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SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle area man detained by immigration agents despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children admitted to having gang ties, the U.S. Justice Department said in court documents filed Thursday. Ramirez "stated 'no, not no more,' when asked if he is or has been involved with any gang activity," the government said in documents filed in U.S. District Court. Lawyers for Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, called the allegation "wholly fabricated." The court documents also said Ramirez, who is Mexican and arrived in the U.S. at age 7,...

<p>Los Angeles gang members have joined the fray in Syria. The gang-bangers are reportedly fighting alongside the regime forces.</p> <p>MEMRI posted the transcript.</p> <p>A video-clip recently posted on the Internet shows two Armenian Power gang members from Los Angeles fighting in Syria. One of them, Wino Ayee Peeyakan, also posted a picture of himself in Hizbullah garb on his Facebook page.</p>

Note: The following text is a quote: Superseding Indictment Returned Charging Members of the Krazy Locos Criminal Street Gang with Two Homicides, Robbery, Firearms, and Narcotics Charges Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael F. McAuliffe, Palm Beach County State Attorney, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, and Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office,...

There are no gang “wannabes” in Garfield County, only gang “gonnabes,” said two sheriff’s deputies assigned to a recently formed anti-gang task force. Deputies J. Miller and J. McCune, who don’t use their real first names due to the potentially dangerous nature of their work, are members of the Threat Assessment Group, or TAG, in the sheriff’s department. The group was formed after jail staff noticed an increase in gang members from California and elsewhere among the inmate population. “Then we found some of them were hanging out by some of the schools, just off school property, trying to recruit...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0902/090219charlotte.htm February 19, 2009 10 gang members arrested following ICE-led operation in Charlotte Arrests include members of MS-13, Surenos, Brown Pride, SUR-13 and Latin Kings CHARLOTTE, N.C.-Ten foreign-born gang members with ties to local violent street gangs were arrested here yesterday following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) led operation. The operation, dubbed Community Shield, was a multi-agency effort spearheaded by ICE. Among the participating agencies were the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD); the United States Marshals Service and the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety's Alcohol Law unit (NC-ALE)....

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal authorities arrested 582 alleged gang members over a two-week period, officials said Monday, targeting an estimated 80 violent groups they say have spawned street crimes across the country. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called the gangs "a threat to our homeland security and ... a very urgent law enforcement priority." Investigators picked up most of the offenders between July 16 and July 28 on immigration violations for being in the United States illegally. Seventy-six face criminal charges, ranging from illegal possession of a firearm to holding fraudulent documents. "For too long, these gangs have gone unchecked...

A member of the Texas Mexican Mafia testified today that the gang's collection of a street tax from drug dealers was for protection. Ricardo "Cookie Monster" Saenz, who pleaded guilty in the case last year as part of a plea deal, was the first of several informants expected to testify at the trial against four alleged members of the "family," as he put it. Saenz rarely looked toward the defense table. That was likely because he apparently violated the gang's cardinal sin -- he cooperated with law enforcement. But the bespectacled Saenz, whose many tattoos peeked from his orange jail...