Mexican cartel drug ring busted in Austin, 18 arrested

Authorities arrested 18 people at the J and J Auto Service shop in North Austin. J and J was the distribution center where drugs were unloaded before being sold on the streets in Austin or shipped to other parts of the country like Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi.

Police seized a total of 148 pounds of crystal meth, 56 gallons of liquid meth, 62 pounds of cocaine, 13 pounds of heroin and $400k in cash. 56 gallons of meth suspended in liquid comes out to 400 plus pounds of meth.

Former NYPD cop pulls 14 years as gangster’s enforcer

When Redinel Dervishaj, a violent Albanian gangster, was running protection rackets in Queens, he had a secret weapon in his arsenal: a New York City police officer who worked as his enforcer. Besnik Llakatura, 38, was sentenced to 14 years and 3 months in prison. “The defendant’s crimes — committed by a man entrusted with a badge, a gun and a solemn duty to protect and serve the community — are nothing short of shocking,” prosecutors wrote. Last March, Dervishaj was sentenced to 57 years in prison. A few months later, another member of his crew, Denis Nikolla, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Even after Llakatura was arrested, he continued to pursue his victims. Llakatura sent members of his family to find the owner of a restaurant in an attempt to retaliate against him for cooperating with the government.

10 arrested in take-down of Lucchese crime family

Ten people connected to the Luccese crime family are accused of running a lucrative loan-sharking and gambling operation. The long-term investigation, dubbed "Operation The Vig Is Up," into the crime family's activities is the largest such operation ever investigated by the state attorney general.

Loan-sharking victims were required to make weekly, high interest “vig” payments, either by directly paying individual defendants or by dropping off cash payments at two New Rochelle businesses. Investigators utilized wiretaps, covert surveillance cameras, a car bug, undercover police officers and hidden cameras.

Lucchese crime family boss Matthew Madonna (left) and his second-in-command Steven Crea Sr.

Joseph 'Yellow Kid' Weil

Joseph "Yellow Kid" Weil (July 1, 1875 – February 26, 1976) was one of the best known American con men of his era. During the course of his career, Weil is reputed to have stolen more than $8 million. "Each of my victims had larceny in his heart" Weil said. Some of Weil's successful cons include swindling the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini out of two million dollars, staging fake prize fights, selling "talking" dogs, and selling oil-rich land that he did not own. Weil spent a total of just six years in jail, most of it at Leavenworth Prison.

He passed himself off as a stockbroker, banker, physician, mining engineer, chemist, geologist, and land developer and originated or perfected numerous cons, including a phony bookie operation. Weil had many aliases and wore various disguises. A popular rumor claims that in 1889 Weil managed to sell a chicken to a wealthy prospector passing through Illinois for the price of a golden nugget. It is from this that the term 'Chicken Nugget' stems.

He claimed that he only cheated the dishonest rich. "Sure, I'm a con man, the best," he said. "But I've always taken from those who can afford the education." Weil lived in a Chicago nursing home his last years. A reporter attended his 99th birthday party. When the party was over, and he thought no one was watching, the Kid swiped the extra candles. Weil died in 1976 at the age of 100.

Helicopter Drug Smuggler Colin Hugh Martin pleads guilty

Canadian Colin Hugh Martin, who ran a high volume helicopter-based drug-smuggling ring for years pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge after losing his extradition fight to the U.S. He faces five to 40 years in prison, though the U.S. Attorney’s Office said it would recommend no more than 10 years when he is sentenced in June.

$1,750,000 luxury home of Colin Hugh Martin.

The 46-year-old admitted he headed a drug ring that flew marijuana and MDMA, or ecstasy, south into Washington state and exchanged it for cocaine, which was then flown north into Canada. Authorities seized more than 220 pounds (100 kg) of cocaine and nearly 600 pounds (270 kg) of marijuana. Then-U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan conceded it was a fraction of the amount smuggled by the group. Martin was indicted in 2009 in Seattle along with five others. One of the pilots, Sam Lindsay Brown, hanged himself in a Spokane jail after being captured during a helicopter drug drop in February 2009. Two weeks later, Kelowna resident Jeremy Snow was also caught flying drugs into Idaho from B.C. After serving a 46-month sentence, he returned to B.C. where he and his girlfriend were shot to death in February 2013.

They were found dead in West Kelowna after her Cadillac Escalade crashed outside the luxury condo complex where she lived. Police said the two were already dead when the black SUV hit a lamp standard that night. No arrests have been made in their murders.

Tiffany June Goruk

Jefferson Chávez Toro, - 'Cachi' Busted

Jefferson Chávez Toro, alias 'Cachi' was one of the most wanted men in Colombia. He was also a former rebel with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – FARC) Police arrested Cachi on March 13 in the city of Pereira. He is thought to be the second-in-command of Los de Guacho, a group of criminalized former FARC members that operates in Nariño department and is named after its leader Walter Arizala, alias “Guacho.” It's claimed that Guacho’s group is 300-strong, and is “at the service of the Sinaloa Cartel.”

Press releases state that Cachi was the group’s finance chief and was in charge of drug trafficking and social control, and was just as important to the organization as Guacho himself. Cachi ran the production and sale of cocaine in Colombia’s cocaine capital, Tumaco, and all along the remote Ecuadoran border, where he had his own laboratories. From there, the drugs were sent to Central America and the US. Cachi’s turf is Colombia’s densest coca production hub, with access to two key departure points: the Pacific Ocean and Ecuador.

Semion Mogilevich - Boss of Bosses

Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich is a Ukrainian-born, Russian organized crime boss, believed to be the "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world. Mogilevich is believed to direct a vast criminal empire and is described by the FBI as "the most dangerous mobster in the world." He has been accused by the FBI of "weapons trafficking, contract murders, extortion, drug trafficking, and prostitution on an international scale". He is most closely associated with the Solntsevskaya Bratva crime group.

Alexander Litvinenko, shortly before his assassination, claimed that Mogilevich had a "good relationship" with Vladimir Putin since the 1990s.

In 1997 and 1998, Canadian journalists exposed the presence of Mogilevich and others associated with the Russian Mafia behind YBM Magnex International Inc., a public company trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On May 13, 1998, the FBI and police raided YBM's headquarters. Shares in YBM, which had been valued at $1 billion on the TSX, became worthless overnight. In 1999 officials from YBM Magnex admitted in a U.S. court that the company was created for the sole purpose of committing securities fraud. Until 1998, Mogilevich participated in a US$10 billion money laundering scheme through the Bank of New York. Mogilevich was also suspected of participation in large-scale tax fraud, where untaxed heating oil was sold as highly taxed car fuel. The scam resulted in massive tax losses for various countries in central Europe

In spite of the various warrants issued against him, he still lives freely in Moscow, according to the FBI. Mogilevich and his top associates stopped travelling to the west in the late 1990s. A number of Mogilevich associates have dealt directly with Donald Trump and his organization. See ---> IRNET

Zimbabwe's $ 15b Diamond Scam

A member of parliament in Zimbabwe says he wants parliament to summon former president Robert Mugabe to explain where $15 billion worth of diamond revenue went during his rule. Two years ago Mugabe said the state had earned less than $2 billion from its diamonds - but an estimated $15 billion worth had been mined. The former president's wife Grace was at one time rumored to be linked to one of the main diamond firms.

93 year old Mugabe was persuaded to step down after the military put him under house arrest in November 2017.

Mugabe and his wife Grace are entitled to more than 25 personal staff‚ a furnished office‚ two properties‚ a fleet of cars for employees‚ private international travel and an entertainment allowance. Grace Mugabe will be looked after when Mugabe dies and be entitled to stay in an official residence. Given the nickname “Gucci Grace” by Zimbabweans for her many extravagant shopping trips, she has been a polarizing figure in a country besieged with poverty.

Corruption in Zimbabwe has become endemic. Mugabe and his politburo made huge personal benefits by assigning lucrative concessions in the Marange diamond fields to Chinese firms and the Zimbabwean military.

The Zimbabwean military, which oversees the Marange fields, has been accused of systematic human rights abuses and smuggling of diamonds to neighbouring Mozambique.

The Carnegie Library book heist

How does one steal more than 300 rare books and documents from a room under constant surveillance? Probably slowly, over a long period of time – like other infamous book heists. Carnegie Library officials say detectives have suspects in the theft of 314 rare books, maps, and folios. The items were taken from a restricted area of the main library in Oakland. The person previously responsible for the collection is no longer employed. One of the missing books is a 1687 first edition of Isaac Newton's "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica". A copy sold for $3.7 million in 2016.

The Oliver Room in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is home to books, atlases and other items so rare and valuable that it’s off limits to the public. Only scholars and researchers can visit, by appointment. Their every move is watched continuously. That didn't stop the 314 books and items from the room vanishing. While the library did not provide the exact value of the items, rare book dealers say the missing items were “easily worth” more than $5 million. The Oliver Room has been closed since April 2017.

George C. Parker - the Brooklyn Bridge

George C. Parker (March 16, 1860– 1936) was an American con man best known for his successful attempts to "sell" the Brooklyn Bridge. He made his living conducting illegal sales of property he did not own, often New York's public landmarks. The Brooklyn Bridge was the subject of several of his transactions. Police removed several of his victims from the bridge as they tried to erect toll booths. Parker was convicted of fraud three times.

After one arrest, around 1908, he escaped the courthouse by calmly walking out after donning a sheriff's hat and coat. After his third conviction on December 17, 1928, he was sentenced to a mandatory life term at Sing Sing Prison. He spent the last eight years of his life incarcerated there.