though. He covered crime stories around the globe. He reported on the favelas in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Brazil" target="_blank">Brazil</a>, the gangs in Kingston, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Jamaica" target="_blank">Jamaica</a>, the intersection between crime and terrorism in Sudan, and the coca fields in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Colombia" target="_blank">Colombia</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Sex Money Murder</strong></span></p>
<p>Green’s work on transnational organized crime eventually brought him in contact with former <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=NYPD" target="_blank">NYPD</a> detective John O’Malley, who had been part of an expansive investigation into Sex Money Murder, a gang that hailed from the Soundview projects and held sway across the Bronx and into other states beyond New York.</p>
<p>The former detective introduced Green to one of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=SMM" target="_blank">Sex Money Murder</a>’s leaders, Emilio Romero. Better known on the streets by his nickname “Pipe”, Romero had flipped and become a cooperating witness against his fellow gang members. He was hesitant, but also willing to share his story with Green.</p>
<p>“In the beginning, I couldn’t ask him about his mom or growing up,” Green says. “Pipe told me: ‘Man, this is difficult! I didn’t think it would be that hard.’ We built up a relationship and ended up talking all the time, every day.”</p>
<p>Pipe made his motivations crystal clear to Green. “I really want people to understand that, yes, I was in a gang and I sold crack and we used violence,” the gangster began. “But, I loved my mom, my family, and I want people to understand what made us do the things we did.”</p>
<p>In his <a href="https://amzn.to/2DlgmPI" target="_blank">book</a>, Green goes to great lengths in telling the story of not just Sex Money Murder and its members, but of the community where they grew up, the cops who chased them, and the relatives who were worried sick about their sons, brothers, and fathers or were stricken with sorrow after losing a loved one to the deadly streets.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>BUY:</strong> <a href="https://amzn.to/2DlgmPI" target="_blank"><strong>Sex Money Murder: A story of crack, blood, and betrayal</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Violence at the drop of a hat”</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AU_HlrDtczI?wmode=opaque" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> </strong></span></p>
<p>“During the 1990s the violence was so out of control,” Green explains. “And police had difficulty getting a handle on this. They couldn’t find any witnesses. Sex Money Murder just got stronger and stronger. These days, guys like that would be in handcuffs within a year or two. But back then they could grow unchecked and Sex Money Murder went from a street gang to a syndicate. They were getting increasingly sophisticated. Laundering drug money and investing it in legitimate businesses, paying out members with clean paychecks, and leasing all the cars so they couldn’t be traced back. If they hadn’t been taken down they’d probably have become as powerful as a drug cartel.”</p>
<p>What fueled Sex Money Murder’s rise was not just the gang’s brain thrust, but also its willingness to engage in violence. Green: “These guys were very violent and very deadly. More dangerous than your average <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a> crew because they were so willing to use violence at the drop of a hat.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“New York streets where killers'll walk like Pistol Pete” - Nas</strong></span></p>
<p>Much of that violence was ordered by the group’s leader Peter Rollock, who was nicknamed Pistol Pete. “’Pistol’ was so flamboyant,” Green explains. “He got the attention of rap stars like Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz who rhymed about his life and crimes. He went clubbing with supermodel Tyra Banks and music mogul Sean Combs (better known as Puffy or P. Diddy). He had this swagger and flamboyance a lot of the other guys didn’t have. But he was also prepared to commit the violence, the murders, himself. Which, normally they delegate that stuff to others, but Pete was quite happy to carry out the murders himself and was proud of them. He advertised the fact he did murders. Boasted about it.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: “Corey Hamlet is as smart as any CEO we’ve prosecuted” - Profile:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/corey-hamlet-is-as-smart-as-any-ceo-we-ve-prosecuted-profile-of-g" target="_blank"><strong>Grape Street Crips leader Corey Hamlet</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>In doing so, he created a street legend while still walking those streets. He was always very aware of gangster history and an avid reader of books about the Italian-American Mafia. “Pete absolutely idolized the Mafia,” Green says. “As a kid he had posters of these guys on his wall like others had posters of music stars. He would have [mob boss] <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Anastasia" target="_blank">Albert Anastasia</a> on his wall and people like that.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t just fanboy stuff either. Pete actually studied these Mafia bosses and their activities and actions. Green: “Pipe told me that Pete read a lot about the early Mafia guys and anytime they’d get whacked he’d try to learn a lesson, so he wouldn’t make the same mistake.”</p>
<p>Pistol Pete was not planning on ending up like Anastasia, shot dead in the chair of a barbershop. “After reading about that, whenever he went to have a haircut he’d have a posse with him,” Green explains. “When he went to the barber he made sure the door was locked, that security was posted there. He learned from everything he read. Later on in his career, he was never alone. He always had armed guys with him.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237112078,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237112078?profile=original" width="600" /></a><em>Photo: "Pistol Pete" Rollock posing for pictures behind bars.</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The fall</strong></span></p>
<p>This wasn’t paranoia, mind you. People were frequently getting shot at or killed in those days. But despite the murders, for a long time authorities didn’t do much about it. Green: “Everyone is focused on the Mafia groups because that’s where the glory is. And there was this attitude that because it happened in Soundview, a poor neighborhood, let them kill each other. A classic racist slant which pervaded everything.”</p>
<p>Still, the killings did catch the police’s attention. Especially after Sex Money Murder organized a massacre in broad daylight on Thanksgiving Day in 1997 when it executed two of its own members in front of women and children enjoying the annual game of football. “Even the community rose up after those murders,” Green explains. “Everyone had had enough. The killings and shootings had been going on for so long but this one, at a football game with families and stuff, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237111694,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237111694?profile=original" width="550" /></a><em>Photo: Soundview Homes, the Bronx, New York (courtesy of Jonathan Green)</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Joining the United Blood Nation</strong></span></p>
<p>To top it all off, Sex Money Murder had joined the nationwide <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=UBN" target="_blank">United Blood Nation</a> gang, the first New York crew to do so. The decision to join the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Bloods" target="_blank">Bloods</a> was made by Pistol Pete, who saw it as an expansion of the group’s influence and power and thought it would give them a more fearsome reputation.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/united-blood-nation-godfather-says-he-is-part-of-the-last-ones-th" target="_blank">United Blood Nation Godfather says</a> he is part of “the last ones that God put in power”</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>“Pipe and the others in Sex Money Murder thought that was a huge mistake,” Green explains. “Pipe felt that they didn’t need that. Their reputation was hard. Certainly, Pete had much more of a vicious rep than United Blood Nation founder Omar “OG Mack” Portee. They were tight and loyal and didn’t need to be a part of this big, national organization. People close to Pete also thought it was a mistake because this move puts you on the radar of federal law enforcement. Whereas when you’re a tight, small clique you can do you own thing and not be caught up as much in a federal case. A lot of people at the time were shocked.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Local and federal agencies cooperate</strong></span></p>
<p>Where federal authorities had no interest in Sex Money Murder before, now they finally saw why the group had to be stopped. But wanting something done and actually being able to do it are two different things, Liz Glazer, the lead prosecutor in the investigation, quickly found out. Working with federal agents she realized they would never be able to break this Bronx-based organization. So, she pioneered a hugely effective cooperation between federal and local agencies.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/high-ranking-bloods-gangster-arrested-for-organizing-murder-of-bo" target="_blank">High-ranking Bloods gangster arrested</a> for organizing murder of Bonanno family mobster</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Green: “Liz Glazer realized the local cops knew who all the players were, who the shooters were and who the top guys were. The FBI was different. When they’d come in they didn’t know who everybody was, who the people in the neighborhood were. The violence and killings are carried out by a very small group of people and once you identify them you have an enormous advantage. She realized that by partnering up local detectives with the feds they’d have the power of the federal system with the mandatory minimum sentences of RICO with the expertise of the street cops on the ground. It was a winning strategy in eradicating these gangs.”</p>
<p>With help from detectives like O’Malley and Pete Forcelli, prosecutors were able to bring the gang leaders and members in on RICO charges. Facing serious time in a federal prison, many of them began to weigh their options. Most of them decided to cooperate and testify against their former brothers.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Sex Money Murder bangin’ for their rats”</strong></span></p>
<p>Among those to turn their back on Sex Money Murder were “Pipe” and “Suge”, two of the group’s high-ranking and founding members. Both men also sat down with Green for his book. Using their inside knowledge of Sex Money Murder, he was able to paint a vivid picture of the gang’s rise to power and its rapid downfall.</p>
<p>Getting them to trust him, however, was not easy. Green: “Remember, these guys are not used to trusting anyone. Much of their life they’ve been lied to. Gang life is based on deception and lies. Pipe told me once the only guys who know everything are at the top. Guys on the bottom are kept in the quiet about what’s happening. It’s a lifestyle where lies become commonplace so trusting is difficult. When we started it took a lot to establish that trust particularly when talking about cooperating and murders.”</p>
<p>Where cooperators are usually branded rats and snitches “get stitches”, a weird thing happened within the Sex Money Murder crew as a visible split occurred between those who remained loyal and those who cooperated: Both sides continued to show each other love and respect, to some degree.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-kingpin-freeway-rick-ross-moving-tons-of-cocaine-with-a-nod" target="_blank">Drug kingpin “Freeway” Rick Ross</a>: Moving tons of cocaine with approval from the Reagan White House</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>When members of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=LatinKings" target="_blank">Latin Kings</a> approached Pistol Pete in prison with an offer to murder Sex Money Murder turncoats, he flat out refused, saying: “We stand on our own, man. We grew up from the sandbox together. Ain’t nobody touch no Sex Money Murder rats.”</p>
<p>“These bonds are tight,” Green explains. “They killed for each other. It’s like a type of army unit. It’s not, of course. The military has a different motivation, but at the same time they also had this very deep sense of camaraderie. After Pete’s stance became clear, they got a reputation in prison for loyalty. Guys locked up would chant: ‘Sex Money bangin’ for their rats!’”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237113053,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237113053?profile=original" width="550" /></a><em>Photo: Soundview Homes, The Bronx, New York (courtesy of Jonathan Green)</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The infection that is violence<br /> </strong></span></p>
<p>Pistol Pete went down with his ship, sentenced to life plus 105 years in prison. He was held in solitary confinement out of fear he would use his influence within the United Blood Nation to order violence or murders. At the time of his sentencing he was just 26 years old.</p>
<p>Pipe and Suge were released from prison after cooperating with authorities. Both men struggled with their new lives away from Soundview, but Pipe, especially, has been able to turn his life around and hold down a legitimate job and raise a family.</p>
<p>The justice system tends to punish African-American criminals more severely than whites. Young black males also tend to be arrested for petty things, creating a criminal record early on which makes getting a regular job later on in life that much harder and the gang life that much more attractive, a necessity even. Thus, the vicious cycle of growing up without a father, poverty, crime, and prison perpetuates on and on.</p>
<p><a href="https://amzn.to/2DlgmPI" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237113468,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237113468?profile=original" /></a>Pipe’s reason for telling his story was showing youngsters the reality of it. “These young guys don’t realize that the very people they think are their brothers are the same guys that will murder them,” he told Green. “Every time the set turns on itself and they eat their own. It happened with Sex Money Murder too. They brought on their own destruction because they turned on each other.”</p>
<p>Getting this perspective out was important for Green too. “I wanted to give people caught up in this life some idea of other people who went through it. If Pipe can explain ‘Here’s what happened to me. I started out poor, sold crack for money, then the violence started and once it starts you cannot turn it off. It will go on and on. It will claim your life or someone else’s.’ I wanted to tell that in a personal way, like they knew Pipe and Suge and were invested in their life story and understand it. Because there’s a myth and aura about the lifestyle, which is tragic.”</p>
<p>He continues: “It’s so tragic for the mothers of these guys. It causes a lot of devastation. It’s a selfish motivation: Getting rich no matter what. That kind of hunger eats you out and they always turn and kill each other. It’s like an infection. The violence spreads. And you have to use it or you get murdered yourself. It’s like a security, it keeps you safe. But eventually you become infected yourself.”</p>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/2DlgmPI" target="_blank">Sex Money Murder</a>: A story of crack, blood, and betrayal is available at stores <a href="https://amzn.to/2DlgmPI" target="_blank">online</a> or near you. You can find Jonathan Green at his <a href="http://www.jonathangreenonline.com/" target="_blank">website</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/jonathanjagreen" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</strong></em></p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/black-organized-crime">Black organized crime</a> section on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
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Investigation: Cocaine delivered faster than a pizza, though cost varies around the world
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/cocaine-delivered-faster-than-a-pizza-though-cost-varies-around-t
2018-05-12T12:00:00.000Z
2018-05-12T12:00:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cocaine-delivered-faster-than-a-pizza-though-cost-varies-around-t" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237107879,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237107879?profile=original" width="600" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Violence and suffering be damned, cocaine remains one of the world’s favorite recreational <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Drugs" target="_blank">drugs</a>. A newly released report by the Global Drug Survey explored its cost and availability around the world. They found that home drug delivery is becoming more popular, with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cocaine" target="_blank">cocaine</a> arriving faster than the pizza courier.</p>
<p>“Easy access and higher purity are likely to lead to escalating use and harm amongst people,” Professor Adam R Winstock, founder and CEO of the <a href="https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com" target="_blank">Global Drug Survey</a> writes. “Speedy home shopping delivery is part our lives and represents the expansion and sophistication of retail markets around the world. In the same way that online shopping is leading to the decimation of many high streets, the online drugs trade may be putting many street dealers out of business.”</p>
<p>He adds, “Our findings show that illicit drugs like cocaine are just another commodity and that as with any competitive market place, a retailer with something to sell will look to maximize the purchase experience in order to gain a competitive edge over other suppliers.”</p>
<p>For its 2018 report the <a href="https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com" target="_blank">Global Drug Survey</a> researched the drug-taking habits of 130,000 people across 44 countries. Results show that same day cocaine delivery is the norm, while in many major cities, you really can get cocaine quicker than pizza.</p>
<p>In countries like <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Brazil" target="_blank">Brazil</a>, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Netherlands" target="_blank">Netherlands</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Denmark" target="_blank">Denmark</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Colombia" target="_blank">Colombia</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Scotland" target="_blank">Scotland</a>, and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=England" target="_blank">England</a> the percentage of people who say they can get cocaine faster than a pizza ranges from a stunning 36 percent in England to 44 percent in Brazil. Of people in the United States who participated in the survey 23.6 percent say their drug dealer is speedier than the pizza boy.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The cost of a gram of cocaine</strong></span></p>
<p>Though it arrives faster than a pizza pie, it does cost a lot more. Addiction, violence, and suffering notwithstanding, Global Drug Survey found that prices for a gram of cocaine vary around the world. In Colombia, at the source of much of the globe’s cocaine supply, you can get a gram for €5 euros ($6 dollars). That’s below the average of South America where a gram is worth around €10 euros ($12 dollars).</p>
<p>As the infamous <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">drug cartels</a> begin smuggling the product across the world, prices increase. Nowhere is a gram of cocaine more expensive than in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in-australia" target="_blank">Australia</a> and New Zealand where on average a gram costs around €200 euros ($240 dollars).</p>
<p>In <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Europe" target="_blank">Europe</a> prices average between €60 to €80 euros ($72 to $95 dollars) for a gram of coke with a 60 to 70 percent purity level. Here we see an interesting indication of a country’s importance as a global narcotics hub. In <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Netherlands" target="_blank">the Netherlands</a> and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Belgium" target="_blank">Belgium</a>, both countries with a large port and easy access into mainland Europe, a gram of cocaine is the cheapest in all of Europe, going for €48 euros ($57 dollars) in the Netherlands to €51 euros ($61 dollars) in Belgium, far below the average of €60 euros.</p>
<p><em>You can read the entire report at <a href="https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com" target="_blank">Global Drug Survey</a>.</em></p>
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South America is quickly becoming a deadly destination for enterprising gangsters from the Netherlands
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/south-america-is-quickly-becoming-a-deadly-destination-for-enterp
2016-12-19T15:00:00.000Z
2016-12-19T15:00:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/south-america-is-quickly-becoming-a-deadly-destination-for-enterp"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237085452,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237085452?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Milko</p>
<p>Dutch gangsters going to South America for some illegal business face a high risk of ending up murdered. In just two years, four men were killed, while another survived getting shot in the head in Panama. All of them were deeply involved in the Netherlands’ underworld.</p>
<p>One week ago, on December 11, 23-year-old Mitchell Jansen was assassinated in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Medellin">Medellin</a>, Colombia. According to sources, he was shot in Barrio Miranda, a neighborhood slightly to the east of the center of Medellin. Barrio Miranda is known for its <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Prostitution">prostitution</a>, housing plenty of brothels. Colombian media reported that Janssen was a frequent visitor of the area’s whorehouses.</p>
<p>Jansen was linked to a group of young criminals from Amsterdam who have allegedly been involved in various gangland hits, Dutch newspaper <a href="http://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/amsterdamse-crimineel-geliquideerd-in-colombia~a4436317/" target="_blank">Het Parool</a> reports. On December 15, 2014, police discovered guns and ammo in a storage box owned by Jansen.</p>
<p>On one of the guns, investigators found DNA belonging to a man who was later, in May 2016, convicted of arranging a murder. This man was one of four who were arrested on February 1, 2015, in the Knokkestraat in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a>. According to court transcripts, they were planning to murder a gangster called Samir Z. Another one of the four men was said to also have been involved in the hit attempt on Chahid Yakhlaf on November 1, 2014. Yakhlaf didn’t live too long, though. He was killed at the end of 2015.</p>
<p>The criminal case against Jansen regarding the discovery of firearms was still ongoing. There was also another case against him involving money laundering. Quite the charges for such a young man.</p>
<p>Jansen came in contact with police at an early age. In 2011, he was suspected of attempting to hit a police officer with his car. He allegedly stole two motorcycles, one in August of 2014 and another in November that same year.</p>
<p>Mitchell Jansen was the second Amsterdam gangster who was shot to death in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Colombia">Colombia</a> in a very short time. On September 23, two men on a motorcycle shot to death 34-year-old Suriname-Dutch criminal Micah Jona Johnson in front of a barbershop in Cali. Johnson was known on the streets as “Mikey” and “C-Murder.”</p>
<p>Johnson is an alleged associate of August Adjoeba, a feared crime boss who was murdered in August of 2008. After his death, a message appeared on website mamjo.com in which the writer claimed that Adjoeba had sent C-Murder “to break big mouth boy’s house.” The “big mouth boy” the writer referred to is said to be the Surinamese gangster Siegfried “Piet” Wortel. In March 2014, Wortel received a 7-year prison sentence for leading a criminal organization trafficking in cocaine.</p>
<p>Micah Johnson was arrested by Dutch police in 2005 after a shooting with a group of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Albania">Albanians</a>. Johnson had even been held hostage by the Albanians who wanted to rob a shipment of drugs from him. Johnson had wanted to scam the Albanians by selling them fake drugs. After being held captive for a short time he managed to escape and – with a police surveillance unit watching – shot at the Albanians. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the shooting.</p>
<p>In July of 2008, Adjoeba and Johnson allegedly kidnapped another Surinamese drug trafficker in Amsterdam. The man was freed by police and shortly thereafter Adjoeba was assassinated himself.</p>
<p>According to Dutch newspaper Het Parool, Johnson was threatened frequently when he was in Amsterdam and he therefore began avoiding the city, preferring to lay low in Santo Domingo.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237085282,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237085282?profile=original" width="166" /></a>In 2014, however, he was convicted of conspiring to smuggle drugs from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Jamaica">Jamaica</a> to Belgium, though he was acquitted of being part of “Piet” Wortel’s criminal organization.</p>
<p>Local Colombian newspapers report that Johnson arranged cocaine deals on behest of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Sinaloa">Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel</a>. People who knew Johnson found this a far-fetched story.</p>
<p>There were several other murders of gangsters from the Dutch epicenter of Amsterdam in South America. Marchano Pocorni (left) was murdered in the city of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Paramaribo">Paramaribo</a> in Suriname on March 2, 2015. Several months earlier, in December of 2014, Khalid Jafaar was shot and killed in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Panama">Panama</a>. Though his criminal record only showed some traffic violations, he was known to have connections to people around Dutch drug lord Gwenette Martha, who himself was killed as well.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237085678,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237085678?profile=original" width="184" /></a>And then there was the one that got away. In January of 2015, Sjaak Burger (right) survived an attempt on his life in Panama. He was shot in the head, but still lived to tell plenty of tales. He was a suspect in weapons trafficking and several murders and became a government witness after surviving the failed hit that had been caught on a security video camera - see photo at top of page.</p>
<p>Whether these killings were the result of a gangland conflict back in the Netherlands or whether these Dutch gangsters had overstayed their welcome at their South American getaway, is unknown. Regardless of where they were when it happened, dead is dead. But from now on, Dutch gangsters going to South America will keep their eyes and ears open, as despite the warm sun, they are not on a relaxing holiday.</p>
<p><strong>Milko (a pseudonym) is a Dutchman who has studied organized crime in the Netherlands, its history, and its offshoots in foreign countries for over two decades.</strong></p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/europe-overview">European organized crime section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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Hollywood tells story of Chicago bosses Accardo & Giancana
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/hollywood-to-tell-story-of-chicago-bosses-accardo-giancana
2016-03-19T13:15:32.000Z
2016-03-19T13:15:32.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hollywood-to-tell-story-of-chicago-bosses-accardo-giancana"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237062099,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237062099?profile=original" width="464" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>Film director Michael Mann is teaming up with bestselling author Don Winslow to co-create an original novel about <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit</a> mob bosses <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-antonino-accardo">Anthony Accardo</a> and Sam Giancana. The novel will in turn be developed into a feature movie by Mann.</p>
<p>This news will delight fans of gangster movies as Mann has produced some of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-the-chicago-outfit-made">best films</a> and series in the genre. His resume includes Heat, Public Enemies, Thief, and Miami Vice. Winslow, meanwhile, is riding high off the success of his book The Cartel.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://deadline.com/2016/03/don-winslow-michael-mann-tony-accardo-sam-giancana-the-cartel-michael-mann-books-1201722508/" target="_blank">Deadline</a>, “Winslow will begin work late spring on this, after delivering his next book. Discussions with publishers will begin shortly and the book will be released in 2017.”</p>
<p>Anthony Accardo and Sam Giancana were among America’s most infamous and powerful Mafia bosses. Their connections ran all the way to the White House and governmental agencies such as the CIA.</p>
<p>Though Giancana’s issues with the Kennedys and his role in the CIA’s plans to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro are well documented, less is known about <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with">Accardo</a>, who kept a low profile throughout his long and illustrious career. Starting out as <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with">muscle</a> for none other than <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/photo/albums/al-capone">Al Capone</a>, Accardo eventually became one of America’s smartest and longest reigning Mafia bosses.</p>
<p>Their lives should present fans of crime stories with a mind-blowing novel. Mann might even uncover some untold stories. Interestingly, he has acquired rights and previously undisclosed material from the Accardo family.</p>
<p>We at Gangsters Inc. can’t wait to see what Mann and Winslow dig up.</p>
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Profile of Montreal Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto (1946 - 2013)
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/montreal-mafia-boss-vito-rizzuto-1946-2013
2013-12-23T19:30:00.000Z
2013-12-23T19:30:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/montreal-mafia-boss-vito-rizzuto-1946-2013"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237026288,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237026288?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>“And like that, poof. He's gone.”</p>
<p>Vito Rizzuto, leader of the Mafia in Montreal, passed away today at age 67. He was hospitalized on Sunday for heart problems and was suffering from lung cancer. His death, of natural causes no less, comes as a huge surprise. Rizzuto was an enigma throughout his criminal career and had a knack for not just surviving the treacherous North American underworld, but emerging as its most powerful boss.</p>
<p>“The man known as the Teflon Don dies quietly? [It was] quite a surprise to many, many people,” Julian Sher, the senior producer of CBC's the fifth estate and an investigative journalist who has covered the Montreal Mafia extensively, told <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/vito-rizzuto-montreal-mafia-s-teflon-don-dies-1.2474011" target="_blank">CBC News</a>.</p>
<p>It’s an unnatural end for Vito Rizzuto, a man who was at the center of a war for underworld supremacy. A man who lost his son and his father to the violence that ripped through Montreal since his arrest for a triple murder made famous by the movie Donnie Brasco.</p>
<p>It was more than just a triple homicide, more than just a power play, for Vito Rizzuto though. It was meant to strengthen the ties between the New York <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-bonanno-crime-family">Bonanno Family</a> led by “Rusty” Rastelli and its Montreal faction led by Vito’s father Nicolo, who had seized control in 1978 when he arranged the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-mafia-of-montreal-a-short">violent death of Paolo Violi</a>.</p>
<p>Three years later, it was Vito’s turn to show that he was truly mob royalty destined for a distinguished career in the Mafia. He did not disappoint. As a member of a four-man hit squad, he hid in a closet with a shotgun in his hands awaiting the arrival of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/aftermath-of-a-hit-the-murder">three Bonanno Family captains</a> who planned to overthrow Rastelli as boss.</p>
<p>As the men arrived, Rizzuto jumped out of the closet, aimed his shotgun and yelled “It’s a holdup!”</p>
<p>They didn’t stand a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/aftermath-of-a-hit-the-murder">chance</a>.</p>
<p>Before the smoke-filled room cleared, only two men remained standing: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/bonanno-boss-joseph-massino">Joseph Massino</a> and his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale. All the others, including Rizzuto, had fled the scene. Yet, he’d find out that he could not run fast enough to escape what had just occurred. Massino would eventually become the new Bonanno Family boss, with Vitale as his underboss. When both men flipped and became government witnesses, it wasn’t long before Rizzuto heard a knock on his door.</p>
<p>But that was all in the future. That day, Rizzuto had done good. He had proven himself. With his father in firm control of the Montreal faction and the ties with New York stronger than ever, Rizzuto’s career looked golden.</p>
<p>In Montreal, Vito brokered deals and peaceful partnerships with and between the city’s various criminal groups. Mafiosi, Hells Angels, South American drug cartel guys, the Irish mob: They all respected and listened to Vito Rizzuto, who was fluent in English, Italian, Spanish, and French. There was no doubt there was a criminal hierarchy and that Rizzuto sat at the top of the food chain.</p>
<p>Hundreds of millions were pouring in from narcotics trafficking. The money was laundered through various companies in exotic locations before it came home to Montreal where it was invested in real estate and legitimate businesses.</p>
<p>Business was booming, but it was never enough. In the Mafia you come in alive and you go out dead. You are in it for the long haul, till they close your casket. And so father and son Rizzuto kept stacking millions on millions and participated in newer and bigger investments.</p>
<p>By the late 1990s, the Montreal faction had significantly outgrown the New York Bonanno Family. The student had become the master. While the New York mobsters were getting by on loansharking, gambling, and extortion, the Rizzuto Clan was involved in the prestigious construction project that would create a bridge between Sicily and Italy’s mainland Calabria. It was worth billions. Using his connections, Vito was looking to launder some of his ill-gotten gains through the project.</p>
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/1bMrLhx" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237027071,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237027071?profile=original" width="184" /></a>The Rizzutos had established contacts with everyone, ranging from Mafiosi and politicians to Italy’s Royal family. And their influence didn’t stop in North America and Italy. They were involved in far-away places like Chile and Singapore as well.</p>
<p>Smart, smooth, and silent, the Rizzutos kept expanding their criminal empire. Nobody could stop them it seemed.</p>
<p>Until that that long awaited and much feared moment finally arrived. In the United States, Bonanno underboss Salvatore Vitale had spilled the beans and fingered Vito in the killing of the three Bonanno captains. The Feds hit Vito with an indictment and on January 20, 2004, members of the Anti-gang Squad of the Montreal Police knocked at the front door of Rizzuto's luxurious mansion in the Northwest of Montreal.</p>
<p>Three years later, standing in front of an American judge, Rizzuto pleaded guilty to participating in the hit on the three captains. He was sentenced to ten years, which he was to serve in the United States.</p>
<p>As Vito sat in prison, his Clan was experiencing quite a few setbacks. The first came in 2006 and was named <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/montreal-mafia-bust-project">Project Colisée</a>, a huge police operation which saw the entire Rizzuto leadership under indictment and behind bars, including Vito’s father Nicolo.</p>
<p>The arrests left a large void on the streets of Montreal where gangsters now operated without the law and order that Rizzuto’s reputation provided them. Some even got ideas of becoming the new Vito Rizzuto. It was a recipe for disaster and Vito couldn’t do a thing about it as he sat in his cell.</p>
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/1bMrLhx" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237027285,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237027285?profile=original" width="280" /></a>Weakened by Vito’s absence and the indictments of Project Colisée, the Rizzuto Clan was facing a hostile environment made up out of ambitious gangsters from various groups who had their eyes on the top spot.</p>
<p>Slowly but surely, the streets turned red with blood.</p>
<p>Fire bombings, kidnappings, and hits in broad daylight: Montreal was becoming the set of a movie produced by Quintin Tarantino and directed by Martin Scorsese. The peace maintained by Vito had disappeared and been replaced by all-out war.</p>
<p>One by one, people close to Vito were taken out of the equation. Two men on this list stand out. In 2009, a few days before Christmas, Vito’s son Nick Jr. was murdered in broad daylight. Almost a year later, in November of 2010, Vito’s father was killed as he was sitting down for dinner with his family at his mansion in Montreal, located next to the home of his imprisoned son. A sniper fired a round through the window, killing the 86-year-old mob boss as his family watched in horror.</p>
<p>As the media and public screamed outrage over the brazen killings and authorities were scrambling to find information about the assassins, Vito sat in his prison cell. Powerless.</p>
<p>In the months after, the general consensus was that Vito was finished as boss. He had no allies, he had lost his power, hell, would he even be up to the task after experiencing such a loss? Wouldn’t he prefer to simply retire and fade into the shadows rather than risk the death of his relatives or that of himself?</p>
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/1bMrLhx" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237027658,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237027658?profile=original" width="345" /></a>We got our answer in October of 2012 when Vito (right) was released from his American cell and put on a plane back to Canada. He did not pack his bags, nor did he take the first flight to South America. He went home to his Montreal mansion and settled back in.</p>
<p>Within a month of his return, Vito began exacting his revenge. It was swift, silent, ruthless, and bloody.</p>
<p>72-year-old Joe Di Maulo was shot to death in the driveway of his suburban Montreal home. He was once a friend of the Rizzutos but had switched sides when Rizzuto was in prison.</p>
<p>At the time of Di Maulo's murder, a police officer told newspaper the Star: “It's a clear message that there is no peace. There is no conciliation. It's a war: kill or be killed.”</p>
<p>“He was able to reassert power very brutally in Montreal and we saw, I think, something like close to a dozen murders and deaths related to that gang war. In fact, there was one shooting in Montreal just four days ago,” Julian Sher told <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/vito-rizzuto-montreal-mafia-s-teflon-don-dies-1.2474011" target="_blank">CBC News</a>.</p>
<p>Last month, wealthy Montreal baker Moreno Gallo was shot dead in front of a crowd of witnesses at an Acapulco pizzeria. The 68-year-old was executed three years to the day after Rizzuto’s father, Nicolo, was shot dead by a sniper in the kitchen of his mansion, in front of his wife and daughter.</p>
<p>“He wasn’t the very forgiving kind,” said <a href="http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-mobster-vito-rizzuto-dead-at-67-1.1605065" target="_blank">CTV Montreal</a>’s Stephane Giroux.</p>
<p>Not very forgiving indeed. And with a long list of enemies he wished dead. Hence the surprise when the news broke that Vito Rizzuto, boss of the Montreal Mafia, had died of natural causes at a hospital. No shotgun blast. No sniper round. No bomb explosion. His heart just stopped ticking.</p>
<p>His death signals an uneasy and unclear future for a Montreal underworld already shaking from an ongoing mob war.</p>
<p>“Now that [Vito’s] gone it's going to unleash a lot of unprecedented jockeying for the - for his position, his power his financial empire - it's all going to be played out on the streets across Canada,” author Adrian Humphreys, who wrote a book about the rise of the Rizzuto family titled <a href="http://amzn.to/J9nDSN" target="_blank">The Sixth Family</a>, told <a href="http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-mobster-vito-rizzuto-dead-at-67-1.1605065" target="_blank">CTV News</a>.</p>
<p>Former RCMP organized-crime analyst Pierre De Champlain agrees, telling the <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/montreal-mob-boss-vito-rizzuto-dead-at-67-report/article16088523/" target="_blank">Globe and Mail newspaper</a>, “It’s news no one was expecting. This will trigger a lot of upheaval.”</p>
<p>The king is dead, long live the king!</p>
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Profile of Mexican Cartel Boss Miguel Trevino Morales
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/mexican-cartel-boss-miguel-trevino-morales
2013-07-17T18:15:40.000Z
2013-07-17T18:15:40.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mexican-cartel-boss-miguel-trevino-morales"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237027292,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237027292?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>He is being accused of ordering the kidnapping and murder of 265 people, men and women. Killing was a hobby of his, it seemed. His favorite technique was putting a person in a barrel, filling it up with gasoline, and setting it on fire as his victim screamed and cried while being burned alive. Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, the man who is allegedly responsible for these heinous crimes, became one of Mexico's most feared and wanted men.</p>
<p>These acts of violence, especially on this scale, are usually committed by a dictator of some faraway nation, but Trevino is no politician. He’s just a Mexican crime boss. That a mere gangster is accused of these acts shows how the drug war in Mexico has spiraled completely out of control.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237026890,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237026890,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237026890?profile=original" width="140" /></a>Born in Nuevo Laredo on June 28, 1973, Trevino started his life of crime as a teenager when he joined the Los Tejas gang, which dominated the streets of his hometown. He started at the bottom, washing cars and running errands, quickly rising through the ranks until he was running drug smuggling routes into the United States.</p>
<p>As the new millennium began, Trevino (right) had joined Los Zetas, the military wing of the Gulf Cartel, which consists of former members of the Mexican Special Forces and military. It was unusual for a civilian to join such a group, but Trevino had made a name for himself as an extremely violent and capable man and had earned his place among them. Jamie Haase, a former special agent within the US immigration and customs enforcement agency, who in 2009 was working in the region of Nuevo Laredo, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/16/mexico-zetas-chief-morales-arrest-analysis" target="_blank">said</a> the following about that: “He was a multimillionaire and the head of the organization, and yet he chose to still be actively involved in the beheadings.”</p>
<p>His violent streak got the job done. So much so, that by 2005 he had been named boss of the Nuevo Laredo territory, also known as “plaza,” and was given responsibility for fighting off the Sinaloa Cartel’s attempt to seize control of the drug smuggling routes there. He went to work and started eliminating rivals left and right. Through connections with street gangs on the American side of the border he was able to orchestrate several killings of members of the Sinaloa Cartel in Laredo, Texas. There was no doubt that the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas ruled the drug route through Nuevo Laredo.</p>
<p>Once they had made that point clear they started expanding into towns and cities nearby. Setting up criminal networks to control transit routes for drugs, migrants, kidnapping, contraband of pirated DVDs and CDs, and becoming active in kidnappings and murders as they planted their flag in this new territory. Trevino was even handpicked to run the group’s operations in Guatemala. He also helped to extend the Gulf Cartel’s operations running cocaine and crystal meth into the United States and Europe.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237028070,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237028070,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237028070?profile=original" width="200" /></a>After <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-cartel-leader-gets-35-years-for-drug-trafficking">Gulf Cartel</a> leader Osielo Cardenas Guillen was extradited to the United States, Heriberto Lazcano (right), the boss of Los Zetas, began to push for a split between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Trevino threw in his support behind Lazcano and from that point on Los Zetas began a war for its own territories. Along the way the group emphasized its reputation for gruesome torture methods and beheadings as the streets were littered with dead bodies and pieces of corpses.</p>
<p>Los Zetas were among the first to diversify its operations, branching out into mass extortion and kidnappings. With their disregard for the well-being of their fellow man, things escalated very fast. Authorities have accused Los Zetas of massacring migrant workers, of an arson attack on a Monterrey casino in 2011 that killed 52, and the dumping of 49 decapitated bodies. Trevino played a part in many such vicious acts.</p>
<p>The Mexican government has charged him with a litany of crimes including murder, torture, money laundering, and ordering the kidnapping and execution of 265 migrants near the northern town of San Fernando who refused to obey Los Zetas.</p>
<p>After having handled the situation in Guatemala perfectly, Lazcano promoted Trevino to national commander of Los Zetas across <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Mexico</a>. His new rank earned him resentment among some of the other Zetas members who could not get passed the fact that Trevino lacked a military background.</p>
<p>Besides rivals, Trevino also had to worry about the American government. If you rise high enough within the drug world you will eventually end up as a target for the DEA. In 2009 and 2010, Trevino was indicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges in New York and Washington. The U.S. government also issued a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. According to the indictments, Trevino coordinated the shipment of hundreds of pounds of cocaine and marijuana each week from Mexico into the United States, much of which had been shipped through <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/guatemalan-drug-boss-linked-to-zetas-hit-hard">Guatemala</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Below is a map of each drug cartel’s area of influence</strong></p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237028270,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237028270,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237028270?profile=original" width="464" /></a>By the summer of 2012, as Trevino’s power and influence grew, various accounts reported a rift between Lazcano and his “national commander” causing Los Zetas to fall apart in two factions. Before Trevino had a chance to eliminate his powerful rival, though, the Mexican Navy had beaten him to the punch. On October 17, 2012, they had been called to a complaint that armed men were spotted in a neighborhood of Progreso in the north-eastern Mexican state of Coahuila. Upon arrival, they were greeted by gunmen who threw hand grenades at them. After a shootout, the Navy eliminated the threat and was surprised to find they had just killed Los Zetas’ leader Lazcano.</p>
<p>Lazcano was known as Z-3. Z-1 and Z-2, his two predecessors had all been removed from the picture, one dead, the other in prison. With Z-3 out of the way it was time for Z-40 to step up and seize the top position. The notorious, paramilitary Los Zetas were now run by a civilian. Albeit an extremely ruthless civilian.</p>
<p>As he moved around his old stomping grounds of Nuevo Laredo, Trevino was very careful not to get caught. Traveling mostly at night, he knew he had a huge bull’s eye on his back. Nothing paranoid about that. It’s not paranoid if someone really is out to get you and for the past months Mexican authorities had worked round the clock to find and apprehend the number one Zeta, Z-40.</p>
<p>Driving in a truck outside Nuevo Laredo at dawn with a bodyguard, an accountant, $2 million dollars, and several firearms, Trevino did not see it coming as the car was stopped by Mexican Marines. The three men were placed under arrest without a single shot being fired.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237028467,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237028467,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237028467?profile=original" width="309" /></a>Trevino (right) is the first major Cartel leader to be arrested since president Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December. He faces charges in Mexico and the United States and it is still unclear whether Mexico would try him first or extradite him to the United States right away.</p>
<p>The arrest of Trevino is hailed as a major success. Known as the most violent drug boss in Mexico, his absence will provide a lot of people a good night’s rest. The DEA offered congratulations to the Government of Mexico. “Trevino Morales, the head of the notoriously violent and vicious Los Zetas cartel, has been a wanted man for years. His ruthless leadership has now come to an end,” a press release stated. “Thanks to the brave men and women of the Government of Mexico, Trevino Morales will now be held accountable for his alleged crimes. Trevino Morales is of one of the most significant Mexican cartel leaders to be apprehended in several years and DEA will continue to support the Government of Mexico as it forges ahead in disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations.”</p>
<p>Continued support is indeed needed as this is by no means an ending. Trevino’s arrest will also offer opportunities for several key figures in the Mexican drug world. Men who would like to take over as leader of Los Zetas, but also men like Sinaloa kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who could see Trevino's demise as the perfect opportunity to expand into territories that just a few days ago were a no-go and now offer untold riches.</p>
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US Soldiers Busted in Drug Cartel Murder-For-Hire Plot
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/us-soldiers-busted-in-drug-cartel-murder-for-hire-plot
2012-03-31T15:05:40.000Z
2012-03-31T15:05:40.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/us-soldiers-busted-in-drug-cartel-murder-for-hire-plot"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021070,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237021070?profile=original" width="525" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Two US Army soldiers are among six men charged with running a drug trafficking ring and offering their services as a murder-for-hire team to undercover DEA agents posing as members of the Mexican Los Zetas drug cartel.</p>
<p>The Los Zetas drug cartel is infamous for its ultraviolent ways in a Mexican underworld that is already known for its <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/for-united-states-mexico-is">vicious cartels</a> and gangs that paint entire cities red with blood. Comprised of rogue members of an elite unit of the Mexican army, Los Zetas started out as an enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel. In 2010, they left the Gulf Cartel and went into business for themselves.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021466,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021466,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237021466?profile=original" width="275" /></a>The same can be said about the two US Army soldiers who were arrested last week by the DEA. Kevin Corley (29) and Samuel Walker (28) were selling the expertise they picked up during their time in the US military to the highest bidder and had no qualms about using it for illegal activities. Not even if it meant dealing with a group as notorious as the Los Zetas drug cartel.</p>
<p>First Lieutenant Corley (right) was discharged from the Army earlier this month, while Walker is assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, a unit that Corley served with before his discharge. Both men are thus well trained in military tactics and capable of actions that could prove deadly for their targets.</p>
<p>The two soldiers were introduced to the DEA agents posing as members of Los Zetas by Marcus Mickle (20) and Calvin Epps (26) who tried to organize a shipment of marijuana in return for stolen weapons. According to the press release: “As they began discussions about the distribution of marijuana in the Columbia, S.C., area, Mickle and Epps allegedly told undercover agents about a friend in the military who could provide military weapons to them. The agents were later introduced to Corley who allegedly identified himself as an active duty officer in the Army responsible for training soldiers. He offered to provide tactical training for cartel members and to purchase weapons for the cartel under his name.”</p>
<p>The press release continues: “Over the next several months, Corley continued to communicate with undercover agents regarding the services he could provide the cartel as a result of the training, experience and access to information and equipment afforded him as an active duty soldier. According to the criminal complaint, Corley allegedly mailed an Army tactics battle book to the agents, thoroughly explained military tactics and told undercover agents he could train forty cartel members in two weeks.”</p>
<p>With such an enthusiastic soldier at their disposal, the DEA agents decided to up the ante. “On Jan. 7, 2012, Corley traveled to Laredo and met with undercover agents at which time the agents inquired about his ability to perform "wet work," allegedly understood to mean murder-for-hire, specifically, whether he could provide a team to raid a ranch were 20 kilograms of stolen cocaine were being kept by rival cartel members. Corley confirmed he would conduct the contract killing with a small team, at a minimum comprised of himself and another person who he described as an active duty soldier with whom he had already consulted. According to the complaint, Corley ultimately agreed to $50,000 and five kilograms of cocaine to perform the contract killing and retrieve the 20 kilograms of cocaine and offered to refund the money if the victim survived.”</p>
<p>Always eager to make a good impression on his criminal employers Corley further offered to provide security for Mickle and Epps’ purchase of 500 pounds of marijuana for transport from Texas to South Carolina. He traveled with them to Laredo, where they loaded the marijuana into a tractor trailer and attempted to escort it back to South Carolina. However, the tractor-trailer carrying the load was stopped and seized in La Salle County, Texas, on Jan. 14, 2012. But business continued, the DEA claims. “Corley allegedly arranged for 300 pounds of marijuana to be delivered to Mario Corley in Charleston, S.C., and allegedly assisted in brokering 500 pounds of marijuana and five kilograms of cocaine for Mickle and Epps and discussed the distribution of these narcotics in South Carolina, Texas and Colorado.”</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021880,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021880,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237021880?profile=original" width="281" /></a>"On March 5, 2012, Corley delivered two AR-15 assault rifles with scopes, an airsoft assault rifle, five allegedly stolen ballistic vests and other miscellaneous equipment to an undercover agent in Colorado Springs, Colo., in exchange for $10,000. At the meeting, Corley and the undercover agent allegedly again discussed the contract killing and the retrieval of the cocaine which was to occur on March 24, 2012. Corley allegedly stated he had purchased a new Ka-Bar knife to carve a “Z” into the victim’s chest and was planning on buying a hatchet to dismember the body."</p>
<p>Corley, Walker (right), and Davis traveled to Laredo and met with undercover agents to discuss the location of the intended victim, the logistics of performing the contract kill and their respective roles. The three were arrested, during which time a fourth suspect, Kevin Corley’s cousin Jerome, was shot and killed. A subsequent search of the vehicle in which Corley and the other co-conspirators arrived revealed two semi-automatic rifles with scopes, one bolt-action rifle with a scope and bipod, one hatchet, one Ka-Bar knife, one bag of .223 caliber ammunition and one box of .300 caliber ammunition.</p>
<p>The men are charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine which carries a possible punishment of a minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison and/or a $10 million fine; use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking or violent crime which could result in up to 10 years in prison served consecutively to any other prison term imposed. Those charged in the indictment for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, including Corley, Mickle and Epps, also face 5 to 40 years in prison if convicted.</p>
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