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.