'La Barbie' Losing the War For Control Of The Betran-Leyva Cartel

The internal war is raging between Hector Betran-Leyva and "La Barbie" and judging by the trail of bodies it appears that Hector is getting the best of "La Barbie". On April 1st, gang members loyal to 'La Barbie' were found decapitated with a note addressed to 'La Barbie' saying "here are your homosexuals". On April 22nd, more corpses have been found, again with a note. This time the note said that the killers were holding 25 more gang members loyal to 'La Barbie' hostage for 'interrogation and execution'. On April 23rd, a key member of the Betran-Leyva Cartel loyal to 'La Barbie was arrested: Jose Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez — known as "El Indio" or "El Chayan". Vazquez had partnered with 'La Barbie' against Hector in the fight for control of the cartel. It appears that 'La Barbie's' days are numbered...

Heist: 'Termite Gang' Burrows Into 3rd French Bank Reminiscent of the Spaggiari Heist

Last Sunday, March 28th a crew made off with at least £22 million after four men tunneled into the vaults of a central Paris bank on the Avenue de l'Opera. Now, just a week later, another bank has been breached. The thieves weren't able to steal any loot this time, but managed to burrow into the BNP Paribas from an ajoining Metro Station. The police suspect that it is the same gang behind both jobs and have named them 'The Termites'.

These jobs are very reminiscent of the notorious Spaggiari heist, which took place in Nice more than 30 years ago. Albert Spaggiari (pictured above), a self-styled master criminal, targeted a Societe Generale branch by digging into the bank vault from below.

He rented a box in the vault and put a loud alarm clock in it, timing it to go off in the middle of the night to check whether there were any sound alarms.

Later Spaggiari and a team of gangsters recruited from nearby Marseilles spent two months drilling into the vault through a 25-foot tunnel from a nearby sewer. During a long holiday weekend in July 1976 they opened 400 safe deposit boxes and got away with some £6million of cash and jewellery.

In all, the Spaggiari gang spent some four days in the vault, eventually leaving a message scrawled on a wall which read: "Without hatred, without violence, without weapons."

Developing: 'Termite Gang' Tunnels Into French Bank (MSNBC)

Developing: "Termite gangs" tunnel into third French bank (Reuters)

Heist: Another Casino Targeted!

A gang of ten masked men burst into the Basel Grand Casino armed with submachine guns and pistols. The thieves made off with 'hundreds of thousands of francs'. The casino is located in France on the border of Switzerland prompting a cross-border manhunt. This follows the recent heist at a Berlin Casino during a high-stakes poker tournament. In the Berlin case, the robbers were caught, but the money is yet to be recovered.

Developing: Basel's Grand Royal casino raided by armed gang (Gaurdian)

Is the Mexican Government in League with the Sinaloa Cartel?

The Mexican government is facing increasing allegations that it is in collusion with the most powerful cartel in the country, the Sinaloa Cartel. Despite the fact that it is responsible for more than 45% of the drug trade in Mexico, the Sinaloa Cartel, run by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has faced relatively few arrests compared with the competing cartels in the country.

President Calderon, who based his platform on the war against drug cartels, has been accused by many of working with Guzman to help the Sinaloa Cartel gain a monopoly on the drug trade by eliminating many of his competitors, perhaps thinking that it will end the violence associated with the wars between the cartels. It has also been posited that the Sinaloa Cartel has been been facilitating the arrests of many of it's enemies so that Calderon looks good in his fight against organized crime, and at the same time, strengthening its position in the drug trade.

Some have pointed to the Merida Intiative as evidence of the relationship between the government and the Sinaloa Cartel. The Merida Initiative is a security cooperation between the United States and the government of Mexico with the aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational crime and money laundering. To support the Merida Initiative, the U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with $400 million to fight organized crime. Ironically, some of this money has been distributed to the very people that it was given to fight. Among the most eyebrow-raising recipients were three siblings of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and the brother of Guzman's onetime partner, Arturo Beltran Leyva, as sited in the LA Times article "Mexico farm subsidies are going astray", by Tracy Wilkinson. Also ironically, when Arturo Betran-Leyva had a falling out with El Chapo, he was killed by government forces.

El Chapo's success at staying at large for since his breakout of a maximum security prison in 2001 has also led some experts to suggest that Guzman's influence extends high into the Mexican police and government.

Click on here to watch a video on the topic by Al Jazeera.

Developing: Mexican cartels cannot be defeated, drug lord says (WashintonPost)

Developing: Sinaloa cartel wins Juarez turf war (AP)

Criminal Profile: Kenichi Shinoda

Kenichi Shinoda (篠田 建市, Shinoda Ken'ichi), also known as Shinobu Tsukasa (司 忍, Tsukasa Shinobu, born January 25, 1942) is the sixth and current kumicho (supreme Godfather) of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization with over 40,000 members. In the early 1970s, Shinoda was convicted of murdering a rival gang boss with a katana, and spent 13 years in prison. On December 4, 2005, only four months after being named kumicho, Shinoda began serving a six-year prison sentence for gun possession. His bodyguard was actually carrying the firearm, but Shinoda was declared guilty of 'conspiracy' to carry the firearm. He now runs one of the largest and wealthiest organized crime syndicates in the world from his prison cell.

Gangland Slayings in Old Montreal

Montreal police are searching for two men after a gangland-style shooting killed two people and injured two others in the city's historic waterfront business district. The bold slaying in broad daylight is believed to be a violent response to the December slaying of the son of reputed mob boss Vito Rizzuto.

Rizzuto is considered by Canadian officials to be the most powerful mob boss in Canada. Some observers consider that the strength of the Rizzuto clan rivals that of any of the Five Families in New York and dubbed it the Sixth Family. His son, Nicolo Rizzuto (Nick Jr.), was shot and killed near his car in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce a borough in Montreal on December 28, 2009. It seems like the war is on. It is not clear yet who ordered the killing of Rizzuto's son, but a Haitian organized crime group is suspected of involvement.

Rizzuto is being housed in a Federal Pennitentiary in Florence. Rizzuto pleaded guilty to being present in the triple murder in 1981. As part of a plea bargain agreement, he received a 10-year prison sentence to be followed by a three-year supervised release. There is also an outstanding arrest warrant that was issued in Rome against Rizzuto in connection with alleged Mafia involvement in building a bridge across the Strait of Messina connecting the Italian mainland with Sicily, one of the biggest public works projects in Italy's history. The 3,690-metre-long, suspension-type bridge, planned to open by 2011, is expected to cost about €5 billion ($7.3 billion Cdn).

Developing: Old Montreal slayings linked to Mafia (CBC)

Developing: Owner of bloodied Montreal boutique arrested (CTV)

Developing: Montreal shop owner refused bail after shooting (CBC)

Heist: Billionaire Robbed at Oscar Hotel

Billionaire sugar baron, Pepe Fanjul, was robbed in his hotel room at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel at the height of Oscar week. Apparently, Pepe and his wife Emelia shared an elevator with the thief before the robbery. The thief wore a blue uniform with 'hotel' on it, imitating a member of the hotel staff. He spoke to Pepe in the elevator in Spanish. Later, when they were back at their hotel room, they heard a knock on the door. The man from the elevator was standing there and claimed to have shown up to 'fix their air conditioning'. They let him in and he robbed them of all their cash and jewelery. The jewelery stolen from Emelia is believed to be worth millions of dollars.

Developing: Caught on CCTV: High-Class Cat Burglar 'Rico Suave' Roams LA (Newser)

Developing: 'Rico Suave Robber' Suspected of a String of Hotel Robberies (LA Times)

Heist: Robbers Storm Poker Game

A group of masked men armed with automatic weapons, machetes and hand grenades struck in broad daylight at Berlin's Grand Hyatt hotel and are believed to get away with more than 242,000 euros ($327,300 USD). Click the photo above for video footage.

Developing: Poker heist gang were stupid amateurs: police

Developing: Police: Suspect in poker heist released (AP)

Developing: Mastermind Of Berlin Poker Robbery Arrested By German Police (OP)

Developing: Berlin poker heist suspect surrenders (NZHerald)

The Death of Arturo Beltran-Leyva

On December 16, 2009 an elite unit of Mexican marines, fortified with intelligence from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), killed Arturo Beltrán Leyva, the so called “chief of chiefs” (“jefe de los jefes”) of the Betran-Leyva Cartel. His death has created a power-vaccum in the Mexican Drug World.

With Arturo dead and most of the Betran-Leyva brothers in jail, the fate of the family-run Cartel hangs in the balance. To make things worse, there has been serious infighting within the ranks; a feud has developed between “La Barbie” and “El Grande”.

On one hand you have, Arturo’s top executioner and personal bodyguard, Texas-born Édgar Váldez Vallarreal, otherwise known as “La Barbie” because of his blue eyes and blonde hair. On the other end of the feud is Sergio “El Grande” Villarreal Barragán, a tall, venal ex-policeman in Coahuila state, left the Gulf Cartel to join the Beltrán Leyvas. Can Hector, the only Betran-Leyva brother not in prison, heal the infighting and stabilize the Cartel before it implodes?

On the outside, the BL Cartel is beset by even graver dangers.

First there is the Sinaloa Cartel run by Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. The BL Cartel was initially allied with the Sinaloa Cartel, but when Alfredo Betran-Leyva was arrested, the Beltrán Leyva brothers blamed their boss "El Chapo" for their brother's arrest, and ordered the assassination of Guzmán's son, 22 year-old Édgar Guzmán López, which was carried out in a shopping center parking lot by at least 15 gunmen using assault rifles and grenade launchers. Will “El Chapo” claim revenge and clean house?

Once the BL Cartel split from the Sinaloa Cartel, they aligned themselves with Los Zetas, a mercenary group founded by former Mexican Army soldiers and is now formed by ex-federal, state, and local police officers. Los Zetas are now led by Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano and are considered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as probably being the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and violent paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico. When Arturo was killed, the Los Zetas executed the family, including the mother, of a Marine who died in the violent foray against Arturo. These guys are ruthless. Will Los Zetas prey on their weakened ally and seize the territory?

It is an interesting time in the Mexican drugworld. Checkout the article below for some background about the Cartel, a list of key figures, a list of assets, and insights into what might happen next:

The Death of Arturo Beltran-Leyva: What does it mean for Mexico's Drug War? (Eurasiareview)

Developing: Los Zetas and former ally Gulf Cartel at War (LatinHeraldTribune)

Developing: "La Barbie" battles Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the Cartel (AP)

Developing: Mexican Drug Gang Members Decapitated, Note Addressed to 'La Barbie' (KC)

Developing: Key Member of Betran-Leyva Cartel Arrested (AP)

Developing: The Battle Between Hector Beltran Leyva and "La Barbie" Heats Up (AP)

Criminal Profile: "The Brainy Don"

Semion "The Brainy Don" Mogilevich, born June 30, 1946 in Kiev, Ukraine, is a billionaire organized crime boss believed by European and United States federal law enforcement agencies to be the "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world. Semion Mogilevich was recently added to the FBI Ten-Most-Wanted-List for his alleged participation in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud thousands of investors in the stock of a public company incorporated in Canada, but headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, between 1993 and 1998. The scheme to defraud collapsed in 1998, after thousands of investors lost in excess of $150 million dollars. Mogilevich is thought to have allegedly funded and masterminded the scheme.

Slideshow of Mountains of Money, Lions, Golden Guns and Other Things Drug Kingpins Like

Though the images are from mixed sources, the slideshow of pictures of the house are from a raid outside Mexico City where those detained were Colombians (Norte del Valle cartel) connected to the Beltran-Leyvas.

Criminal Profile: "Joan the Loan"

A GRANDMOTHER aged 78 was dubbed “Joan the Loan” after fleecing hard-up victims in a Mafia-style lending racket. Fionda, also nicknamed “The Mafia”, lent £33,500 at staggering interest rates of up to 332 per cent. Her enforcers would order those who could not pay to hand over their bank and benefit cards and pin numbers before withdrawing their cash at the Post Office. She and three other women became known in Horfield Post Office as “The Mafia” because they would often arrive to withdraw other people’s money.

Full article (UKExpress)

The Untold Story of the Heist of the Century

Although four gang members were jailed for the 2003 theft from Antwerp Diamond Centre in Belgium — considered at the time to have the safest vault in the world — the diamonds have yet to be found and are estimated to be worth up to £350m.

Just last July, Mr. Notarbartolo was discovered with approximately 2lbs of rough uncut diamonds stashed in his car. However, diamonds are very hard to trace, so it is impossible to determine if they were from the original heist. Mr. Notarbartolo's lawyer added, “No one can be tried twice for the same crime. So even if the jewels come from Antwerp, Notarbartolo has already served his sentence.”

Read the article below to find out how they pulled it off:

The Untold Story of the World Largest Diamond Heist (Wired)

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh Assasinated By Professional Crew

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior figure in the military wing of Hamas, was found dead in a hotel room on Jan 20th. According to one report he was killed by a female assassin who entered his room by posing as a member of hotel staff, injected him with a drug that induced a heart attack and hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door.

This is an assasination right out of the movies.

Flying in from Paris, Frankfurt, Rome and Zurich, the team of ten men and one woman arrived within three hours of each other. The group switched hotels several times and wore disguises including false beards and wigs, while surveillance teams rotated in pairs through the hotel lobby, never hanging around for too long and paying for everything in cash. Throughout the operation, none of the suspects made a direct call to any another. However, Dubai police traced a high volume of calls and text messages between three phones carried by the assassins and four numbers in Austria where a command centre had apparently been established.

Whether through good fortune or design, no security camera covered the door to al-Mabhouh’s room and there is no footage of how the team gained entry to the room. When al-Mabhouh returned to the hotel at 8.24pm his killers were in place. Police believe that he was asphyxiated. By 8.46pm, less than 20 minutes after their victim entered the hotel, the four killers are shown leaving the second floor, followed closely by their spotters in room 237. The surveillance team in the hotel lobby also disbands.

Hamas admits that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was involved in the killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989. Obviously, suspicious eyes are looking towards Mossad.

Developing: Photo of 11 Suspects and Article (TimesLive)

Developing: CCTV Footage of the Crew in Action and Article (BBC)

Developing: Hamas: Assasinated Operative Put Himself at Risk (YNetNews)

Developing: Dubai wants head of Mossad Arrested Over Assasination (TimesOnline)

Developing: Dubai Identifies 15 New Suspects (BBC)