http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/organizedcrime/ en-us Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:53:12 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2129411/posts According to records kept by El Universal Mexico's largest newspaper they report since 2005, the 24 hours of last Monday alone was the most violent for the year in the country, with 58 murders linked to organized crime. This figure surpasses the record set on Sept 12, 2008 when 41 murders occurred within a 24-hour period. Both records occurred in the same year. Among those murdered just in one day were seven police commanders and officers. One police officer was wounded and the severed head of a private security guard was left in a gasoline station restroom. The overwhelming majority... Right Side News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2129411/posts#comment Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:53:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2127756/posts CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A beheaded man was hanged from an overpass today, a gruesome display even for this northern border city long used to drug-related violence. Shortly after the grisly sighting about 5 a.m., police found the victim's head in a black bag in a nearby plaza, said state police spokesman Alejandro Pariente. Pariente said the body was clad in black jeans, a red T-shirt and white sneakers, and was handcuffed. A banner apparently directed at rival drug-gang members was hung next to the corpse. The victim's father identified the 23-year-old man. Elsewhere, masked men gunned down two police... Dallas Morning News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2127756/posts#comment Fri, 7 Nov 2008 12:46:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2116772/posts In Mexico's worst case of drug-related corruption in a decade, a drug cartel infiltrated the highest levels of Mexico's Attorney General's Office, paying as much as $450,000 a month to get sensitive information about anti-drug activities, Mexican officials said on Monday. The cartel even seemingly placed a mole inside the U.S. Embassy that fed the drug lords information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to a copy of an arrest warrant seen by The Wall Street Journal and obtained by Mexican newspaper El Universal. A DEA spokesman said: "We are currently investigating this issue along with our Mexican counterparts."... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2116772/posts#comment Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:18:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2114278/posts A Pasco, Wash., man was arrested this morning by Oregon State Police after about 115 pounds of marijuana was found in a van he was driving north on Interstate 5. Lt. Brian Powers said Jesus Lopez-Ramos, 53, was the only occupant in the van, which was stopped about 8 a.m. south of Ashland for a traffic violation. There was a marijuana odor in the van. Lopez-Ramos is being held in Jackson County Jail on suspicion of possession, distribution and manufacturing of marijuana. State police valued the marijuana at about $345,000. Oregonian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2114278/posts#comment Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:35:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106867/posts More than 1,100 people have been slaughtered in a bloodbath of drug-related violence in one city just south of the U.S.-Mexico border this year – that's nearly four victims each day – and some say it is just part of a large crisis that is will soon spill over the border. The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for Americans who visit Mexico, citing Ciudad Juarez as a hotbed of criminal activity. A large Mexican metropolis in Chihuahua State bordering El Paso, Texas, Juarez is Mexico's deadliest narcotics-war zone with two criminal gangs fighting for power – over city... WorldNetDaily.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106867/posts#comment Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:13:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103972/posts PORTERVILLE, Calif. — National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said. The grow sites have taken hold from the West Coast's Cascade Mountains, as well as on federal lands in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. FOXNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103972/posts#comment Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:15:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102040/posts http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_584284.html Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102040/posts#comment Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:44:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2101301/posts PHOENIX (Reuters) - The criminal underworld in the sun-baked Arizona capital of Phoenix has long enjoyed the hot money profits from illicit smuggling of drugs and people over the border from Mexico. But now its members are living in fear as they are stalked by kidnappers after their proceeds, authorities say. Police in the desert city say specialized kidnap rings are snatching suspected criminals and their families from their homes, running them off the roads and even grabbing them at shopping malls in a spiraling spate of abductions. "Phoenix is ground zero for illegal narcotics smuggling and illegal human smuggling... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2101301/posts#comment Thu, 9 Oct 2008 13:29:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090114/posts "... the community organizer ... must first rub raw the resentments of the people; fan the latent hostilities to the point of overt expression.'     -- Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals "THERE IS ONLY THE FIGHT --- An analysis of the Alinsky Model."  -- Hillary Clinton, BA Honors Thesis, Wellesley College, 1969. "(Barack) Obama worked in the organizing tradition of Saul Alinsky, who made Chicago the birthplace of modern community organizing...."  -- The Nation  A psychopath is a person without conscience; someone who constantly breaks the moral rules of the community. Saul Alinsky was a "community organizer" who found a career that... American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090114/posts#comment Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:53:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084313/posts Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20 Murdered, execution-style, for the crime of being black. Murdered as a part of an enthic-cleansing program being run by Mexican gangs here in the U.S., with operational control coming from a criminal syndicate in Mexico. The plan? To clear neighborhoods of blacks so that they will be 100% hispanic. No, it's not a joke. It's not overwrought xenophobia (something for which this site is NOT known.) It's very very real, and Harvey, Hightower, and Aeriel and his sister are not the only victims.Michelle Malkin, bless her, has been staying... Modern Conservative http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2084313/posts#comment Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:12:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2081523/posts "wenty-four corpses were found bound and shot execution-style in the Mexican city of Atlapulco on Friday, according to Humberto Benitez, secretary-general of government in the State of Mexico. A criminal investigation is now under way to determine if the killings were a result of organized crime, a news release from Mexico's attorney general said Friday. Atlapulco is just south of Mexico City. The killings come roughly two weeks after tens of thousands of Mexicans marched on the nation's capital calling for greater government action to prevent the wave of violent crime sweeping the country. Non-governmental groups estimate there have been... CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2081523/posts#comment Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:36:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078587/posts PHOENIX -- The fastest-growing gang in the world is coming to Arizona -- a trend that makes federal agents along the U.S.-Mexico border uncomfortable. Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is known for its violence and guerilla warfare training, experts said. "From Oct. 1 until the end of July we've seen over 50 different people involved in not only MS-13, but a number of different gangs affiliated with them," Scioli said. "Just in the past week we've had five." According to law enforcement personnel, MS-13 members come to Arizona because its position on the border makes it a hot spot for drugs... KPHO News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078587/posts#comment Tue, 9 Sep 2008 23:41:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039557/posts NJ Lotto sells tickets after winners are redeemed "That's the lottery for ya…they make money, on top of money, on top of money. It's ridiculous." Breitbart via CBS 2 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039557/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 03:16:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037808/posts As organized crime galvanizes their hold on Mexico, their network infiltrates our colleges, street gangs, and our communities. Our country is being raped and ravaged as our elected leaders remain insulated and uncaring within the halls of Congress. Right Side News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037808/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:21:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036918/posts Ten people have been indicted in connection with a killing prosecutors allege was a botched kidnapping attempt carried out by members and associates of the Texas Syndicate prison gang on behalf of the Zetas. Juan Manuel "Pugs" Marquez Rodriguez, 27, is charged in the indictment with murder in the Dec. 21, 2006, death of Julio A. Serrano. He and nine others were indicted last week in state district court. Only Marquez is charged with murder. All 10 face charges of criminal conspiracy and engaging in organized criminal activity involving the attempted kidnapping of Serrano, which resulted in Serrano's death. The... LAREDO MORNING TIMES http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036918/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:07:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037044/posts MEXICO CITY — Unknown assailants shot to death a Federal Police commander and his bodyguard in a Mexico City restaurant at mid-day on Thursday, Mexican officials said. Igor Labastida, head of the Traffic and Contraband office of the Federal Preventive Police (PFP), was shot dead along with one of his bodyguards, spokesperson Minerva Amado with the attorney general's office (PGR) said. "Two subjects got out of a black vehicle, entered a restaurant where the commander was eating and opened fire on him and his escorts," said Amado. Two other Labastida bodyguards were wounded and hospitalized, Amado said. Police are searching... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037044/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:30:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034804/posts Mexico City, Jun 22 (EFE).- Police found the bodies of five people who were killed with AK-47 assault rifles in Novolato, a city in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, in an apparent settling of scores between organized-crime groups, prosecutors told Efe. The bodies were found early Saturday lined up on the edge of an irrigation canal at the main entrance to the city's San Pedro neighborhood. "The five bodies had the hands tied behind their backs and were betweeen 25 and 30 years" old, a spokesman for the Sinaloa Attorney General's Office said. Police found 104 bullet casings from... Macroworld Investor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034804/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:45:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024913/posts The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have... Previous Thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024913/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:04:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2019716/posts The city of Chicago is one of the few major metropolitan areas which runs away from its past at every opportunity. Yet, indeed, the very construction of the city led to the term "underworld." And with rampant corruption controlled by infamous individuals like "Big Jim" Colosimo, Al Capone, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca, Murray "The Camel" Humphrey and Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo, Chicago can hardly bury its past--no pun intended. Since the turn of the 20th century, what Carl Sandburg referred to as the "City of Big Shoulders" was perhaps the center of organized crime in the United States. Though New... RFFM.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2019716/posts#comment Thu, 22 May 2008 15:28:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2011481/posts Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Teamsters earlier this year after privately telling the union he supported ending the strict federal oversight imposed to root out corruption, according to officials from the union and the Obama campaign. It's an unusual stance for a presidential candidate. Policy makers have largely treated monitoring of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as a legal matter left to the Justice Department since an independent review board was set up in 1992 to eliminate mob influence in the union. wall st journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2011481/posts#comment Mon, 5 May 2008 16:33:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998815/posts BUFFALO, N.Y. - A dozen leaders and members of a construction union were arrested Tuesday and charged with a decade of attacks against nonunion workers and their families, and prosecutors said some of the crimes were aided by the local's access to state motor vehicle records. The president of Operating Engineers Local 17, Mark Kirsch, was among those charged with extortion and racketeering after a five-year investigation. The union, headquartered in Buffalo, operates in six western New York counties. At job sites where non-Local 17 members were hired, union members caused more than $1 million in damage to more than... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998815/posts#comment Wed, 9 Apr 2008 03:55:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992290/posts The athletic director and a guidance counselor at North Bergen High School were arrested Tuesday in a drug and gambling ring sting that authorities say was controlled by the Genovese crime family. Athletic Director Jerry Maietta and Guidance Counselor Ralph Marino were among 45 swept up in raids that began at 5 a.m. Tuesday. Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli described the two as lower level operatives in an expansive network of bookies, package holders, drug dealers and drug distributors. Mark Iafelice, 49, of Edgewater; Brian DiGuilmi, 48, of Emerson; James W. Skinner, 69, of Allenwood; and his son James J.... NorthJersey.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992290/posts#comment Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:28:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983639/posts NEW YORK - The federal investigation into a high-end prostitution ring linked to Gov. Eliot Spitzer apparently began last year as a financial probe by the Internal Revenue Service. The investigation into the Emperors Club VIP gathered more than 5,000 telephone calls and text messages, and more than 6,000 e-mails, along with bank records, travel and hotel records and surveillance. But it was unclear whether Spitzer was a target from the start or whether agents came across his name by accident while amassing evidence. Conversations were recorded about someone identified as "Client 9," including that a prostitute identified as "Kristen"... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983639/posts#comment Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:58:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1981087/posts Every day, thousands of Americans look to invest their money in stocks, and many of them go through brokers and traders to simplify the process. Unfortunately, according to Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, a majority of those purchasers will be victims of Wall Street's criminal tactics and will help line the pockets of corrupt brokers and lawyers. Byrne, a Utahn who founded Overstock.com, talked to a crowd in the Union on Monday about how New York financial media and law firms have teamed up with big-wig business elites to create massive amounts of profit at the cost of American consumers. Byrne... The Daily Utah Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1981087/posts#comment Thu, 6 Mar 2008 02:05:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1966816/posts Mob Sweeps in NYC, Italy Target Gambinos TOM HAYS NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities arrested dozens of people Thursday in a sweeping Mafia takedown aimed at closing the book on decades-old gangland killings and other crimes and knocking out what's left of the once-mighty Gambino family. A federal indictment in Brooklyn named 62 people, including the three highest-ranking members of the Gambino clan and the brother and nephew of the late John Gotti, the notorious boss who ran the family in its heyday. State prosecutors separately charged 26 others with running a gambling ring that took nearly $10 million in... AP/Google http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1966816/posts#comment Fri, 8 Feb 2008 01:48:47 GMT