-from timesdispatch.com-

By Matthew Barakat

He faces life in prison for killing an MS-13 member in 2004

McLEAN — The leader of a local clique of the MS-13 gang was convicted yesterday of murder and racketeering in the 2004 shooting of a fellow gang member.

Wilfredo “Nino” Montoya Baires, 27, of Reston shot and killed Jose Escobar in August 2004 inside a Manassas home after falsely suspecting Escobar of cooperating with police.

Baires faces a mandatory term of life in prison when he is formally sentenced Dec. 15 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. Prosecutors elected not to pursue capital punishment.

Baires was a leader of the SLS clique of MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, a gang with roots in El Salvador that has been responsible for multiple killings and assaults, including machete attacks, in the region in recent years.

Two defendants in the case — Wilfredo Lopez-Lopez and Fredy Escobar — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder in the aid of racketeering and face up to 10 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 1.

According to trial evidence, the gang voted to “green light,” or kill, Jose Escobar at the request of leaders Fredy Escobar and Baires.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have obtained 11 convictions of MS-13 members on charges related to murder, and 10 have been sentenced to life in prison. Other gang members have been prosecuted on immigration, drugs and weapons charges.

Fredy Escobar and Baires initially were charged with murder in Prince William County before the case shifted to federal court.

That case was hindered when a relative of the victim who witnessed the attack recanted statements to police after saying his family in El Salvador had received threats.

After the relative changed his story, local prosecutors had to drop murder charges against another man, Reynaldo Alexander Cordova of Falls Church, who had been accused of standing guard outside the house while the murder took place. Cordova has not been recharged.

-fdrom chroniclet.com-

By Adam Wright

Multi-Million Dollar cocaine ring shut down, with seven arrests

CLEVELAND — Authorities broke up the “largest and most violent drug operation” in the county with arrests on Thursday and Friday, cutting off a drug supply from a group they said was selling 30 kilograms of cocaine each month.
Seven men were arrested in Lorain and Elyria following a 10-month investigation, U.S. Attorney Greg White said, capping off a 10-month investigation by law enforcement agencies throughout Northeast Ohio.
All seven were charged in connection with the sale and distribution of cocaine and heroin to customers in Lorain and western Cuyahoga counties. Each man is in the custody of U.S. Marshals at jails throughout the area and faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison if convicted, White said.
Standing behind a table filled with 27 kilograms of cocaine, which has an estimated street value of $2.5 million, and baggies full of wadded-up $100 bills, White said the men were arrested between 3 p.m. Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday. Some were in Lorain, he said, others were apprehended at the Elyria Holiday Inn.
The alleged ringleader, Marcos Marcano, 26, of 202 E. 23rd St. in Lorain, was picked up during a traffic stop, according to an FBI spokesman.
Marcano would purchase between 27 to 30 kilograms of cocaine each month from distributors in California and Mexico and then sell it all to his cohorts, White said. The other men would then sell the drugs locally after cutting them with chemicals, doubling their stash and profit.
Authorities are still trying to determine how long the group had been operating.
“This was one of the most sophisticated operations in terms of their shrewdness,” White said. “Marcano ruled his neighborhood by intimidation and fear. They used multiple hotel rooms, multiple phones and multiple vehicles to elude detection.”
Authorities suspected Marcano was starting to catch on to their investigation, which is why they moved so swiftly to capture everyone, the FBI spokesman said. Fifteen packages of cocaine were confiscated at the Holiday Inn — where a distributor from California was staying — while two handguns and $40,000 in cash were taken from Marcano’s home, he said.
White said it wasn’t the largest supply of drugs ever confiscated in the area, but it will put a large dent in the region’s drug trade.
“This made a major impact on drug trafficking,” he said. “This was the largest and most violent (drug operation) in Lorain County and Marcano was a renowned drug supplier.”
More charges and arrests are expected in the coming months, he said, including a California man suspected of aiding with the distribution of cocaine.
Members of the Lorain and Elyria police departments, the county Drug Task Force, county prosecutor’s office, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Caribbean Gang Task Force aided in the investigation.

-from 9news.com-

By Sara Gandy

Authorities say 23 officers and deputies rounded up nine suspects during a two-and-a-half-hour-long sweep that got under way at 6:30 Friday morning. The tenth is already serving 18 months in prison for his role in a separate drug case last year.

Four of those arrested Friday are related: 58-year-old Zobeida Garcia; her 26-year-old daughter, 38-year-old son and 48-year-old sister.

Bond is set at $50,000 dollars for all of the suspects except the daughter. Sabrina Ocanas is being held without bond pending district court advisement of the charges against her.

Fort Morgan and Brush police, the Morgan County sheriff’s office, and the Eastern Colorado Plains Drug Task Force teamed up to crack down on the sale of methamphetamine in the area.

Two other suspects are still at large.

-from thestar.com-

By Betsy Powell & John Duncanson

It was a Hells Angel traitor who led police to their most siginificant busts in Ontario history and it’s not over yet, the OPP confirmed today.

The joint forces investigation resulted in 27 arrests yesterday, including 15 Hells Angels members and one Vagabond.

Police seized about $1-million in assets including more than $470,000 in cash, $300,000 in vehicles and $140,000 in motorcycles.

DALE BRAZAO/TORONTO STAR

The front of the Hells Angels’ clubhouse on Eastern Ave. in Toronto.

“We’ve hit them hard and now they have to look over their shoulders,” said Det. Supt. Don Bell of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Police across the GTA said at a news conference today that they have identified seemingly legitimate businessees and they are working to seize them.

Project Tandem also resulted in the arrest of two Oshawa bikers charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Sources told the Star that the intended was a recruiter for the defunct Bandidos bike gang.

The investigation also resulted in first-degree murder charges in an unrelated 1999 murder of a Cobourg man.

PETER EDWARDS PHOTO

Hells Angel Remond Akleh at is seen at a Hells Angels National convention in July 2002. Akleh was one of the bikers arrested in an OPP raid Sept. 28.

-from chicagotribune.com-

An international drug ring supplied heroin from the African country of Ghana to Chicago and other Midwest cities, authorities said today when announcing nine arrests in the case.

“Operation C-Charlie” resulted in the recovery of 760 grams of crack cocaine, various other drugs and more than $93,600 in cash, along with federal charges against six drug dealers, police said.

-from wbay.com-

A month-long Brown County Drug Task Force investigation resulted in taking $200,000 worth of cocaine off the street.According to investigators, large amounts of cocaine distributed from a house in Bellevue, outside Green Bay, initially came from Chicago.

In addition to confiscating four-and-a-half pounds of cocaine, authorities also seized two semi-automatic handguns.

Five people were arrested.

-from newday.com-

CORAM, N.Y. (AP) _ Four men who propositioned a female police officer posing as a prostitute have been arrested, police said Thursday.

The undercover operation was conducted Wednesday to address quality of life crimes in Coram, which has a population of about 34,000 people, Suffolk County police said.

The undercover officer was propositioned for various sex acts by the men, who ranged in age from 38 to 59. The men were charged with patronizing a prostitute.

In August, Suffolk officials arrested 20 men in a sting in neighboring Bay Shore. Police spokesman Robert Boden said such operations are frequent in the county.

“It’s the oldest profession in the world; it goes on everywhere,” he said. “But it’s a quality of life issue. It wrecks neighborhoods, so we have to watch out for it.”

-from newday.com-

CORAM, N.Y. (AP) _ Four men who propositioned a female police officer posing as a prostitute have been arrested, police said Thursday.

The undercover operation was conducted Wednesday to address quality of life crimes in Coram, which has a population of about 34,000 people, Suffolk County police said.

The undercover officer was propositioned for various sex acts by the men, who ranged in age from 38 to 59. The men were charged with patronizing a prostitute.

In August, Suffolk officials arrested 20 men in a sting in neighboring Bay Shore. Police spokesman Robert Boden said such operations are frequent in the county.

“It’s the oldest profession in the world; it goes on everywhere,” he said. “But it’s a quality of life issue. It wrecks neighborhoods, so we have to watch out for it.”