Ranjeet Rana - 'Cheetah'

Punjab police said Ranjeet Rana, 'Cheetah', who was wanted in the 532-kg heroin haul from Attari on the Indo-Pakistan border in June last year, has been arrested. Rana, the kingpin of the racket, and his brother Gagandeep were arrested from their hideout at Begu village in Sirsa. Rana had links with the Hizbul Mujahideen and was involved in terror funding. He is considered one of the top traffickers in India.

Ranjeet smuggled heroin and other drugs from Pakistan. He camouflaged rock salt consignments.

360 kg of cocaine seized in Sofia, Bulgaria

Some cocaine was of high purity over 75%, with the rest cut to 65-70%.

Bulgarian police have seized more than 360kg of cocaine in the capital. The cocaine haul was made in the apartment of 33-year old Nikolay Petrov, after police had found 40kg during a routine traffic stop.

Cops say the haul is worth $50m with most of the drugs meant for shipment to western Euurope. Bulgaria lies on a drug route from the Middle East to Western Europe, and Bulgarians have long been active in the cocaine trade. Bulgarian drug lord Evelin Banev 'Brendo', was sentenced to 20 years in 2012.

Tow truck industry nailed in GTA, again

York cops have arrested 20 and brought hundreds of charges, including murder, in the often violent turf war between tow-truck criminals. Dubbed 'Project Platinum,' cops say towing companies colluded with repair shops, physiotherapy clinics and car rental companies to grossly inflate bills, with each group taking a slice.

Cops say some were involved in staged collisions to rip off insurance companies.

Project Platinum began in February and has resulted in the seizure of $1.5m in cash, fentanyl, and cocaine. Cops confiscated 40 firearms, including handguns, rifles, and a machine gun. 11 tow trucks were also seized. The operation produced two first-degree murder charges in the death of tow truck driver Soheil Rafipour in 2018.

Alexander Vinogradsky, 35, ran Paramount Towing and one of the cartels, along with Omer Zahawi, 36, and Filippo Genova, 22. They face a mountain of charges. The raid comes nearly a year after another major police operation targeting the tow truck industry, Project Kraken. More than 70 – including seven drivers were nailed in that operation.

See ----->Toronto east end vehicle fires tied to tow truck turf war?

Cocaine bust in Hong Kong - aircraft engine

Hong Kong customs agents discovered 217 kg of cocaine stashed inside an aircraft engine shipped from Ecuador. The engine arrived in March in a shipping container. Customs officers were suspicious as jet engines are rarely shipped from South America, and the receiver didn't collect the presumed expensive cargo.

An X-ray revealed the stash and the engine was disassembled.

After inspection it was found the engine was old, not airworthy, and not serviceable. It was rusty, but the outer shell of the combustion chamber had been spray painted to make it look new. This is the largest seaborne cocaine trafficking bust in Hong Kong since 2012 and is among the largest cocaine seizures so far this year from a shipping container.

Hells Angels boss Lancia tastes freedom

Joseph Lancia, 29, president of the Hells Angels of Rhode Island was released from prison May 13 after serving 75 days as a bail violator. He was arrested Feb 29 after a cop witnessed him sucker punch a bouncer in the Cadillac Lounge strip club parking lot. Lancia was charged with two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and simple assault, adding to his long rap sheet. The victim did not want to file a complaint, but since there was a cop eye witness Lancia was screwed.

Lancia claims he is being framed.

Lancia was out on $100k surety bail following firearms charges. He allegedly fired a gun at a truck driven by former prospect Richard Starnino. Starnino was passing by the HA Providence headquarters on Messer Street in July. Also charged in the strip club dust up is full patch Nicholas Lourenco, 29. He was sunk by surveillance video.

See ----->HA Joseph Lancia can't 'keep the peace'

Canadian Meth smugglers foiled by Oz border agents

Traffickers tried to smuggle 2kg of meth in boxes of face masks, medicine and hand sanitizer. Border agents found a false bottom which held a vacuum packed consignment.

The seizure came weeks after more than $80m worth of liquid meth was seized in a shipment of water bottles. Australia continues to be an irresistible magnet for traffickers.

Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa - 'Chino Antrax' whacked - Update

Chino Antrax's charges carried a potential life sentence, but he received seven years, including time served. "Chino Antrax is one of the highest-ranking Sinaloa Cartel kingpins ever prosecuted in the United States," said a US prosecutor at the time. There have been no reports of retaliatory violence. This makes it likely that his killing was ordered by one of two parties: cartel leader Ismael Zambada García, 'El Mayo,' or the sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, 'Los Chapitos.' Zambada and Los Chapitos have oscillated between infighting and power-sharing.

In the execution of Chino Antrax it is thought El Mayo had him killed for his cooperation, with Los Chapitos not interfering.

Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa disappeared last week after serving six years for importing cocaine and marijuana into the US from Mexico. The high profile Mexican drug trafficker and assassin left the US after being released on parole following a prison stint in March. His body was discovered in a BMW, wrapped in a blanket with duct tape in Sinaloa. His sister and her husband were also found dead inside the vehicle on a dirt road near the town of Ayuné.

Chino Antrax was considered El Chapo's Sinaloa drug cartel's most lethal enforcer.

Chino Anthrax was arrested in the Netherlands at the Amsterdam-Schiphol airport on a flight from Mexico. He was sunk by his posts on Instagram, which allowed DEA agents to coordinate with their peers in Europe and wait for him upon arrival in the Netherlands. Chino Antrax was imprisoned for 87 months in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Gang leader Gregory Woolley denied parole

Gregory Picasso Woolley, 48, was denied parole recently as he serves a three-year prison term for drug trafficking, conspiracy to traffic in drugs and gangsterism. Woolley is described as a key link between the Hells Angels, Mafia and street gangs in Montreal. In 2005 he was serving a sentence at a penitentiary in Ste-Anne-des Plaines where he forged a relationship with mob boss Vito Rizzuto. Woolley helped the Rizzuto organization survive challenges it faced by forging an alliance with the Hells Angels.

Woolley's overall sentence was 96 months.

A secretly recorded conversation between Woolley, Rizzuto’s son Leonardo and Stefano Sollecito, in August 2015 revealed that the two Montreal Mafia leaders considered Woolley to be equal. The board ordered that Woolley be required to reside at a halfway house for the last year of his sentence. He will automatically qualify for statutory release near the end of this year when he reaches the two-third mark of his sentence.

Crowbar sinks gang - 'Operation Stanley'

York cops have charged 17 after dismantling a drug trafficking ring that was discovered after a home invasion. On October 17, 2019 four armed men forced their way into the home around 2:30 a.m. Surveillance video shows the suspects assaulting the residents.

A unique crowbar seen in the surveillance video was identified as only sold at a local store. They were able to identify who made the purchase. Cops executed a series of raids which yielded 15 firearms along with cocaine and fentanyl.

Outfit enforcer cries Covid-19 to secure release

Outfit enforcer Mario Rainone has spent nearly half his life behind bars for a wide range of offenses, from extorting deadbeat borrowers to throwing a grenade onto the roof of a theater in a ploy to take over the business. Now Rainone says he is the one who is living in fear: COVID-19. A previous judge had labeled Rainone an “urban terrorist” who had no respect for the law. “If you give him the opportunity, he will go out and commit crime. He will hurt people. He will take their property.” Rainone’s mob history dates to the 1980s, when he was an associate of mob bosses Lenny Patrick and Gus Alex.

Nashville 'Cocaine Felon' back behind bars

Darryl Alderson

Convicted felon Darryl Alderson was previously charged with throwing a half-pound brick of cocaine from his car. He was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison but paroled in 2015. He is back behind bars after a search warrant yielded 3.5 pounds of cocaine in his apartment. A window tint violation led to a search of Alderson's 2017 Porsche in which cops found 12 grams of cocaine and a .40 caliber semi-auto pistol. Cops also found $55k in cash, cutting agents, pills, and a drug press. The 29-year-old is now behind bars without bond.

Toronto Mafia boss Jimmy DeMaria out and about

Vincenzo "Jimmy" DeMaria has won his freedom but with conditions. Among them he is banned from communicating with two brothers: Angelo Figliomeni and Cosimo Figliomeni. Authorities in Italy deem them all Mafia fugitives. Angelo Figliomeni was arrested last year in Project Sindacato, a large anti-Mafia probe. Two men from Italy who are his cousins are also verbotten: Vincenzo Muià and Giuseppe Gregaraci. The two visited Canada last year to discuss mob business and met with several men who then visited DeMaria while he was in prison.

Angelo Figliomeni

Vincenzo Muià

DeMaria was arrested before he took a step out of prison. After winning parole due to Covid-19 and before he could leave Collins Bay prison, he was re-arrested by CBSA officers. They intend to deport him back to Italy, which he left as a child. With money no object, DeMaria has waged a 35-year war of fighting authorities in courts and tribunals, often winning. DeMaria is now in a 14-day quarantine, as is the pandemic protocol for prisoner transfers.

“You remain a high interest to policing authorities,” the parole board stated with no small measure of accuracy.

When one speaks of the ’Ndrangheta in Canada, DeMaria's name invariably appears.
See ----->Toronto Mafia boss wins new parole hearing in latest appeal
See ----->Dirty money leads police to Toronto Mafia clan - Project Sindacato

Cop arrested in California drug bust

Corporal Will Williams, 53, with the Redding Police Department has been charged after a raid landed 138 pounds of pot, 30 grams of cocaine, $59,000 and 2 firearms. Williams has been employed by the department since November 2002. Williams, Heather Michelle Legault, 40, and Michael Bradley Gray, 39, were arrested and booked into the Shasta County Jail.