York cops nail 39 in Project Crystal

York cops seized more than $7m of drugs and charged more than three dozen people following a five-month investigation in Newmarket. 39 are charged with 156 criminal offences in Project Crystal. Cops seized 11 kg of meth, 2 kg of fentanyl (including raw fentanyl), 6 kg of cocaine, 900 grams of MDMA (ecstasy), 100 kg of pot, and a gun.

Antonio Tejón - cocaine kingpin sprung

The boss is a member of a well-known family from the Spanish city Castellar de la Frontera, which uses a fish company in Algeciras as a front.

A court in Spain’s Andalucia released Antonio Tejón, the leader of the Castanas criminal group on bail for €400k. He spent nearly three years in jail. The mega-case against Tejon and his henchmen is ongoing at the Algeciras courts in the province of Cadiz. Two huge rooms at the Algeciras courts are for the biggest trial in Spanish history. The Guardia Civil believes Tejon has assets of €30m. Cops have amassed information about the drug smuggling the Castanas carried out for years. Prosecutors want to sentence 56 defendants to over 700 years and fine them more than €5m. They want to cage Tejon for 12 years. He continued to lead the gang from prison via one of his associates. The seizure by European cops returned €223m worth of cocaine. 13 were arrested and 8 locations were searched in Cádiz and Malaga in June which led to the seizure of 6.5 tonnes of cocaine, luxury watches and €1.5m in cash.

Tejón's network was organized on two levels; a top tier which was made up of 45 people and a second level, made up of another hundred individuals, who were mainly in charge of surveillance work and moving product. The Los Castañas network had its own jetties, fleet of boats, drones to monitor the trips and security forces, as well as tractors and trucks. Tejón ran his operation from jail. Tejón returned to court just four months after being acquitted in another case, in which he was tried, along with his brother 'Isco' and fourteen others, for two shipments intercepted in 2016 in La Línea de la Concepción.

See ----->Cadiz - Spain’s ‘narco town’
See ----->Corrupt dockers arrested at Spanish port of Algeciras

Bahman Djebelibak fingered for fentanyl precursors

Djebelibak, aka Bobby Shah, is said to be a major player in Chinese fentanyl syndicate networks. valerianlabs.com

Bahman Djebelibak, known as Bobby Shah, is among 28 individuals and companies sanctioned by the U.S. The U.S. Treasury says Djebelibak, through his Valerian Labs Inc. and Valerian Labs Distribution Corp., was a major customer of Jinhu Minsheng Pharmaceutical Machinery. Jinhu Minsheng sells pill-press machines with “pharmaceutical imprints on ecommerce platforms and has provided pill dies for counterfeit oxycodone M30 tablets.” His companies are based at 1971 Broadway Street in Port Coquitlam. Here.

“Valerian Labs Inc. has received shipments of methylamine hydrochloride, which is a precursor chemical used to produce methamphetamine and MDMA. Valerian Labs Distribution Corp. has tried to procure 2,000 litres of chloroform, 800 litres of dichloromethane and 200 kilograms of iodine, substances used in the production of fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.” He is accountable for “the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.” Djebelibak and his deceased wife, Ramina Shah, were caught up in 2018 cop raids of Valerian Labs and the couple’s mansion, which led to a failed B.C. civil forfeiture action after cops violated their rights.

At the couple’s $2.9m mansion in Maple Ridge, cops seized a Land Rover, a Porsche and a 2006 Pontiac G6. A hidden compartment in the car contained two kilograms of fentanyl, a one kilo brick of cocaine, and cutting agents. In January 2022, realtor Ramina Shah was stabbed to death in a parkade in Coquitlam. Djeblibak has been implicated in money laundering and fraud dating to the early 2000s. The couple claimed they earned just $20k per year.

Griselda Blanco

Colombian cocaine boss Griselda Blanco was a force. The mother of four rose to the top levels of cocaine trafficking, murdered all three of her husbands, killed hundreds of others and amassed staggering wealth. Netflix has a six-episode drama series, starring Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara as the Queenpin. Griselda Blanco earned a reported $1.5 billion at her peak. Her foot soldiers murdered rivals at will. Her killers rode up to targets on motorbikes, shot them, then rode off. It’s a technique now used all over the world. In 1985 she was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. She was ultimately released in 2004. Blanco was deported to Colombia, where, in 2012, at age 69, she was shot twice in the head. The killers? Two men on a motorcycle.

Griselda Blanco went from a slum in Medellin, Colombia, to ruling a $2b cocaine empire. She grabbed power by being more ruthless than other drug lords in the 1970s. She kept order with a gold-plated submachine gun studded with emeralds, while netting $80m a month. At one point, it is said she and kingpin Pablo Escobar were ordering constant hits on each other. She is linked to over 200 murders, including the fathers of her sons. Michael Corleone Blanco 42, was a major figure himself in his mother's empire after she was given 25 years in the US for trafficking. He is said to no longer be in the cocaine business. His brothers Osvaldo, Dixon and Uber were all murdered.

Jennifer Lopez was slated to portray Griselda Blanco in a movie about Griselda's brutal reign. Griselda's son, Michael Corleone Blanco said J-Lo was 'disrespectful' for not consulting him. The project was cancelled.

Ahmed El Kady nailed for 433 kg of cocaine bound for Canada

Feds seized 433 kg of cocaine after tracking Canadian Ahmed El Kady, 37. He was driving a commercial truck from Detroit to Buffalo after entering the country from Ontario. El Kady was tracked by cops as he traveled into Ohio and back into Michigan before ending up at a truck stop in Cheektowaga.

El Kady is from Hamilton with ties to Nova Scotia's drug trade. Canadian cops seized 4 kg of cocaine, $170k in cash, an estimated $120k in silver bars, multiple electronic devices, and six vehicles. El Kady remains caged in the US.

Mongrel Mob boss Daniel Eliu whacked - update II

The NZ Court of Appeal issued a judgment allowing Thomas Tahitahi’s name to be published, six months after the High Court denied continued name suppression. Tahitahi was arrested on Dec 29, 12 days after Daniel Eliu was ambushed and shot multiple times with a semi-automatic weapon. Tahitahi’s arrest came a day after a raucous funeral for Eliu, which included motorcycle revving, haka, barking and chants of “Sieg fucking heil” as his casket was carried to his grave by Mongrel Mob members.

About 150 Mongrel Mob members and family attended.

There were “no significant issues” at the funeral of Mongrel Mob boss Daniel Eliu. Cops have yet to make an arrest, 11 days on.

Eliu, 46, was shot dead outside the Papatoetoe Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Eliu lead the Mongrel Mob’s Auckland ‘Notorious’ chapter for 4 years.

The killer was subsequently spotted in CCTV footage in the church service Eliu was attending.

Halton cops bust gangster squarepants dealers = 126 kg

Cops arrested four men and executed eight search warrants in 'Project Atlas'. Drug dealers used every trick to keep their drug pipeline flowing between Ontario and Western Canada, including stash cars, secret locations and the latest technology to track shipments. 126 kg of cocaine, over $1.2m in cash, 3 vehicles, and related property have been seized. Busted are Kenneth Dang, 39, Chin Eng Pong, 35, Chandara Saroeung Svy, 35, and Kyu Chang Park, 39.

Video of Jon Bacon Murder - blast from past

The police video was played in B.C. Supreme Court at the trial of three men charged with killing gangster Jonathan Bacon on Aug. 14, 2011. Bacon was in the front passenger seat of the Porsche when the shooting began. He died minutes later on the ground beside the car.

Jason McBride was sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility to apply for parole at 18 years. Juhjhar Khun-Khun and Michael Jones were sentenced to 18 years apiece for conspiring to murder Bacon, Larry Amero and James Riach.

Moving day for NY Hells Angels - revisted

After 50 years at 77 E. 3rd St., the club sold the building and moved to the Bronx in 2019. The 6 story building received a reno and now houses 22 apartments. No bikers live there, apartments start at $3,599 per month.

The HA have vacated their East Village clubhouse. The bikers are leaving behind a plaque commemorating “Big Vinnie” Girolamo, along with his motto, “When in doubt, knock ’em out.” The biker died in 1979 before he could stand trial for throwing Mary Ann Campbell off the roof of the clubhouse to her death. He believed she was an informant.

After 50 years at 77 E. Third St. where are they going? “We don’t know” said one. Criminal defense lawyer Ron Kuby has represented the club for years. He dismissed claims that the Hells Angels are into rackets and operate like organized crime. “Think of it as a church,” he said of the group. “Members of clergy who violate the law don’t make the church a criminal enterprise.” The New York City Hells Angels are actually incorporated in New York State as the Church of the Angels, a nonprofit religious organization. That name was used when club members purchased the property in 1977, for a reported $1,900.

The deed was transferred from one of Alexander’s heirs to the HA in 2018, paving the way for a sale.

A contract was drawn up between the HA and a corporation listed as 77 East 3rd Street LLC. That firm is linked to Nathan Blatter of Whitestone Realty Group, a commercial real estate investor. No sale price was included. The Angels bought the building for a song back in the 1970s. In 1983, then-president Sandy Alexander changed the building’s deed to name himself and his family as rent-free tenants, and stipulated that his heirs “shall receive half of the proceeds” from any sale. Alexander went to jail for selling cocaine, got kicked out of the club in the ‘90s, and died in 2007.

There has been much drama there. A verbal war broke out over a bench installed outside of the building. There was a 2016 shooting and a 2018 beating of a deliveryman, both over the parking spaces outside.

2 busted after cocaine seizure off Cork coast

Jamie Hardbron and Vitaliy Lapa.

Two appeared in court after the largest seizure of cocaine off the southern coast of Ireland in history. Gardaí say estimated street value is €150m. Cocaine was taken from the bulk cargo ship MV Matthew off County Cork.