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'

Chicago mob boss Mike 'Fat Boy' Sarno denied release

Chicago mob boss Mike "Fat Boy" Sarno will be given a deal he can't refuse: he will remain in prison. Sarno's attorney said his client fell victim to a justice system that views the Chicago mob as Hollywood. "I think he's another Italian American that's a victim of the RICO Act". Sarno was sentenced to 25 years in 2012 for racketeering. Undercover tapes that federal investigators had made referred to "the Large Guy"—a reference to Sarno's large size. In his younger days, Sarno was being groomed for big things in the Chicago Outfit. Sarno was a powerful mobster in the Chicago Outfit, along with Joseph Andriacchi, Al Tornabene, Frank "Toots" Caruso, Marco D'Amico and John DiFronzo.

In the early 90s, he went away for racketeering, gambling and extortion. When he got out, his influence grew with a partnership with the Outlaws.

See ----->Outfit's Sarno deathly fear of Covid-19 - rejected for release

NZ meth cook William McKinley sentenced to 10 years

William McKinley, 52, was busted as the kingpin of a drug ring. McKinley was jailed for 10 years. The judge was unimpressed by McKinley's arsenal of military hardware. "Why anyone in New Zealand has a .50 calibre machine gun is beyond me."

"Why a drug dealer has it, that's obvious but about as serious as it gets."

Raphaël Huppé sliced in Playa del Carmen - update

Fannie Lorrain

Fannie Lorrain's mother, Linda Bédard, explained to Quebec press that her daughter was not involved with Raphaël Huppé or his business. She went to his apartment because he was ill. Press reports suggesting she was a criminal like Raphaël Huppé are dead wrong. Fannie Lorrain worked in customer service at a local dietary supplement and protein company. She was scheduled to return to Quebec in weeks. Fannie Lorrain was innocent, in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she paid with her life.

He and Fannie Lorrain were both found with their throats cut.

Raphaël Huppé, 44, was one two Canadians found dead at a resort in Mexico's Playa del Carmen. Huppé was wanted on many criminal cases for fraud.

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.