Kansas man struck by lightning hours after buying lottery tickets

A Kansas man was struck by lightning hours after buying three Mega Millions lottery tickets on Thursday, proving in real life the old saying that a gambler is more likely to be struck down from the sky than win the jackpot. Bill Isles, 48, bought three tickets in the record $656 million lottery Thursday at a Wichita, Kansas grocery store. On the way to his car, Isles said he commented to a friend: "I've got a better chance of getting struck by lightning" than winning the lottery. Later at about 9:30 p.m., Isles was standing in the back yard of his Wichita duplex, when he saw a flash and heard a boom -- lightning. "It threw me to the ground quivering," Isles said in a telephone interview on Saturday. "It kind of scrambled my brain and gave me an irregular heartbeat." Isles, a volunteer weather spotter for the National Weather Service, had his portable ham radio with him because he was checking the skies for storm activity. He crawled on the ground to get the radio, which had been thrown from his hand. Isles had been talking to other spotters on the radio and called in about the lightning strike. One of the spotters, a local television station intern, called 911. Isles was taken by ambulance to a hospital and kept overnight for observation. Isles said doctors wanted to make sure his heartbeat was back to normal. He suffered no burns or other physical effects from the strike, which he said could have been worse because his yard has a power line pole and wires overhead. "But for the grace of God, I would have been dead," Isles said. "It was not a direct strike." Isles said he had someone buy him ten more tickets to the Mega Millions lottery on Friday night. While one of the three winning tickets was sold in Kansas, Isles was not a winner. Officials of the Mega Millions lottery, which had the largest prize in U.S. history, said that the odds of winning lottery were about 176 million to one. Americans have a much higher chance of being struck by lightning, at 775,000 to one over the course of a year, depending on the part of the country and the season, according to the National Weather Service. Isles, who is out of work after being laid off last June by a furniture store, said he did once win $2,000 in the lottery and will keep playing. "The next time I will use the radio while sitting in the car," he said

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Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll murder trial

PHOTOGRAPHS of the spot where gangland figure Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll was shot dead were shown to a murder trial jury yesterday. The pictures – shown on day one of the trial – included an image of an Audi with smashed windows. The court was told the car was “subject to a significant degree of examination”. Carroll, 29, was shot in the car park of Asda in Robroyston, Glasgow, in January 2010. Ross Monaghan, 30, has been accused of Carroll’s murder. It is alleged that, while masked and acting with others, Monaghan repeatedly discharged loaded handguns at him, shooting him on the head and body. Monaghan is accused of – while acting with others – attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of a revolver, pistol and ammunition in undergrowth in Coatbridge and Airdrie. It is also claimed a car bearing false number plates was set on fire. Monaghan also faces a number of firearms charges. He denies all the charges against him at the High Court in Glasgow and has incriminated Mr X, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and seven others. The trial, before Lord Brailsford, continues.

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popular Caribbean dancing style used by adults, known as 'daggering', is sexualising the dance floors of a much younger generation.

 

 Teenagers as young as 11 are modelling sex acts and rape, in the form of daggering, on the dance floor with their peers. Deputy Children's Commissioner Sue Berelowitz said: "there's not a lot separating that kind of behaviour from actual violent, coercive sex." Footage seen by Channel 4 News [see above] shows an under-18s club night in East London. As with all 'under-18s' club nights, everyone is between 11 and 16. Some of the children look much younger. The club is packed. The music: Caribbean dancehall. The dancing style: daggering. It is a style of dancing that any carnival regular will be used to. Aficionados will no doubt, have a more technical description of the style but it mainly involves women bending over and rubbing their backsides up against the men's crotches. During that August weekend in Notting Hill every adult gives it a go. But what's different about this night club is that every child is giving it a go. Spurred on by the DJ, the 'daggering' becomes more enthusiastic, some of it verging on violent. Boys and girls end up on top of each other on the floor simulating sex. Throughout the night someone employed by the club promoter (presumably an adult) is filming it all and uploading it on the club's website via YouTube.

READ MORE - popular Caribbean dancing style used by adults, known as 'daggering', is sexualising the dance floors of a much younger generation.

Allen Stanford faces decades behind bars after being convicted of a $7 billion fraud that snared investors in 113 countries

 

A MONTH after Sir Fred Goodwin was stripped of his title for leaving Royal Bank of Scotland shredded, another erstwhile knight of the financial-services realm has been put in his place—this time a jail cell. Allen Stanford faces decades behind bars after being convicted of a $7 billion fraud that snared investors in 113 countries, from Latin America to Libya. When in 2008 the sky fell in on Bernard Madoff, the only fraudster to have taken investors for more, the Texas-born Mr Stanford was still swaggering. He had done so much for Antigua, the Caribbean island where he based his empire, that it made him a Sir. He took to the airwaves to tut-tut rivals who had been felled by subprime mortgages. His star rose further when he sponsored an international cricket tournament. He was said to be worth over $2 billion. He certainly lived like he was. Within a few months, however, the authorities had swooped in, closing his Antigua-based bank and his brokerage operations. Prosecutors accused him of flogging bogus certificates of deposit and raiding the bank, siphoning deposits to a Swiss account used to finance his passion for yachts, jets and islands. His lawyers tried to have him declared incompetent to stand trial, saying a prison beating had led to loss of memory and an addiction to anti-anxiety drugs. When that ruse failed, they argued in court that he had been his group’s visionary, uninvolved in its day-to-day running, even as they claimed the businesses had been viable until they were “disembowelled” upon being seized. Countering this narrative was damning evidence from the prosecution’s star witness, Mr Stanford’s former chief financial officer, who testified that he and his boss had falsified documents and that the firm had presented hypothetical returns as the real thing in client pitches. Others said that, for all his public bravado, he had been aware of a hole in the accounts. When another colleague suggested he raise more money to plug this, he reportedly said: “I’ll go to the Libyans. They love me.” Victims cheered the verdict, but their victory is hollow. Three years on, they are yet to receive a penny from the court-appointed receiver, Ralph Janvey. Of the $216m he had recovered by late last year, more than half had been eaten up by legal and other fees. His team reckons that total recoverable assets may be a mere $500m, or 7% of the account balances shown at the time of Mr Stanford’s arrest (though that could increase if lawsuits seeking $600m from Stanford brokers, customers who extracted more than they paid in and political organisations that received donations from Mr Stanford succeed). Investors also bemoan the hefty cost of litigating jurisdictional issues. Mr Janvey is locked in a fight over how to divide up the estate with a separate receiver in Antigua, who has control over the fraudster’s bank accounts in Switzerland and Britain. America’s Securities and Exchange Commission has backed the victims’ cause, taking the unprecedented step of suing the Securities Investor Protection Corporation after the congressionally-chartered group balked at paying them up to $500,000 each in compensation (on the ground that Stanford’s operations were based offshore). Too little, too late, scream the SEC’s critics. Its district office in Fort Worth, Texas, first concluded that the Caribbean kingpin’s businesses were a Ponzi scheme in 1997, only to be ignored then and several times subsequently by enforcement staff. This story has only one true villain, but many others come out looking bad.

READ MORE - Allen Stanford faces decades behind bars after being convicted of a $7 billion fraud that snared investors in 113 countries

Gang murdered drug dealer then blew up his house

 

Drugs gang executed one of their dealer's and then blew up his house to cover-up the murder, a court heard this afternoon. Colliston Edwards, 38, of no fixed address and Andre Johnson, 25, also of no fixed address are accused of shooting Leroy Burnett, 43, after he kept back some of their money from drugs deals. Max Walter, 21, of no fixed address was then recruited by the pair to blow-up his house in Crichton Road, Battersea the Old Bailey heard. Mr Burnett was allegedly a low level drug supplier, who dealt drugs in Wandsworth Road and the Nine Elms area on behalf of Edwards. Edwards, whose street name is Lousy, was allegedly a drug dealer who commuted between Doncaster and South London and worked in a team with Johnson, known as Tallman. The court heard that Lousy had two mobile phones and gave out the numbers to his customers, travelling to their homes to sell the drugs. He allegedly expected Mr Burnett to carry out sales and look after his phones whilst he was away in Doncaster, but problems arose when Mr Burnett started miscounting money owed to him. Prosecuting, Aftab Jaffbrjee said: "There was simply no reason other than this pernicious deed of drugs supply to cost Leroy his life. Ads by Google Build Eco Friendly Visit us Today for Carbon Reduction Eco Tips for Construction Industry! www.CutCarbon.info Election Boundary Changes Constituencies are changing. Have your say on our report, Autumn 2013 independent.gov.uk/boundarychanges "He was executed in his home having been shot in the head at point blank range. There was nothing else that accounted in his life for such a brutal attack. "Walter then blew up the entire house causing destruction to the building and the street." Edwards and Johnson are both on trial for joint enterprise of murder and intending to pervert the course of justice. They deny having anything to do with the murder or the cover-up. Walter has pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and arson, but denies being reckless as to whether life was endangered. The trial which opened this afternoon is expected to last six weeks.

READ MORE - Gang murdered drug dealer then blew up his house

Cruise Ship Cocaine Bust

 

An "altercation" brought a New Zealand couple to the attention of US law enforcement officials investigating the discovery of cocaine on a cruise ship docked in San Francisco. New Zealanders Tony Earl Wilkinson, 42, and Kirsty Harris, 25, were passengers on the P&O cruise ship Aurora when they were arrested in San Francisco on January 25 after 5.8kg of cocaine was allegedly found in their cabin. Before their cabin was searched, officials had already searched the cabin of another passenger, Australian Ahmed Rachid, 27. He was also arrested after 7.9kg cocaine was allegedly found in his cabin. Homeland Security Investigations special agent Craig Hyatt said in an affidavit that after the seizure of cocaine from Rachid, agents had learned he had a possible association with Wilkinson and Harris. "Officers and agents learned from ship personnel that Rachid recently had an altercation with another passenger onboard who was later determined to be Harris," agent Hyatt said. Rachid also told agents that while he was sightseeing in Curacao on January 16, he had been approached by a Hispanic male, with whom he had arranged to transport cocaine to Australia. Rachid had said that he had arranged that, on his arrival in Sydney, he would be paid for transporting the cocaine after contacting an associate of the Hispanic male. He told agents he had smuggled seven bundles of cocaine to his cabin without any incident. In his cabin he had placed all the seven bundles in his suitcase, which he locked. Hyatt said that when officers and agents went to the cabin on the Aurora where Wilkinson and Harris were staying, they had been met by Wilkinson who appeared to be holding drug paraphernalia. "Wilkinson then attempted to shut the cabin door on the officers while simultaneously opening the cabin bathroom door, temporarily blocking the main cabin door," Hyatt said. "Agents heard the bathroom faucet turn on and observed Wilkinson rinsing what appeared to be drug paraphernalia in the sink." During a search of the cabin a set of keys was found concealed in a light fixture. The keys opened a black case, inside which agents found several packages of a substance which later tested positive for cocaine, with an aggregate weight of 5.8kg. The earlier search of Rachid's cabin was carried out after a conversation he had with a border protection officer during a routine passport control check, Hyatt said. Brick packages, weighing a total of 7.9kg, were found inside locked luggage in Rachid's room. The packages tested positive for cocaine. Ad Feedback Wilkinson, Harris and Rachid were charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 5kg of cocaine.

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Investigators found shotguns and machine guns, inch-wide metal bars guarding doors and windows, the secret room under the floor, and a hidden elevator that led to an underground bunker and an unfinished tunnel.

Eugene Paull heard the beep.

In his three-story home east of Brooksville, Paull was lying on his bed that morning last March when the security system sounded. He rolled over and glanced at two nearby TVs wired to a dozen videocameras. Law enforcement officers swarmed across his property.

Seconds before the 66-year-old could slip into a secret room he had nicknamed the "worm hole," the SWAT team caught him.

Investigators found shotguns and machine guns, inch-wide metal bars guarding doors and windows, the secret room under the floor, and a hidden elevator that led to an underground bunker and an unfinished tunnel.

On Tuesday, Hernando County investigators released details of their stunning investigation for the first time. Paull, an international criminal on the run since 1973, had lived under a false identity for 33 years. He would later tell investigators he had come to Hernando because he felt safe and hidden and free to build his fortress.

Authorities believe he had amassed a fortune from trafficking drugs in Jamaica. But they could only prove that he and his girlfriend stole a pair of dead people's identities, the original tip from federal authorities that led to the raid. The couple avoided prison time because they forfeited most of their assets: two Hernando homes, three vehicles, two campers, a pair of custom motorcycles, a 47-foot yacht and nearly $20,000 in cash.

His girlfriend, Subrena Spence, was deported to her native Jamaica. Paull received two years of probation. He moved to Miami, but federal authorities say they recently caught him with explosives and about $90,000 in cash that was found stashed inside gas cans with false bottoms.

Tuesday morning, Hernando sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Kraft, who helped lead the investigation, stood at the escape tunnel's exit, shook his head and smiled.

"It's like nothing I've ever seen in all my years of law enforcement," Kraft said. "Ever."

• • •

Paull's career in crime began in 1968. Five years later, he was convicted on a drug charge, then released. He never showed up for the sentencing.

He fled to Jamaica, where investigators say the drug trafficking began. In 1978, he obtained a passport under the name of Robert Harris.

On the Caribbean island, he owned a hotel and supported youth boxing. He fell in love with a teenager, Subrena Spence. In 2000, she obtained a fake passport. Six years later, the couple moved to Hernando and bought the home near Brooksville for $350,000. They purchased another house in Brooksville for $114,900 four months later.

Detectives, who for 11 months have continued to investigate Paull's activities, believe he brought his drug fortune with him, and he needed a way to explain it. Spence bought a yacht, named Veteran, and claimed that he chartered trips on it. The boat still sits on stilts in his back yard. It never left the property.

He also created a charity that he claimed supported veterans. Paull, who served in Vietnam, was a patriot, or at least he wanted people to think so. His walls were covered in American flags and POW posters.

To support the charity, he bought a customized motorcycle, adorned with images of war, fake weapons and a sidecar that looked like the nose of a fighter jet.

He traveled to events around the country and asked for money. Signs in his garage indicated what he charged: $1 to photograph the bike, $5 to take a picture with it, $10 to take one sitting on it. "To help homeless veterans," the sign said, "with thanks."

In one year, Kraft said, Paull and Spence raised more than $100,000. Investigators could only confirm that the couple gave $1,300 to veterans.

After being arrested and forced to take on his real identity, Paull became eligible to receive veterans benefits.

• • •

Paull, detectives say, knew law enforcement would come for him one day. To prepare, he bought a home at the end of a single-lane dirt road in one of the most remote areas of Hernando. The house, from the outside, looked normal. It had a gate with a call box. A brick driveway surrounded a 6-foot-tall fountain. He housed Rottweilers and built an aviary for his birds.

Clues of Paull's intended seclusion appeared in the back yard. He had stacks of firewood, the makings of a garden and a pond that held catfish and tilapia.

Inside the home, guns were hidden everywhere: an antique Vickers machine gun in the garage, a shotgun in a living room cabinet, a revolver in an empty can of Bon Ami cleanser.

He put in an intricate security system and sealed off the bottom of a spiral staircase to create a secret room the size of a closet. In his bedroom, Paull installed a mechanical elevator that could lower him into a concrete bunker equipped with lights, electrical outlets and a pair of heavy metal doors with dead bolts, presumably to lock behind him as he fled.

The bunker led to a 4-foot-wide plastic tube that extended into the back yard. He didn't like the small tunnels in Vietnam, so he made the pipes spacious. When finished, investigators say, the tunnel would have extended about 200 yards into the woods.

Last fall, soon after Paull received probation and sheriff's officials prepared to seize the home, Kraft met him in his front driveway as he prepared to leave. Paull talked about writing a book and said his life would be made into a movie one day.

READ MORE - Investigators found shotguns and machine guns, inch-wide metal bars guarding doors and windows, the secret room under the floor, and a hidden elevator that led to an underground bunker and an unfinished tunnel.

Former Royal Marine Carl Davies was raped before being stabbed and his body hurled into a roadside ravine

Brutal: Ex-Marine Carl Davies was raped before being killed and dumped in a ravine, a new post mortem has revealed

Former Royal Marine Carl Davies was raped before being stabbed and his body hurled into a roadside ravine close to a military barracks on the paradise island of Reunion, a new post-mortem has confirmed.

A second examination of the body of the Kent man revealed he had been sexually assaulted prior to being beaten about the head and knifed in the stomach. 

The first bungled autopsy put his death down to an accident. 

As revealed by MailOnline yesterday, his family believe his murder was covered up to protect tourism there, which accounts for 70per cent of GDP.

A team of British detectives is due to arrive on the island to assist investigations, sources indicated at the weekend. 

On the night of his death on November 9, Mr Davies had been out drinking in St Denis, the capital of Reunion, with two sailors who were serving on board the Cyprus-registered MV Atlantic Trader.

Mr Davies, 33, was employed on the container ship as a guard against Somali pirates who regularly prey on ships in the Indian ocean.

READ MORE - Former Royal Marine Carl Davies was raped before being stabbed and his body hurled into a roadside ravine

Boy, 17, shot in back in Poplar, east London

 

teenager has been shot in the back in east London. The 17-year-old boy was wounded in East India Dock Road, Poplar, in the early hours of the morning. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A 17-year-old male had a gunshot wound to the back and is in hospital in a serious condition." The attack happened just before 01:00 GMT, police said. Any witnesses to the shooting should call the Metropolitan Police.

READ MORE - Boy, 17, shot in back in Poplar, east London

Boy, 17, shot in back in Poplar, east London

 

teenager has been shot in the back in east London. The 17-year-old boy was wounded in East India Dock Road, Poplar, in the early hours of the morning. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A 17-year-old male had a gunshot wound to the back and is in hospital in a serious condition." The attack happened just before 01:00 GMT, police said. Any witnesses to the shooting should call the Metropolitan Police.

READ MORE - Boy, 17, shot in back in Poplar, east London

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates, David Cameron announced today.

A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.

The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become 'a complete stain on our world'.

He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.

Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed security, including automatic weapons, currently prohibited under firearms laws.

Officials said around 200 ships were expected to be in line to take up the offer, which would only apply for voyages through particular waters in the affected region.

It is expected to be used by commercial firms, rather than private sailors such as hostage victims Paul and Rachel Chandler.

Pirates: There are around 50 ships currently being held hostage

 

Asked if he was comfortable with giving private security operatives the right to 'shoot to kill' if necessary, Mr Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: 'We have to make choices.

'Frankly the extent of the hijack and ransom of ships round the Horn of Africa is a complete stain on our world.

'The fact that a bunch of pirates in Somalia are managing to hold to ransom the rest of the world and our trading system is a complete insult and the rest of the world needs to come together with much more vigour.

 

READ MORE - Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates, David Cameron announced today.

A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.

The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become 'a complete stain on our world'.

He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.

Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed security, including automatic weapons, currently prohibited under firearms laws.

Officials said around 200 ships were expected to be in line to take up the offer, which would only apply for voyages through particular waters in the affected region.

It is expected to be used by commercial firms, rather than private sailors such as hostage victims Paul and Rachel Chandler.

Pirates: There are around 50 ships currently being held hostage

 

Asked if he was comfortable with giving private security operatives the right to 'shoot to kill' if necessary, Mr Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: 'We have to make choices.

'Frankly the extent of the hijack and ransom of ships round the Horn of Africa is a complete stain on our world.

'The fact that a bunch of pirates in Somalia are managing to hold to ransom the rest of the world and our trading system is a complete insult and the rest of the world needs to come together with much more vigour.

 

READ MORE - Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

Brussels is stifling City of London, Cameron claims

 

David Cameron signalled new European battles ahead as he pledged to resist alleged attempts by Brussels to shackle the City of London in red tape. The Prime Minister echoed claims that the emergence of a two-tier Europe following the financial crisis could result in a wave of EU directives that would harm the Square Mile. The Government has said it is determined to prevent the 17 members of the eurozone acting as a bloc to thwart the interests of the 10 EU states, including Britain, that have retained their own currencies.

READ MORE - Brussels is stifling City of London, Cameron claims

Qantas grounds all flights

 

Australia’s Qantas Airways grounded its entire fleet on Saturday over a bitter labour dispute in an unprecedented move that prompted the government to warn it feared for the airline’s future and would seek action to end the dispute. EDITOR’S CHOICE Strikes cost A$15m-a week in lost sales - Oct-28 US airlines earnings hit by fuel costs - Oct-27 Lufthansa scales back passenger forecasts - Oct-27 Virgin eyes tie-up with Etihad on BMI - Oct-14 Qantas overhauls lossmaking international operations - Aug-16 Qantas said it would lock out all employees from Monday night in a dispute affecting 70,000 passengers and 600 flights on one of the country’s biggest travel weekends. The grounding does not affect Qantas’ budget airline Jetstar or code-share flights on other airlines. Passengers will get a full refund for flights cancelled due to the industrial action, Qantas said on its website. Customers can also rebook their flights for a later date. The announcement took passengers and the government by surprise, embarrassing Prime Minister Julia Gillard who was hosting a Commonwealth leaders summit in Perth. Some of those leaders are booked to fly home on Sunday with Qantas. Unions, from pilots to caterers, have taken strike action since September over pay and opposing Qantas plans to cut its soaring costs, as it looks at setting up two new airlines in Asia and cutting back financially draining long-haul flights. “They are trashing our strategy and our brand. They are deliberately destabilising the company. Customers are now fleeing from us,” Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said.

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Drug-dealing killer: Chicago cop stopped DEA investigation of me

 

high-level drug trafficker admits he was involved in three killings after a Chicago Police officer scuttled a federal investigation into his illegal activities in the mid-1990s, according to a recent court filing. Saul Rodriguez, who pleaded guilty last month to federal drug conspiracy charges, was an informant for Officer Glenn Lewellen for years. But Rodriguez told authorities he and Lewellen were also longtime partners in crime. They allegedly worked together to rip off other drug dealers, splitting millions of dollars in loot. Lewellen recruited Rodriguez as a police informant in early 1996. Rodriguez’s undercover name was “Bill Pager.” From 1996 to 2001, the Chicago Police Department paid him $807,000 for information that led to seizures of drugs and cash, prosecutors said. All the while Rodriguez was making cases for the police, however, he was committing crimes. And Lewellen repeatedly stepped in to keep Rodriguez out of jail, prosecutors said. Rodriguez’s statements to authorities are included in a 188-page document containing evidence prosecutors intend to present against Lewellen and other defendants who face trial in the same case. Rodriguez has agreed to testify against them. According to the document, Lewellen in mid-1996 persuaded the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to stop investigating Rodriguez after 154 pounds of marijuana were seized from a secret compartment in his Buick. Lewellen told the DEA its investigation would harm ongoing Chicago Police Department cases, prosecutors said. Lewellen, who joined the police force in 1986, retired in 2002 to become a homebuilder. But he still managed to obstruct a separate DEA investigation of Rodriguez, prosecutors said. In 2006, Lewellen warned Rodriguez not to speak to a drug courier whose phone was wiretapped, Rodriguez said. At the time, the DEA was investigating Rodriguez’s ties to a cocaine wholesaler, prosecutors said. Lewellen told Rodriguez he got the information from an “agent” who previously worked in Colombia, but didn’t say what agency was involved in the investigation, according to Rodriguez. As Lewellen was allegedly protecting Rodriguez from the DEA, Rodriguez was involved in the murders of three men, prosecutors said. Rodriguez has confessed to orchestrating the slayings in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Rodriguez has also told authorities he arranged for a friend to “escape” from a prison in Mexico in 2003. He said he met with the prison warden while on vacation in Mexico and promised to pay him a $250,000 bribe in exchange for his friend’s freedom. In addition to his career as a drug dealer, Rodriguez became involved in managing boxers and developing real-estate in Chicago and Nevada, records show. The document detailing Rodriguez’s statements to federal prosecutors, filed last month, provides new details about Rodriguez’s relationship with Lewellen. For example, Rodriguez said he bought Lewellen a Ford Crown Victoria equipped with a siren. Lewellen allegedly drove the car while posing as a legitimate cop during drug rip-offs, Rodriguez said. Rodriguez has told authorities that another Chicago Police officer participated in at least one rip-off, but he believes the officer is now deceased. The prosecution’s evidentiary document also provides more information about the three murders in which Rodriguez admits to having a role. Rodriguez said he persuaded Lewellen to frame Juan Luevano with a drug case in 1999. Luevano, who was dating Rodriguez’s former girlfriend, was released from jail after posting bond in the case. Rodriguez said he then met with a high-ranking Satan Disciples gang member who was in prison. The gang leader was angry Luevano was dating his wife, Rodriguez told authorities. The gang leader asked Rodriguez to find someone to “get” Luevano. So Rodriguez said he hired a high-school pal, Manuel Uriarte, to kill Luevano. Uriarte and Andres Flores allegedly shot Luevano to death in 2000 near his home in Cicero, prosecutors said. They’re charged with murder in the same federal drug conspiracy case. Rodriguez also admitted he arranged for the 2001 murder of Michael Garcia. Rodriguez said he acted at the request of a friend who suspected Garcia had killed his brother, prosecutors said. And Rodriguez said he was involved in the 2002 murder of Miguel De La Torre. Rodriguez said he arranged the kidnapping of De La Torre to scare him into providing information about the location of cocaine and money. Rodriguez said he hired Miguel Uriate and his brother Jorge Uriate to squeeze the information from De La Torre, a drug dealer. If De La Torre refused to talk, they agreed the Uriates would kill him, Rodriguez said. Rodriguez admitted he provided Uriate brothers with an electrical cord they used to strangle De La Torre in a garage. Jorge Uriate also faces murder charges in the same case. Lewellen, who is free on $1 million bail awaiting trial, is not charged with any of the killings.

READ MORE - Drug-dealing killer: Chicago cop stopped DEA investigation of me

Feds indict 23 Texas Syndicate gang members

 

Federal authorities Tuesday announced the indictment of 23 reputed Texas Syndicate gang members and associates on charges including four murders, drug trafficking and extortion. Those charged are primarily in the Uvalde and Hondo areas, but the prison-born criminal group has members throughout the state. Their alleged crimes were committed over the past nine years, according to the indictment, which details the structure and goals the gang, which is led by officers with ranks. The indictment also delves into the gang's strict rules and penalties, including being killed, for going against the organization or disobeying orders. "The (Texas Syndicate) will not hesitate to kill anyone who interferes with the business of the gang or who commits a violation of Texas Syndicate rules. Among those charges under RICO, the acronym for Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization: Cristobal "Little Chris" Velasquez, 33, of Uvalde; Sotero Rodriguez Martinez "June", 41, of Uvalde; Chuco Mario "Mariachi" Martinez, 35, of Uvalde; Larry "Little Larry" Munoz, Jr.,36, of Uvalde; Brian "Tata" Esparza, 31, of Uvalde; Charles "Horse" Esparza, 32, of Uvalde; Ervey "Mad Max" Sanchez, 31, of Uvalde; Mark Anthony Vela, 35, of Hondo; Charles Olan Quintanilla, 32, of Hondo; George "Curious" Sanchez,36, of Uvalde; and, Inez "Bebito" Mata, 41, of Uvalde. Others charged in the case are not accused of violating the RICO law.

READ MORE - Feds indict 23 Texas Syndicate gang members

Dancehall star Vybz Kartel has been charged with the murder of Jamaican promoter Barrington Burton

. Photograph: Scott Gries/Getty Images

Jamaican dancehall star Vybz Kartel has been charged with murder. A police statement issued in Kingston on Monday said that the 35-year-old artist was charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and illegal possession of a firearm. Investigators accuse the rapper, whose real name is Adijah Palmer, of conspiring with others to kill a 27-year-old promoter who was murdered earlier this year.

"The allegation is that on Monday, July 11, 2011, Palmer, along with other men, conspired to murder Barrington Burton o/c 'Bossie', a 27-year-old businessman/promoter of a Gregory Park address in St Catherine. Burton was murdered while he was standing with friends along Walkers Avenue in Gregory Park," the police release said. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

Kartel's defence attorney was reported to have said that his client was prepared to fight the charges. Kartel was initially arrested on Friday for marijuana possession.

Kartel has previously been arrested on charges including assault and illegal gun possession. Those charges were later dropped. A long-running feud with fellow artist Mavado is alleged to have fuelled mob attacks in inner-city neighbourhoods of Kingston. In December 2009, the two met government ministers in an attempt to calm the situation.

Kartel has worked on collaborations and remixes with the likes of Jay-Z, Rihanna and MIA. His international hits include Ramping Shop, Dollar Sign and Clarks. The success of the latter song last year sent sales of the British shoes soaring in Jamaica. A businessman in his own right, Kartel also has his own brands of rum and condoms as well as his owncontroversial range of skin-lightening cosmetics.

Recently, the singer also became the star of locally produced reality TV show Teacha's Pet. Officials from the telecommunications company that sponsors the show were said to be discussing the new charges levelled against Kartel last night.

READ MORE - Dancehall star Vybz Kartel has been charged with the murder of Jamaican promoter Barrington Burton

Banker link to Panda murder

 

FORMER bank worker holds the key to the murder of one of the country’s most feared drugs barons, ‘the Panda’. Michael ‘Micka’ Kelly died in a hail of bullets in broad daylight as he was targeted by two ruthless brothers who control the Real IRA in Dublin. Now detectives believe an ex banker – known as ‘Jewie’ – who was Kelly’s righthand man, witnessed the murder and then fled the scene. The Real IRA hitmen shot ‘the Panda’ with a handgun and a high powered rifle and then drove over their slain victim’s head. “Jewie is in a state of shock. He knows they would have killed him as well if they could. He is in a very vulnerable place now that Kelly has been murdered,” said a source. The Real IRA had their victim under surveillance for the past two weeks from an apartment in the Clongriffin complex where the murder took place. Officers initially thought there was a firefight when bullet holes were discovered in the killers’ getaway car. Now detectives have established the bullet holes were fired from the inside-out and caused by the gunmen letting off shots within the vehicle. The 30-year-old ‘Panda’ died in a hail of bullets fired from a high-powered rifle at 1.15pm Thursday outside apartments at Clongriffin,north Dublin. Officers were working on the theory that pals of drug dealer Anthony Foster – murdered by the Panda's mob in 2008 – enlisted the Real IRA to carry out yesterday’s murder. Less than an hour after he was shot dead and his body driven over, the home of a female associate of Anthony Foster was raided by armed detectives. No arrests were made and nothing of significance was found, but sources say that gardai searched the property because they believe that Foster's associates ordered the revenge murder of Kelly. The young woman whose home was raided also has links to the notorious band of brothers from Donaghmede who are considered the leaders of the Real IRA in Dublin. Kelly – who made a fortune from drug dealing – is understood to have a major property portfolio which includes apartments in Dubai and Spain. He had spent most of the last year living in Spain's Costa-Del-Crime but had returned to his home patch in recent weeks after his girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy, the thug's third child. It is understood that he had just visited this child yesterday when he was blasted to death. Originally from Swans Nest Road, Kilbarrack, Kelly and his mob were suspected of a savage attack on an innocent man in a Northside pub just a fortnight ago which left the victim hospitalised. Gardai are hoping to conduct further interviews today of The Panda's driver who spotted the hit squad seconds before Kelly came out of the apartment block at Marrsfield Avenue. This man – a loyal and key associate of Kelly – is nicknamed Jewie and is a former bank employee. He fled the scene shortly after his pal was gunned down. Jewie now holds all the secrets – not only about yesterday’s murder but of also of the location of the hundreds of thousands of euro that ‘The Panda’ has hidden away. Gardai believe Kelly's murder was well planned and that his killers had very accurate information about his movements and had him under surveillance for some time. The gangster was paranoid about his movements and knew that his life was under threat because of his involvement in a string of other gangland murders in the last five years. Execution Yesterday's execution is considered the most significant gangland murder since Eamon ‘The Don' Dunne was shot dead in a Cabra pub in April 2010. Kelly had links to ‘The Don' and, like Eamon Dunne, dozens of gangland rivals wanted him dead. With Kelly a major target for gardai for years, the High Court gave the Criminal Assets Bureau permission in December to seize a house and two cars which were owned by him. The house, at Boyne View, Navan, Co Meath, and cars were sold and the proceeds will be transferred to State coffers. In December 2008, he was the target of a major raid by specialist Garda units, including the Criminal Assets Bureau. Twelve properties were searched as part of a major investigation into the proceeds of drug-dealing in north Dublin. Kelly – who loved fast cars and women – had barely any major criminal convictions and never served any jail time. His most serious conviction dates from 2000 when he was given a three-year suspended sentence after being caught with a haul of ecstasy tablets. ‘The Panda’ ordered the murder of his pal Anthony Foster in July 2008 as apart of a bitter drugs dispute. Foster's murder deeply upset his associates who are now believed to have paid a Real IRA murder squad up to €100,000 to kill Kelly yesterday. Sources say that the “completely ruthless nature” of the Real IRA thugs can be seen by the fact that The Panda had himself employed the exact same thugs to murder his gangland rival Sean Winters in Portmarnock last September.

READ MORE - Banker link to Panda murder

Trinidad reports mass arrests in crackdown on crime

 

Authorities rounded up nearly 120 people in Trinidad and Tobago after imposing emergency rule on the oil-rich Caribbean nation this week to halt a spike in violent crime. Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs said 117 criminal suspects were detained between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, including at least 56 purported gang members on charges ranging from drug possession and trafficking to illegal weapons possession. They were arrested under the limited state of emergency announced by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Sunday, which gave the police and military broad powers to conduct search and seizure operations and make arrests. The provisional suspension of some constitutional guarantees came in response to a spate of murders blamed on the drug trade and turf wars over smuggling routes through Trinidad and Tobago, which is a trans-shipment point for South American cocaine headed to Europe and the United States. The twin-island southern Caribbean country, which is a leading supplier of liquefied natural gas to the United States, has faced a growing threat from heavily armed street gangs.

READ MORE - Trinidad reports mass arrests in crackdown on crime

19 years at hard labor for stabbing to death an American teenager on the southern Caribbean island of Tobago.

A judge on Monday sentenced a man to 19 years at hard labor for stabbing to death an American teenager on the southern Caribbean island of Tobago.

Sean Antoine, 28, was convicted in April of killing 14-year-old Kitty Pepe of Keene, New York. They had dated previously but had broken up before he repeatedly stabbed her on July 1, 2005, at the home where she had been staying with her mother in the seaside town of Charlotteville.

Antoine faced a possible death sentence if convicted of murder, but jurors convicted him of manslaughter after he testified the girl had taunted him, a defense that outraged the girl’s family. The lesser charge meant he could be sentenced to as little as the time he had already served since his arrest.

Justice Geoffrey Henderson said at the sentencing hearing in Scarborough, the capital of Tobago, that Antoine did not deserve the lesser charge of manslaughter and the sentence was intended to send a message it is inappropriate for men to be involved with underage girls.

Wayne Sturge, Antoine’s attorney, told The Associated Press after the hearing that he considered the sentence reasonable and did not plan to appeal. Under the laws of Trinidad and Tobago, he will only have to serve about 14 years of the sentence.

Kitty had visited the island occasionally since 1997 while her mother worked on sea turtle conservation efforts in Tobago, which had long been considered peaceful but has been shaken by a number of violent attacks on foreigners in recent years.

The girl’s family previously said they were hoping that Antoine would be sentenced to life in prison because of the violence in the attack.

READ MORE - 19 years at hard labor for stabbing to death an American teenager on the southern Caribbean island of Tobago.

two female British nationals were reportedly ambushed and raped by six masked men while on an isolated beach on the island’s north east coast.

Two men were assisting police in their investigations after two female British nationals were reportedly ambushed and raped by six masked men while on an isolated beach on the island’s north east coast.

Police said that the women, whose names were not given, are in their early 30s, and were on an environmental expedition which entailed camping at the location.
Police said that the women had returned to their camp to find that their belongings had been tampered with and as they were making preparations to leave, they were attacked and raped by the men.
The incident is also being invested by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture who explained that officers from the department would normally accompany students undertaking such assignments in these isolated locations.
“We need to determine where the break down occurred in ensuring that the usual assistance was provided by the ministry, as it is normal for students undertaking these outdoor assignments to be facilitated,” a spokesman said.
An official from the St Lucia Crisis Centre said that people need to be more cognizant and aware of their surroundings especially in unfamiliar or secluded areas.
“It just highlights how persons need to be careful when they are going to the beaches at night, even if you are in a car. Sitting in a car does not make you safe, it’s never pleasant to hear situations of rape happening,” said counsellor Ashley Rae.

READ MORE - two female British nationals were reportedly ambushed and raped by six masked men while on an isolated beach on the island’s north east coast.

Last Thursday afternoon, I became exasperated while watching the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry.

Last Thursday afternoon, I became exasperated while watching the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry. I had run out of superlatives to describe K.D. Knight's cross-examination of Prime Minister Bruce Golding and felt I would be unforgivably remiss and stingy to simply describe his performance as brilliant. Afterward, in struggling for words to capture what I had just witnessed, I had to settle for "intellectually orgasmic".

Perhaps it's the intellectual environment in Jamaica - or lack of it - which would cause me to deliver what my good friend and colleague Colin Steer would, no doubt, regard as an embarrassingly fawning opening paragraph. But when you are starved of good argumentation and a celebration of reason in the local environment, even the smell of it is delectable.

In K.D.'s own words, he was leading the prime minister "in a process of reasoning", a commitment he lived up to.

In a cross-examination which demonstrated a gripping mastery of research, information, recall, quickness of mind, intricacy of Government - as well as pacing, modulation, wit and charm - K.D. Knight ditched the aggressiveness and abrasiveness many had been complaining about and gave the prime minister maximum respect. When he said, "I have been a model" of respect, he was not exaggerating.

It was as if he wanted to show all Jamaica - and the world - that he could defeat the worthy opponent without any unfair or foul means. I hope he keeps up the respectfulness and restraint, for impoliteness and abrasiveness are redundant weapons in his arsenal. They are for lesser combatants.

I said to People's National Party Chairman Bobby Pickersgill and other high-ranking party officials on Thursday that if we could conduct our domestic political discourse at that level, what a difference that would make to our democracy. But I must stop dreaming and come back down to earth (Jamaica).

READ MORE - Last Thursday afternoon, I became exasperated while watching the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry.

story of a Jamaican woman who was allegedly finger-raped by an immigration officer before being thrown out of Barbados

story of a Jamaican woman who was allegedly finger-raped by an immigration officer before being thrown out of Barbados on March 14, 2011, has sparked the fury of readers, perhaps betraying deep-seated animosity among Caribbean islanders. Here are some of the comments the Observer received online:
Manuel Sata: This is an outrage and very shameful. The story of a Jamaican woman who was allegedly finger-raped by an immigration officer before being thrown out of Barbados yet it is seemingly polite about this travesty. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident and requires a strong response. Jamaicans, if little Barbados can treat some of us like that, you retaliate by not vacationing there, don't buy goods made in Barbados and boycott Bajan-owned companies in Jamaica. Support Jamaican-owned enterprises. Jamaicans, you have power. Use it!!!

Sonny Black: This kind of behaviour towards Jamaicans by Trinidad and Barbados has been going on for a long time. I work with these people and the only thing they love about Jamaica is the music. They speak of Jamaicans like we are dogs and yet we bow to them and welcome them like they are special. But our spineless government will as usual do nothing. I believe this lady, and I feel her shame.
Joe Jackson: I'm from Barbados, just a couple weeks ago I was reading in the news how Jamaican police treated those Haitian football players like criminals, just because two of them had malaria. Basically, it is ok for Jamaicans to treat Haitians like trash because Haiti is a poor country, but you want other countries to treat you guys with respect, come on. What goes around always comes around.

READ MORE - story of a Jamaican woman who was allegedly finger-raped by an immigration officer before being thrown out of Barbados

Are Drugs on Cruise Ships on the Rise?

Are Drugs on Cruise Ships on the Rise? - AOL Travel News: "A cruise passenger was arrested in St. Thomas last week after federal agents found a load of party drugs he was allegedly dealing from his cabin on a gay charter cruise on the 5,400-passenger Allure of the Seas. The bust on the world's largest ship was the latest in a series of recent high-profile incidents, begging the question, are illicit drugs on cruise ships increasing?

'What you might be looking at is an increase in passenger numbers,' Migdalia Travis, spokeswoman for the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) field office in Miami, told AOL Travel News. 'The amount of cruise passengers has increased and of course will account for an increase in contraband finds.'

Travis notes both Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the world's two largest cruise ports, have experienced a substantial increase in traffic, with more and bigger ships – Fort Lauderdale saw cruise traffic rise 17% in the last fiscal year to more than 3.3 million passengers."

READ MORE - Are Drugs on Cruise Ships on the Rise?

Caribbean News Now!: Alleged Jamaican drug kingpin to return to US federal court on April 4

Caribbean News Now!: Alleged Jamaican drug kingpin to return to US federal court on April 4: "Prosecutors and defence attorneys in the Christopher 'Dudus' Coke extradition case are to return to court on April 4, for another in the series of pre-trial conferences, and possible filing of motions in the matter.

United States Federal Judge Robert Patterson set the new date at a pre-trial hearing in a Manhattan district court on Wednesday to give both sides time to review discovery materials and file possible motions.

The Jamaica Observer reported that more discovery materials were also made available by prosecutors at Monday's hearing.

Coke, who has been in custody in New York since June after waiving his rights to an extradition hearing in Jamaica, faces allegations of drugs and weapons dealings.

The charges, if proven, could land the Jamaican in prison for 20 years to life."

READ MORE - Caribbean News Now!: Alleged Jamaican drug kingpin to return to US federal court on April 4

seized over $13 million worth of drugs — $8.4 million in pure cocaine and $4.85 million in marijuana — in the Arima and Barataria areas.

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt :: "POLICE made a major dent in the illegal narco trade when in two unrelated drug busts yesterday, they seized over $13 million worth of drugs — $8.4 million in pure cocaine and $4.85 million in marijuana — in the Arima and Barataria areas.

In the first raid, officers from Port-of-Spain CID and Task Force crashed a drug-smuggling air conditioning export business where air condition units were being filled with packets of pure cocaine and shipped to Jamaica.

Five persons, including a Jamaican national, 30; an Arima businessman, 44; a 28-year-old ramp attendant, employed with Caribbean Airlines who lives in El Dorado, an Arima man, 40, and a 25-year-old Arima woman, were arrested."

READ MORE - seized over $13 million worth of drugs — $8.4 million in pure cocaine and $4.85 million in marijuana — in the Arima and Barataria areas.

T&T police seize cocaine destined for Jamaica - News - Go-Jamaica

T&T police seize cocaine destined for Jamaica - News - Go-Jamaica: "The Trinidad and Tobago police are investigating the seizure of 21 kilogrammes of cocaine destined for Jamaica.

On Friday, the police say they arrested four persons including a well known drug lord, after cocaine worth more than US$1.3 million were seized during an operation in Arima, east of the country.

The police say they executed a search warrant at a house in Arima and discovered the drugs hidden in air condition equipment destined for Jamaica."

READ MORE - T&T police seize cocaine destined for Jamaica - News - Go-Jamaica

The big society will struggle in Moss Side,Moss Side gained the title of "Baby Beirut" and Manchester was soon dubbed "Gunchester" by the mainstream media.

Moss Side gained the title of "Baby Beirut" and Manchester was soon dubbed "Gunchester" by the mainstream media.The big society will struggle in Moss Side | Belinda Webb | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "With councils up and down the country being forced to claw back on services through cuts imposed by the government, one of the areas that will be squeezed dry is youth services. This has troubled the Unite union so much that this weekend it held a Rally for Youth Services.

Inner-city youth groups are a lifeline for many urban communities. They save kids from having to create their own 'fun' on grim concrete estates, where boredom and frustration quickly turn to trouble. On the Moss Side estate in Manchester where I spent my teen years we had an old field and a pit. This pit usually contained a burnt-out car that had been 'borrowed' for a joyride, along with used syringes and anything else you care to imagine. However, in the past decade Moss Side has started to change thanks to a range of youth services, such as the Powerhouse Library. They have worked hard to overturn the decades of despondency that once blighted the area and which featured regularly in both national and regional press. It has meant a real result – the steady decline of crime."

READ MORE - The big society will struggle in Moss Side,Moss Side gained the title of "Baby Beirut" and Manchester was soon dubbed "Gunchester" by the mainstream media.

Barbados More time for ruthless tourist killer

More time for ruthless tourist killer - Crime - Canoe.ca: "The man who killed Ottawa tourist Terry Schwarzfeld with a plank of wood in Barbados two years ago has been given an extra five years behind bars by an appeals court in the Caribbean island.

The Barbados Advocate newspaper said Curtis Joel Foster, 25, had been facing a 10-year sentence, but the court tacked on the extra five because of the violent nature of the attack, which occurred in broad daylight as Schwarzfeld, 60, was walking with her daughter-in-law, Luana Cotsman, along the island's famous Long Beach on Feb. 8, 2009.

The Court of Appeal said the original sentence was 'unduly lenient and does not reflect the serious and violent nature of this case.'

The court also stated such crimes hurt the island's lucrative tourism market"

READ MORE - Barbados More time for ruthless tourist killer

Crime in the Caribbean: In the shadow of the gallows

Crime in the Caribbean: In the shadow of the gallows | The Economist: "“WE NEED the death penalty…that is the word of God,” said Benjamin Agard, a Pentecostal pastor, in his funeral sermon last month for Cecil Carrington, a retired police officer shot dead by bandits at the small hotel he owned on Trinidad’s windswept east coast. The funeral came a fortnight after Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, promised to remove legal obstacles to hanging, offering a parliamentary debate on February 18th.

Her stance is popular across the English-speaking Caribbean, where murder rates have soared since the 1990s. Her country suffered 472 killings last year—close to 5% of all deaths. In 1999 there were just 93. Almost everyone can name a friend or relative who has met a violent end. Last year’s murder rate, of 36 per 100,000 people, was seven times that in the United States and 30 times that of Britain. But it trailed Jamaica (53), Belize (42) and tiny St Kitts-Nevis (40).

Rulings from the London-based Privy Council, still the final court of appeal for most of the region, have made it much harder to use the noose. The most important was a judgment, in 1993, which held that execution cannot take place more than five years after sentencing. In practice, exhausting all routes for appeal usually takes much longer than that."

READ MORE - Crime in the Caribbean: In the shadow of the gallows

Retrial for reggae star Buju Banton set to begin

 Retrial for reggae star Buju Banton set to begin: "Fresh off a Grammy win, Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton is set to stand trial again in federal court in Florida.
Jury selection will begin Monday in Tampa. Banton is accused of conspiring to buy cocaine from an undercover officer and faces up to life in prison.
The jury deadlocked in his first trial in September.
Banton's attorney, David Markus, says the singer is not guilty.
Banton was arrested in December 2009 and held in Tampa-area jails until November, when he was released on house arrest. He was allowed to perform a concert in Miami last month to raise money for his court-ordered security and other expenses.
His 2010 album 'Before the Dawn' won the Grammy award for best reggae album Sunday."

READ MORE - Retrial for reggae star Buju Banton set to begin

DEA agent said Buju set up drug deal - JamaicaObserver.com

DEA agent said Buju set up drug deal - JamaicaObserver.com: "Entertainer Buju Banton's trial started this afternoon with DEA agent Dan McCaffrey on the stand. He testified to Banton's connection to the drug deal which resulted in the artiste's arrest on December 10, 2009.
According to McCaffrey, Banton was instrumental in setting up the drug deal which involved two other men — James Mack and Ian Thomas.
He said, however, that none of the money seized — $135,000 — belonged to Banton.
He also said Ike and Tyke, two men from Georgia, were buyers.
Earlier, while addressing jurors during the opening statement, David Markus, Banton’s attorney, listed 10 reasons why Banton was not guilty.
Among the 10 was that Buju did not get a dollar or anything from the deal; never spoke with James Mack nor heard of him before; that he never spoke with Ike and Tyke and never went to the warehouse on December 8, 2009 to see drugs.
Markus introduced Banton to the jurors, saying that he was not guilty. He said last night (Grammy night) was an important night for Banton, but this week will be important for the entertainer and his family.
He also constantly referred to the police informant as a con artist."

READ MORE - DEA agent said Buju set up drug deal - JamaicaObserver.com

Alleged Chat Between Mexican Lawmaker and Drug Lord Leaked - FoxNews.com

Alleged Chat Between Mexican Lawmaker and Drug Lord Leaked - FoxNews.com: "radio station broadcast what it described as a telephone conversation in which a federal lawmaker and one of Mexico's biggest drug lords express support for each other.
W Radio said the alleged conversation took place last year between lawmaker Cesar Godoy Toscano and La Familia cartel leader Servando Gomez, known as 'La Tuta.' In it, Godoy and Gomez express support for each other and discuss bribing a reporter.
Godoy represents the western state of Michoacan, La Familia's stronghold. He already faces federal charges for allegedly protecting the cartel but has immunity from arrest because he is a congressman."

READ MORE - Alleged Chat Between Mexican Lawmaker and Drug Lord Leaked - FoxNews.com

Businessman caught with drugs, knife « Caribbean Update: Jamaica -Costa Rica, Dominican Republic…

Businessman caught with drugs, knife « Caribbean Update: Jamaica -Costa Rica, Dominican Republic…: "male charged with breaches of a Dangerous Drug Act certified to a carrying ganja as well as a blade though not heroin when he appeared in a Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court"

READ MORE - Businessman caught with drugs, knife « Caribbean Update: Jamaica -Costa Rica, Dominican Republic…

Jamestown drug raid results in 6 arrests - Police Blotter - The Buffalo News

Jamestown drug raid results in 6 arrests - Police Blotter - The Buffalo News: "Six people were arrested early Monday after James-town SWAT officers stormed a Bar-rows Street residence suspected of being used for drugs, the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force reported.
The raid occurred just before 7 a. m. in the lower flat at 2 Barrows St.
Arrested were Julian C. Johnson, 22, Daniela M. McGaughy, 25, and Jazzon P. Hamilton, 20, all of the apartment; James J. Johnson, 21, of Jamestown; and Devon D. Clark, 21, and Steven L. Tyler, 19, both of Freeman Street, Buffalo.
All were charged with felony criminal possession of a controlled substance and taken to the city jail pending court action, police said.
Task force agents seized a quantity of packaged crack cocaine, about $2,000 cash, a police scanner and a loaded handgun."

READ MORE - Jamestown drug raid results in 6 arrests - Police Blotter - The Buffalo News

charged a Barbadian airline employee and his mother with drug trafficking

Bajan, mom charged with drug trafficking - Breaking & Current Jamaica News - JamaicaObserver.com: "United States law enforcement authorities have charged a Barbadian airline employee and his mother with drug trafficking and related charges.
A superseding indictment returned by a US federal grand jury in Brooklyn charges former American Airlines baggage handler Barbadian Victor Bourne, 35, and former American Airlines dispatching crew chief Miguel Bozza, 48, with drug trafficking and other charges.
The superseding indictment also charges Maria Alleyne, 51, the mother of Victor Bourne, with structuring the purchase of money orders to avoid financial reporting requirements.
Bourne is also charged with conducting a continuing criminal enterprise; Bourne and Bozza are charged with importing and distributing narcotics, as well as conspiring to do so, and wire fraud conspiracy.
In addition, Bourne and Alleyne are charged with conspiring to avoid financial reporting requirements through structured financial transactions.
If convicted of all charges, Bourne and Bozza face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and Alleyne faces a maximum of five years imprisonment"

READ MORE - charged a Barbadian airline employee and his mother with drug trafficking

Deportees refuse £5,000 - Breaking & Current Jamaica News - JamaicaObserver.com

Deportees refuse £5,000 - Breaking & Current Jamaica News - JamaicaObserver.com: "number of Jamaican women facing deportation from Britain have refused that country's offer of £5,000 to assist them to re-settle in their homeland before their prison sentences end, fearing that accepting this money will jeopardise the chances of winning their deportation appeal.
The money, given under what is called a 'facilitative return scheme', is to be used by the deported women for housing or income generating purposes.
St Rachel Ustanny, executive director of Hibiscus Jamaica, a programme to help deported women in Jamaica, said some of the organisation's clients, all women who have completed their prison terms and sent back to Jamaica, have refused the monetary assistance despite not having an income and a home to return to. They have instead opted to live in the 'hope' of one day being allowed to return to the UK to appeal their deportation.
'Clients refuse it because they feel if they take the money they won't be able to return to the UK because accepting it means they will not be able to appeal their cases,' Ustanny told the Observer."

READ MORE - Deportees refuse £5,000 - Breaking & Current Jamaica News - JamaicaObserver.com

Jose Figueroa Agosto Arrested: Feds Catch Alleged Puerto Rico Drug Lord After 10-Year Hunt « Read NEWS

Jose Figueroa Agosto Arrested: Feds Catch Alleged Puerto Rico Drug Lord After 10-Year Hunt « Read NEWS: "Known as the Pablo Escobar of the Caribbean, Jose Figueroa Agosto was caught wearing a wig while driving through a working-class Dominican neighborhood of San Juan. When he realized he was being followed, he tried to run on foot as he had last September in the Dominican Republic after a pursuing vice squad shot out a tire on his Jeep.
But this time U.S. Marshals, FBI, drug enforcement agents and Puerto Rican police caught up.
“We asked him his name, and he simply answered that we knew who he was,” said Antonio Torres, who heads the U.S. Marshal Service’s fugitive task force in Puerto Rico.
“It is a tremendous arrest, definitely,” U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez told a news conference Saturday, where she was surrounded by other cheerful federal authorities.
Escobar, the Colombian drug lord of the 1980s, was an escaped convict who died in a shootout with police in 1993.
Figueroa, who was 45 in March, is suspected of shipping Colombian drugs to the U.S. mainland through Puerto Rico, where he escaped from prison in 1999 after presenting a forged release order. He had served only four years of a 209-year sentence for killing a man suspected of stealing a cocaine shipment."

READ MORE - Jose Figueroa Agosto Arrested: Feds Catch Alleged Puerto Rico Drug Lord After 10-Year Hunt « Read NEWS

Jamaican slum dwellers angry at troops after raid

Jamaican slum dwellers angry at troops after raid: "Security forces with M-16s and rotating machine guns at the ready on Sunday patrolled a hostile slum in Jamaica's capital where angry defenders of a fugitive underworld boss complained of unprovoked attacks and the deaths of innocents.
Nearly a week after security forces started a deadly four-day assault in search of reputed drug lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, residents of the Tivoli Gardens slum, nicknamed the 'wild, wild West,' were trying to live their lives amid concertina wire and military checkpoints.
Children played on trash-strewn streets, as mostly older women headed to church in their Sunday best past soldiers and police in camouflage fatigues. The scent of marijuana mixed with the stench of urine and rotting garbage.
Slum dwellers across the bullet-pocked complex voiced rage and frustration at having to live alongside security forces who they see as an occupying army and accuse of killing innocent people during the fighting. They insist the death toll is higher than the official tally of 73."

READ MORE - Jamaican slum dwellers angry at troops after raid

second Jamaican national to be gunned down in Bermuda this year

BERMUDA-CRIME-Jamaican hospital worker killed in drive-by shooting HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – A 40-year-old Jamaican hospital cleaner has died in a drive-by shooting outside a home that was the scene of a mob attack last year, police said.

George Lynch was shot and killed by a single bullet wound to the chest as he stood with two other men outside the home in Hamilton Parish late on Wednesday night.

He is the second Jamaican national to be gunned down in Bermuda this year.

READ MORE - second Jamaican national to be gunned down in Bermuda this year

unidentified Jamaican athlete who was part of a team that won two medals at a recent international meet tested positive for a banned substance

unidentified Jamaican athlete who was part of a team that won two medals at a recent international meet tested positive for a banned substance, according to a Jamaican newspaper report.
The athlete has requested the B sample be tested, the Jamaica Observer reported, citing unnamed sources.
The athlete was part of a team that won gold in the women's 60 meters and bronze in the women's 4x400 relay at the March meet in Qatar.Howard Aris, president of Jamaica's track and field federation, told The Associated Press on Friday that he had no information."I haven't heard anything about any failed drugs test," he said.
Last year, four Jamaican runners admitted to using a banned stimulant before Jamaica's National Championships.Yohan Blake, Lansford Spence, Marvin Anderson and Allodin Fothergill were suspended for three months.

READ MORE - unidentified Jamaican athlete who was part of a team that won two medals at a recent international meet tested positive for a banned substance

News :: Sean Connery in Costa del Sol probe

Daily Star: Simply The Best 7 Days A Week :: News :: Sean Connery in Costa del Sol probe: "SEAN Connery has been ordered to appear before a Spanish magistrate investigating alleged financial irregularities over a house sale deal.

The James Bond star, 79, and his wife Micheline Roquebrune, 81, will be quizzed in the millionaires’ playground of Marbella, Costa del Sol.

Five lawyers have also been ordered to appear before the court after police raided offices on Wednesday in an operation named Goldfinger.



Connery and his wife, a French painter, lived in Marbella from the 70s to the late 90s in a beachside mansion called Malibu.


They entertained stars including Richard Burton in the whitewashed villa.

Connery sold the house for £6million in the late 90s and 72 flats were built. A flat is now worth £2million.

Magistrate Ricardo Puyol is investigating the sale of the house and allegations of tax evasion and money-laundering.

Neither Connery nor his wife has been arrested or charged with any offence.

They will be quizzed behind closed doors before the magistrate decides if any action should be taken."

READ MORE - News :: Sean Connery in Costa del Sol probe

Radiojamaica.com... today's news... today | Pearson, Pastor, Ganja, His, Court | Pastor accused of drug smuggling attempt remanded - Thomas Pearson, 62, the Westmoreland-based past...

Radiojamaica.com... today's news... today | Pearson, Pastor, Ganja, His, Court | Pastor accused of drug smuggling attempt remanded - Thomas Pearson, 62, the Westmoreland-based past...: "Thomas Pearson, 62, the Westmoreland-based pastor who was allegedly caught trying to smuggle a large quantity of ganja out of the country, was again remanded when he appeared before the Corporate Area Criminal Court Friday.Mr. Pearson, who is unrepresented, is to tell the court on Monday whether he will be hiring an attorney.
Sanguanette Bryan, 42, who is charged jointly with Mr. Pearson, was also remanded.The cops say they arrested Pastor Pearson at the Norman Manley International Airport with 10 pounds of ganja strapped to his body.

Pastor Pearson who is based in Darliston, Westmoreland, was nabbed while trying to board a flight to Trinidad.

The cops say the weed was strapped to his thighs.
Mr. Bryan told the police in a caution statement that Pastor Pearson gave him $85,000 to purchase the ganja and have it compressed for his trip to Trinidad."

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No remedy for ‘Posse’: International drug cartel in Toronto’s northwest end | National Post

No remedy for ‘Posse’: International drug cartel in Toronto’s northwest end | National Post: "international cartel called the Jamaican Shower Posse had been pulling the strings in Toronto’s northwest end, supplying drugs and guns to smaller gangs and fueling violence in the area.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair heralded the raids as a significant strike at the Shower Posse’s operations, but gang experts and sources in the Caribbean say such claims should be taken with a grain of salt.
The gang’s alleged leader, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, is likely the most powerful man in Jamaica, “perhaps more powerful than the government and the prime minister,” former Jamaican national security minister Dr. Peter Phillips told the National Post yesterday.
Even confronting the organization on home soil would be a monumental and perhaps impossible task, according to Michael Chettleburgh, a Toronto crime consultant who counts former Posse members among his staff.
The comments highlight just how monumental a task is set before Toronto police as they attempt to head off a powerful criminal network in order to staunch the flow of drugs and guns into Toronto neighbourhoods.
Mr. Chettleburgh, who literally wrote the book on Canadian gangs — Young Thugs: Inside the Dangerous World of Canadian Street Gangs — likened the raids to “snipping the heads off a few dandelions” when the weed is appearing “everywhere on Toronto lawns.”"

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3 United Front gang members sentenced | SouthCoastToday.com

3 United Front gang members sentenced | SouthCoastToday.com: "sentences, handed out in Boston over a three-day stretch to Terrell Baptiste, John Burgos and Aaron Livramento, come tethered to post-release conditions ordering them to stay away from United Front Homes Housing development, located off Kempton Street, and to not associate with United Front gang members.
On March 18, 2008, Baptiste, 24, was found in a Jean Street apartment, where police found more than 300 grams of crack cocaine, a .40-caliber firearm loaded with 10 rounds, 511 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition, two safes with more than $5,600 in cash, a police scanner, a scale and packaging materials.
This January, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base, possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base within 1,000 feet of a school and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The police investigation, according to U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz's office, revealed Baptiste was using the apartment to sell drugs for several months leading up to his arrest.
On May 4, U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro sentenced Baptiste to 15 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release."

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BBC News - Murder hunt after man shot dead in Tottenham

BBC News - Murder hunt after man shot dead in Tottenham: "murder inquiry has started after a man was shot dead in a north London street.
Officers were called to Mount Pleasant Road, in Tottenham, at 1140 BST on Friday after receiving reports of gun shots being fired.
The victim - thought to be aged 21 - died at the scene. A post-mortem examination will be held later.
The murder is being investigated by Operation Trident, which tackles gun crime in the black community.
Anyone with information should contact Metropolitan Police or Crimestoppers."

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head of Scotland Yard is in travelled to Jamaica as senior officers on the country struggle to curb a spiralling murder rate.

Independent Newspaper in the United Kingdom is reporting that the head of Scotland Yard is in travelled to Jamaica as senior officers on the country struggle to curb a spiralling murder rate. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson is undertaking a five-day visit organised by the University of the West Indies (UWI).But according to the paper, Sir Paul was also expected to meet with the National Security Minister, Senator Dwight Nelson, to discuss bringing down Jamaican drug gangs operating between Jamaica and London. The paper quotes a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman as saying that the Commissioner has accepted an invitation to speak at the UWI about the continuing co-operation on law enforcement issues between the Met and Jamaica, specifically in relation to drugs and violent crime. Citing Jamaica's high murder rate, the paper noted that serious questions have also been raised about a criminal justice system that can take up to five years to put a suspect on trial. But in a release Tuesday morning, the National Security Minister refrained from commenting on the newspaper's assertions.According to the release, Senator Nelson will host a dinner for Sir Paul Tuesday evening at the Mona Visitors' Lodge and on Wednesday, he will meet with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Senator Nelson only said in his release that he will avail himself of the tremendous experience and expertise that Sir Paul possesses.

READ MORE - head of Scotland Yard is in travelled to Jamaica as senior officers on the country struggle to curb a spiralling murder rate.

Shower Posse, a Jamaican-based group that controlled street-level gangs such as the Falstaff Crips and the Five Point Generals

investigation of the Shower Posse, a Jamaican-based group that controlled street-level gangs such as the Falstaff Crips and the Five Point Generals, the Toronto Star reported Wednesday.

The raids yielded $30,000 in cash, $10,500 in casino checks, 19 guns, more than 10,000 ecstasy pills and marijuana and hashish oil, police said.

Police were able to intercept an undisclosed amount of cocaine entering Toronto from Panama and the United States, the Star reported.

The law enforcement operation, known as Project Corral, also assisted in the seizure of 72 kilograms of cocaine in the Dominican Republic.

"We're very hopeful that by incapacitating these organizations ... we can make our communities safer," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said at a news conference Tuesday.

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The Shower Posse, which the U.S. government says holds influence with Jamaica’s governing Labour Party and is responsible for more than 1,400 drug-rel

The Shower Posse, which the U.S. government says holds influence with Jamaica’s governing Labour Party and is responsible for more than 1,400 drug-related killings, is an international organized crime syndicate that police say funnelled drugs through the Caribbean to GTA street-level gangs such as the Falstaff Crips and the Five Point Generals.

On Tuesday morning, more than 1,000 police officers from forces across Ontario executed 105 search warrants in the GTA and Ottawa, resulting in 79 arrests and the seizure of $30,000 in cash, $10,500 in casino cheques, 19 firearms, diamonds, cocaine, body armour, vehicles and more than 10,000 ecstasy pills.

The arrests signal the first time police have been able to establish a link to the infamously violent Jamaican drug cartel, which one expert says has been operating in the GTA for decades, reaping profits in the shadows while fuelling gang warfare and terrorizing residents.


Global News
Police say that some of the men arrested in Tuesday's crackdown could have links to Jamaica's powerful Shower Posse gang.
“You’re not gonna notice them. You’re not gonna see them,” said Staff Inspector Mike Earl, noting members of the Shower Posse are typically in their 30s or 40s. “They’re smart, they’re organized and they’ve been around a long time.”

Dubbed Project Corral, the investigation began in August 2009 focusing on several shootings and other violent crimes in northwest Toronto that police believed to be a result of fighting between the area’s competing criminal organizations.

While investigators initially targetted members of the Falstaff Crips and Five Point Generals — street-level gangs allegedly selling illicit drugs and trafficking in firearms — police now allege that these gangs were being controlled by the Shower Posse.

“Over the course of this investigation, a more significant organized crime involvement has been identified,” Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told reporters at a media conference on Tuesday. “We’re very hopeful that by incapacitating these organizations … we can make our communities safer.”

Police say their investigation revealed that the Jamaican gang is allegedly responsible for a “significant part” of the city’s drug trade, and that its influence stretches as far north as Sault Ste. Marie, sweeping from Windsor in the west to Ottawa in the east. Earlier this year, Project Corral investigators in the Dominican Republic intercepted more than 70 kilograms of cocaine and a load of firearms destined for Toronto, police say.

Two unsolved homicides, one on Dec. 3, 2009, and the other on Feb. 8, 2010, both of which occurred on Falstaff Ave., are also part of the investigation.

The Shower Posse takes its name from its modus operandi — showering communities with bullets to enforce their dominance, said Michael C. Chettleburgh, author of Young Thugs: Inside the Dangerous World of Canadian Street Gangs.

The Posse has a strong presence in northwest Toronto because members fled to Canada when Michael Manley’s government took power in Jamaica in the 1970s.

“They came with a lot of violence in their system, essentially, in that they were brought up in the ways of badness by government officials,” said Mr. Chettleburgh, the founder of Astwood Strategy Corp., a crime and social justice consultancy group. “They came with access to the drug trade, and they arrived in Canada … and basically set up shop.”

The gang’s lineage has been passed on to a new generation of Canadians, he said.

“In terms of the street level, they still have a presence, they’re still a powerful entity in terms of supplying the market with the tools of the street gangsters, which is dope — drugs of all kinds,” he said. “They are a force to be reckoned with, as are traditional organized crime entities.”
The Shower Posse, said to operate drug bases in more than 20 U.S. cities, has its roots in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Vivian Blake founded the gang in the 1970s. Before his incarceration in a U.S. prison in 2000 for racketeering and cocaine possession, the native Jamaican was allegedly responsible for importing thousands of tons of drugs into the United States. He served eight years of his 28-year sentence and returned to Jamaica in January 2009. He died on March 25 in Kingston at the age of 54.

The gang’s alleged current leader, 41-year-old Christopher Coke, is a powerful player in Jamaican politics, so much so that the U.S. State Department’s attempt to extradite him has rattled relations between the two countries.

Mr. Coke is facing charges in the United States of firearms trafficking and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

He is so influential that intermediaries managed to seek a resolution of his legal predicament directly with top aides to President Obama.

The State Department has suggested that it is Mr. Coke’s influence with top ruling party politicians that is impeding his extradition. The Jamaican government continues to resist Mr. Coke’s extradition, claiming insufficient evidence.

READ MORE - The Shower Posse, which the U.S. government says holds influence with Jamaica’s governing Labour Party and is responsible for more than 1,400 drug-rel