Police raids lead to arrest of 29 ‘vicious’ gang members

By Paul Peachey

Senior members of one of the country’s most notorious gangs have been arrested after expanding their drug-dealing operations outside of their south London stronghold to target lucrative new markets, police said yesterday.

29 members of the Brixton-based GAS (Guns and Shanks) were arrested during a series of raids in London, the Home Counties and Edinburgh which netted cocaine, heroin and £5,000 in cash.

The gang has been linked to a series of gun attacks including the shooting of Thusha Kamaleswaran, who was aged five in 2011, when she was caught in the crossfire of a gang feud and badly injured. Three men were jailed for life for shooting the girl who was hit as they pursued a rival from the ABM (All Bout Money) gang into her uncle’s shop where she was playing.

The police raids were the latest phase of an operation targeting the gang which has seen 88 alleged members arrested. It is part of a wider two-year campaign by Scotland Yard to tackle some 3,500 members of an estimated 250 gangs active in the capital.

The force said that some 1,300 gang members were now either in prison or subject to orders that banned them from certain areas, or meeting with former criminal associates, to try to stem the violence.

Officers say the operation has had led to a sharp cut in gun and knife crime and may be responsible for shifting some of their operations outside of the capital. The arrests yesterday followed an operation last year against another gang, the Woolwich Boys based in south-east London, that saw young members carry drugs out of the capital on trains to sell from a house in the Medway Towns, Kent.

“I think gangs are feeling the heat in London but they’re seeing opportunities for working outside,” said Commander Steve Rodhouse, who is in charge of the Trident gang crime unit.

The raids yesterday by 700 officers targeted family members and contacts of GAS gang members in places including Edinburgh, Essex, Bedfordshire, Reading and Bracknell.

They were held on allegations including intent to supply class-A drugs and money laundering. The gang has been linked to drug dealing, gun crime, stabbings and attacks on rival neighbourhood gangs.

“They’re vicious, untrustworthy and volatile,” said a former gang member. “It’s curtains for anyone who gets in their way.”

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-raids-lead-to-arrest-of-29-vicious-gang-members-9097379.html

Manitoba Canada law to seize booze from party houses, kick gang members out of bars

Manitoba is proposing a new law giving police officers the power to seize alcohol from a booze can or kick a known gang member out of licensed bar or restaurant even though no crime has been committed.
City of Winnipeg Minister Kevin Chief said Thursday the province is trying to balance the rights of individuals as well as keeping the community safe.

Police also say it will give them the edge in shutting down chronic party houses and keeping gang members in check — removing the onus that’s currently put on frustrated neighbours or a restaurant owner who fears reprisals if they ask a gang member to leave their premise.
Winnipeg police Staff Sgt. Kelly Dennison said the new law takes it up a notch from what’s already on the books in Alberta.

Police in that province have had the authority to remove gang members from licensed establishments since 2010.
Manitoba’s version will include known violent criminals and allow police to remove them if they believe there is a risk to public safety.
Dennison said police and Manitoba Justice have done their homework to ensure the proposed legislation escapes any court challenge.
“The research that went into this legislation was extensive. As in the Criminal Code or any legislation we deal with, people challenge it on a daily basis. All we can do is to try to use this new legislation, interpret it properly, so we don’t get that.”
Dennison said the experience in Alberta in most situations is that gang members are aware of the law and leave a licensed premise voluntarily when an officer approaches them.
Scott Jocelyn of Manitoba Restaurant & Food Services Association said he welcomed the proposed changes, but added how it will be put into practice will determine whether it’s a benefit to the industry.
“The average employee gets to know their customers, but I don’t think they’re going to know, ‘OK, that’s a gang member,“’ he said. “I don’t know how you would know someone was trouble. You certainly wouldn’t want to call police and say, ‘Hey, I got a gut feeling.“’

The new measures are part of a push to modernize the province’s liquor laws and will be administered by the new Manitoba Liquor and Gaming Authority. The province expects to have a new act in place by 2014.

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Police reach out to community programs to help stop gang violence

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS): USA
Columbia police officers took time from patrolling Thursday to talk to young kids about the importance of staying away from the street life.
"It's very easy to get into trouble sometimes, but it's very hard to get out of it," said Lance Adams with the Columbia Police Department's Gang Prevention Unit. "And you know how you start? You start by telling the truth."
Officers spoke to the Youth at Prosperity Project's tutoring program.
United State Attorney Bill Nettles was also there to stress the importance of constant, positive programs to combat gangs.

"If we're going to address the gang issue, we can't be chasing incidents," Nettles said. "We have to decide we're going to go where the gangs are, we're going to have a presence and stay there and effect positive change. We can't wait for a shooting and it be a knee-jerk reaction. This is a long term problem. It needs to be addressed with a long term solution and community involvement is the only way to do it."
Adams said they have to empower children and give them the courage to say no to violence.
"I try to come here and educate and empower the kids and tell them about gang prevention and how to stay out of a gang and give them tools on what they can do to say no to gang activity and just try to put them on a different path," Adams said.
Prosperity project is an after-school program in the Lyon Street community. They meet at Friendship Baptist Church several times each week providing recreation and tutoring to kids.

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NYPD: Gang Broke into 125 Pharmacies to Steal Drugs, Using Bentley as Getaway Car.

Using crowbars and axes, a street gang broke into 125 pharmacies to steal millions in prescription drugs for resale on the streets, NYPD officials said Wednesday. The scheme was so profitable, police said, that the robbers were able to buy a $200,000 Bentley to use as a getaway car.
Investigators said the 13 men broke in through ceilings and walls to pull off the heists and wore gloves and masks to avoid detection, often making off with a pharmacy’s supply of oxycodone. Pharmacies across the city were among the targets.

The suspects are accused of using the ill-gotten cash to buy cars, jewelry, watches and diamonds. Prosecutors submitted photos to the court of some of the suspects flashing wads of cash.
Federal prosecutors said cellphone records, a cooperating witness, video surveillance by police and even DNA evidence left behind at some scenes links the suspects to the burglary ring.
The suspects bought police scanners and each break-in had a lookout to help the gang monitor if police were onto them. FBI agents joined NYPD Major Case detectives in making the arrests Wednesday morning.
“Criminals who exploit drug addiction for profit will be pursued and prosecuted,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.
In addition to stealing prescription drugs, the crew allegedly stole cash, laptops and cell phones. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara asked a federal judge to hold many of the 13 the suspects without bail, citing their risk of flight. Bharara accused the ring of contributing to the “growing prescription drug abuse epidemic” by selling the stolen drugs out on the street.
Charges include conspiracy to burglarize pharmacies, narcotics trafficking and three suspects face obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to intimidate a witness.
Information on lawyers for the suspects was not immediately available



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