1,000 British nationals are imprisoned overseas on drugs charges, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.Hundreds of travelling Britons are being caught out by strict foreign laws against drug trafficking, the Government warned.The majority are held in Spain (207), followed by the United States (141), Thailand and France (both 79).
Minister Chris Bryant said travellers should be "extremely wary" of getting sucked into drugs because they face long jail terms in harsh conditions.He said: "The message is clear - we can't get people out of jail in other countries, so if you don't want to waste your life away in a tough foreign jail, be sensible and keep clean."
His comments came after a British drugs smuggler was executed in China last December despite widespread criticism of his treatment.Mentally ill Akmal Shaikh, 53, a father-of-three from London, was killed by lethal injection after being caught carrying 8.8lb (4kg) of heroin into the country in 2007.Of 2,582 Britons held overseas, 1,057 are held on drugs charges, according to figures released by the Government.Many countries take an extremely hard-line with drug smugglers, with the death sentence used in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.Other countries, including Cyprus, India, Venezuela, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates, can impose long sentences, even for small quantities of drugs.

FBI agent says members of the criminal gang MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, were used as informants in Charlotte, N.C.FBI Agent Michael Attard testified Wednesday in the trial of six alleged gang members that investigators turned MS-13 members into informants to help limit the gang's influence in the city, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported Thursday.Attard said the informants would videotape drug buys and gang meetings to provide investigators with vital information. "It enabled us to identify the gang members engaging in criminal activity," the agent said in federal court.Prosecutors maintain the six suspects on trial are part of the international organization from El Salvador. The suspects are among 26 alleged gang members indicted in June 2008.The Observer said Los Angeles Police Detective Frank Flores also testified Wednesday, saying MS-13 has up to 12,000 gang members in the United States alone.

Leona Lewis has been caught up in a terrifying siege in Los Angeles.
The 24-year-old star was horrified as thugs waving handguns ran towards her car as they attempted to flee police following a high-speed chase.
Miss Lewis’s security intervened before the men ran off, but not before her manager Nicola Carson was thrown to the ground.
Shaken: Leona Lewi, seen here at Los Angeles airport just hours after being caught up in a terrifying incident involving police and gunmen

The singer had been on her way to LA international airport when she stopped at a Starbucks coffee house to pick up some drinks.

The timing was unfortunate, however, as just then the police chase came careering into the car park outside, where Miss Lewis was waiting.
A source close to the star told the Daily Mail: 'It was absolutely terrifying and Leona is still very shaken by what happened. It could have been so much worse.
‘Leona was in her parked car when the chase came to crash around her. Two police cars had blocked off this other car. Men jumped out and suddenly these thugs waving guns ran towards Leona.
‘LAPD cars were swarming the scene and shoppers were screaming. Thank goodness Leona’s security tackled one of the men before he ran off. It was a real commotion.
More...First pictures of Beyoncé's most shameful ever gig... for playboy son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi
Leona Lewis on crutches after falling off her horse in LA

Upset: Leona is pictured after she was punched in the face last October
‘Nicola was in a terrible state as well as police knocked her to the ground as she tried to make her way back to the car.’
Miss Lewis last night arrived back in Britain, while Miss Carson told friends: ‘We’ve had the scare of our lives.’
A friend stressed that the singer did not see any of the people involved in the incident.
In October, Miss Lewis was left bruised after loner Peter Kowalczyk, 29, of Waterloo, south London, lashed out at her during a book signing at Waterstones in Picadilly, central London.
Kowalczyk hit the left side of the singer's face with his right fist as she went to sign his copy of her autobiography – and was heard to say ‘gotcha’ as he punched her.
Kowalczyk was charged and last month detained under the Mental Health act after admitting the assault.
Prosecution read out a witness statement by Miss Lewis, which said: ‘I feel completely devastated by this attack.
‘Now I am very frightened about going out in public and I don't know where the next attack will come from and if this will be more serious than what has just happened.’
District Judge Howard Riddle ordered schizophrenic Kowalczyk, who pleaded guilty to common assault, to remain in hospital for an indeterminate period under a section 37 order.
He said: ‘This is what happens when you don't take your medication. A woman is now devastated.’
Kowalczyk was led away from the court by NHS staff after the brief hearing.
After the incident, Miss Lewis – who found fame as winning the X Factor - tried to remain brave, saying: ‘I'm from Hackney, so I'm hard. I'm not going to let something like that bother me.
‘When you grow up where I did you learn to move on. There was always some kind of craziness going on in my neighbourhood.
‘The boys were always fighting each other and there was loads of street crime. I know how to look after myself. The part of London where I grew up has the highest crime rates in the country
‘It's just a shame it happened at all. I'm now trying to put it in the past and get over it. I'm a positive person and I try to look at the good side of everything.’
A source added: 'It was terrifying as there were police helicopters flying above Leona and Nicola as well.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1243357/Terrified-Leona-Lewis-caught-Los-Angeles-police-gun-drama.html#ixzz0cgaEr4vj

The 'Operation Malaya' corruption, resulted in a first phase with 28 arrests and seizure of property the amount of 2,400 million. The research aims to uncover a complex corporate network that covers many criminal activities. It has spread from Malaga to Madrid and Murcia and in a second part to Cordoba, where the businessman has been arrested Rafael Gomez.

Among those involved, whose imprisonment has been decreed for several of them, highlight the mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe, the former deputy mayor, Isabel García Marcos, the former adviser of Urban and municipal manager of this department, Juan Antonio Roca, the council of Culture and Education, José Jaén, and Traffic, Victoriano Rodriguez, and the town clerk, Leopoldo Barrantes, whom the judge has decided to release charges.

Juan Antonio Roca: Advisor of Urbanism of Marbella and former municipal manager of this department. Right Hand the former mayor of Marbella, now deceased, Jesus Gil. After Gil's victory in 1991, Rock joined the Consistory and controlled Planning 2000, the municipal company that managed the land. Gil's successor, Julián Muñoz, dismissed him in August 2003 but the team as Marisol Yagüe rescued after coming to power through a censure motion to Munoz in 2003.

Charged in the 'plunder case', Rock was investigated by the National Court for allegedly embezzling funds from the municipal coffers procecedentes. The National Court Judge Juan del Olmo ordered his admission to the Alcala-Meco prison in April 2002, with Gil and others working for the former alderman Marbella. Days later he was released on bail, after payment of 450,000 euros.

Among the crimes charged in the Operation Malaya include the embezzlement, according to his lawyer, who added the money laundering and bribery.

On 31 March 2006, the holder of the Magistrate's Court number 5 in Marbella, Miguel Angel Torres ordered unconditional prison without bail for Roca, who considers the person "which directs and controls the municipal decision entirely" in the city.

Marisol Yagüe: Mayor of Marbella from 13 August 2003 following a censure motion that ended 12 years of municipal government of Independent Liberal Group (GIL). The motion was supported by Socialist councilors, and defectors andalucista GIL itself, which went to the Mixed Group. He then uncovered the strongest struggles to control the urban development of the municipality.

The main objective of the new mayor was drafting a new General Urban Plan, General Plan. The latter, in 1986, was breached by the government teams Gil, at least 200 times, which are the building permits that the Andalusian government has challenged before the High Court of Justice of Andalusia.

On 8 March 2006, a judge decreed Marbella Arrest Yagüe a chalet. The company Construcciones Copasur S.L. -Municipal construction contractor sued for unpaid regidora 949,000 euros in the renovation.

Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered imprisonment Yagüe without bond on 1 April 2006.

Isabel García Marcos: First Deputy Mayor of Marbella. The turncoat García Marcos attended the municipal elections in 1991 lists the PSOE party of which he was expelled. Alderman and a doctor, their complaints and their fierce opposition prompted the disqualification of Gil for public office.

Then in 2003 the council decided to join Salamanca faithful to its biggest enemy is allied with former councilors gilistas and Andalusian Party, with whom supported the censure motion against the then mayor, Julián Muñoz.

As part of 'Operation Malaya' was arrested in Malaga airport after returning from their honeymoon trip in Russia. In the search of his home they found some 360,000 euros in cash. On 2 April 2006, Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered unconditional prison Garcia Marcos for their alleged involvement in the corruption case of the Consistory.

Thomas Reñones: Mayor of Marbella by acting as second deputy mayor and the absence of first deputy mayor, Isabel García Marcos, and the mayor, Marisol Yagüe. Reñones, former Atletico Madrid player who presided over Jesus Gil, and was their captain, entered the world of politics from his hand in the late 90s. It has not been charged in the case.

Gil, with whom he was in seven of eight sports projects, got joined Atletico Marbella (II B) for two seasons, in August 1996. Since retiring from football, followed related to Gil, who was appointed coordinator of Sports in Marbella Town Hall.

In local elections in June 1999 he was elected for the first time, municipal councilor in Marbella on the list of GIL, led by President Gil corporation which took over the Council of Sports.

Re-elected city councilor in the May 2003 elections, the following August he went over to the Joint City Council along with seven other colleagues of his party, five councilors from the PSOE and three Andalusian Party, who signed a censure motion against the then mayor, Julián Muñoz.

Days later, his colleague Mrs Marisol Yagüe was elected new mayor of the town, he took up the post of second deputy mayor and continued to front the areas of Youth and Sports.



Rafael Gomez: The employer Cordoba Rafael Gomez, known as Sandokan, is related to the world of jewelry and housing developments. You personally know Juan Antonio Roca, who shared poker games in the El Rio, owned by Carlos Sanchez, who at the beginning of the 80 introduced, taught and guided rock art in real estate speculation and then placed in Marbella, as published WORLDWIDE last day 6.

In December 2004, as reported Antonio Rubio took place in the hunting ground of Badajoz one timba more than three million where both attended. As a result of that game of cards, one of the players felt cheated by Roca and as revenge, he contacted police inspectors since 2001 followed closely the steps that it was considered the godfather of the Costa del Sol .

In recent months, Gomez has been involved in a case of heated controversy over the case Collectors: construction, by Arenal 2000, three ships without a license. This matter has earned him a fine of 24 million euros after the PSOE, the municipal level, and the Board will monitor close attention this episode.


Other actors
•José Luis Alonso BoyerBusinessman. On 1 April 2006 was free bail of 20,000 euros.
•Oscar Alberto B.P., Front man for former city manager of Urban Juan Antonio Roca. The judge ordered her to prison without bail. Over 36 years. He is charged with alleged money laundering and fraud to the Treasury. He jumped into the media when the dancer Juan Manuel Fernandez Montoya 'Farruquito' fatally struck in Seville Benjamin Olalla and fled. The prosecution accused him, along with three others, to conceal the facts and have hatched a plot to incriminate Farruquito's brother, a minor when the events occurred.
•Leopoldo Barrantes, Town clerk. The former Real Madrid is the maximum a notary public in the Consistory Marbella. On 1 April 2006 the judge ordered his release released without bail on charges of influence peddling and breach of trust.
•Oscar Benavente Perez, Front man Juan Antonio Roca. Involved in the 'case Farruquito', was charged along with three others, to conceal the facts and have hatched a plot to incriminate Farruquito's brother, a minor when the events occurred.
•Montserrat Corulla, Accused of being one of the main figureheads of Juan Antonio Roca. Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered his unconditional prison for money laundering on April 3.
•Jaime Hachuel, Employer for whom the judge ordered him released without bail but charged with a crime of money laundering.
•José Antonio Jaén PolonioCouncilman of Culture and Education Deputy Mayor of Marbella and Nueva Andalucia. As Marisol Yagüe, was alderman of the PSOE, and in 2003 entered into your computer hall. He is a man of confidence and Isabel García Marcos left the PSOE after the said motion. Jaen was released after paying their lawyers to EUR 30,000 bail imposed by the judge.
•July Framework, Managing director of passenger transport company Portillo. Was released with charges of bribery after appearing before the judge, who decided to impose a bail of 12,000 euros.
•Ismael Perez Pena, Businessman who owns two companies' leasing of vehicles for hire that supply much of the Marbella Town Hall. Also responsible for managing the crane company in the municipality. On 1 April 2006 the judge issued his imprisonment unconditional.
•Miguel Perez Road, Lawyer with Madrid-Sánchez Zubizarreta Soriano Pastor, where he practiced in a register under the Operation Malaya seized police 860,000 euros cash. Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered bail 30,000 euros for Perez Road on 4 April 2006.
•Rafael del Pozo, Chairman of the Local Police in Marbella. It, along with Juan Antonio Roca, one of the heads of the 2000 Urban planning Marbella Town Hall, so there are suspicions that have local agents involved in the web of corruption.
•Victoriano Rodriguez MartinezCouncilman Traffic, Transport and Public Roads. It is one of the oldest elected officials who entered the labor policy of the late Jesus Gil y Gil. He signed the censure motion against Julián Muñoz in August 2003, when that was passed to the Joint Group. During her career as a politician has always been questioned by the opposition on the whereabouts of a Rolls Royce, owned by the Consistory of Marbella and used by the former mayor of Marbella and president of Atletico Madrid. On 1 April 2006 the judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered his unconditional imprisonment.
•Manuel Sánchez Martín, Lawyer with Madrid-Sánchez Zubizarreta Soriano Pastor, where he practiced in a register under the Operation Malaya Police seized 860,000 euros cash. Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered unconditional prison for Sánchez Martín on 4 April 2006 by being one of the alleged charge of structuring societies Juan Antonio Roca.
•Juan Manuel Sánchez Zubizarreta, Lawyer with Madrid-Sánchez Zubizarreta Soriano Pastor. Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered unconditional prison for Sánchez Zubizarreta on 4 April 2006 by being one of the alleged charge of structuring societies Juan Antonio Roca.
•Francisco Soriano Pastor, Lawyer with Madrid-Sánchez Zubizarreta Soriano Pastor. Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered unconditional prison Soriano Pastor for 4 April 2006 by being one of the alleged charge of structuring societies Juan Antonio Roca.
•Juan Luis Soriano Pastor, Lawyer with Madrid-Sánchez Zubizarreta Soriano Pastor. Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered unconditional prison Soriano Pastor for 4 April 2006 by being one of the alleged charge of structuring societies Juan Antonio Roca.
•Soriano Francisco Zurita, Lawyer with Madrid-Sánchez Zubizarreta Soriano Pastor. Judge Miguel Angel Torres ordered bail 90,000 euros for Soriano Zurita on 4 April 2006.

Now the Hells Angels are in a state of paranoid panic -- and facing an uncertain future -- after an undercover sting operation reached a dramatic end early Wednesday.
Members of Manitoba's Integrated Organized Crime Task Force capped a 13-month investigation by authorizing the arrests of 34 gang members and associates and executing two dozen search warrants. More than 300 RCMP and police from Winnipeg, Brandon, Ste. Anne and British Columbia were involved in one of the biggest drug and gang busts in Manitoba history.The Free Press has learned Project DIVIDE relied on a familiar trick -- obtaining the services of a longtime criminal to infiltrate the Hells Angels and conduct a series of drug transactions, which were captured on audio and video surveillance. The "secret agent" was paid well for his betrayal -- believed to be at least $500,000 of tax-free money -- and is now in witness protection.Police used the same method against the same organization in 2006 and 2007 when Projects DEFENCE and DRILL led to 31 combined arrests. Nearly all of the accused, including two former gang presidents, are still behind bars.Many legal experts believe a subsequent rise in Winnipeg street gang crime over the past two years -- including drive-by shootings and murders -- was triggered by the fall of the Hells Angels and an ongoing battle to fill the void and make lucrative profits from the sale of drugs.However, sources say the Hells Angels and their puppet club, the Zig Zag Crew, have been quietly regrouping in recent months. Little did they know police were watching their every move."We've hit the higher level of... members that are affiliated or prospects with the Zig Zag Crew as well as Hells Angels. And by doing so, we know that that's going to have a trickle-down effect. The impact is huge," Winnipeg police Const. Jason Michalyshen said Wednesday. Searches conducted at 23 locations across Manitoba and one in B.C. resulted in several drug seizures, including 165 ounces of cocaine, 12 ounces of methamphetamine, 12,000 ecstasy tablets, one ounce of heroin and seven pounds of marijuana. An undisclosed quantity of money, firearms and gang paraphernalia was also seized.

"We're going to have less drugs on our streets, we're going to have less firearms and, ultimately, making our community safer. That's really what it boils down to. We've hit the source," said Michalyshen. "These organizations are all making money at the expense of the community."

Police said 26 people were in custody by Wednesday afternoon, including former Winnipeg fashion model turned full-patch biker Sean Sebastian Wolfe. Police were still searching for eight more accused on warrants. Their names have not been released.RCMP Sgt. Line Karpish said the investigation began in November 2008, targeting organized crime and street-crime activities that threatened public safety.
"We're dealing with guns. We're dealing with drugs. We're dealing with all kinds of criminal activities," she said. "We're not interested in victory. We're interested in impact."Justice sources say three of the 34 accused will not face criminal charges but will be released on so-called "peace bonds" ordering them to have no contact with fellow gang members. The remaining 31 are facing a variety of charges, including drug trafficking, conspiracy, money laundering, participating in a criminal organization and obstruction of justice. All of those who have been arrested will make their first court appearance this morning in Winnipeg. Manitoba Attorney General Andrew Swan said Wednesday's arrests are just the beginning.
"Certainly, organized crime is a serious, serious issue," said Swan, only appointed AG a month ago. "With so many of these individuals, they become entrenched. We want to do whatever we can to make sure that we're making it uncomfortable for them to be carrying on their operations in Manitoba. The work's going to continue."

Wednesday's raids occurred in various Winnipeg neighbourhoods and left many residents wondering why heavily armed police officers had stormed their streets. The Winnipeg School Division said investigators called Cecil Rhodes School early Wednesday and asked the school to go into lockdown while officers conducted "unspecified activities" in the area.

All of the arrests occurred without incident and there were no injuries.
Manitoba's largest police forces have taken down members or associates of the province's Hells Angels chapter, accusing them of importing and selling huge amounts of drugs. In terms of the number of suspects, this is the largest of the three stings. "We've hit the higher level of this particular cell. By doing so we know that is going to have a trickle-down effect all the way down to the lower dealers," said Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen. "We've hit the source."
Twenty-six people have been arrested and others are being sought in connection with the massive police sting led by the Manitoba integrated organized crime task force, comprised of RCMP, Winnipeg Police Service and Brandon Police Service officers. All but one are men. At least one high-ranking member of the Manitoba Hells Angels and every member of the Zig Zag Crew, which is aligned with the outlaw motorcycle gang's local chapter, are among those swept up in the 13-month investigation, which involved more than 300 police officers, police said. It focused on high-level drug trafficking but some are accused of firearms trafficking and money laundering.
Police wouldn't reveal how they gathered evidence against the suspects. Past investigations have involved paid informants. Pre-dawn raids were conducted at several homes, at least one business and the Manitoba Hells Angels clubhouse at 2679 Scotia St. So far, 24 people have been formally charged in the investigation dubbed Project Divide, including Hells Angels member Sean Sebastian Wolfe, 33, who's charged with conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and conspiracy to possess proceeds of crime. Still outstanding, according to a source, is a Hells Angels member who has high-ranking status. Police have seized 165 ounces of cocaine, 12 ounces of methamphetamine, 12,000 ecstasy tablets, an ounce of heroin, seven pounds of marijuana, firearms, alleged drug money, and Hells Angels and Zig Zag Crew documents and property so far. The suspects were arrested during a series of dramatic takedowns yesterday. Given the likelihood of weapons and some suspects' history of violence, SWAT teams, armed with assault rifles and shotguns, descended on most, if not all, 23 locations in Manitoba and one in B.C. In Winnipeg, raids were conducted at homes in Charleswood, Elmwood, the North End, Tuxedo, Weston and elsewhere. Police searched residences in Brandon and the Rural Municipality of Springfield, and Eastwood Truck & Toy Centre on Roblin Boulevard in Headingley. Suspect Nello Chiappetta, accused of laundering drug money, is the dealership's finance manager, according to its website. Officers with St. Anne Police Service and police agencies in B.C. assisted the RCMP and Winnipeg and Brandon police services. The organized crime task force is responsible for previous stings in February 2006 and December 2007, resulting in charges against 31 people, including Hells Angels members and associates.

investigator with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation said from the witness stand that he believes ex-York Police Chief David Rowry’s fatal shooting of Joe Louis Bell was a crime.Agent Marc Boyd of the ABI was the lead investigator of Rowry’s shooting of Bell, 52, on Sept. 18, 2008. The ABI investigates all law enforcement-related shootings. Rowry has been charged with manslaughter in Bell’s death.When asked by District Attorney Greg Griggers whether Boyd would have filed charges against Rowry, the ABI agent said yes.“I would, based on probable cause,” Boyd said. “And most likely for murder or manslaughter.”The reason Boyd did not seek a warrant for Rowry’s arrest was that Griggers asked the ABI to forward its findings to the district attorney’s office so it could be taken before a grand jury. In December 2008, the grand jury indicted Rowry on a manslaughter charge for killing Bell in a Church’s Chicken restaurant in York.Before Boyd left the stand, defense attorney Belinda Weldon got Boyd to confess a mistake in his final report regarding Bell’s slaying.But Weldon could not get an explanation from Boyd on why her client was not allowed to file a supplemental report regarding the shooting of Bell.Weldon questioned Boyd’s report of his interview with Rowry after the shooting, forcing Boyd to acknowledge a mistake in the report involving Rowry’s movements that day before the shooting. Boyd said he did not recall a phone call from Weldon requesting that he meet with Rowry again so he could offer additional information on Bell’s shooting. Weldon’s repeated questioning of Boyd on why he did not remember her calling him drew objections from Griggers, which Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway sustained.Testimony in the trial was cut short Wednesday after Weldon fell ill during the lunch recess.The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today at the Sumter County Courthouse.If convicted, Rowry faces between two and 20 years on the manslaughter charge, a class B felony.

Sandra Gregory, the British woman sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment in Thailand for drug smuggling, has been deported after trying to re-enter the country.
Gregory, 44, was caught carrying heroin at Bangkok airport in 1993. She was pardoned by the King of Thailand in 2000 after being deported to serve out her sentence in the UK.Friends say Gregory had tried to return to the country, but contacted them yesterday to say she was being held at the airport and was expecting to be deported soon. It is understood she has now been deported.Susan May, a miscarriages of justice campaigner, said she received a text message from Gregory yesterday evening.
"Sandra just texted me last night to tell me that she's been held at the airport and not allowed in," May said."The last thing she said was that she was expecting to be sent home today so I'm hoping she will be."May said there was a problem with Gregory's visa."She was pardoned by the King of Thailand but obviously she is not allowed in," she said. "She is a very capable girl, she's a lovely girl and I'm quite sure she'll be OK."May was originally sentenced to death after being caught with 86.9g of heroin in a condom inside her body at Bangkok airport. The sentence was commuted to 25 years in jail, which was reduced to 22 years. She spent four-and-a-half years in the Klong Prem prison in Thailand before being transferred to a prison in Kent.Gregory was pardoned in 2000 and wrote a book about her experiences before going on to study geography at Oxford University.

Q Branch of the state police on Friday arrested four persons, including two Sri Lankans for attempting to smuggle communication equipment and medicine to Sri Lanka. The officials suspect that the consignment was meant for LTTE.Based on intelligence input, the Q Branch team intercepted Sayanthan, a native of Sri Lanka, Jayanathan, a Sri Lankan with British citizenship, Babu, a native of Ramanathapuram, and Guhan, a native of Cuddalore, from Thiruvanmiyur. Q Branch officials also recovered 25 satellite phones, one GPS equipment, one night vision equipment and one walkie-talkie from the gang.Q Branch sources told The Times Of India that the consignment was kept ready to be smuggled to Sri Lanka. However, the route and the details of the procurement are still under investigation.None of the arrested persons have a known record of LTTE activism, sources said. The LTTE procurement modules have been lying low for the last few months, following regular interception by the Q Branch. Except for stray attempts, there were no big scale organised smuggling happening between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu during these months.However, of late there were signs of these modules becoming active again as smuggling cases of narcotics, communication equipment and essential materials were detected off the Tamil Nadu coast. Most of these smuggling activities were restricted to areas in and around Ramanathapuram, where the procurement modules have a well-knit system in place. Chennai remained largely out of the picture in the later part of 2008, except for the arrest of the smuggling kingpin Thambi Anna alias Daniel, who controlled and co-ordinated most of the consignments for LTTE, from the city in July last year.However, the procurement agents resurfaced in the city this year. On January 1, the Q Branch arrested a Sri Lankan national and recovered two Switzerland made satellite phones from him. The phones were meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka. On January 24, Chennai customs officials arrested another Sri Lankan with heroin at Chennai airport.In 2008, there were around 50 smuggling cases busted by the Q Branch and nearly as many Sri Lankans were arrested. The LTTE procurement modules had tried to smuggle everything from army fatigues, raw materials to explosives and provisions. The Q Branch had managed to break into the network of these procurement modules and with a better intelligence network in place, could intercept most of the smuggling consignments. The arrest of key figures like Thambi Anna was seen a significant event in controlling the smuggling between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.

Government lawyers have ordered police to abandon an investigation into alleged corruption involving senior Customs officials.
The inquiry – which has cost the taxpayer at least £5.5million – examined Customs officers’ handling of a fraud probe in which millions of pounds worth of alcohol was smuggled into Britain without duty being paid.The fraud is estimated to have cost the taxman £1.25billion.However, the cases fell apart when it was revealed that the officers had encouraged the offences in a sting operation. A subsequent review by a senior High Court judge found major failings in the handling of the cases and a police investigation was launched. At one stage, Customs’ then director of law enforcement, Terry Byrne, and the organisation’s solicitor, David Pickup, were told not to come into work while police examined allegations against them.Both were cleared and the Metropolitan Police instead focused on allegations against 20 serving or former Customs officials.Last week, the six-year inquiry was dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service said it was not in the public interest to continue, and that there was no realistic chance of a conviction.Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP who has been heavily involved in pursuing Government action over the case, said last night: ‘There has been gross criminality which has resulted in the Government losing an astronomical amount of money and lots of evidence of horrific failure by the authorities. ‘It is utterly disgraceful that this has all now been dropped. No one at a senior level has ever been held to account for this. ‘The truth is, those responsible have got away with it; both the criminals and the officers who failed in their responsibilities to pursue it effectively.’Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Mawer of the Met said: ‘As our investigation is concluded, the matters will be referred to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to consider whether any action is required.’

Marcelle Kearney, 18, of Pine Bluff faces charges of furnishing a prohibited article into a correctional facility and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Prosecutors say Kearney was searched by guards after they received information that he was bringing contraband into the prison.Prosecutors say Kearney removed a sock containing five packages of tobacco and two bags of marijuana that had been concealed near his groin.Jefferson County Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr. set Kearney’s bond at $2,500 during a hearing Friday. Kearney later bonded out of jail.

Privacy Policy (site specific)
Privacy Policy :This blog may from time to time collect names and/or details of website visitors. This may include the mailing list, blog comments sections and in various sections of the Connected Internet site.These details will not be passed onto any other third party or other organisation unless we are required to by government or other law enforcement authority.If you contribute content, such as discussion comments, to the site, your contribution may be publicly displayed including personally identifiable information.Subscribers to the mailing list can unsubscribe at any time by writing to info (at) copsandbloggers@googlemail.com. This site links to independently run web sites outside of this domain. We take no responsibility for the privacy practices or content of such web sites.This site uses cookies to save login details and to collect statistical information about the numbers of visitors to the site.We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and would like to know your options in relation to·not having this information used by these companies, click hereThis site is suitable for all ages, but not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years old.This policy will be updated from time to time. If we make significant changes to this policy after that time a notice will be posted on the main pages of the website.

"My husband and I will never have another happy day for the rest of our lives. Life has lost its meaning for us," said the victim's mother, who sobbed as Ouslander recapped the night her 38-year-old daughter was killed. Lane confessed to detectives that he parked his rig at a truck stop off Route 78 in Bloomsbury and went into town checking for unlocked doors. He said he found the entrance to Massaro's home wide open, entered, and murdered the woman after they scuffled in her bedroom. State Police discovered Massaro's body after troopers were asked to go to her home to check on her well-being. Mahon said he didn't understand how Lane, a father of two young girls, could inflict such "evil." Lane's public defender, Peter Abatemarco, said there was no explanation, noting his client had no previous record. Lane is to return to Massachusetts next week, where he is serving 25 years for attacking a 15-year-old girl in her home in suburban Boston, just hours after Massaro was killed.
Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes was the first to spot similarities between the attack on the teenager and Massaro's murder. Detective Jeffrey Farneski from the prosecutor's office and State Police Detective Geoffrey Noble later convinced Lane to give a video-recorded confession. Massaro's mother credited the law enforcement officers who finally stopped Lane, using a cryptic reference to a DVD movie, "Hunting Humans," that was found in his truck. "Without them," she said of the officers, "he might still be hunting humans."
admitted killer never turned to face his victim's family yesterday when he was sentenced to 50 years in state prison for the murder of a woman in her Hunterdon County home. Trucker Adam Leroy Lane also didn't look at the investigators who caught him and were present in a Flemington courtroom to see him convicted in the July 29, 2007, slaying of Monica Massaro. State Superior Court Judge Roger Mahon received no final statement from Lane, and noted he saw no remorse from the man, except over the fact that he was captured for the grisly crime. "Putting him to death would be too good for him. I hope that he will suffer every day for what he has done and never taste freedom again," Massaro's mother, Fay, said in a prepared statement that was read for her in court by a victims' advocate.
Lane, 44, of North Carolina admitted he parked his rig at a truck stop in Bloomsbury sometime during the night Massaro was killed, entered her home, slit her throat and watched her die. He also confessed that he butchered her body to make it look like a more maniacal person attacked the woman. First Assistant Prosecutor Charles Ouslander insisted Lane intended to kill, and showed no mercy. "I ask that the court show no mercy toward the defendant now," Ouslander told the judge. The state successfully sought to keep Lane in jail for the rest of his life, by tacking on the conviction to a 25-year sentence he already is serving in Massachusetts for a similar but unrelated attack on a 15-year-old girl. Massaro's murder, according to authorities, capped off a July 2007 string of slayings along his truck route from Virginia to New England. Investigators have labeled Lane a serial killer, and charged him with a second killing near Harrisburg, Pa., a little more than two weeks before Massaro was murdered. Darlene Ewalt was stabbed to death from behind as she sat on the rear patio of her home in West Hanover on July 13, 2007, according to police.

Nancy Kissel lost an appeal against a conviction for murdering her investment banker husband in 2003 for which she was imprisoned for life in Hong Kong.Justice Michael Stuart-Moore announced the decision by the three judges who heard the case in the Court of Appeal today after almost five months of deliberation. Nancy, 44, plans to take the case to the city's Court of Final Appeal, her lawyers and family said.
Nancy Kissel was sentenced to life in 2005 for killing millionaire Merrill Lynch & Co. banker Robert Kissel, and hiding his body in a carpet in a storeroom. The prosecution said she drugged his milkshake then battered him with an ornament.She admitted to killing him, saying he was abusive. Her lawyers appealed on grounds that she had been improperly cross- examined in the trial regarding statements made on her behalf for her bail application; the trial judge erred in allowing ``hearsay'' evidence based on conversations between Robert Kissel and various witnesses; the trial judge misdirected the jury on whether she acted in response to provocation.
``This was as cogent a case of murder as might be imagined,'' Stuart-Moore and fellow justices Frank Stock and A. R. Wright wrote in a 271-page judgment. ``In the welter of arguments and details that have been churned in the course of this case, both at first instance and upon appeal, the wood is in danger of being obscured by the trees.''The Court of Appeal justices found no merit in those grounds and others raised by Kissel, the judgment said. There was ``no material misdirection or irregularity'' in the trial, and ``none would have affected the inevitability of a conviction,'' they wrote.Nancy Kissel's mother, Jean McGlothlin, described herself as ``disappointed'' that her daughter didn't ``get more support from these three justices.'' Speaking outside the court building in a trembling voice, she added that her daughter hadn't received ``a completely fair hearing'' from the very beginning.
``We just do what we need to do next,'' she said. ``We know this case has merit in the Court of Final Appeal.''Simon Clarke, a defense lawyer for Nancy Kissel, said the case might be heard in the Court of Final Appeal in six to nine months.
In the original murder trial, the prosecution pointed to the value of Robert Kissel's $18 million estate, made up of stocks, life insurance polices, cash and real estate. Nancy Kissel was the beneficiary of her husband's will and life insurance policies, prosecution evidence showed.The Kissels were married in 1989 in the U.S. and later moved to Hong Kong. Nancy Kissel is serving her sentence at the Tai Lam Women's Prison in Hong Kong's New Territories, close to the Chinese border.
The Court of Appeal justices said there are no reasonable arguments against key ``central and clear'' facts, including that Robert Kissel consumed a milkshake before his death prepared by Nancy Kissel. Five drugs, including four prescribed for Nancy in the 10 days before the killing, were found in her husband's stomach.
Nancy Kissel obtained the drugs from two doctors without divulging to either she had consulted the other. She had searched Web sites for side-effects of drugs.
Nancy Kissel would be well provided for in the event of her husband's death and was having an affair with a man in the U.S. around the time of the killing, they added.
Nancy Kissel claimed she acted in self-defense against her husband who attacked her with a baseball bat. Yet she didn't mention the baseball bat to the police when she made a report and upon her arrest. Neither did she mention the baseball bat to her family, domestic helpers, a family friend, a doctor and a colleague of her husband's.
Instead, she told ``a variety of lies to all who enquired'' to explain Robert Kissel's absence, the judgment said.
Forensic evidence suggested Robert Kissel was lying on his bed when the fatal blows were dealt to his head. His body bore no sign of defensive wounds, the justices said.
Neither work colleagues, family friends and relatives on either side, nor domestic helpers were aware of Robert Kissel's alleged drinking, drug problems or past abuse of Nancy Kissel, they said. There was no mention of violence or sexual abuse in Nancy Kissel's diaries.Nancy appeared in court today pale and clad in black. At the end of the session, she had to be helped out of the court room by two female officers.Her mother described Kissel as ``very fragile'' and often transported in a wheelchair because of a knee problem. ``But her spirit is strong, her will is strong,'' she added.The family and Kissel aren't allowed to communicate through phone calls though often write, she said.

Armed men stole five small planes from a private airstrip in the north-western Mexican state of Sinaloa on Tuesday by overpowering a police officer and flying away, security forces said. The group of around 20 men stormed the small airstrip at dawn, seized the officer's gun, tied him up, filled the planes with fuel and flew off, said Emma Quiroz, spokeswoman for the government's anti-organized crime operations in Sinaloa.It was not clear if there was a link to drug gangs who use small aircraft to spirit cocaine through northern Mexico towards the United States. Quiroz's office said it was investigating whether any authorities had been complicit in the theft.The office said in a statement that it was "taking the necessary actions to determine the whereabouts of these airplanes and the criminals who took part in the robbery."The five planes were taken from a hangar at an unpaved airstrip belonging to a fumigation company in the town of Navolato. They had been taken out of service earlier this year by the army on the grounds they presented irregularities that violated civil aviation and airport laws.The army, which is battling drug cartels up and down Mexico and especially in northern states with smuggling routes north, has confiscated 245 small planes and helicopters since November 2007, Mexican media reported.Sinaloa is one of the most violent states in a nearly two-year-old war between rival drug gangs and security forces which has killed some 3,000 people so far this year.Small planes are used legitimately in the state to spray farm crops with pesticides and to eradicate marijuana fields with chemicals from the air.

OJ Simpson has been found guilty on 12 charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to kidnap and assault with a deadly weapon by a court in the US city of Las Vegas.
The former US football star and actor was accused of robbing two sports memorabilia dealers a year ago.
The armed robbery charges carry a mandatory jail sentence, and kidnapping carries a possible life term.

Gary Glitter has a million pounds bounty on his head if he ever leaves the UK for Spain.Glitter had made plans to start a new life on the Costa Del Sol, but when gangland bosses heard of it, they vowed that they would kill him if he ever set foot in Spain.If Gary Glitter sets foot in Spain, hes dead. One of the biggest British gangsters in Spain is so concerned about him trying to start a new life over here he has offered 1million pounds to anyone who takes him out, Daily Star quoted a gangland source as saying.
What he has done to all those kids is just disgusting and he should be locked up for life. But as the courts have decided to set him free, people over here have decided to take the law into their own hands…and there are plenty of people who would be happy to kill him.The money is just a bonus. Most of the gangsters would be happy to bump him off for nothing, the source stated.Glitter, 64, was planning to buy a posh pad in Puerto Banus in Marbella, but was stopped by police from going to Spain via France last week, and a Foreign Travel Order was granted banning him from leaving the country.The area is a popular celebrity spot, and Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, had been hoping to lose himself among them, but the area also happens to house a number of families with young children, making drug barons and gangsters, who run the resort, want him out.There are a lot of guys out here who are violent men on the run from the police in the UK. They have nothing to lose by wiping out Glitter, the source revealed.No one wants him here and even though these are bad guys, they care about kids and they dont want him preying on the youngsters who come here for a nice holiday, the source added.Glitter has been banned from travelling to France or Spain by Ashford magistrates.

O.J. Simpson is being isolated from other prisoners for his own safety but he continues to hope for a new trial after his conviction for kidnapping and robbery, his attorney said Sunday.Simpson will be held in the Clark County Detention Center until his Dec. 5 sentencing, and then is expected to be moved to state prison. Galanter said he will pursue a request for Simpson to be released on bond during the appeals process. But because of the seriousness of the charges, Simpson would probably remain in jail during an appeal. Galanter said an appeal cannot be filed until after sentencingAttorney Yale Galanter said Simpson will be living a lonely life, advised by his lawyers to do no media interviews and allowed to see only family members and a few friends placed on a special list at the jail.
"He's disappointed and a bit melancholy," he said.If he doesn't win a new trial or an appeal, at the very least he's looking at six years in a state prison facility, and at worst, life behind bars.