Defence case closes in Moran trial

Defence case closes in Moran trial: "Gangland widow Judy Moran's defence team has completed its closing address to a Victorian Supreme Court jury which will decide whether she arranged her brother-in-law's shooting murder.

Moran has pleaded not guilty to murdering Des Moran, who was gunned down at a suburban Ascot Vale deli on June 15, 2009.

The trial has heard allegations Moran plotted with alleged gunman Geoffrey Armour to kill Mr Moran and that she drove the getaway car to and from the scene.
Later the same day, the prosecution says police observed her driving the getaway car from her garage and dumping it about a kilometre away.

Moran is also alleged to have hidden a gun, clothes and a set of stolen number plates.

But Moran told the jury that at the time of the murder, she was visiting the grave of her son Mark Moran who had been killed on the same day nine years earlier."

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Kyrgyzstan is taking all measures to arrest Kamchi Kolbaev

“Kyrgyzstan is taking all measures to arrest Kamchi Kolbaev,” Head of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption Eric Dzhumaev said today at scientific and practical conference “The problem of combating organized crime and corruption”.

According to him, the Ministry of Internal Affairs in cooperation with other relevant law enforcement agencies conducts the struggle against organized crime. As a result, active members of organized crime groups declared wanted. “We will try to expose all criminal gangs during 2011,” he added.

“The fight against organized crime is a complex task, the exposure of organized crime groups - hard work. We need a law on organized crime groups, then it will be easier to fight against them,” Mr. Dzhumaev said."

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Jonathan Chauke and Peter Mthembu were nowhere near Anton Dippenaar when he was shot.

Jonathan Chauke and Peter Mthembu were nowhere near Anton Dippenaar when he was shot. But dogged detective work has linked them to the 26-year-old’s death and has seen them jailed for life for their role in his murder.

Their conviction is believed to be the first time “spotters” in a gang of associated robbers have been convicted.

Associated robbery is police-speak for gangs that specialise in following people who have withdrawn large amounts of cash from a bank, intending to rob them.

Last week, the spotters and three other surviving gang members were convicted by the Johannesburg High Court of murdering both a passer-by and a gangster.

And on Friday they all received life sentences.

It was an unusual case: the spotters were also caught and jailed; and although the robber who shot the passer-by was himself killed by police officers at the scene, the surviving gang members were convicted of both deaths. This follows the legal principle that those who take part in an armed crime are held responsible for any deaths resulting from it.

Acting Judge Gerhardus Hattingh called the killing “cold blooded”. He said the gang showed no remorse and there were no exceptional or compelling circumstances to prevent him handing down life sentences.

The court heard that on April 3, 2008, Peter Jonischkeit, 68, and Joachim Molthahn, 65, withdrew R10 000 from the Standard Bank at Woodbridge Mall in Glen Marais, Kempton Park.

Inside, Chauke and Mthembu watched the transaction, then left the bank and used a cellphone to alert their accomplices.

Jonischkeit and Molthahn arrived at their business in Kempton Park, where they were attacked and robbed by four men with guns.

As the robbers fled, they crashed their getaway vehicle into a palisade fence a few hundred metres away.

Passer-by Dippenaar had blocked their getaway with the bakkie he was driving.DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder

'Most wanted' Scots named

'Most wanted' Scots named - Scotsman.com News: "THE names of three of Scotland's most wanted criminals who are still at large in Spain will today be made public.
They will be named as part of the Serious Organished Crime Agency and Crimestoppers' Operation Captura to snare UK individuals who fled to Spain to avoid prison. Among a total of 10 criminals who will be listed is the grandson of one of Britain's most notorious East End gangsters. Anthony Fraser, grandson of former gangland enforcer 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, is believed to be hiding on the Costa del Sol.

The 39-year-old Londoner is wanted over the importation of two tonnes of cannabis, hidden in a lorryload of frozen chickens, from Holland in 2009."

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'Mad' Frankie Fraser grandson wanted by police

 'Mad' Frankie Fraser grandson wanted by police: "The grandson of the former London gangland enforcer 'Mad' Frankie Fraser is wanted over an alleged drug-smuggling plot, police have said.

Anthony Fraser, 39, is believed to be hiding on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

Originally from London, he went on the run after two tonnes of cannabis was found hidden in a lorry in 2009.

He is one of 10 suspected criminals whose details will be released later on Monday by Crimestoppers in the Spanish city of Alicante.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency and Spanish police are also involved in the announcement, codenamed Operation Captura."

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Prison nurse jailed after smuggling phone to boyfriend in Forest Bank

Prison nurse jailed after smuggling phone to boyfriend in Forest Bank | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk: "former prison nurse has been jailed for smuggling a phone into jail for her gangster boyfriend weeks before he escaped.

Drug intervention nurse Leanne Cartledge, 23, started a relationship with car criminal Michael O’Donnell while he was on remand at Forest Bank prison in Salford.

And in May last year O’Donnell, who was awaiting sentence after being found guilty of conspiracy to convert property for his role in leading a luxury car theft gang, planned an elaborate escape plot after slicing off part of his own ear.

O’Donnell, 29, was admitted to Cartledge’s healthcare unit and later sent to hospital. But his ambulance was ambushed by men armed with baseball bats and bolt-cutters and he fled in a stolen BMW."

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Bikies infiltrate defence bases

Bikies infiltrate defence bases: "GAPING holes in the security of Australia's defence bases are leaving them exposed to infiltration by organised criminals, bikie groups and terrorists.

Defence sources have revealed that since at least 2008 the military has failed to act on warnings of poor base security and ignored or stalled recommendations to fix deficiencies.

In late 2009, senior US Navy officials raised concerns about security at Australian naval bases, querying whether American ships could dock safely.

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Briefings and reports by defence and police officials during the past three years reveal that:

A small number of serving defence personnel belong to outlaw bikie groups.

A company tied to an alleged crime boss was given contracts to guard sensitive naval facilities in 2006.

Plain-clothes undercover defence officials talked their way past security posts at half a dozen bases and on one occasion used a library ID card to enter a defence facility."

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Fourteen people die in drug gang violence

Fourteen people die in drug gang violence: "Eight people were killed in a gun battle Saturday between police and criminals in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, while at least six died when a grenade exploded in Guadalajara. The attacks are the latest deadly violence gripping Mexico as the country's cartels struggle over turf and police and soldiers try to crush them."

Book details ex-Illinois governor’s gangster ties - Beacon News

Book details ex-Illinois governor’s gangster ties - Beacon News: "One of the most amazing details writer Jim Ridings learned while researching his books is former Illinois governor Len Small’s connection to gangsters.

“Anytime the small town news mentioned him, they said, ‘What a wonder man he was!’  ” said Ridings, a former reporter who was born in Joliet and now lives in Herscher. “I think one of my contributions to Illinois history is that I corrected something that had been falsely reported all these years.”

“Chicago to Springfield: Crime and Politics in the 1920s,” is Ridings’ fifth book and the first one he has not self-published. It complements his 2009 book “Len Small: Governors and Gangsters,” but tells the story with fresh and additional information in a heavier pictorial format than the first. It is part of Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series."

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“Shoot him in the (expletive) head. Say, ‘This is from the Saint,’ ”Gangster to plead guilty for failed 2007 hit on rival

Gangster to plead guilty for failed 2007 hit on rival - BostonHerald.com: "New England Mafia capo Anthony “The Saint” St. Laurent is scheduled to plead guilty in a Rhode Island court Wednesday to a failed murder-for-hire plot to rub out his reputed underworld rival and fellow made mobster Robert “Bobby” DeLuca, according to court papers.

“Shoot him in the (expletive) head. Say, ‘This is from the Saint,’ ” prosecutors allege St. Laurent coached an undercover cop posing as a hit man in 2007 on one of at least three attempts he made to execute DeLuca for control of his rackets, according to court papers.

St. Laurent, 69, faces up to 10 years in the slammer. He has spent the past three years behind bars for extortion."

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arrested 57 members of the 38th Street gang early Tuesday morning

The South Los Angeles Report | Los Angeles officials crack down on 38th Street gang: "arrested 57 members of the 38th Street gang early Tuesday morning, which is one of Los Angeles' most notorious gangs for gun violence and drug trafficking.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villariagosa, alongside many law enforcement officials, applauded the effort as a successful collaboration between state, local and federal law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agents closely watched four residences in South Los Angeles that were associated with drug dealing, violence and loud partying during the investigation; a 130-page federal racketeering indictment was filed last month against these suspects."

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'Dirty cash' tycoon being probed by cops had £58k in car

'Dirty cash' tycoon being probed by cops had £58k in car - The Daily Record: "Russell Stirton, who says his £5.6million fortune frozen seven years ago is legitimate, was found with the bag of cash in a car.
The seizure in December 2007 can only now be revealed following the end of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency's Operation Salute.
The main targets were William Byrne, 26, of Wemyss Bay, Renfrewshire, and Gary Mackie, 42, from Ayr.
They led a £7million drugsmuggling ring who trafficked cocaine from the Caribbean and distributed it across Scotland.
Police seized 14.5 kilos of cocaine worth £3.8million, 1.25 tons of cannabis valued at £3.5million and four guns. Operation Salute ended with the 16 gang members getting sentences totalling 63 years.
Byrne was jailed for four-anda-half years, Mackie got four years while mules Paul Cairns, 23, from Gourock, and Daniel Squires, 22, from Greenock, were jailed for trying to smuggle cocaine from the Dominican Republic.
Stirton, 51, was once a chief in Glasgow's McGovern crime clan.
He is still fighting his cash battle from 2004 when police swooped on his plush home at Mugdock, near Glasgow, and froze £5.6million of cash in a moneylaundering probe."

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