Dutch king pardons cocaine smuggler

Questions have been raised by MPs and legal experts about the decision to grant a pardon to former Dutch television presenter and convicted cocaine smuggler Frank Masmeijer. He was released from a jail in Nieuwegein where he was spending the last 18 months of his 9 year sentence. The pardon was signed by king Willem-Alexander and legal protection minister Franc Weerwind.

Masmeijer initially denied all, but later admitted to having had a role in the smuggling of hundreds of kilos of cocaine through the port of Antwerp. The king is the only person able to grant pardons, but decisions are based on recommendation of the justice minister. The justice ministry has refused to answer questions about the pardon.

Colombo mob boss won't collect jailhouse ping pong winnings

Mob life is dangerous. So, apparently, is ping pong for Thomas 'Tommy Shots' Gioeli. The wiseguy launched and won a lawsuit for compensation after a jailhouse ping pong fall.

Thomas 'Tommy Shots' Gioeli

Gioeli argued in court filings that the federal government was trying to “claw back” the settlement money so it could be “rewarded for the fruits of its own bad behavior.” A federal judge ruled that Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli will have to use his portion of the lawsuit cash, more than $182,000, to pay restitution to his victims. “What the defendant really wants to do is stiff the Government on his forfeiture obligation and spend the money on something he would prefer. But the law doesn’t permit that.” Thomas Salvatore Gioeli, 'Tommy Shots' (born 1952), is a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family. Gioeli is incarcerated in North Carolina on racketeering and murder charges. His projected release date is September 9, 2024.

Oz cocaine kingpin Owen Hanson - O-Dog

Mark Wahlberg is in the early development of a documentary about USC player turned drug lord Owen Hanson.

Owen Hanson grew up in Redondo Beach, and his physical prowess scored him a place on the USC football team. A San Diego court heard how greed led Hanson to grow from a low-level drug dealer selling cocaine and steroids to teammates to the head of a criminal enterprise that shipped huge quantities of cocaine to Australia for massive profits. Hanson, 35, showed no emotion when a judge sentenced him to 21 years in jail in 2017. Prosecutors said a kilo of cocaine in southern California costs about $US25k. while in Australia it costs about $US250k.

His days as a crime boss running the violent international drug ring came to an end in 2015 when a US-Australian law enforcement operation led to his arrest in San Diego. Hanson trafficked "hundreds of kilograms of cocaine" from California to Australia. Hanson had red paint splattered on the gravestone of the mother of a debtor and then sent DVDs showing beheadings of people - one with a chainsaw. Hanson agreed to forfeit $5m in cash and assets, including properties in Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru, and luxury cars.

Francisco Torres - 'El Duranguillo'

The U.S. is warning citizens to stay away from several areas of Mexico near the U.S. border. The Department of State upgraded the travel advisory for Baja California to level 3, which urges U.S. citizens to reconsider their travel plans due to the possibility of kidnapping or other violent crimes. Folks best avoid the cities of Tijuana and Rosarito in Baja California. The arrest of 'El Duranguillo' led to a tense standoff between Torres' men and soldiers. An hour long gunfight broke out between the two factions.

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana says “criminal organization assassinations and territorial disputes can result in bystanders being injured or killed.”

Gangsters Disciples boss Larry Hoover wants out Florence AdMax, tries again

Larry Hoover, now 71, co-founded the Gangsters Disciples in the late 1960s. Hoover wrote that the feds’ supermax prison in Florence has been called “as close to Hell as possible,” and he agreed. Hoover ordered a murder in 1973 that led to his conviction in state court and a sentence of 150 to 200 years in Illinois’ prison system. There, the feds say he ran a $100m a year drug business. Hoover bought a federal life sentence in 1998. Kanye West visited the White House in 2018 and solicited Trump to support legislation allowing inmates convicted of drug crimes to seek reductions of their prison sentences. On West's list was Chicago gangster Larry Hoover.

Trump signed the First Step Act, allowing gangsters to seek shorter prison terms. Hoover's first attempt failed. Sentenced in to life in federal prison, he’s housed in the notorious ADMAX super-max prison in Florence, Colorado.

A former assistant U.S. attorney who helped prosecute Hoover says it's a “miscarriage of justice” to allow him to benefit from it. If successful and somehow able to escape Florence AdMax, Hoover will be required to serve his remaining state sentence.

Hoover's state sentence runs to 2064.

See ----->ISIS Beatle El Shafee Elsheikh - USP Florence ADMAX

Hells Angel Ronaldo Lising shot outside Burnaby home

Cops released footage of a grey 2020 Kia Forte captured on surveillance video in the area of Patterson Avenue and Hurst Street before the shooting. The car was stolen in Langley and was recovered by police later that day. Ronaldo Lising is said to be recovering from his injuries.

Ronaldo 'Ronnie' Lising, 59, is expected to survive after a targeted shooting in the 7000-block of Patterson Ave. Ronaldo Lising has been convicted of drugs, weapons and assault offences, and in 2005 he was nabbed during a massive bust that saw police raid HA clubhouses in Kelowna and Vancouver. Lising has owned his house on the block where he was shot since 2004. It’s currently assessed at $1.6m.

Francisco 'Chico' Pires, third from left. Ronaldo Lising is far right, with sword. Photo was seized by cops during 2005 clubhouse raid.

The two operated a cocaine business supplying Vancouver strip bars. A judge called them “criminals in the true sense.” Ronaldo Lising punching a bouncer while Rob Alvarez kicks him. The 2005 attack came as the two declined to wait in line.

Ronaldo Lising busted in 2000.

Kinahan lieutenant joins gangster moll behind bars

Kinahan lieutenant Barry Fowler will join his gangster moll behind bars after they were both convicted of a series of drug offences. Fowler was sentenced to six years in prison for supplying drugs shortly after being released from prison. He pleaded guilty to possession of €134k of pot on 24th May 2021. Fowler was previously convicted of drugs and possessing a submachine gun and sentenced to 8 years. His conviction comes weeks after his partner, Lorna Palmer, 35, was jailed for 18 months after she was busted with €100k proceeds of crime.

Benjamin Arellano Felix seeks early release

Benjamín Arellano Félix wants out of prison early. 11 years into a 25 stretch, Arellano petitioned a San Diego federal judge for compassionate release. Arellano was arrested in Mexico in 2002 and extradited to San Diego in 2011. He pleaded guilty to racketeering and money laundering and agreed to forfeit $100m as part of the deal. Prosecutors argue the only issue with the notorious drug kingpin is hypertension. Arellano’s chance of early release seems remote. When the same judge sentenced Arellano in 2012, he denied a request to receive a five-year credit for time already served in Mexico.

His plea deal set 25 years as the maximum.

Benjamín Arellano Félix, who worked with his 6 brothers, was one of Mexico's most powerful drug lords and the supplier of 30% of the U.S.'s cocaine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012. The gang was known for dissolving bodies in drums of acid or burning them in the desert.

Arellano Felix and his late brother, Ramon, the cartel's top enforcer, ruled the cartel from 1986 to 2002.

Ramon Arellano Felix wearing shorts.

Aided by corrupt Mexican officials, the Arellanos killed anyone who stepped on their California-Mexico border turf. The cartel was fictionally portrayed in the Hollywood film 'Traffic'. Arellano Felix will not be released until he is almost 80. He will be sent to Mexico to serve 22 more years. Ramon Arellano Felix was killed in 2002. El Chapo was reputed to have said ... "If anything had ever really given me pleasure, it was to have killed Ramon Arellano Felix." They arranged for police to pull him over in the city of Mazatlan, Sinaloa. Younger brother Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, who took over in 2002, was sentenced in San Diego to life in prison in 2007.

Rocco Morabito arrives in Rome

Rocco Morabito, the "cocaine king of Milan" has arrived in Italy. Brazil’s Supreme Court approved Morabito's extradition March 9. It comes after his arrest in northern Brazil in May 2021, following a manhunt by Brazilian, Uruguayan and Italian cops. Born in the Calabrian town of Africo with family ties to boss Giuseppe Morabito, Morabito was a key figure in 'Ndrangheta. Giuseppe Morabito

Morabito lived in Uruguay for over a decade. He begins his 30 year sentence today.

Rocco Morabito was arrested almost two years after his escape from a prison in Uruguay. He was awaiting extradition to Italy where he is a most wanted man. He had been sentenced in his absence to 28 years by an Italian court in 2015, a penalty later increased to 30 years. Morabito was behind the smuggling of tons cocaine from Brazil to Europe.

The ‘Cocaine king of Milan’ was one of Italy’s most wanted mob bosses.

Morabito established a partnership between the ‘Ndrangheta and Brazilian gang First Capital Command.

He was arrested while staying in a hotel in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, where he had gone after having a fight with his wife. A search of his villa in Punta del Este uncovered a gun, 13 mobile phones, and 150 passport-sized photos of Morabito in different guises.

Villa where Italian mafia fugitive Rocco Morabito lived near the resort town of Punta del Este

Arrested in Uruguay after 23 years on the run, Rocco Morabito is a top leader of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, Italy’s powerful organized crime group and one of Europe’s biggest importers of cocaine. Morabito has often rubbed shoulders with Sicilian boss Matteo Messina Denaro.

See ----->Hunt for mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro - Diabolik

Jorge Enrique Bazán Aguilar - Gordo Tobi

1,881 kg of cocaine was seized in the northwestern Peru coastal city of Máncora. The drugs were to be moved by a speedboat to another vessel on the high seas. The cocaine was destined for Rotterdam. The seizure was part of a larger operation in which cops busted gang leader Jorge Enrique Bazán Aguilar, 'Gordo Tobi'. A property on Máncora’s Las Pocitas beach used to store and package cocaine was raided. Cops detained four members of Gordo Tobi’s gang and seized a car and four jet skis.

For cocaine to be sourced from both regions, which are 1,350 km apart, is unusual. Peruvian family clans have been expanding and bypassing foreign middlemen. Gordo Tobi’s gang may have been doing exactly that.

Cocaine was sourced in Huallaga, in northern Peru, while some came from the Valley of the Apurímac, Ene, Mantaro and Urubamba Rivers, where most of the country’s cocaine is produced.

Vincent 'Fatz' Caruso busted, along with mom

Caruso’s operation had links to the Lil Crip and Tiny Rascal street gangs.

Boston fentanyl dealer Vincent 'Fatz' Caruso, 29, was sentenced to 20 years. On social media, he bragged about owning six pill presses, which he used to make fentanyl disguised as Percocet. He also admitted to firearms, robbery, and money laundering offences. He washed proceeds at the Brook Casino in Seabrook, NH, where his mother assisted. She was handed nine years.

Caruso made frequent trips to the Brook Casino with his mother, Laurie Caruso, 52. The duo was careful to bet amounts below $10,000, the threshold at which a casino must report cash transactions. Prosectors said it was “even more appalling” that some of Caruso’s Instagram boasts were posted while he was on pretrial release.

Caruso has prior arrests for firearms, home invasion, robbery, assault, and drug offenses. Its 250 months for FATZ, he is a 'Menace II Society' no longer.

Mongrel Mobster Fairlane Wiringi

He was on parole from an earlier prison sentence at the time of the violent robbery.

Tears ran down Mongrel Mobster Fairlane Wiringi's cheeks as he briefly held his baby boy. He then began a 5 year sentence for aggravated robbery. The judge noted "You were born into the gang. Your dad is the president of the local chapter of the Mongrel Mob. You were surrounded by violence, drugs, and alcohol. Both parents spent long lags in prison and you spent long periods in care.

Christchurch Mob boss Junior Wiringi.

"You have got something to live for on the outside. Make sure you don't go back." Father Junior Wiringi offered other advice. "No more crack, son. No more crack," It seems hopeless. Fairlane Wiringi flashed gang signs before entering and leaving court.

Fairlane Wiringi was shot twice in 2021 in a failed hit.

Tracking Britney Lewis associates

Britney Lewis is the sole person busted, so far, in the hit on Bernard Cherfan.

Jay Alexander 'NHS Jay Jay'

In 2020, Brittney Lewis, 23, Devante Long, 25, Nikeita Forbes, 28, and Jay Alexander, 19, faced 42 gun and drug charges. Jay Alexander 'NHS Jay Jay' was killed in 2021 in a drug related hit. In 2017 Nikeita Forbes faced attempted murder and robbery with a firearm charges after trying and failing to rob a jewelry store in 2014 with Katrina Vanderwyk.

Devante Long, 28, is wanted by Toronto police for assault and theft. A man assaulted a woman and stole her car. Long is wanted for assault, failing to comply with a release order and theft of a motor vehicle. He has a history of drug arrests.