New head of major Mafia family said to be `Jackie Nose' D'Amico

NEW YORK - Meet the new John Gotti.

John (Jackie Nose) D'Amico, the Dapper Don's longtime sidekick and confidant, has emerged as the new acting boss of the Gambino crime family, law enforcement officials told the Daily News.

D'Amico, known as a dapper dresser himself with a gift for gab and a way with the ladies, even confirmed to The News that he was a "boss."

Well, sort of.

"I'm the boss of my house and my bathroom," said D'Amico, 69. "When I go in my house and my bathroom and close the door, I'm the boss."

The comment sounds like a tribute to something his dear friend John Gotti often said to reporters: "I'm the boss of my family, my wife and kids."

It was a line D'Amico probably heard a thousand times as the Dapper Don's constant companion on the town and in court.

But despite his common-man self-portrayal, law enforcement authorities say D'Amico is the new Don.

"It's apparent from a number of directions that Jackie is the street boss right now," one source said. "He is speaking with authority. He's not the same person from eight months ago."

D'Amico, known more as a lover than a fighter, may not have had the respect in the past of tough guys in the crime family, but his skills of diplomacy are needed now more than muscle is.

"He's a very personable individual," said Bruce Mouw, the retired head of the FBI's Gambino squad. "He can be a diplomat, a mediator. He's not a hard-liner. They need someone to rally people together."

Law enforcement sources say that after Gotti was convicted in 1992 and sent away for life, a ruling panel consisting of D'Amico and fellow Gambino capos Peter Gotti and Nicholas (Little Nick) Corozzo was designated to assist the Dapper Don's son John A. (Junior) Gotti in running the crime family.

Accused Mafia Cop: I Had High Ranking Help

(AP) NEW YORK A retired police detective accused of working for the Mafia was recorded saying that a "high ranking" member of
the New York Police Department helped him get fake police identification.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Louis Eppolito was being recorded when he told a government informant earlier this year that "a high-ranking member of the NYPD had provided him with an active-duty ID card."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Henoch gave the information to Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein in a letter.

Eppolito is charged with accepting thousands of dollars a month to settle scores for the Luchese organized crime family. He has been retired from the force for more than a decade.

Mexico's 'methamphetamine kings' sent to jail

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican court handed down prison sentences on Thursday to two brothers convicted of leading a gang that controlled much the country's black market amphetamine trade.

Prosecutors say a cartel run by the Amezcua brothers, known as the "Methamphetamine Kings" in criminal circles, used laboratories in the Pacific states of Colima and Jalisco to produce narcotics for export to the United States.

Jose de Jesus Amezcua was sentenced to 28 years in jail, while his brother Adan was handed nine and a half years, the attorney general's office said.

An increasing trade in methamphetamine, known as "meth" or "crystal," has given powerful Mexican drug cartels a hefty shot in the arm in recent years. Cheaper than cocaine or heroin and with a longer-lasting high, methamphetamine is also gaining popularity among drug users in Mexico.

Mexico is the main route for smugglers moving narcotics into the United States, the world's largest importer of illegal drugs.

More jail time for mafia boss

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s most notorious mafia leader was sentenced on Friday to more than 14 years in jail for a gang-related attack on a cafe but told his relatives “it is not important, do not be sad”, the Anatolia news agency said.
Alaattin Cakici was convicted of ordering an armed attack in 2000 that injured 15 people at a cafe frequented by a rival gang, and sentenced to 14 years, nine months and 20 days.
It was the second time the mafia boss had been tried over the attack.
He had already spent three years in jail, but the appeals court overturned part of the ruling and asked that his sentence be increased. – AFP

Vincent 'The Chin' Gigante, last of Mafia giants, dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, the powerful Mafioso who avoided jail for decades by wandering the streets in a ratty bathrobe and slippers, feigning mental illness, died Monday in prison. He was 77.

The head of the Genovese crime family, who had suffered from heart disease, died at the federal prison in Springfield, Mo., said prison spokesman Al Quintero. It was the same place where rival mob boss John Gotti died of cancer in 2002 at age 61.

AP
Gigante

Gigante's death also was confirmed by Christine Monaco, a spokeswoman for the FBI, the organization that worked for years to put him behind bars.

Dubbed the "Oddfather" for his bizarre behavior, Gigante had scored a lengthy string of victories over prosecutors, but it ended with a July 1997 racketeering conviction. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

After a quarter-century of public craziness, he finally admitted his insanity ruse at an April 2003 federal hearing in which he calmly pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. That brought him another three-year sentence.

Mafia accused in appeal

A BUSINESSMAN accused of being the head of a Mafia crime family has lodged an appeal against extradition from Scotland to Italy.

Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, last month signed an order to have Antonio La Torre removed from Scotland.

La Torre, 49, of Aberdeen, is wanted by the Italian authorities to face a series of charges. He moved to Scotland in the 1980s and manages a catering firm.

The businessman's legal team had two weeks to lodge its intention to appeal against the decision, but left it until just before the deadline last night.

La Torre has been accused of 20 crimes, including extortion, robbery and the production of counterfeit money and fake identification papers.

Mafia gangs linked to building projects for America's Cup races

Sicilian magistrates are investigating allegations that lucrative construction projects in preparation for America's Cup yacht races were awarded to members of the island's Cosa Nostra, prompting one Italian magazine to call the world's most prestigious yachting competition the "Mafia's Cup".

The competition's organisers were not involved in awarding the contracts.

The reports have surfaced amid accusations that the Interior Ministry under-secretary Antonio D'Ali sacked a local prefect known for his fight to prevent the underworld controlling the building industry.

The Sicilian port of Trapani boasted the strong winds and open sea views that made it an ideal host for the qualifying races held from 28 September to 9 October, organisers believed. The historic port was spruced up for the event.Last month officers from the local police flying squad arrested Ciccio Pace, the reputed Cosa Nostra kingpin of Trapani, and five local building entrepreneurs on charges of membership of a mob aimed at using extortion to obtain control of business linked to the competition.

Six-Nation Drug Ring Broken Up, DEA Says

WASHINGTON - Federal drug agents said Thursday that they have broken up a drug trafficking and money laundering ring that had been operating in the United States and five other countries, seizing more than $7 million, two tons of cocaine and 500 pounds of marijuana.

A federal grand jury in Miami has indicted 24 people on charges that include conspiracy to distribute cocaine, distribution of cocaine, importation of a controlled substance, money laundering and criminal forfeiture, the Drug Enforcement Administration said.

DEA agents made 18 arrests in recent days in Miami and the Dominican Republic as part of Operation Cali Exchange. The group also distributed drugs and laundered money in the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia and Panama, said DEA Administrator Karen Tandy.

Cocaine in horse drug tests raises questions

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana racehorses have tested positive for cocaine, but how the drug got into their bodies is a matter of debate. A total of four horses tested positive for cocaine over the past two years, according to reports from the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, and some officials say that trend is continuing.

Don Horrell, past president of the Indiana Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, said as many as 10 to 12 horses tested positive for the drug during the fall meet at Hoosier Park in Anderson. Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings told The Herald Bulletin of Anderson for a story this week that at least one horse had tested positive, but he did not say when.

Indiana Horse Racing Commission Director Joe Gorajec was traveling and could not be reached for comment Thursday. An attorney for the commission said he was unfamiliar with the issue and could not comment.

Mafia targets Norwegian security firms

It is known that East European criminals have attempted to acquire five smaller Norwegian security firms in South Eastern Norway this year.

The criminals attempt to infiltrate the security firms and the Police Directorate warns that these may be able to utilize knowledge gained about passwords and security routines.

- There is every reasons to take this seriously, says Superintendent Kjell Aatangen of the Oslo Police Precinct to Aftenposten.

'Mafia' behind SEA Games boxing brouhaha?

WERE the controversial final boxing bouts during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games held at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City the handiwork of the so-called "boxing mafia?"

Talks started to mill around alleging that some boxing judges were given fatty amounts prior to the championship matches last Saturday to ensure a victory.

Eric Loretizo, Bacolod Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (BaSoc) secretary-general, was quick in denying the allegation.

"It's more speculation than truth," he said.

He added that allegation on the mafia's presence is always present in any sporting event.

But if Negros Occidental Governor Joseph Marañon is to be believed, some foreign boxers earned points even when they were only punching the air.

The governor, who watched some of the games, said some judges scored for a favored country even when there is no direct hit.

Earlier, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra claimed they were cheated in some of the boxing, athletics and weightlifting games.

Prosecutors ask for jail time for "Mafia don"

MADISON, Wis. Prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence the former Senate majority leader to six months in jail, saying Chuck Chvala (KWAH'-lah) is unremorseful for his illegal activities.

A sentencing memo from Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley to a Dane County judge says Chvala was "like a Mafia don," insulating himself by directing his criminal activities through his chief of staff.Benkley says prosecutors want to put more than 448-thousand dollars that Chvala raised illegally into Wisconsin's school fund.In October, Chvala pleaded guilty to two felonies for having an employee campaign on state time and for illegally funneling cash to a fellow Democrat's election fund.Seventeen other charges were dropped in exchange for the guilty pleas.

Extradition for mafia probe man

Antonio La Torre, 49, has been accused of robbery, extortion and production of counterfeit money.

It was alleged the businessman and restaurateur led a mafia-style gang known to police as the La Torre Clan.

In September, a sheriff said there were grounds for La Torre, who has been in custody since March, to be extradited.

Acts of extortion

During the hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, the Crown claimed there was a "clear case" in Scots law of conspiracy.

It said that La Torre was the person who "organised, oversaw, manipulated and executed" various acts of extortion and other crimes.

The case was then referred to Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson for a final decision.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said: "The order was signed by the minister at the weekend, and today we have gone to La Torre's solicitors, advising them that the order has been signed.

"He has got two weeks to appeal the decision of the sheriff."

It is understood Mr La Torre can also appeal against the decision made by Ms Jamieson to sign the document.

Calvi Murder Suspects Linked to Organized Crime, Witness Says

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Flavio Carboni, one of the five people accused of murdering Roberto Calvi 23 years ago, helped the Sicilian Mafia launder money, said turncoat Francesco Di Carlo, the first prosecution witness testifying in the trial.

Giuseppe ``Pippo'' Calo, a convicted Sicilian Mafia boss, is accused of ordering the killing of Calvi, known as ``God's Banker'' because of his ties to the Vatican. Four others, including Carboni, organized the killing, the prosecution says.

``People said Carboni was good at making investments, such as construction in Sardinia, with money that Calo gave him,'' said Di Carlo, who testified today behind blinds to keep his appearance secret at a bunker courthouse in Rome. Di Carlo, a state's witness since 1996, was a member of the Sicilian mob, known as Cosa Nostra.

Calvi was the chairman and chief executive officer of Banco Ambrosiano, Italy's largest private bank before its collapse after he died in 1982. He was 62. Prosecutors say they will show that Ambrosiano helped the mob launder money and was at the center of a web that included the Mafia, the drugs trade, and the Vatican.

``I've never done business at all with Calo. Nothing,'' Carboni told reporters after Di Carlo's testimony. ``I met Calo three or four times. That was it.'' Carboni denies any connection to the murder of Calvi.

Underworld Ties

Lead prosecutor Luca Tescaroli used Di Carlo's testimony to try and establish the underworld ties of three of the accused murderers. Ernesto Diotallevi, one of the five suspects on trial, met Calo met when he was in Rome, Di Carlo said today.

Calo and Diotallevi had no connection to Calvi's death, their lawyers repeated again today. The others charged are Carboni's ex-girlfriend Manuela Kleinszig, Silvano Vittor. Kleinszig and Vittor also deny the charges. Only Carboni was present in the courtroom, while Calo was video-linked from a prison in Ascoli Piceno, Italy.

Trial date set for alleged mob cops

After turning down a bid by the "Mafia Cops" to get their indictment dismissed, a Brooklyn federal judge set Feb. 21 as the date for trial.

Judge Jack B. Weinstein didn't buy arguments that the racketeering indictment against Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa was defective and said both the men and the city deserve to have their days in court.

Eppolito, 56, and Caracappa, 63, were arrested in March on charges they worked as hit men for the Luchese crime family and had roles in a total of 10 gangland murders.

After listening to more than an hour of arguments by defense attorneys and prosecutors, Weinstein ruled that the indictment was valid on its face and that at this stage of the case it had to go to trial.

Law change would undermine confiscation of Mafia property

A BILL to come before the Italian parliament could foil one of the most effective anti-Mafia measures.

For years Mafia holdings have been confiscated and some of them converted for social purposes. The Neapolitan villa where the soccer player Diego Maradona was photographed celebrating with its drug-running owners during the 1980s is now an office providing help for victims of the underworld. A cement factory in Palermo, whose boss is an imprisoned Mafioso, is now owned by its workers.

Conversion of the Mafia's ill-gotten gains into successful enterprises has undermined the Mafia's claim that only it provides jobs.

The Government legislated for confiscation of Mafia property in 1982, following the Mafia assassination of General Alberto Della Chiesa, head of the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of the former prime minister Aldo Moro. Since then there have been 1081 confiscations in Sicily, 617 in Calabria, 544 in the Naples region, and 172 in Apulia in the heel of the Italian boot.

New charges for 'Mafia cops'

The "Mafia Cops" have something else to digest over Thanksgiving: a new version of the federal indictment accusing them of being hitmen for the mob.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors Wednesday released a retooled indictment, their fourth version, in the racketeering charges against ex-NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa. Eppolito and Caracappa already face a total of 10 homicide charges in the racketeering case that started with their arrest in March. The new indictment didn't add any new murder victims but did add two murder-for-hire allegations to cover the killings of Gambino mobster Edward Lino in 1990 and diamond dealer Israel Greenwald in 1986. The new charges also added a 1982 bribery allegation against Eppolito,56.

Secrets of The Dead: Gangland Graveyard on PBS

Gangland Graveyard airs on PBS tonight at 8:00 PM Pacific Time.

Like other New York crime families, the Bonanno Family was founded in the aftermath of the Castellamarese War of the late 1920s and early 1930s, which pitted Chicago's Al Capone against members of the Castellamarese family (whose members hailed from the Castellamarese region of Sicily) for control of the bootleg liquor business. Castellamarese members had formed a faction in New York, led by Sal Maranzano, and were in a fierce battle with Capone supporter Joe Masseria. When Masseria was murdered -- allegedly set up by his capo, Lucky Luciano, who had switched allegiance -- the Castellamarese War ended, and Maranzano became the most powerful mobster in New York. He dubbed himself the Capo di tutti capi -- "boss of all bosses" -- and helped to establish The Commission, a board of directors, composed of mob bosses, that arbitrated mafia family disputes. Maranzano's reign was short-lived; in September 1931, he was assassinated by Luciano and others.

	Bonanno Crime Family leaders, Joseph Massino and Frank Cappa

Following Maranzano's death, the New York Castellamarese family elected a new boss, 26-year-old Joseph Bonanno, who became the youngest boss of the "Five Families" that formed the national crime syndicate. The family -- which soon became known as the Bonanno Family -- prospered for the next 30 years under Bonanno, profiting from gambling, labor racketeering and drug trafficking. Bonanno spread his operation to California, Arizona, and Wisconsin, and expanded into Canada and Cuba. By the early 1960s, however, Bonanno's power began to wane. In 1962, his ally, Joe Profaci -- boss of what is now the Colombo Family -- died of liver cancer. Bonanno attempted to regain his status and exert control over the family's illegal operations by conspiring with Profaci underboss Joe Magliocco to take out rival New York bosses Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese, and Stefano Magadino, and Los Angeles boss Frank DeSimmone. The two sent hitman Joe Colombo to do the deed, but Colombo turned on them and informed the bosses of the plot. Bonanno and Magliocco were called before The Commission to explain themselves. Magliocco appeared and was allowed to retire because of his poor health. Bonanno, a no-show, was stripped of his title, and Gaspar DiGregorio was named leader of the Bonanno Family. Throughout the 1960s, Bonanno unsuccessfully attempted to regain control for himself and for his son (and anointed successor) Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno, in what became known as the Bonanno War. In 1968, Joe Bonanno retired to Arizona.

		Bonanno Family Boss, Joseph Massino

By 1975, the Bonanno Family had come under the control of Carmine Galante, former underboss to Bonanno. Galante began a battle with the Gambino Family over drug operations, angering The Commission. He was executed, under the orders of The Commission, in July 1979, leaving Philip "Rusty" Rastelli in charge. Rastelli expanded the family operations and formed a network of front businesses that trafficked narcotics, called the "Pizza Connection." During his tenure, however, the family was infiltrated by undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone, "Donnie Brasco," whose later testimony led to the conviction of over 120 Bonanno Family members. In 1986, Rastelli was convicted of federal racketeering charges, and Joseph Massino, his capo -- a ranking member in the mob family, who runs a group of "soldiers" -- took over as leader of the family. Massino, who was soon dubbed "The Last Don," rebuilt the family, but was himself convicted in July 2004 of participating in eight murders -- including the killing of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, the capo who allowed Joe Pistone into his inner circle (and who, along with Massino, participated in the 1981 murders of Rastelli capos Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone, "Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera). Massino was sentenced to life in prison. He avoided the death penalty by agreeing to turn government informant -- the first mob boss to ever do so. Taped conversations he provided to the feds led to the arrest of Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, acting Bonanno boss, in November 2004.

De Niro returns to the Mafia

Robert De Niro is attached to star in The Winter of Frankie Machine, Variety reports.

An adaptation of a yet-to-be-published novel by Don Winslow, it tells the story of a former Mafia hitman who has taken to a quiet life running a shop. However, when he finds that he is being targeted for a hit he soon returns to his old ways.

De Niro and Jane Rosenthal's Tribeca Films will produce. Rosenthal told Daily Variety: "He did say that (he wouldn't play another Mafia character). But along came Don Winslow, who created a perfect character. The lesson here is, never say never."

Winslow's novel is expected to hit shelves next year.

Salem admits his crime: 1993 blasts

After a long time, the hand of mafia-don Abu Salem who was interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his hand in Mumbai serial blasts, has been confirmed. At that time Salem use to work for don Dawood Ibrahim. Later both separated. The RDX used for blasts was brought by Salem against whom the police has registered 25 cases. In all 250 people had lost their lives and 400 injured.

Mobster's son can star in "House Arrest"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The son of an infamous Mafia don can remain under a lenient house arrest that allows him to do a reality TV show in which he visits a strip club and parties with poker pals, a federal judge ruled on Monday.

Christopher Colombo, son of the assassinated mob chief Joseph Colombo, was indicted on racketeering charges in March 2004 and released on $1 million bail. His bail terms were eased for "family needs."

Prosecutors said the show "House Arrest" for the cable channel HBO "makes a mockery" of the house arrest set up initially to give Colombo more time to spend with his family. He used it "to generally gallivant around town with his associates" for the "docu-comedy," they said, and argued he should be barred from making more episodes of the show.

But Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald disagreed, saying she would reconsider her ruling "if the government can produce evidence that Mr. Colombo has violated the terms of his bail."

The initial HBO episode, which is set to air November 24, purports to show a day in the life of Colombo, who wears an ankle bracelet that tracks his movements.

Lawyer: Cleared mobster may be dead

Lawrence Ricci vanished in the middle of his trial

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two executives of the International Longshoremen's Association and a reputed mobster who went missing mid-trial were acquitted Tuesday of charges that they helped the Mafia keep its grip on the New York waterfront.

Supporters gasped and burst into tears as a federal jury in Brooklyn found union officials Harold Daggett and Arthur Coffey not guilty of extortion and fraud charges.

The jury also acquitted Lawrence Ricci, an alleged Genovese crime family associate who had been accused of wire and mail fraud.

But the victory may turn out to be empty for Ricci, who vanished in the middle of the trial and is suspected to have been slain by the mob.

His attorney said after the verdict that he believed Ricci had been killed, but he hoped the verdict gave his family solace.

Prosecutors had accused Ricci of working to award a lucrative union contract to a mob-tied pharmaceutical company. Daggett and Coffey were charged with conspiring with the Genovese crime family to install Daggett as the mob-controlled puppet president of the ILA.

Gun and drugs seized in pub raid

A HANDGUN, ammunition and drugs were discovered when armed police raided a Liverpool pub on its first night under new management.

Dozens of police, including armed officers, swooped on The Inglenook pub, on Ullet Road, in Aigburth, around 10.30pm on Saturday night.

Four men were arrested following the operation which started at The Inglenook and then continued at a private address on Wood Street, in Liverpool city centre.

It was just after 10.30pm on Saturday when a convoy of police vehicles arrived at the Inglenook and surrounded the premises, preventing anybody from leaving.

Pete Rose Jr. Admits to Drugs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Pete Rose Jr., the son of baseball's all-time hits leader, pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he distributed GBL, a drug sometimes sold as a steroid alternative, to his minor league teammates.

The 35-year-old Rose appeared before a federal judge and said nothing but "yes, sir" when asked if he understood the charges and his plea.

Under a deal with prosecutors, Rose could be sentenced to 21 to 27 months in federal prison and fined up to $1 million. His sentencing hearing is set for Feb. 20.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said Rose's arrest was part of a larger investigation into a major GBL trafficking organization. Rose surrendered to authorities shortly before he entered his guilty plea.

Former USF professor was terrorist group crime boss, prosecutor says

TAMPA -- A former college professor acted for years as one of the top "crime bosses" for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an organized, murderous gang that operates much like the Mafia, a federal prosecutor told a jury Monday.

Although Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants standing trial here the past five months are not charged with directly killing anyone, they conspired to facilitate terrorist attacks and are every bit as guilty under federal law as the suicide bombers and others who carried them out, prosecutor Cherie Krigsman said in her closing arguments.

"The men of the PIJ you got to know in this case, they didn't strap bombs to their body," she said. "They leave that to somebody else."

Al-Arian, 47, and his co-defendants are charged in a 51-count indictment with raising money in the United States and directing the mission of the PIJ, a U.S. State Department-designated terrorist group that killed hundreds in attacks in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Authorities Break Up 'Black Mafia Family' Crime Ring

DETROIT -- Federal authorities say they have broken up a cocaine-trafficking ring that laundered more than $270 million over 15 years in an operation that began in Michigan and branched out across the country. The organization, known on the streets as the Black Mafia Family, had ties to the rap music industry, and its two leaders have appeared in rap videos, said Robert L. Corso, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Detroit. "They were in fact just another group of thugs who brought fear, intimidation and violence to the streets of Detroit," he said. Local and federal authorities in Michigan, California, Florida, Kentucky, Texas, Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi arrested 23 people Friday, and two suspects remained at large, authorities said. They face charges that include conspiracy, drug possession with intent to deliver and money laundering, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday in Detroit. U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said local and federal authorities have been after the ring since 2000 and recently were able to pull several old cases together from many different states. Authorities said the gang dealt in "multi-kilogram" quantities of cocaine. Since 1999, authorities seized cocaine from the group in Polk County, Texas; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Kansas City, Mo.; Collin County, Texas; Crawford County, Ark.; Florissant, Mo.; St. Louis; and Woodland Hills, Calif.

Italian mafia's criminal revenue over 43 billion dollars in 2004

The Calabria-based mafia organisation made 36 billion euros (43.6 US dollars) last year, Italian media reported on Sunday.

The report by Italian social research institute Eurispes said the criminal revenue in 2004 equalled 3.4 percent of Italian GDP.

Drug trafficking was the organisation's most profitable business, generating 22.3 billion euros (26.7 billion dollars), Eurispes said.

Skimming off money from public works contracts and general business corruption were the next most lucrative activities, netting the group more than 4.7 billion euros (5.7 billion dollars) .

Prostitution and arms trafficking made the 'Ndrangheta an estimated 4.6 billion (5.6 billion dollars) while extortion and loan-sharking brought in 4.1 billion (4.9 billion dollars), the report said.

Report: Police Crack Mafia Extortion Ring

Police have foiled a mafia group's attempt to extort 1.5 million euros from a British company, law enforcement officials said Friday.

"The extortionists were caught red-handed," a law enforcement source told RIA-Novosti, saying three men were arrested in the foyer of Moscow's Renaissance Hotel during the exchange of a payment order for the sum of 1 million euros.

Italy announces plan to fight mafia

The Italian government on Friday appointed the country's top police officers to lead an all-out war on the Calabrian mafia, or 'Ndrangheta, according to Italian News Agency ANSA.

The Italian cabinet also approved a plan for a six-pronged offensive against the powerful crime syndicate, considered to be responsible for the murder of an important local politician two weeks ago.

"This is not a temporary response," said Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu. "It is ambitious, regards the whole of Calabria and is destined to last a long time."

"The fight won't be short or easy," he added.

The job of directing the battle against the 'Ndrangheta was given to Italy's deputy police chief Luigi De Sena, who was appointed prefect of the Calabrian capital, Reggio Calabria, with special powers.

Prosecutors want to gag 'Mafia Cops' lawyers

Talkative defense attorney Bruce Cutler, who once got into serious trouble for comments he made outside court about his client, the late John Gotti, is again the target of government ire for his remarks in the so-called "Mafia Cops" case.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, angered by remarks made by Cutler and his colleague Edward Hayes about the case on television, are asking a judge to issue a gag order against them.

Alleged 'Black Family Mafia' Group Arrested In Car Bust

Federal agents seized more than 60 exotic cars from an Orlando dealership on suspicion they were used to transport cocaine and cash throughout the country for the Black Family Mafia criminal organization, according to a Local 6 News report.

Authorities said eight people, including three from Central Florida, were arrested this week after an extensive investigation. All eight arrested were believed to be members of BFM or Black Family Mafia -- a Detroit-based criminal organization that allegedly dabbles in drugs as well as a rap music record label, Local 6 News reporter Mike DeForest said.

"It is a national organization from Los Angeles to Detroit to Orlando and up and down the eastern seaboard," Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Stephen Collins said.

Authorities believe Orlando businessman Marc Whaley oversaw the alleged smuggling operation from his two businesses on Old Winter Garden and Lee roads in Orlando, according to a federal indictment.

Doren Fiddler and Ezra Haynes were also arrested in Central Florida with Whaley. Fiddler and Haynes are suspected of being deliverymen in the nationwide operation.

"Mr. Fiddler and Mr. Haynes made trips for Orlando to Georgia transporting large amounts of cash which were believed to be the proceeds of drug activity," U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Carolyn Adams said.

Mafia Cops' may have known about additional mob murders

Prosecutors are expecting to use evidence of at least a half dozen additional gangland killings in the upcoming trial of the "Mafia Cops," according to court documents and sources familiar with the case.

The mob murders, which occurred from 1987 to 1991, are in addition to the nine homicides charged against former NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa.Both defendants were arrested in March and charged with acting as spies and hit men for factions of the Lucchese crime family. They have maintained their innocence and are free on $5 million bail each, but are under house arrest as they await a Feb. 6 trial.

Eppolito, 56, and Caracappa, 63, have not been charged in the additional murders, and sources familiar with the case said they were unlikely to be.

But it appears federal prosecutors in Brooklyn may try to show that the former detectives uncovered information about the homicide victims before each died, according to a source familiar with the case who asked not to be identified.

Italy targets gang that has overtaken mafia

Police in Calabria yesterday began a crackdown against a shadowy network thought to have outgrown even the Sicilian mafia.

Scores of suspects in Italy and across Europe were detained in raids that the authorities said had netted nine suspected gangsters, weapons, explosives and drugs.

Their target was the 'ndrangheta, the Calabrian answer to the Sicilian mafia which in the past decade has grown fat on the cocaine traffic from Colombia and is now said to be richer and more powerful than its legendary counterpart across the Strait of Messina.

It is composed of 75 individual gangs with some 7,000 members and an annual revenue of an estimated €35bn (£24bn).

Italy's anti-Mafia chief accuses politicians

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's new national anti-Mafia prosecutor caused a storm on Friday by saying Bernardo Provenzano, the top Mafia chief who has been a fugitive for four decades, had been protected by politicians and policemen.

"People from various professions -- politicians, businessmen and police -- have helped Provenzano remain a fugitive," Pietro Grasso told state television Rai in an interview to be broadcast late on Friday night.

"It was not only a crime organization that provided cover for him," he said, according to advance excerpts.

Until his appointment earlier this month, Grasso was for years the chief anti-Mafia investigator in the Sicilian capital Palermo, and often expressed frustration over the failure to capture Provenzano.

Italian mafia responsible for assassination

Italy's Interior Minister says the 'Ndrangheta mafia group was responsible for Sunday's assassination of a senior centre-left politician as he left a polling booth.

Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu flew to the southern region of Calabria after two masked gunmen shot Francesco Fortugno, vice-president of Calabria's regional government, shortly after he had voted in a national primary ballot to choose a leader for the centre-left opposition.

The killing triggered fears of a rise in Calabrian mafia activity. Fortugno, 54, was the most senior public figure killed in the region since 1989.

Man Who Touched Off Mob Power Struggle Spared Prison

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A reputed Mafia captain whose failed shakedown of a Stamford strip club owner touched off a mob power struggle and provided the FBI a rare look into the workings of the Gambino crime family was spared prison time Wednesday.

Ignazio "Iggy" Alogna, 72, of Pocono Lake, Pa., faced up to 20 years in prison but a judge placed him on six months home confinement and three years probation after Alogna said he was a down-on-his-luck retiree and his family's only caregiver.

Reputed Mob Figure Vanishes Mid-Trial

NEW YORK - A reputed mobster facing a five-year prison term in a waterfront corruption case disappeared in the middle of his trial, prompting speculation that he had instead received a Mafia-imposed death penalty.

"I do not consider my client's absence to be a voluntary one," defense attorney Martin Schmukler said in federal court Wednesday after Lawrence Ricci failed to show for the second day in a row.

Ricci, a 60-year-old alleged capo in the Genovese crime family, went on trial Sept. 20 in Brooklyn. He was free on $500,000 bail.

Schmukler said Thursday he would continue with the case: "I'm going to do so as if he's alive and well and sitting in that chair in that courtroom."

Ricci, who lists his occupation as a dairy salesman, was charged with two officials of the International Longshoreman's Association with extortion and fraud in connection with mob domination of the New York waterfront.

Italy vote overshadowed by Mafia-style killing

ROME (Reuters) - Former European Commission President Romano Prodi looked set to be crowned the left's election candidate on Monday but his moment of victory was marred by the Mafia-style killing of a local politician.

Turnout was high for Italy's first primary election vote, held by the center-left opposition on Sunday to choose a candidate to run against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in general elections next spring.

But before the polls closed, police said two masked gunmen shot dead Francesco Fortugno, 54-year-old vice president of the regional government of Calabria in the south of the country, as he exited a polling station.

Politicians from across the political spectrum denounced the murder -- the first of its kind in Calabria in 16 years -- and Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said he would fly to the region early on Monday.

"We are working on a response to this attack that will be decisive and forceful," the prosecutor in Locri where the shooting occurred, Giuseppe Carbone, was quoted by local agency ANSA as saying.

Early exit polls gave Prodi 75 percent of the vote, a landslide victory over the six other candidates drawn from across the center-left spectrum and far higher than anticipated.

Second place looked likely to be taken by veteran communist leader Fausto Bertinotti with some 14 percent.

Turnout at the 10,000 polling booths also far exceeded expectations with organizers predicting more than 3 million voters by the time stations closed at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT), three times more than forecast.

Mafia turns scaredy-cat

First, Junior Gotti pens a children's book in prison. Then the mob scion shows up at Sunday Mass.

Now, federal prosecutors are claiming the Gambinos and the Lucheses - among the most bloodthirsty crime families the city has ever known - are just a bunch of pansies.

What's the Mafia come to?

Consider the trial going on in courtroom 26A of Manhattan Federal Court. There a group of Albanian-led mobsters are accused of crimes committed as they wrested control of Astoria's gambling clubs - and the protection money they generated - from the Luchese family.

Federal prosecutors say gang leader Alex Rudaj, 38, had Gottiesque visions of heading a sixth crime family. They claim on one occasion, he and some pals even pushed their way into Rao's, the exclusive East Harlem eatery, demanded John Gotti's old table - and got it.

"The Gambino crime family simply could not stand in the way of the Rudaj organization, and the Rudaj organization took great pride in that," prosecutor Benjamin Gruenstein said.

Mob boss ordered JFK hit, book says

"Mafia Princess" Antoinette Giancana, daughter of the late Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, claims in a new book that her father ordered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

If true, this would make Sam Giancana guilty of one of history's worst crimes. But that doesn't trouble Antoinette Giancana.

"The Kennedys were not kind to my father," she said. "They were just as evil and corrupt as any mafioso."

Giancana teamed up with two University of Illinois at Chicago doctors to write JFK and Sam: The Connection between the Giancana and Kennedy Assassinations. The 217-page book will be published later this month by Cumberland House Publishing.

Giancana's co-authors are Dr. John Hughes, a neurologist, and Dr. Thomas Jobe, a psychiatrist.

Jobe earlier wrote Lyndon Baines Johnson: The Tragic Self, a Psychohistorical Portrayal. He and Hughes then teamed up on a book about the JFK assassination, and enlisted Giancana's help.

Hughes said he did the bulk of the research and writing. But he said Giancana is getting top billing in the list of authors because she's better known.

Giancana's best-selling 1984 memoir, Mafia Princess, was made into a TV movie starring Tony Curtis as Sam and soap opera star Susan Lucci as Antoinette. Now 70, Giancana lives in Elmwood Park. She's a sales associate for a retail chain and markets Giancana Marinara Sauce ("Just Like Dad's, Maybe Better").

Hughes said he read more than 40 books on the JFK assassination and spent almost every weekend for 13 years writing and rewriting the book. He wrote that he used his expertise in neurology to analyze how Kennedy's body moved after he was shot. This led Hughes to conclude that there must have been a shooter on the infamous grassy knoll to Kennedy's right.

Did mob help JFK win Illinois?

The mafia, Hughes wrote, helped Kennedy carry Illinois in the close 1960 election, assuring his victory. In return, JFK was supposed to go easy on the mob. Reneging on the deal, Kennedy unleashed his brother Bobby, the attorney general, on organized crime, the authors claim.

In 1975, Sam Giancana was gunned down while cooking sausage in the basement kitchen of his Oak Park home. The book says the CIA killed Sam Giancana to prevent him from telling a congressional committee about his role in CIA plots to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

These theories, scoffs Sam Giancana biographer Bill Brashler, "are as old as the Easter bunny. It's just silliness."

Brashler said Kennedy owed his election to the first Mayor Daley, not to the mob. And even if Sam Giancana felt betrayed, it wasn't the mob's style to murder politicians, much less the president. Finally, it was a trusted bodyguard who killed Sam Giancana, not the CIA. "It was a classic mob hit," Brashler said.

Brashler said he interviewed Antoinette Giancana for his book, The Don: The Life and Death of Sam Giancana. He concluded she knew next to nothing about her dad's business.

The drifter who changed history

Antoinette Giancana said that for the new book she was able to recall long-buried memories during extensive interviews conducted by Jobe.

Conspiracy buffs have proposed 250 theories to explain what "really" happened Nov. 22, 1963, said Ruth Ann Rugg of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, a JFK assassination museum in Dallas.

But Rugg said the only credible explanation is that Lee Harvey Oswald alone shot Kennedy. Conspiracy theorists simply can't accept that such an insignificant drifter changed history by himself. "We want to believe that there was more to it, that there were huge forces involved," Rugg said.

The Dorset public school girl, the Russian mafia and a £300,000 bank account

An 18-year-old pupil at a girls' boarding school was found with £300,000 in her bank account - money suspected of being at the centre of a Russian mafia laundering operation.

Tamara Platash, who took her A-levels at Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset this year, aroused suspicions at her local bank branch when she tried to transfer £200,000 to an account in China.

	Tamara Platash tried to transfer £200,000

The bank alerted police who blocked the transfer and started an investigation. A total of £303,730.21 in the account has since been frozen.

Officers arrested Russian-born Miss Platash at the school and took her away for questioning. Her mother, Irina, a businesswoman, was arrested when she came over to England for the school's prize-giving ceremony at the end of term.

Police suspect that the money was the proceeds of Russian mafia crime in Britain or was being forwarded for use in criminal activities abroad.

The Crown Prosecution Service ruled that there was insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution against the Platashes and they were released without charge. But the £300,000 has been frozen by the Government's Assets Recovery Agency, which will now attempt to confiscate the money through the High Court.

The case has embarrassed staff at the 106-year-old Sherborne School for Girls, which, with fees of £20,000 a year, has 350 boarding pupils aged 11 to 18. The school, according to its prospectus, "honours the timeless traditions of honesty and integrity".

Wholesale fish market's relocation put on hold after Mafia-related talk

NEW YORK (AP) - A judge put the relocation plans of the nation's largest wholesale fish market on ice Friday after hearing claims that it could be vulnerable to Mafia infiltration when it moves to its new site.

State Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead extended a restraining order blocking fishmongers from taking over unloading duties at the Fulton Fish Market, which is moving to the Bronx after more than 180 years on the Manhattan waterfront.

Sellers insist they cannot pay the costs associated with the new, more sanitary market unless they take over the unloading. They say they can operate faster and cheaper than current unloader Laro Service Systems.

Laro was installed by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1995 to take over the historically mob-tainted business of unloading fish trucks. The mob had been using the unloading service to extort payments from sellers dependent on quick service in the highly time-sensitive, $1 billion-a-year fish market.

Police fear Balkan mafia eager to sell A-bomb materials to Iran

Iran’s quest to become a nuclear power has galvanised the Balkan mafias, security sour ces have warned following the discovery of potentially lethal nuclear enrichment mat erial in the region.

Last week, Bulgarian customs officials prevented a car from crossing into Romania after discovering 3.5kg of hafnium, a metallic element that is used in the nuclear enrichment process and which could potentially be employed in the manufacture of radioactive “dirty bombs”.

According to General Veleri Petrov, the Bulgarian police chief, the hafnium consignment, discovered at the Ruse border crossing point, was destined for a Romanian mafia with Middle Eastern connections. One Bulgarian and three Romanian nationals in the car were arrested.

A Bulgarian police spokes man said the consignment of the rare metal was concealed on the person of the Bulgarian driver of the car.

Mafia retirement benefits often include funeral, little else

NEW YORK -- No pension, no medical benefits, no prescription plan. When you're a mob boss, retirement is more bronze casket than golden parachute.

Since the 1930s ascension of the Mafia, its leaders have departed "The Life" almost exclusively through their deaths. Albert Anastasia, Carmine Galante and "Big Paul" Castellano were brutally (and memorably) assassinated; Vito Genovese, John Gotti and "Fat Tony" Salerno died in prison.

More legal wrangling in 'Mafia Cops' case

The "Mafia Cops" were arraigned yesterday on a new murder indictment, but the federal judge hearing the case again was puzzled by the government's tactics in bringing the latest charges.

Louis Eppolito, 56, and Stephen Caracappa, 63, entered not guilty pleas to the new indictment filed last week. The new charges added an additional murder allegation against Eppolito, as well as others against Caracappa alleging falsification of identification documents.

Both defendants were arrested in March on charges that they worked as moles for the mob and that from 1986 to 1992, they played roles in eight murders, two attempted murders and a murder conspiracy.

In recent months, federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein in Brooklyn has expressed doubts about whether the key racketeering conspiracy charge, which includes the murders, was within the statute of limitations. To address Weinstein's concerns, federal prosecutors retooled their indictment.

Yesterday, Weinstein questioned why prosecutors chose not to bring federal murder-for-hire charges, which he believes could easily get around the potential legal problems with the indictment. He also indicated the case could still have statute of limitations problems.

Hung jury in NY Mafia son trial

John "Junior" Gotti is currently in prison

A judge has declared a mistrial in a racketeering case against the son of an infamous New York Mafia godfather.

Jurors said they could not agree on verdicts against 41-year-old John A "Junior" Gotti, son of the late head of the powerful Gambino crime family.

Gotti, who has stayed in prison since serving out a sentence for extortion, hugged his lawyers after the decision.

The jury did agree on one count - acquitting Gotti of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

US District Judge Shira Scheindlin said she is likely to agree to a request to allow bail for Gotti.

"It's my view that the time has come," Ms Scheindlin said in the courtroom.

Gotti has already served a five-year sentence on other racketeering charges.

The new charges were brought against him last year before he was due to be released.

'Round two'

One of those who testified against Gotti was Curtis Sliwa, a former radio host and founder of the anti-crime citizens group, the Guardian Angels.

Mr Sliwa says that Gotti ordered him to be attacked in retaliation for comments made about his father on the radio programme.

"It's a hung jury, it's a mistrial, it's round two for me, it doesn't mean John 'Junior' Gotti is innocent," Mr Sliwa said.

Prosecutors have said they will seek a retrial.

Almost 500 foreign mafia gangs operate in Spain

MADRID — There are now almost 500 foreign mafia gangs in Spain and last year they made EUR 1.2 billion in profit, a report says.

The Spanish General Police Commission report said the numbers are growing at an alarming rate.

Last year, they made at least EUR 1bn profits, though they were also said to own property worth EUR 1.4bn.

There are now 494 mafia gangs, employing 10,000 people, whereas there were only 486 organisations three years ago.

Bulgarians, Romanians, Poles and the Chinese are the fastest growing gangs.

But though no numbers were given, the report said a sizeable number are also British-born Asian crooks.

They have replaced the

generation of British criminals on the so-called Costa del Crime.

Though drug dealing is their bread and butter, they are also involved in time-share fraud, lottery swindles and stealing high-performance cars to order.

The report said they are prepared to use extreme violence to get their ends or to settle scores with rival gangs.

In 2004, there were nine murders linked to organised crime, though police believe there were many more.

The gangs are also spreading their tentacles across the country, away from southern Spain.

The report lists areas of "high" mafia activity on the Costa del Sol, further north from Almeria right up the coast to Valencia, in Catalonia, in north-east Spain, Madrid and the Basque Country.

NATO must fight Afghan ‘drugs mafia’

BERLIN: NATO must focus on destroying Afghanistan’s ‘drugs mafia’ when the alliance expands its peacekeeping mission across the country next year, British Defence Secretary John Reid said on Wednesday.

“They have to be defeated, they have to be destroyed,” said Reid, whose nation will take the lead role in the NATO force next year as it moves into volatile southern Afghanistan. NATO defence ministers were discussing the expansion of the Afghan mission that will see allied troops, mostly from Europe and Canada, replace some US units who have been fighting the remnants of the Taliban. Reid said on Tuesday that thousands of extra allied troops would be needed as NATO widens the mission. At a news conference on Wednesday he declined to say how many British troops would be deployed when his country takes over from the Americans in southern Helmand province next spring.

NATO’s 11,000-strong force currently operates in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and in the northern and western half of the country. The separate US-led combat mission with about 20,000 troops covers the south and east.

Businessman didn't know partner was mafioso

USTI NAD LABEM (PDM staff with CTK) 19 August - Rene Slepcik, who owned the Rene&Umberto company with Sicilian mafia boss Luigi Putrone in Usti, had allegedly no idea about the Italian's criminal post, the local issue of the daily Deniky Bohemia (DB) reported yesterday.

Czech police recently detained Putrone, 44, who was sentenced to life in prison in Italy, in Usti. He is the head of an Italian mafia clan of took part in a series of murders, allegedly killing nine people himself.

Slepcik knew Putrone under the name Umberto Bonfiglio. He met the Italian in his night club in Dubi, north Bohemia, five years ago.

"I am no goody-goody, but if I had known what he was I would not have established a company with him after all," Slepcik told the paper.

He noted he regarded the Italian as a good man. "He wanted to live here as a normal man," he said, adding that Putrone frequented local pubs and liked to sit in Italian restaurants.

Slepcik said he used to meet his business partner in a fitness centre. "He [Putrone] did not want to go out with me very often, maybe over my name," Slepcik said, hinting at the fact that his family is well-known in Usti.

Mafia associate admits to collecting money in state

NEW HAVEN (AP) - A 73-year-old associate of the Gambino crime family admitted Thursday that he collected debts for Connecticut's top Mob boss, but he took issue with his nickname and asked for more time to spend with his elderly mother.

Nicola Melia, who pleaded guilty to racketeering, was a relatively minor player charged in a sweeping indictment last year that accused 18 reputed Mob members and associates of racketeering, extortion and illegal gambling. But Melia's nicknames gave him more notoriety. Speaking in a hoarse voice and sporting a neat brown suit with matching shoes, Melia said he was simply known as Nick.

Judge Janet Bond Arterton noted that the indictment referred to him as "The Greaseball" and "The Old Man." "That's incorrect," Melia said. "I've never heard that before. I've been arrested before." His attorney, H. James Pickerstein, explained that Melia might be referred to by those names when he is not present.

Melia, a Stamford resident who emigrated from Italy 50 years ago with virtually no formal schooling, admitted he tried to collect a $2,500 loan but said he wound up paying the loan when his friend didn't pay up. Pickerstein said a conversation intercepted by investigators suggested steps would be taken to enforce payment of the loan. "I'm going to do what I gotta do," Melia said, according to his attorney.

16 indicted in Mafia gambling roundup

New Jersey's highest-ranking Genovese crime family member and 15 associates have been accused of racketeering and running a multimillion-dollar sports-gambling, loan-sharking and extortion ring, federal authorities say.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday says crews of Genovese associates ran numbers games and football-ticket gambling operations out of delicatessens, social clubs and bars in Hoboken and Jersey City, netting nearly $3 million for the nation's most powerful crime family.

In addition, federal authorities said the alleged mobsters - many from Bergen and Hudson counties - preyed on Greek restaurateurs and business owners, targeting them for loan-sharking and charging them for protection.

"Today's arrests are another nail in the coffin of organized crime in New Jersey," said Leslie G. Wiser Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark division.

Authorities say Lawrence Dentico - known as "Little Guy" or "Little Larry" - was among a group of crime-family members who formed the Genovese administration after boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante's racketeering conviction in 1997.

Reputed Mafia Figure Dies

Reputed Kansas City mafia figure Charles Moretina has died, 22 years after being convicted in a casino skimming investigation. That conviction marked the beginning of a decline of organized crime's influence in the Kansas City area.

Moretina and 10 other men were indicted in the skimming scheme,
which was the basis of Martin Scorcese's 1995 film "Casino.''

International drug mafia more active on Tajik-Russian thoroughfares

MOSCOW, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Interior Ministry is concerned over the international drug mafia's growing activity on Russia and Tajik thoroughfares, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said Friday.

"Of special concern is the deteriorating criminal situation on transport linking Tajikistan and Russia," Nurgaliyev said at a joint Interior Ministry session.

According to ministry data, in 2004 and the first six months of 2005, more than 100kg of illicit drugs were confiscated in trains, cars and aircraft in Russia. Drug couriers were detained for heroin transportation.

Tajik Interior Minister Khumdin Sharipov said a high yield of raw opium had been gathered in Afghanistan in 2004, which could be "used to produce some 400 metric tons of heroin."

Nurgaliyev said 145,000 people suspected of committing grave crimes and "some 2,000 criminals are being searched for by Tajik law enforcement agencies."

Drug Suspect's Pet Squirrel Attacks Officer

A police officer in Massachusetts was treated at a hospital after a drug suspect's squirrel attacked him during an attempted arrest, according to a Local 6 News report.

Officer Dwayne Flowers said he and his partner were attempting to arrest a woman wanted on drug charges in Leominister, Mass., when her loose pet squirrel attacked.

"The claws are very sharp, I guess he mistook me for a tree," officer Flowers said. "The squirrel was moving at such speed, I didn't see it and neither did my partner standing shoulder-length away from me."Flowers drove to a hospital after the attack while other officers captured Spanky the squirrel and arrested its owner.After the arrest, Flowers' partner laughed at the attack."He had a good chuckle," Flowers said. "I tried raising him on the radio but they couldn't answer their radio call because they were too busy laughing"Flowers injuries from the attack were considered minor.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Mafia don accused of faking his illness

LUCKNOW: Dreaded mafia don and notorious international kidnapper Babloo Srivastava is currently under psychiatric treatment at a hospital here but a police officer says this is only a ruse to ease the rigours of imprisonment.

“Barely a few months ago he had come to attend the wedding of his sister in Lucknow and looked absolutely fit and fine. I wonder if the illness is real or made-up,” said the officer of the special task force that has been keeping a close watch on Srivastava.

According to the records of the King George’s Medical University psychiatry department, Srivastava is suffering from agoraphobia, a condition doctors say is triggered by loneliness.

The police officer refused to buy this.

“We are aware that he has a stream of visitors. He has been caught several times using mobile phones inside the jail. So, where is the question of loneliness?” the officer asked.

According to him, the hospital doctors had either been bribed or intimidated to certify the illness.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Czechs arrest Italian Mafia boss

Luigi Putrone was arrested by Czech police as he ran errands

A fugitive Italian Mafia boss who has been on the run for six years has been arrested in the Czech Republic.

Police in Prague said Luigi Putrone had probably been living in the Czech Republic for several years since going on the run in the late 1990s.

An Italian court has already sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment for murders and Mafia-related crimes.

Mr Putrone, 44, from Agrigento in Sicily, was listed among Italy's top 30 most wanted Mafia bosses.

Italian police had alerted their Czech colleagues that Mr Putrone may be in the country.

Homeland Security arrests almost 600 gang members

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities arrested 582 alleged gang members over a two-week period, officials said Monday, targeting an estimated 80 violent groups they say have spawned street crimes across the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called the gangs "a threat to our homeland security and ... a very urgent law enforcement priority."

Investigators picked up most of the offenders between July 16 and July 28 on immigration violations for being in the United States illegally. Seventy-six face criminal charges, ranging from illegal possession of a firearm to holding fraudulent documents.

Mafia-style tactics surface in court hearing

Two brothers stand accused in the Cape High Court for operating a highly-sophisticated hijacking scheme which fleeced a tobacco company of millions of rands in cigarettes.

And the man who allegedly bought the cigarettes Selwyn and Virgil de Vries are accused of stealing from hijacked British American Tobacco (BAT) Company trucks - allegedly with the help of eight accomplices - also faces a heavy sentence if convicted of being involved in the plot.

The brothers, alleged buyer Achmat Mather and alleged accomplices Julian van Heerden, Vernon Victor, Alex Anna, Gary Williams, Llewellyn Smith, Francis Ngarinoma, Edward Moagi and Darryl Pitt, face 22 charges. They include kidnapping, theft, robbery with aggravated circumstances and attempted murder.

Moscow Court Acquits Russian Mafia Boss Ivankov

Moscow City Court has acquitted Vyacheslav Ivankov, a notorious Russian mafia boss charged with the murder of two Turkish citizens.

On Monday, the court of jury found Ivankov not guilty of the murder. Prosecutors have said they will appeal the verdict in Russia’s Supreme Court. The acting Moscow prosecutor, Vladimir Bakun, said on Tuesday the jurors were biased because seven of them either had previous convictions, or had relatives who were taken to court.

According to the investigators, Ivankov and another notorious criminal known by the nickname of Sliva (Plum) killed the Turkish citizens in a Moscow restaurant in 1992. One of them died at the scene and the other later at a hospital.

In 2000, Moscow prosecutors charged Ivankov with the murders in his absence; he was in the United States at the time. On July 15, 2004, soon after his deportation from the United States, he was charged with the murders again.

Ivankov also known as Yaponchik (Little Japanese) had already become notorious for creating the Solntsevskaya criminal organization in Russia in 1980. In 1982 he was imprisoned on robbery charges. After arriving in the United States he ran the Russian mafia throughout the country and reportedly became the highest-ranking Russian criminal in the United States.

He was arrested in New York in 1995 on charges of organizing a sham marriage and supervising the extortion of several million dollars from an investment firm. The courts indicted him after a two-year investigation and sentenced him to nine years and seven months in prison. He was going to be released early for good behavior, but his sentence was extended after a fight with another inmate thought to be a deliberate provocation.

Ivankov was extradited to Russia on July 11, 2004.

'Mafia cops' are due out of jail

The "Mafia Cops" are going home.

Two ex-NYPD detectives accused of being hitman for the mob could walk out of jail as early as tomorrow after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn decided not to appeal a decision which gave them bail.

Louis Eppolito, 56, and Stephen Caracappa, 63, are scheduled to be in Brooklyn federal court Thursday at noon to have relatives sign various documents securing their bail bonds.

Both men were ordered released from pretrial detention earlier this month by Judge Jack B. Weinstein who set bail for each at $ 5 million. The bail is being secured by property they and relatives are posting.

Federal prosecutors filed a letter with the court late Tuesday saying they wouldn't appeal Weinstein's ruling, said a spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorneys Office.

Calls to mafia don traced to phone of Bollywood heartthrob Khan

MUMBAI (AFP) - Calls to mafia don Abu Salem were traced in 2001 to the home phone of Bollywood heartthrob Salman Khan, the western Indian Maharashtra state government said.

Mob informant says Taccetta innocent of golf-club murder scheme

TOMS RIVER, N.J. - A mobster-turned-informant has filed court papers saying his cousin, a reputed Lucchese crime boss, was not involved in a scheme leading to a notorious 1984 Mafia hit.

A lawyer for Thomas Ricciardi, who is in hiding through the federal Witness Protection Program, filed an affidavit in Superior Court on Thursday claiming Martin Taccetta was not involved in the death of Vincent J. Craparotta, who was beaten to death with a golf club in 1984.

In 1993, Taccetta was acquitted of that murder but convicted of extortion along with Ricciardi. Prosecutors successfully argued the men conspired to kill Craparotta, a Jersey Shore contractor, to intimidate his nephews into sharing proceeds from their gambling business.

US authorities accuse dock workers union of being under mafia's influence

NEW YORK (AFP) - US authorities filed a racketeering lawsuit against a dock workers union accused of being under the influence of the New York mafia.

The Gambino and Genovese mafia clans have controled ports in New York, New Jersey and Miami since the 1950s, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The suit was filed against the International Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO, some top ILA officials, including longtime president John Bowers, and several organized crime members, the department said.

"For decades the waterfront has been the setting for corruption and violence stemming from organized crime's influence over labor unions operating there, including the ILA and its affiliated Locals, as well as port-related businesses," it said in a statement.

"Since the late 1950's, two organized crime families -- the Gambino family and the Genovese family -- have shared control of various ports, with the Gambino family primarily exercising its influence at commercial shipping terminals in Brooklyn and Staten Island, and the Genovese family primarily controlling those in Manhattan, New Jersey and the Port of Miami," it added.

The civil complaint asks that a court-appointed trustee be named to oversee the ILA and its benefits fund. It also wants an order barring union officials and organized crime members from the union, its benefits fund and the waterfront.

Judge orders "Mafia cops" freed on bail, says case is weak

Two former police detectives accused of leading double lives as Mafia hitmen were ordered freed on bail Thursday after a federal judge said the government's case against them was weak.

U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein said the statute of limitations may have run out years ago on nearly all the charges against Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. Both are accused of participating in eight murders on behalf of organized crime in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Federal prosecutors charged the former detectives with engaging in the killings as part of a racketeering conspiracy, which has a five-year statute of limitations. The last killing occurred in 1991.

The judge said the charges seem to me to be relatively stale

Gangs back to prey on motorbike taxi drivers

It's business as usual for gangsters who extort money from motorcycle taxi drivers in several areas in the city.

After a short break at the beginning of the high-profile war against mafia, the gangsters have returned _ this time with new tactics.

Instead of demanding protection money from drivers, they are taking advantage of the motorcycle taxi registration process, which allows taxi drivers to wear an orange vest with the district name and a registration number.

The gangsters apply for the registration and illegally rent the vests to drivers who are charged between 2,000-20,000 baht as an upfront payment and 300-1,500 baht a month. Many vests with the same number are not unusual.

Unloading Business At Fulton Fish Market May Draw Mafia's Attention

A former Giuliani official reportedly says a city plan to open up bidding on unloading licenses at the new Fulton Fish Market could be a boon for the mafia.

According to a report in Monday’s edition of the New York Post, the city is allowing operators of the market to bid on licenses to unload fish for the first time since 1995. That move is drawing criticism from former Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington, who was in charge of the market's cleanup under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Washington tells the paper he disagrees with taking open bids. He says most of the mafia's control of the market was conducted in the unloading process.

A single Long Island company has been in charge of unloading fish for the past 10 years. However, the Post says officials who back the new policy insist all potential bidders have been checked out, and that the mafia will not return to prominence.

The Fulton Fish Market moves from Lower Manhattan to Hunts Point in the Bronx later this month.

Mafia 'godmother' turns collaborator to give her children a future

Giuseppina Vitale was a hard woman of the Mafia, one of the new breed of "bosses in skirts" to which the Sicilian mob has grudgingly grown accustomed.

So many bosses are in jail that often the only person available to keep the funds flowing and the mobsters in line is little sister.

Giusy (pronounced "Juicy") Vitale played her part with conviction. The Mafia was her family's life. Her brothers, Leonardo and Vito, were rising stars of the Palermo underworld, spoken of in hushed tones as the likely heirs to capo di capi Bernardo "The Tractor" Provenzano, who has been on the run for more than 40 years.

But Vitale, 33, is now a collaborator with justice and has been telling a Rome court what it is like to grow up in such a family.

Elderly Drug Dealer Pleads for Leniency

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - An elderly used car salesman accused of being a member of the Gambino crime family was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison for selling cocaine to a police informant.Victor Riccitelli, 71, was convicted of the drug charges in March. He pleaded with a federal judge not to throw him in prison for the rest of his life, saying he has "only got a few more years left."

"Godfather" script fetches 313,000 dollars at Brando auction

NEW YORK (AFP) - A script of "The Godfather" annotated by Marlon Brando sold for more than 310,000 dollars at an auction of the late screen legend's personal effects at Christie's in New York.The script of the 1972 classic, which won Brando a second best actor Oscar for his portrayal of mafia kingpin Don Corleone, was the highlight of the sale, and attracted heavy bidding from the outset.

Mafia-style crime plagues Colombia's war refugees

BARRANQUILLA, Colombia (Reuters) - Hundreds of Colombians arrive every week in cities along the Caribbean coast like Barranquilla, pushed north by this country's cocaine-fueled guerrilla war.Left vulnerable by a government too weak to protect them, displaced families are greeted by poverty and growing exploitation that the United Nations says is compounding the world's worst ongoing humanitarian crisis outside Africa.

Illegal paramilitary militias, formed in the 1980s by landowners trying to protect their property from Marxist rebels, have discovered how easy it is to earn 20 percent on one-month loans to the growing number of displaced people desperate to get back on their feet.

"It's expensive, but what else can I do," a 39-year-old women living in Soledad, a dusty Barranquilla suburb, told Reuters, asking not to be named.

Credit card fraud hits small online merchants hard

Online merchants, especially small ones, are getting stung by the burgeoning black market for stolen credit cards.

And a rash of recent security breaches at Visa USA, MasterCard International, American Express and others this year could worsen the problem, says trade association National Retail Federation. Merchants routinely are stuck with exorbitant bank charges when items are purchased fraudulently.

49 dead from lethal black-market alcohol

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A black-market alcoholic brew laced with poisonous methanol has caused the deaths of 49 people in Kenya, medical workers said yesterday, while police searched for a woman suspected of distributing the drink to local bars.

Tech cos to fight piracy, black market in Brazil

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Seven of the world's major electronics and computer goods companies including Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) and Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news) joined forces on Tuesday to fight Brazil's vast black market and piracy, which they say cost the country more than $40 billion a year in lost taxes.

File-Share Services Can Be Held Liable For Illegal Copying

In the biggest legal fight between Hollywood and the tech industry in 21 years, the entertainment moguls have delivered a knockdown punch to the nerds.

A unanimous Supreme Court decision Monday opened the way for music and movie companies to sue providers of peer-to-peer file-sharing software, which is used to download music and movies onto computers.

DRUG BUST TRAPS BIG DEALERS

DRUGS squad chiefs have dealt a stark warning to Perth’s big-time pushers: “You’re not the untouchables”.

The message comes days after Tayside Police Chief Constable John Vine praised the efforts of his force in his annual report after a year-long operation secured convictions of 13 individuals in Scotland – totalling 37 years of jail time – and smashed a major racket in the process.

The Big County crackdown on drug dealers was the main focus of Operation Flogger.

Home explosion leads to charges

Police in southeastern New Brunswick have arrested a man in connection with an explosion in a home they believe was being used to produce illegal drugs. Denis Richard has been charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, production of marijuana and obstruction of justice. His home in Saint-Gabriel-de-Kent blew up in May. No one was there at the time. When they combed through the ashes of the building, police say they found what appeared to be the remnants of a drug lab. Richard will appear in court on July 5 to answer to the charges.

Six arrested in drug bust

LEMON SPRINGS - Six men were arrested and $28,000 in illegal drugs were seized in a raid by the Sanford-Lee County Drug Unit Thursday in Lemon Springs.

After law enforcement agents searched a home at 240 Stanley Road, they seized six pounds of marijuana and 0.3 grams of cocaine and arrested James Roderick Baldwin, 25, of 1219 Neville Road, Chapel Hill; Eric Ricardo Miranda, 24, of 619 York Street, Sanford; Andre Fabian Moore, 24, of 937 N. Ashe Street, Southern Pines; Derick Stephen Tyson, 27, of 427 Rosser Road, Bear Creek, and Micquis Anton Levar Lett, 24, and Sedric Lynn Womack, both of 240 Stanley Road, Lemon Springs.

Cops seize over $614,000 of illegal drugs

Lucknow Sentinel — Over $614,657 worth of illegal drugs destined for Bruce, Grey, Huron and Perth Counties were seized, thanks to area police officers from surrounding counties.
Last Thursday, about 76 police officers of the Drug Enforcement Section of the Ontario Provincial Police, as well as South Bruce OPP, Bruce Peninsula OPP, Grey County OPP, Huron OPP and Perth County OPP have seized over $614,657 worth of illegal drugs.

Credit card breach: Tracing who dunnit

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – News that hackers broke into the database of payment processor CardSystems, which contained information on over 40 million credit card accounts, raises the obvious question: Who did it?

The FBI is investigating and doesn't discuss cases that are pending. But if recent history is any guide, there's a fair chance the hackers may not be caught, or not anytime soon.

Not that there haven't been notable successes for law enforcement.

Since last October, for example, 28 members of Shadowcrew have been indicted. Shadowcrew operated one of the largest illegal online sites that facilitated malicious hacking and identity theft by selling such key identifiers as Social Security and debit card numbers.

3 S.F. pot clubs raided in probe of organized crime

Federal authorities raided three San Francisco medical marijuana dispensaries Wednesday, and investigators arrested at least 13 people as part of an alleged organized crime operation using the clubs as a front to launder money.

Cybercriminals get a 10-year jail sentence

LONDON -- Two men have been sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison for their roles in a wide range of online fraud activities, U.K. authorities said this week.

Douglas Harvard, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) in Leeds earlier this month during an investigation into a conspiracy by Eastern European crime syndicates.

Upon his arrest, police found documents, correspondence, and equipment for creating false identities, as well as evidence that he was being assisted by a second man, British citizen Lee Elwood. Elwood, who is 25 and based in Glasgow, was arrested a few days later and charged with conspiracy to defraud after police found a large quantity of forged bank documents, credit card holograms, computers, and other equipment, according to the NHTCU.

Russia, Belarus to create criminal group database

MINSK, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Belarus are intending to create a single database on organized crime, a source in the Interior Ministry of Belarus said.

According to the source, this issue is being discussed at a joint session of the heads of criminal police from both countries in Gomel, Belarus. "The single database will include data on criminal organizations, their leaders and members with inter-regional contacts," the source said.

$2 MIL BAILOUT FOR MAFIA'S 'DELIVERY' MAN

The Bronx lawyer accused of passing coded messages between jailed Bonanno godfather Joseph Massino and the acting boss was granted bail yesterday — at a very steep price.

Tommy Lee will have to fork over $2 million to be released from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He will then be placed under house arrest and will have to wear an ankle bracelet.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis said his decision to set Lee free was an "extremely close call."

His lawyer, Steven Cohen, said Lee is "holding up fine," and expects his client to be home later this week.

US director Brian De Palma to make 'Untouchables' sequel

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Acclaimed US film director Brian De Palma has signed on to make a prequel to his blockbuster 1987 mafia-battling film "The Untouchables," the industry press said.

Mafia car bomb murder suspect dies

MAJOR Melbourne mafia figure and car bomb murder suspect Domenico Italiano has died, only hours after being freed from jail.

Homicide squad detectives believe Italiano, who died on Saturday, was probably involved in the 1998 killing of mechanic John Furlan.

Sources said that Furlan, 48, may have had inside knowledge that Italiano rigged a children's charity raffle.

Furlan died when his Subaru Liberty exploded in a fireball near his Coburg home as he was driving to work.

Afghans burn '60 tons of drugs'

Burning drug piles

The Afghan authorities say they have burned more than 60 tons of illegal drugs in a demonstration of their efforts to curb drugs trafficking.

Piles of drugs were set alight at eight locations around the country, the biggest being on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.

Afghanistan produced 90% of the world's opium in 2004.

In a similar operation in Pakistan, officials say around 26 tons of narcotics were burned in Karachi.

Gang 'planned' to smuggle drugs inside pianos

A DRUGS gang plotted to smuggle millions of pounds worth of cocaine into the UK inside hollowed-out pianos, the Old Bailey heard.

The gang including Gary Vian, 44, from Crest Road, South Croydon, had the instruments made with secret compartments where they could stuff huge quantities of drugs, it is claimed.

Four of the dealers were caught driving a van full of cannabis resin hidden in custom-built bookcases and a chair in the shape of a Harley-Davidson motorbike.

Mukul Chawla, prosecuting, said the accused were major drug dealers.

He said: "Their trade is measured in possibly even millions of pounds."

Eight held in drugs raids

EIGHT people were arrested in drugs raids in Huddersfield.

Police said they had seized "substantial amounts" of what is believed to be heroin and crack cocaine in addition to £3,000 in cash.

The raids were mounted in the Dalton and Kirkheaton areas yesterday.

Seven men and one woman, all local and in their early 20s, were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

They were detained for questioning.

Tech CB Faces Judge Over Drugs

A football player for Georgia Tech was slated to appear in a courtroom in California to face charges of charges regarding drug possession.

Police arrested 22-year-old cornerback Reuben Houston last Tuesday in connection with a marijuana distribution operation based in California. According to a criminal complaint filed in Fresno, Calif., Houston conspired to possess and distribute about 100 pounds of marijuana, which has a street value of about $60,000.

Drugs raid charges

THREE people have been charged after class A drugs were seized in Huddersfield.

Drugs, alleged to be worth about £20,000, along with about £8,000 cash were seized by Kirklees District Drugs Team in raids at homes in Dalton and Kirkheaton last Friday.

Three people - two men aged 22 and a 19-year-old woman - were all charged with drugs trafficking and were due to appear before Huddersfield magistrates today.

Illegal drugs in RP is a P300B industry

Anselmo Avenido, Jr., Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) director general, yesterday said that the Philippine Illegal drugs is a P300 billion industry, with a good portion shipped to nearby countries in East and Southeast Asia.

Drugs syndicates operating in the country are composed of about 130 local drug groups and five international syndicates, according to Avenido.

Syndicates operating in the Philippines have a mix of nationals from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and others. "In almost all shabu laboratories, we see the participation of foreigners," said Avenido.

"The reason is because there’s no adequate technology transfer here. The chemists that have the expertise in making the shabu are foreigners," Avenido added.