Africa’s ‘narco-state' Guinea-Bissau

The country’s Supreme Court overturned the convictions of two alleged drug kingpins – Seidi Ba, a citizen of Guinea-Bissau, and Ricardo Monje, a Colombian. They had been sentenced to 20 years in connection with the 2019 seizure of 1.8 tonnes of cocaine. It was, until recently, the largest ever drug bust in Guinea-Bissau.

After a five-hour gunfight at the government palace in Guinea-Bissau, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló declared that one of the assailants, three civilians and seven security were killed.

Embaló pointed the finger at traffickers. The “failed attack against democracy was well-prepared and organized and was related to people involved in drug trafficking” Embaló said. The nation’s military plays a role in politics, including coups, the most recent of which was attempted this spring. The military has also participated in narcotics trafficking. The term 'narco-state' implies the free flow of drugs through national ports protected by official collusion. In 2018 at least 30 tons of cocaine entered the country, all bound for Europe.

The former Portuguese colony was beset by instability since its independence in 1974. It has staged at least nine coups. The economy was weakened by fall in demand for cashew nuts, which account for 90% of exports.

In 2013 a New York grand jury indicted Gen. Antonio Indjai, then the nation’s Army chief of staff, on charges of trafficking Colombian cocaine and providing weapons to anti-government insurgents there. He had seized power during the 2012 coup. He was sacked in 2014. Indjai, who the US government called “one of the most powerful destabilizing figures in Guinea-Bissau” when it put up a $5m reward for his arrest, lives freely in Bissau. He is thought to be behind the latest attempted coup.

See ----->Guinea-Bissau: Africa's 'narco-state'

B.C. gangster bear ravages car, shits inside

A Tofino woman thought her vehicle was malfunctioning when the horn and lights started going off, but instead there was a surprise waiting. Stephanie Hannay first heard her vehicle horn sounding around 10:30 p.m. Saturday outside her home. When she peeked outside, everything seemed normal. “I went to bed and was woken up at 2 a.m. by the horn going off again,” she said. She grabbed her keys and went to see what was going on. “I opened the driver-side door and this head pops out in the back seat and it’s just a bear. I couldn’t believe it.” Shitting her pants, she ran back inside. A conservation officer later opened the hatch to her vehicle and the bear made his escape. Conservation officer Sgt. Stuart Bates believes the same bear has damaged 12 other vehicles over the last six weeks.

“We do have a bear that about six weeks ago got into a car and got some food and has since then learned to test every car it comes across,” Bates said, adding bears will destroy vehicles from the inside out. After 3 hours confinement a bear has got to go somewhere.

Bern Biker trial - Hells Angels, Bandidos and Broncos

Prison sentences of varying lengths have been dished out. One of the main defendants was given eight years for premeditated attempted murder. Another was sentenced to 42 months for attempted grievous bodily harm. A further 19 bikers were tried for brawling or aiding and abetting with most convicted. During the trial most of the accused remained silent.

The violence in Belp erupted after the Bandidos tried to open a chapter there. The Hells Angels and their allies the Broncos saw this as a provocation and responded.

Hells Angels, Bandidos, and their associates faced off outside court in the Swiss capital Bern before the start of a trial into a violent clash between the two gangs in May 2019. Two men are accused of attempted intentional homicide, while another is charged with grievous bodily harm. Cops seized an assault rifle, six pistols, knives, machetes, tasers, pepper sprays and baseball bats.

José Noriel 'El Chueco' Portillo Gil - update

Among 13 arrested are a cousin of El Chueco and a sicario, both of whom had Urique police force firearms. Neither gun had been reported as missing or stolen.

The manhunt continues for 'El Chueco' (crooked). He extorted Toronto-based mining company Sierra Metals. El Chueco demanded 10% of the company’s copper shipments to allow trucks to pass a road in Urique municipality, in Chihuahua state. The gang leader's uncle, Samuel Pokare, was the local chief of police, giving him power and impunity in the area.

José Noriel 'El Chueco' Portillo Gil, 30, is the leader of a Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated gang called Gente Nueva (New People). He's accused of murdering two priests and a tour guide in a church. El Chueco went on a murderous rampage following a baseball game.

Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar

'El Chueco' has gone on the run, leaving his large brick home in the poor town of Bahuichivo, located about 20 km north of Cerocahui. His relatives have been arrested, local politicians are under investigation for connections to him and a reward of five million Mexican pesos (around $250k) has been offered for information leading to his arrest. The case rose to international attention after Pope Francis spoke about the murders and expressed his dismay at Mexico’s murder rate. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told the press that cops have had an arrest warrant out for El Chueco since 2018 for the murder of Patrick Braxton-Andrew, an American tourist he mistook for a DEA agent.

Nigerian 'supercop' Abba Kyari trial underway - update II

The trial for disgraced Nigerian supercop Abba Kyari is underway. He and four other cops face charges of dealing in cocaine. They are being prosecuted by the NDLEA. Kyari was once lauded as Nigeria's most decorated cop.

Kyari is a suspended deputy commissioner of police and former head of the IGP Intelligence Response Team.

The presence of a former Commander of the Nigerian Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari, at the Kuje Correctional Centre has generated excitement among the inmates. Some were jailed by the IRT under Kyari. Kyari rejected the food offered him by the Nigerian Correctional Service after being remanded in custody.

Nigeria's 'super cop' Abba Kyari has been arrested over his involvement in a cocaine smuggling cartel. Kyari and four other cops were arrested "for...criminal conspiracy, discreditable, unethical, and unprofessional conduct, official corruption and tampering with exhibits in a case of illicit drug trafficking involving a perpetual transnational drug cartel." Kyari was suspended last year following an FBI indictment linking him to money launderer Ramon Abbas, 'Hushpuppi', who is awaiting sentencing for his $24m cybercrime. The FBI accused Kyari of making an arrest at the request of Abbas. Abbas faces 20 years.

California has once again postponed the sentencing of internet fraudster Hushpuppi. He was to be sentenced July 11, 2022. His new date is in September.

Edson Valdovinos has a bad day

Edson Valdovinos is behind bars after a failed attempt to outrun a traffic stop led him to jump into a canal and sink a speaker filled with cocaine. Valdovinos bolted from a traffic stop on I-5 and led cops on a chase. He jumped out of his car and threw a speaker box into the California Aqueduct. The object did not sink so he jumped into the canal and stood on the speaker box to submerge it. He was taken out of the water and into handcuffs. The speaker box did not resurface.

A dive team with the Fresno County Sheriff was called in and 7 kg of cocaine was recovered.

Cartel kingpin Rafael Caro‐Quintero reeled in - update

14 Mexican marines died when a navy Blackhawk helicopter crashed during the operation. The navy said it was an accident, with the cause under investigation. Caro Quintero will be extradited to the U.S. Until then he's held at the maximum security Altiplano prison.

Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero has been arrested in the northern state of Chihuahua. Caro Quintero was arrested after a search dog found him hiding in brush in the town of San Simon in Sinaloa.

In 2013, a court in Mexico freed Quintero after he had served 28 years for the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. He returned to drug trafficking and unleashed bloody turf battles in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora. The US has an outstanding extradition request.

Rafael Caro‐Quintero was wanted for his involvement in the 1985 killing of 37-year-old DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar. Officials offered a $20m reward for Caro-Quintero. Caro‐Quintero is regarded as one of the Mexican “godfathers” of drug trafficking who helped form the Guadalajara Cartel in the late 1970s. He became one of the primary suppliers of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the U.S. He was in charge of the cartel in Costa Rica and the U.S./Mexico border. Camerena’s murder followed a November 1984 raid by Mexican authorities of a 2,500-acre marijuana plantation owned by Caro‐Quintero.

Max the dog discovered the fugitive Cano Quintero hiding in bushes in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa on Friday. She is 6 years old, weighs about 78 pounds and is an expert tracker.

337 kg cocaine seized in Dominican Republic

Two Dominicans and a Venezuelan are under arrest after the Navy and DNCD agents intercepted a go fast vessel south of the coast of the municipality of Enriquillo. They confiscated 13 bales containing 329 packages of cocaine. The Dominican Republic is identified by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as one of the main Caribbean transit routes for cocaine.

Oz cops put brakes on $24m cocaine 'tyre' import - update Khalils

Brendon Khalil, 53, and his son Simon, 25, have been charged with importing 66 kg of cocaine discovered in car tires in Perth. The duo have links to the notorious Hamzy and Alameddine crime families in Sydney. In 2021 they were busted for renting out stolen and modified luxury cars to gangsters. Nine stolen luxury cars were seized. Police alleged many were used in violent crimes.

Four West Australians are busted after 66 kg of cocaine – worth about $23.7m AUD at street level, was seized in Perth. Cops found the cocaine hidden in four Mercedes-Benz performance wheels imported from Switzerland. ABF officers at the Perth cargo facility detected anomalies when they x-rayed the air cargo consignment. The drugs were replaced with a harmless substance before the tyres were released for collection. The maximum penalty for the offence is life imprisonment.

Stéphane Dupuis whacked in Laval - update

Montreal cops searched 3 residences last week. It is related to the murder of Stéphane Dupuis, 51, on April 12. Dupuis was an alpha level cocaine dealer with connections to mafioso Francesco Del Balso. One of these residences is that of Patrick Robert, 48, a man considered by cops to be part of HA Mario Brouillette's group. Although he no longer officially wears Hells Angels colors, Mario Brouillette is the most significant player of organized crime in Montreal according to the SQ.

Stéphane Dupuis was a close associate of HA Mario Brouillette, a man considered a top actor in organized crime in Quebec. Dupuis was shot 8 times while waiting to enter a car wash. During the 2000s, Dupuis was arrested as part of operation Ziplock, along with René Charbonneau. He also dealt with Francesco Del Balso, then a lieutenant in the Montreal Mafia. Dupuis was sentenced to 35 months for cocaine trafficking and gangsterism in 2008.

Stéphane Dupuis was the target of a hit man in October 2020 but survived his gunshot wounds.

See ----->LA Presse - Montreal Mafia: Flourishing in 'free trade'