Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia entered not guilty plea Monday in federal court

Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia entered not guilty plea Monday in federal court in Brooklyn and was ordered held without bail.U.S. prosecutors allege that Ramirez Abadia was a leader of a Colombian cartel that shipped cocaine worth $10 billion into the United States between 1990 and 2003.They also say Ramirez Abadia, whose nickname is "Lollipop," played key roles in the killings of rivals.He was captured last year in Brazil, where he was living in a luxurious home.

Asian crime gang responsible for trafficking heroin between Adelaide and Melbourne have been arrested following raids on two Henley Beach homes

Asian crime gang responsible for trafficking heroin between Adelaide and Melbourne have been arrested following raids on two Henley Beach homes.Five people, including three South Australians, were arrested and charged with trafficking heroin after police swooped on an alleged “buy” on on Saturday.During separate raids on a Seaview Rd home and a Henderson St home police seized 250 grams of high-grade heroin, cash and a vehicle worth $20,000. A cutting agent for the drug was also found at one of the homes.Three South Australians - a Croydon Park man, 38, a Grange man, 23, and a Gepps Cross man, 23 - were charged with trafficking heroin between Adelaide and Melbourne.Two people from interstate were also arrested - a woman from Deer Park in Victoria, 30, and a man from Cabramatta in New South Wales, 44.Police allege the man from Croydon Park and the man from Cabramatta were the principal agents in the drug ring.

Spanish police were waiting yesterday to interview 39-year-old Peter Mitchell

Spanish police were waiting yesterday to interview 39-year-old Peter Mitchell, who is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries. Mitchell, who fled to Spain in 1996, had been one of a number of gangsters targeted in a major state operation against the Gilligan gang.Security sources in the Republic last night linked the murder bid on the Spanish coast to a new campaign by rival Irish criminals against Gilligan and his associates. Earlier this month it was revealed that Gilligan was receiving 24-hour protection inside Portlaoise to safeguard him from other prisoners.
Rival criminals are angry over his recent interview in Irish pop magazine Hot Press, via a mobile phone. This contributed to a security crackdown, which has affected the operations of other gang leaders inside. A Gardai source said: 'Up until then, a number of jailed criminals were still able to run their empires from inside. Now they can't communicate with their teams and they blame Gilligan for that.'Gilligan was badly beaten up by a young Dublin criminal in front of other inmates. And these rivals are not just prepared to go after him it seems; they have the team and the firepower to hunt down the remaining members of his old gang, most of whom are now in Spain.'

Jennifer Metcalfe escaped injury yesterday after being caught up in a gunfight at the Spanish resort's Nikki Beach Club

Jennifer Metcalfe escaped injury yesterday after being caught up in a gunfight at a Marbella nightclub.The 25-year-old actress was partying with friends at the Spanish resort's Nikki Beach Club during a break in filming when the 'pandemonium' began.A gun fight broke out around 2am and two men – thought to be British – were shot.
Witnesses commented that a group of British friends exchanged blows with another group of men and "attacked each other with broken bottles".Then a throng of clubbers including Jennifer ran in panic to the doors after hearing gunshots.
Another witness added: "It was like the Wild West. Everybody dived for cover."
Jennifer - who plays Mercedes McQueen in Hollyoaks - left the club in tears as the victims were taken to hospital.One of them, a 42-year-old, reportedly needed surgery to remove two bullets from his leg. Nikki Beach is popular with sports stars, TV personalities and Z-List celebrities who flock to the resort each yearThe shooting is the second in two days in the Marbella area.

Nikki Beach in Marbella 42 year old man, shot twice in the legs.

Nikki Beach in Marbella in the early hours of Saturday morning. Two people were injured in the incident which happened at 0205, with one of them, a 42 year old man, being shot twice in the legs. There are no details as to the extent of the other victim’s injuries.

Lawrence White, signed to 50 Cent's G-Unit records, is described by authorities as a "top shot caller" in the Colton City Crips gang

The 33-year-old White, signed to 50 Cent's G-Unit records, is described by authorities as a "top shot caller" in the Colton City Crips gang they're seeking to banish from the neighborhood it has claimed for decades. Eighteen of almost 60 alleged members were served with injunction papers this week -- but not White, who wasn't in town. Still, he's named in the filings as a frequent trespasser at the Arbor Terrace Apartments, glorifying thug life to children by filming videos there. White "He is one of these guys that believe he's untouchable due to the fact that he does have some money," wrote Colton police Cpl. Shawn McFarland, who worked in the department's gang detail on the proposed injunction. "There's no doubt that he's still active." Prosecutors typically use everything from tattoos to photographs seized in search warrants to convince to a judge that people should be included in a civil gang injunction. The rapper, whose name is a reference to a .40-caliber Glock handgun, misspelled to avoid the CK abbreviation for "Crips killer," said police are confusing his art with reality. "You can't say I'm a Colton City Crip from my entertainment," White said by phone earlier this week. His recording persona is no worse an influence on children than the killing machines played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1980s movies, he said. He dismissed use of his online videos and interviews to incriminate him. "What?" he asked. "I don't have to see no 12 jurors, but I'm just guilty like that?" If the injunction is approved, White and other alleged Colton City Crips could be arrested for setting foot in Arbor Terrace at Mill Street and Rancho Avenue, or the SB Liquor Market across the street. Most no longer live there, but the complex is a base for the gang's elaborate drug operation, using lookouts and trashcans to hide contraband, according to surveillance footage included with the proposed injunction. SB Liquor has long been the gang's staging area, authorities say. Although White has had only one conviction in San Bernardino County in the past decade -- for unlawful use of a driver's license -- his public image is that of a hardened street tough. In a 2006 interview with hip-hop magazine "Baller Status," in which he said his real name was Tory Gasaway, he reflects on growing up at Arbor Terrace, commonly known as "The Zoo."
"You got to ride around with pistols or risk getting gunned down," he told the interviewer. "I done got shot, been shot at, done the shooting." Records show that that White was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer in 1996, but was not charged. He said he was wounded during a shootout with Colton police at Arbor Terrace, but denied firing a gun. On videos posted on YouTube, 40 Glocc is seen assaulting a pedestrian over a bandana representing a rival gang, doing a Crips strut known as a "C-Walk," and greeting a friend who displays a handgun. Alternately, he raps about politics and is seen pointing out children at Arbor Terrace playing in a poorly maintained, flooded playground. Police and prosecutors who crafted the proposed gang injunction said he is trying to have it both ways. "He straddles this line and tries to keep enough street credibility yet seem like he's in legitimate business," said Lead Deputy District Attorney Mark Vos.
Colton police gang Officer Mike Collins, who knows White from contacts at Arbor Terrace, doesn't buy claims that 40 Glocc, who has recorded with Eminem, is fictional. "He's not a rapper trying to be a gangster, he's a gangster trying to be a rapper," Collins said. "He is what he says." Colton police have proof White still visits Arbor Terrace, where men can be seen on surveillance video dealing crack cocaine in broad daylight, in the presence of children. A video shot last year shows the rapper among them, walking up to a red car and exchanging money with a woman.
The position of the camera and car make it impossible to see whether drugs changed hands. White laughed at the idea of the tape being used against him. "You got me on tape passing somebody some money?" he asked. "That means they were going to the store. The people there are happy to see me come from nothing and go to something, and I try to help them anyway I can." In their filings, officers describe Colton City Crips throwing Molotov cocktails at Arbor Terrace management for towing their cars, enlisting children as drug lookouts and threatening to burn apartments if residents don't allow them to be used as hideouts. Gang members have been convicted of shooting people for not giving up a cigarette. Whether White participates in that, police say his rap videos and presence at the complex help the gang's cause. Police said that as recently as May, White was at Arbor Terrace at 2 a.m. with a reputed gang leader nicknamed "Corleone." "He perpetuates the myth that that the Arbor Terrace is known in the street as 'The Zoo,'" wrote Colton police Sgt. Eric Miller. "This enhances the gang's identity and perpetuates the lore that the gang owns the place and does what it wants there."
SB Liquor Market is in the injunction for the same reason, prosecutors said. One 40 Glocc music video shows men staging a mass theft of Corona beer, blue Crips bandanas hanging from their pants pockets.
They all shake White's hand as he nonchalantly leans against the front window.
"Everybody knows that guy," said SB Liquor owner Imad Kahala, whose brother, a clerk, is an actor in the video, chasing after the gang. "But I don't know what they've been doing after they leave my business."

Gunned down in separate incidents were identified as Sterling Junior Richards,Osei Christian, and Keagan John

Gunned down in separate incidents were identified as Sterling Junior Richards, 20, of Lovell Place; Osei Christian, 27, of Rebecca Trace, Building 22 and Keagan John, 24, of Canada. Three murders committed within a two-hour period on Tuesday night in Laventille, have brought the overall murder toll to 342 for the year, 47 less than the total murders committed for 2007. For this week there have been seven murders.The first incident occurred at about 7.30 pm, when according to a police report, Richards was at L’eau Place liming when he was shot dead by a man.
In this incident, two other persons were also shot and wounded. The two, one of whom was identified only as ‘Trevor’ were taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where they were treated and warded in satisfactory condition. In the second incident, at about 8.45 pm, Christian was standing outside his home in the presence of relatives when he was shot by a man. Christian was taken to the city hospital where he was pronounced dead-on-arrival. John, in the third incident, was walking along a road in Canada at about 9.15 pm, police said, when three masked men ran out from behind an area commonly known as ‘the Plannings’ and opened gunfire, killing him instantly. An investigating officer told Newsday they believe John’s murder was a reprisal for Monday’s killing of Andy James, 30, who also lived in the Canada area. No arrests have been made in the Tuesday murders. Richards’ father Sterlin Brown, 46, said he was told that his son’s murder may have stemmed from an argument he had with another man on Saturday. “I am not sure why my son was killed because I am hearing a lot of things. “Look, I was just told that he had an argument on Saturday with somebody,” Brown said. “Sterling was a cool going fella but I think that he just got mixed up with the wrong set of people,” he added. When asked what was his concern about the seemingly ‘out of control’ crime rate in the country, Brown replied, “The Government may be trying but I don’t think that they trying their best. Crime is something that they cannot stop entirely but I don’t think that they doing their best.” On Monday, between 3.30 pm and 9 pm murders were committed in Lopinot, the Beetham Highway, D’Abadie and Laven-tille. The victims in Monday’s killing spree were identified as Derrick Paipal, 22; Jhyrone Garrick, 25; security guard Davis Noel, 30, and Andy James, 30, of Canada, Laventille.

Peter Mitchell was shot outside a bar at the Aloha apartment complex in Puerta Banus near Marbella. A masked gunman fired five shots at Mitchell

Peter Mitchell (39), who is originally from Summerhill in Dublin's north inner city, was wounded when a masked gunman opened fire outside a bar on Thursday night. News of the shooting reached gardaí in Ireland yesterday. Mitchell was shot outside a bar at the Aloha apartment complex in Puerta Banus near Marbella. A masked gunman fired at least five shots at Mitchell wounding him twice in the arm and shoulder.
Two other men, one in his 40s and a pensioner, also sustained minor injuries in the shooting. It was unclear last night if the two injured men were with Mitchell or if they were shot in the crossfire during the suspected gangland attack.
However, the Garda's inquiries with Spanish police indicate Mitchell was the target of the shooting and the incident is being treated as an attempted murder. The Irishman was taken to hospital after the attack and he was still undergoing medical treatment last night. His injuries are not life threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery. The nationalities of the other two injured men had not been established by gardaí last night. It is understood Spanish police have already spoken to Mitchell about what happened. Mitchell had been running a bar in southern Spain until it closed recently. In 2004 he was questioned by police in Holland in connection with the discovery of heroin and ammunition in an apartment in the city. Mitchell was one of a number of young criminals who worked for John Gilligan before their gang was targeted by gardaí following the murder in 1996 of crime journalist Veronica Guerin. Mitchell left Ireland shortly after the murder of Ms Guerin and the inception of the Criminal Assets Bureau. However, he had bought a number of modest properties which were targeted by the bureau in its early days.

He has until recent months kept a relatively low profile in Spain and seldom returns to Ireland. Mitchell was named in court as a member of Gilligan's gang during Gilligan's original drugs trial and his subsequent appeal.

The Supreme Court in a judgment in 2005 held there was evidence before Gilligan's Special Criminal Court drugs trial to justify its conclusions that Gilligan, Charles Bowden, Paul Ward, Brian Meehan, Shay Ward and Peter Mitchell were "a gang" engaged in drug trafficking; that Gilligan was the "prime mover" in the importation of cannabis resin into the country; and that he was the "supreme authority" among the gang members and "the largest beneficiary" of the proceeds of the sale of cannabis resin. Once known as a playground for the rich and famous, Puerto Banus still attracts plenty of wealthy tourists, but these days it is also home to Russian oligarchs, Arab royalty and a number of west Dublin drug barons. Billed as Europe's answer to Las Vegas, the port complex, which is located some 6km outside of Marbella on the Costa del Sol, was built by local developer Jose Banus in 1970 as a luxury marina and shopping haven for the jet-set and super-rich.
Over four million people are estimated to visit the resort of Puerto Banus every year. But while it once attracted the likes of King Juan Carlos of Spain, Hugh Hefner and Julio Iglesias, it has now lost much of its glamour and with it many of the celebrities who used to flock to the port.
In recent years, Irish, British and Russian gangs have vied with local Spanish criminals for command of the lucrative drugs trade which has flourished in the Costa del Sol, with much of it based in or around Puerto Banus.

Four officials of real-estate developer Sama Dubai have been arrested and are being questioned by Dubai’s Public Prosecution,

Four officials of real-estate developer Sama Dubai have been arrested and are being questioned by Dubai’s Public Prosecution, adding to the number of persons under investigation over allegations of bribe-taking and other financial wrongdoings.One of the four people being held is Abdulsalam Almarri, chief executive of the Lagoon project of Sama Dubai, the international real-estate development and investment arm of the government-owned Dubai Holding, said a report by Zawya Dow Jones, citing the documents it saw on Thursday.A Sama Dubai spokesperson said in a phone interview that he is trying to contact the company’s executive chairman, Farhan Faraidooni, who is out of the country, for “confirmation or negation” of the report.
“But as of now I have no information whether this is true or not,” said the spokesperson.On Tuesday a former employee of Nakheel, another company owned by the government, was reported to be under investigation over allegations of bribe-taking, bringing to two the number of persons being investigated in connection with bribery at Nakheel.Nakheel issued a statement on Friday confirming that a current employee was undergoing investigation by authorities for allegedly accepting bribes from another party. But it stressed that no embezzlement had happened in the company.
Dubai’s Public Prosecution issued a statement on Sunday saying that the government has a zero-tolerance policy against corruption, following a series of police probes this year into alleged financial wrongdoings by employees at firms including Tamweel, Dubai Islamic Bank and Deyaar Development.

Giuseppe Coluccio, 42, was arrested in Toronto, where he was living in a luxury flat.

Funeral cortege of two men shot dead in a 'Ndrangheta blood feud in the Calabrian town of San Luca.Dozens have died during 'Ndrangheta blood feuds
ne of Italy's most-wanted fugitives and the alleged head of the Calabrian mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, has been extradited to Rome from Canada.Giuseppe Coluccio, 42, was arrested on 7 August in Toronto, where he was living in a luxury flat.Mr Coluccio, who is accused of mafia association, extortion and drug trafficking, arrived at Rome's Ciampino airport early on Wednesday.He has been to taken to a high-security prison in the capital.Mr Coluccio has been on the run since 2005, when he left the country to avoid arrest. He is alleged to have played a key role in the international trafficking of cocaine and heroin between the US and Canada
When he was tracked down in Toronto, living in a skyscraper overlooking Lake Ontario, he was reported to have Can$1.5m ($1.4m; £750,000) in cash, travellers cheques and jewels in his possession.Italian officials have warned that the Calabrian-based 'Ndrangheta mafia - based on blood ties between interlinked families - poses a greater threat than both the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the Camorra, centred around the city of Naples.The clan's violent activities spilled beyond Italy's borders last year, when six Italians were shot dead in the German city of Duisburg.The bulk of Europe's cocaine is reported to pass through channels controlled by the 'Ndrangheta, which has offshoots and links with crime groups in South America, Canada, Australia and eastern Europe.

Thousands of holidaymakers trying to reach Malaga Airport were caught in six-mile-long traffic jams as police closed the access road to the airport

Thousands of holidaymakers trying to reach Malaga Airport were caught in six-mile-long traffic jams as police closed the access road to the airport to search for an ETA bomb thought to have been planted along a nearby motorway. Tourists landing this afternoon were also prevented from leaving the airport as security services tried to locate the device. A spokesman for EasyJet said: "No-one can reach or leave the airport at the moment. "We haven't been asked to evacuate the airport at the moment but there's not many people to evacuate. "Everyone's pretty calm at the moment but there's no doubt this is going to cause travel chaos around Europe.
"We have a flight which is supposed to be leaving Malaga Airport for Gatwick at 4.50pm local time but it will have to be delayed. "Even if the passengers were here on time, which they're not going to be, there wouldn't be a flight crew. "The air crew and pilot are currently stuck in a hotel near to where the first bomb went off and they can't leave the building to get to the airport. Authorities received warnings of three devices planted across the southern coast, forming part of the Basque's separatist group's summer bombing campaign.Thousands of holidaymakers were evacuated shortly before the first bomb went off around 1pm local time by the Tryp Hotel in Guadalmar Beach near the popular tourist resort of Torremolinos.
An hour later police were forced to evacuate shops and a beach at Benalmadena Port - along with thousands more bathers at the nearby beaches of Malapesquera and Fuente de la Salud - after being alerted to a second bomb. Police said that more than 10,000 people had been evacuated from the yacht marina and three nearby beaches before the second bomb exploded. The bomb had been left near the harbour's underground car park.
Police are on alert for attacks in the Andalusia area of southern Spain after they arrested members of an Eta unit last month and found evidence that the group were planning attacks in the region. The group often set off mainly small bombs in Spanish resorts during the busy summer holiday season to target the tourist industry as part of its four-decade fight for an independent Basque homeland. Last month they detonated a small bomb in the sand near a bustling promenade in Torremolinos, also on the south coast. It followed four small explosions at holiday resorts on Spain's northern coast on July 20 which local authorities blamed on Basque separatists Eta.

Nate Craft former hit man testified against a Detroit drug gang in return for prosecutors reducing a first-degree murder charge

If Nate Craft had his way, he would be living under a new name in a new city far from Detroit.
Instead he's stuck in his Michigan home, peering out the window, wondering whether the next person he sees will try to kill him.
In 1994, the former hit man testified against a Detroit drug gang in return for prosecutors reducing a first-degree murder charge for the killing of a drug dealer.
Released from prison in April, Craft thought he would enter the Witness Protection Program. Not only was he rejected, but his probation requires him to live in Michigan for the next two years. By forcing him to live in the same place as the people he testified against, many of whom were paid killers and already have been released from prison, Craft said his probation amounts to a virtual death sentence.
"You might as well pull the trigger and shoot me now," said Craft, who doesn't want to say where he lives in Michigan because he doesn't want to be found.
The handling of his case raises questions about just how far prosecutors should go to protect criminals, even murderers, who help convict other crooks, legal experts said. Craft, 51, admits he was no angel.
He was one of the most ruthless members of the vicious Best Friends, a hired hit man who killed 30 people in the mid 1980s. He was never charged with the other deaths. Now the tables have been turned. The hunter thinks he is hunted. Craft's federal and state probation officers also believe he's in danger.
"He's in a situation where he's vulnerable," said George Murphy, a Michigan probation officer. "It's not surprising reprisals would be sought by others."
For Craft's safety, both probation officers visit him at home rather than make him travel to their offices. Still, it didn't take long for Craft's old running mates to learn he was out of prison. On his second day of freedom, he was walking out of a grocery store when a man called out his name. He turned around to spy a former accomplice. The man said he would tell Craft's old cohorts that he was back on the street. During his 17 years in federal prison, Craft was in the Witness Protection Program, kept separate from the general population. Upon his release, he applied for the next phase of the program, which would give him a new name and new life somewhere in the United States. But his request was rejected by the Justice Department, which didn't give a reason. A department spokeswoman declined comment. Bill Soisson, an assistant U.S. attorney who supported Craft's request, said a Justice Department official told him the reason Craft was rejected was that he had told a prison psychologist he was going to blow up a federal building. Soisson didn't know which building or why Craft made the threat.
Craft said he never made such a remark. "Why would I say something that ignorant?" he asked. "Do I look like a fool? I ain't no fool." If anyone thought Craft was a fool in the mid-1980s, they kept it to themselves. He was an imposing figure: 6-foot-1, 300 pounds, bald and bearded, with a permanent scowl. By age 10, he committed his first robbery, records show. By 21, he was a twice-convicted felon. By 35, he had spent nearly half his life in prison. In 1984, Craft caught the eye of brothers Reggie and Terry Brown after winning a Toughman boxing contest at Cobo Center.
The Browns were the leaders of a burgeoning drug gang, Best Friends, which was about to ignite a ferocious drug war in Detroit, prosecutors said.
They wanted to know whether Craft could help prepare them for the battle that would follow. Best Friends began as enforcers for drug gangs, later ripped them off and finally killed some of them, Soisson said. Its 25 members didn't know each others' names, only their nicknames: Boogaloo, Ghost, KO, Lunchmeat. Craft was known as Boone because, like Daniel Boone, he was good with a knife. Flush with cash from the sale of crack cocaine, they drove around in Volvos, BMWs and Corvettes. They drank $100 bottles of Dom Perignon. Craft said he tried to instill some discipline in the gang, who often got high before attempted murders, and then go on wild shooting sprees that left holes in each other's clothes.
"They would fire 15 shots and only hit the person with one," he said. "They would be throwing their gun around and shooting innocent bystanders."
Craft taught the gang how to set up a hit by learning the target's daily travel patterns. That way, they could ambush the victim as he left or arrived at home or at work. Dressed in bulletproof vests and body armor suits, they packed M-16 and AK47 rifles and Uzi submachine guns. The gang killed 80 people, which included snitches, competitors, customers who owed money and sometimes family members, prosecutors said.
Members received $10,000 to $30,000 per murder, depending on how much the Brown brothers wanted a target dead. If the price was right, Craft said, he would kill anyone.
But then he turned on the gang after it killed his brother over a drug debt.
During his 1994 testimony against Best Friends, Craft said the gang kept a running list of the people it wanted to kill.
"There was a whole big list of them," he said. "Half the time I wasn't paying too much attention to it. We would just go out and start popping people."
Craft's testimony helped end the decade-long dominance of the gang, Soisson said. Dozens of gang members and associates were convicted of offenses ranging from peddling drugs to murder. When he was trying to get parole in 2002, an assistant Wayne County prosecutor wrote a note on his behalf to the state Department of Corrections.
"He provided invaluable assistance, at great risk to himself, in achieving convictions of a number of individuals in a notorious murder for hire case in federal and state courts," wrote Bob Donaldson. After his rejection for Witness Protection, however, law enforcement officials said there's little they could do for him. Contacted by a reporter, Donaldson said he wasn't involved in Craft's negotiations for the Witness Protection Program and that there was little he could do for him.
Soisson, who supported Craft's bid, inquired about a possible appeal but was told by the Justice Department that the chances were remote.
As for Craft, he now knows what it's like to live scared, to live like a snitch, the type of person he would have killed in the 1980s.
Stuck indoors, he said he feels like he's still in prison. For money, he relies on help from struggling relatives. With the curtains drawn, he sits inside his darkened living room, watching a lot of TV. He occasionally peeks out the window, watching people as they walk by.