It's not all gloom and doom as Greater Toronto Area mobsters huddle in local social clubs to discuss the impact of the largest Mafia bust in Canadian history.
The RCMP takedown of 73 alleged members of the Montreal-based Rizzuto crime family last week has created an opportunity for more business and less competition for organized criminals in Toronto, often seen as the Second City of the Canadian underworld, local mob experts say. Warrants are outstanding for another 18 accused members of the Montreal organization, believed by police to be the richest mob group in the country. "The shift of power will come over to Toronto," says one local police expert, who says the Canadian underworld pecking order has been upset. "Who's in charge?" he asked. "This could lead to violence."
Many mobsters in the GTA area who aren't connected to the Rizzutos have sported outsized smiles since last week's massive RCMP bust, a police investigator says. "Now, everything's up for grabs," one investigator says. "You're seeing a lot of happy faces now." Tier-two mobsters now have an opportunity to move up to the big leagues in the cocaine-trafficking business that has long been dominated by the Montrealers, mob experts say.
Some 1,300 charges were laid last week against the Rizzuto crime group as part an operation dubbed "Project Colisée," in a reference to the ancient, crumbling Roman landmark. The RCMP-led crackdown included charges of gangsterism, drug smuggling, bookmaking, attempted murder, extortion and possession of restricted weapons. The Canada Revenue Agency says it is also going after 82-year-old Nick Rizzuto for $1.5 million in back taxes, alleging he ran an online-betting operation that netted $25 million a year.
For local mobsters connected to the Rizzutos, it's important now to maintain an appearance of calm, says Larry Tronstad, a private investigator with the Detek Investigative Group in Vaughan, and formerly an RCMP member of the elite Combined Forces Special Investigations Unit, which targets organized crime. Foreign cocaine wholesalers need to be reassured that they can continue to do business as usual, while local mobsters must be cautioned not to get too aggressive, experts say. "The biggest problem they have is keeping everybody calm on their supply side," Tronstad says.
While the Rizzuto crime group hasn't dominated the local mob scene, they have definitely had a major influence, experts say.
Francesco Arcadi, 53, arrested last week in a Quebec country cottage, sporting a camouflage jacket, was frequently seen in Woodbridge over the past year, visiting mob hangouts, including a members-only sports bar. Arcadi would fly to Toronto first-class with a portly Montrealer, who chauffeured him about in a rented sport utility vehicle as they visited GTA mobsters.
Nick Rizzuto's son, Vito, 60, lived in Montreal but ran GTA waste disposal and discount coffin businesses. He is now in custody in the U.S., where he faces a racketeering indictment for allegedly murdering three Bonanno crime family members in 1981 in New York.
"Arcadi was considered the face of the Rizzuto crime family on the street, after the arrest of Vito," says local author Antonio Nicaso, who has written more than a dozen books on organized crime, and who's now writing one on the Rizzuto crime family with Quebec journalist Andre Cedilot. Nick Rizzuto was so well-dressed in a tailored suit when he was arrested last week that there were rumours that he was tipped off to the busts. He had taken on a higher profile after Vito was extradited to the U.S. last August. Over the past few months, Nick Rizzuto was often seen in north Montreal, meeting with Arcadi at the Association de Cattolica Eraclea, a grungy coffee shop formerly known as the Cosenza Social Club. Nick Rizzuto's father-in-law, the late Antonio Manno, was considered the underworld boss of the town of Cattolica Eraclea in Sicily.
Here in the GTA, long-time underworld figures associated with the Rizzutos include a 76-year-old with a bad heart who would rather spend his winters in Florida; a 71-year-old Grade 5 dropout who collected workplace compensation benefits after claiming a construction injury; and a 77-year-old, who played host to Nick Rizzuto and Tommaso Buscetta of Sicily back in happier times, before the elder Rizzuto was locked up and Buscetta turned informer.
Such underworld veterans have seen rough times before, and take police busts as a cost of doing business, Tronstad said. He dismisses the idea that the Rizzuto crime family has been knocked out of business, either in Montreal or Toronto.
"I just don't believe for a second that these guys don't have a disaster plan," Tronstad says, noting that a mobster once told him, "Every once in a while, the quarterback gets hurt." It's possible to run a mob enterprise from prison, Tronstad says, adding he thinks the organization's replacement leaders will keep a low profile. "These guys will be reluctant to be seen out and about," he adds. "Now is not the time to be visible."
Cedilot says he expects new acting leaders of the Rizzuto organization to emerge, and struggle to stay low profile. "It's a pyramid," Cedilot says, adding that the organization relies heavily on professionals like lawyers and financial planners to maintain its power. Among the suspects charged last week in Project Colisée are 10 workers at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport in Montreal and a Canada Border Services Agency employee, accused of fast-tracking drug couriers through customs.
There are plenty of GTA mobsters who aren't connected with the Rizzutos, experts say. York Region is home to at least a dozen fugitives wanted by Italy on anti-Mafia charges, according to York Region police. Some of the GTA mobsters who aren't connected to the Rizzutos are considered members of the Mafia group called the `Ndranghetta, whose origins are in southern Italy, while others are related to the Cuntrera-Caruana crime group, which has roots in Sicily.
Nicaso says local mobsters may be troubled to see that authorities have hit the Rizzuto organization with gangsterism charges, which bring mandatory prison time for crimes committed in aid of a criminal enterprise. In the past, they've been levelled only against native Manitoba Warriors and outlaw bikers. He said he expects a further wave of police arrests, followed by a further series of underworld adjustments, both in Montreal and the GTA. "This can be considered `Colisée One,'" Nicaso says, referring to the series of Godfather movies. "It's a neverending-story."
Toronto Star 27-11-06
28 November 2006
25 November 2006
South crime lords see city as a ‘soft touch’
ORGANISED drug criminals from England are making a move on Inverness, viewing the traditionally low crime city as a “soft target”, police have warned. The region’s chief constable revealed that gangs from Liverpool and Manchester were bidding to take control of the city’s expanding drugs market.
The news comes as Scottish Executive figures released this week show a 6 per cent increase in gun crime in the Highlands, while Central, Dumfries and Galloway, and Fife have gone down by around 30 per cent. The region had nine incidents involving alleged “reckless conduct with firearms” — more than anywhere in Scotland except Lothian and Tayside. The Highlands is also the only area outside Strathclyde to record a gun murder, after David Leask shot wife Donna then himself on Orkney in January.
Yesterday Danny Alexander, Lib-Dem MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, said he was deeply concerned by the reports. “Drugs are unwelcome from our communities in any circumstances, and the threat of associated organised, violent crime even more so,” he stated. “We must make sure the Highlands is not a soft target compared to the policing regime south of the border. Police forces from Scotland and England need to work closely to share intelligence and to make sure the problem is being tackled strongly at its source.” He will be raising the matter with Home Office ministers to make sure the devolution settlement is not hampering “vital co-operation”.
Northern Constabulary chief constable Ian Latimer revealed that, as a result of the organised gangs’ push on the region, the force was now reviewing its ability to deal with armed criminals. “Whether we like it or not, Scotland and the Highlands are being targeted by organised crime,” he said. “Organised crime groups from south of the border, places like Manchester and Merseyside, target here because they see us as an under-developed market — a soft target.”
Chief superintendent Bruce Duncan, Northern Constabulary’s head of operations, said police were taking measures in an attempt to prevent organised crime gaining a foothold in the area. “I think serious and organised crime is a force priority and we are very keen to ensure serious crime doesn’t get a hold in the Highlands,” he said. “We are viewed as a soft target, particularly in relation to drugs, but we have been trying in the last six months to increase our proactivity.”
There were 742 more crimes across the Highlands and Islands last year than in 2004/5, most of which were due to additional drugs arrests. “There has been a large increase in drugs cases in the last year,” the chief superintendent confirmed. “The drugs problem is something that we would encourage the public to help us with, and if they have any information to get in touch.”
He put the region’s increase in gun crime down to two incidents at the beginning of the year, when people from outside the area were arrested in Fort William and at Inverness train station, allegedly in possession of several firearms. “Figures for gun crime in the Highlands and Islands are very low and the increase at the beginning of the year would account for all of that increase,” he said. “We are not experiencing a dramatic increase in gun crime and we will do everything to ensure it stays as low as possible.”
Fergus Ewing, SNP MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, believed there was a shortage of police officers in the area and called for reinforcements to combat the threat from organised crime. “The police do a great job, but in my opinion need more numbers — there may be about 20 police officers short of what is required,” he said. “The huge growth in population of residents, coupled with greater numbers who travel in to Inverness each day, are now placing burdens on police time which is putting them at full stretch.” “I am making representations to the justice minister to tackle this under-manning.”
Inverness Courier 24 November 2006
The news comes as Scottish Executive figures released this week show a 6 per cent increase in gun crime in the Highlands, while Central, Dumfries and Galloway, and Fife have gone down by around 30 per cent. The region had nine incidents involving alleged “reckless conduct with firearms” — more than anywhere in Scotland except Lothian and Tayside. The Highlands is also the only area outside Strathclyde to record a gun murder, after David Leask shot wife Donna then himself on Orkney in January.
Yesterday Danny Alexander, Lib-Dem MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, said he was deeply concerned by the reports. “Drugs are unwelcome from our communities in any circumstances, and the threat of associated organised, violent crime even more so,” he stated. “We must make sure the Highlands is not a soft target compared to the policing regime south of the border. Police forces from Scotland and England need to work closely to share intelligence and to make sure the problem is being tackled strongly at its source.” He will be raising the matter with Home Office ministers to make sure the devolution settlement is not hampering “vital co-operation”.
Northern Constabulary chief constable Ian Latimer revealed that, as a result of the organised gangs’ push on the region, the force was now reviewing its ability to deal with armed criminals. “Whether we like it or not, Scotland and the Highlands are being targeted by organised crime,” he said. “Organised crime groups from south of the border, places like Manchester and Merseyside, target here because they see us as an under-developed market — a soft target.”
Chief superintendent Bruce Duncan, Northern Constabulary’s head of operations, said police were taking measures in an attempt to prevent organised crime gaining a foothold in the area. “I think serious and organised crime is a force priority and we are very keen to ensure serious crime doesn’t get a hold in the Highlands,” he said. “We are viewed as a soft target, particularly in relation to drugs, but we have been trying in the last six months to increase our proactivity.”
There were 742 more crimes across the Highlands and Islands last year than in 2004/5, most of which were due to additional drugs arrests. “There has been a large increase in drugs cases in the last year,” the chief superintendent confirmed. “The drugs problem is something that we would encourage the public to help us with, and if they have any information to get in touch.”
He put the region’s increase in gun crime down to two incidents at the beginning of the year, when people from outside the area were arrested in Fort William and at Inverness train station, allegedly in possession of several firearms. “Figures for gun crime in the Highlands and Islands are very low and the increase at the beginning of the year would account for all of that increase,” he said. “We are not experiencing a dramatic increase in gun crime and we will do everything to ensure it stays as low as possible.”
Fergus Ewing, SNP MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, believed there was a shortage of police officers in the area and called for reinforcements to combat the threat from organised crime. “The police do a great job, but in my opinion need more numbers — there may be about 20 police officers short of what is required,” he said. “The huge growth in population of residents, coupled with greater numbers who travel in to Inverness each day, are now placing burdens on police time which is putting them at full stretch.” “I am making representations to the justice minister to tackle this under-manning.”
Inverness Courier 24 November 2006
24 November 2006
China breaks more than 1,300 organized crime gangs
BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police have cracked more than 1,300 criminal gangs in the latest campaign against organized crime, authorities said.
Between March and October, Chinese prisons received 887 new inmates charged for gang crime, Hu Yiding, deputy director of prison administration under the Ministry of Justice said. By the end of October, police had referred 196 cases of alleged organized crime for prosecution and 1,347 crime gangs had been broken, according to the office for national campaign against organized crime. This shows that the campaign against organized crime has been effective, said a spokesman for the office.
In China, organized crime gangs are sometimes protected by officials through bribery, threat or other means. Prosecutors had been exposing the "umbrellas" covering gangs, with 33 cases uncovered involving 47 official, said Huang Hailong, deputy director of the investigation and supervision department of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. In the first ten months this year, 716 people were convicted of organized crime, including 711 charged of organizing, leading or taking part in organized crime gangs and five of cover-up and connivance, Gao Jinghong, deputy director of the office and a judge of the Supreme People's Court. "The number will be much larger if we consider convicts of other criminal charges from the crime gangs," he said.
Imprisonment over five years, life sentence and death sentence for the organized crime convicts account for 51.37 percent, 34 percent more than other crimes for the same period, Gao said. Meanwhile, police put 3.75 million criminal cases on file for investigation in the first ten months, 41,000 fewer, or 1.1 percent down, from the same period last year and the number of cases resolved increased by 113,000 to 2.21 million, the office said. The number of severe violent cases including murder, rape and arson respectively dropped by 13.8 percent, 5.9 percent, 13.8 percent in the first ten months. "After the crackdown of crime gangs, the social life and security order have evidently improved in some areas," the office spokesman said.
After Beijing police broke the 17-member-gang headed by Lei Nagang, in suburban Beijing, which long haunted the local people by racketeering and fighting, local police station did not receive report of criminal cases for consecutive 161 days in the first eight months this year, the spokesman said. "In general, public security has been relatively stable this year," a spokesman for the office said.
The Supreme People's Court is supervising 63 major organized crime cases and paying close attention to the trial progress of these cases.
Xinhua 2006-11-23
Between March and October, Chinese prisons received 887 new inmates charged for gang crime, Hu Yiding, deputy director of prison administration under the Ministry of Justice said. By the end of October, police had referred 196 cases of alleged organized crime for prosecution and 1,347 crime gangs had been broken, according to the office for national campaign against organized crime. This shows that the campaign against organized crime has been effective, said a spokesman for the office.
In China, organized crime gangs are sometimes protected by officials through bribery, threat or other means. Prosecutors had been exposing the "umbrellas" covering gangs, with 33 cases uncovered involving 47 official, said Huang Hailong, deputy director of the investigation and supervision department of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. In the first ten months this year, 716 people were convicted of organized crime, including 711 charged of organizing, leading or taking part in organized crime gangs and five of cover-up and connivance, Gao Jinghong, deputy director of the office and a judge of the Supreme People's Court. "The number will be much larger if we consider convicts of other criminal charges from the crime gangs," he said.
Imprisonment over five years, life sentence and death sentence for the organized crime convicts account for 51.37 percent, 34 percent more than other crimes for the same period, Gao said. Meanwhile, police put 3.75 million criminal cases on file for investigation in the first ten months, 41,000 fewer, or 1.1 percent down, from the same period last year and the number of cases resolved increased by 113,000 to 2.21 million, the office said. The number of severe violent cases including murder, rape and arson respectively dropped by 13.8 percent, 5.9 percent, 13.8 percent in the first ten months. "After the crackdown of crime gangs, the social life and security order have evidently improved in some areas," the office spokesman said.
After Beijing police broke the 17-member-gang headed by Lei Nagang, in suburban Beijing, which long haunted the local people by racketeering and fighting, local police station did not receive report of criminal cases for consecutive 161 days in the first eight months this year, the spokesman said. "In general, public security has been relatively stable this year," a spokesman for the office said.
The Supreme People's Court is supervising 63 major organized crime cases and paying close attention to the trial progress of these cases.
Xinhua 2006-11-23
23 November 2006
Organized crime task force gets $400K boost
Manitoba's organized crime task force received a cash infusion Wednesday, when the provincial government announced it will double its funding for the force to $800,000 next year from $400,000 this year.
Justice Minister Dave Chomiak did not provide specifics about how the money will be spent, but did say one way to fight organized crime is by out-organizing the criminals. "The most effective response to organized crime is organized justice," he said in a release. "Organized crime in 2006 is much different than it was even 10 years ago," Winnipeg Police Service Supt. Gord Schumacher told the news conference where the funding was announced. "Many of the groups are sophisticated, strategic and take advantage of the most modern of technologies that are available. We have to do the same and them some."
Manitoba RCMP's commanding officer, Assistant Commissioner Darrell Madill, said the money will not go toward hiring more investigators, but will be spent on funding operational costs, such as more complex undercover investigations. "I don't need to tell you about the insidious nature of organized crime in Manitoba. There is not a community in this province that's not impacted by organized crime and their influences," Madill said. "The money that's provided today will be a concrete demonstration by the province of Manitoba in working with our front-line investigators to double their efforts and concentrate on the disruption of organized crime groups and their influences."
The Integrated Organized Crime Task Force in Manitoba includes investigators from the RCMP, the Winnipeg police, the Brandon police and other municipal police agencies.
Chomiak said the government also plans to introduce legislation to strengthen the provincial witness protection program.
CBC 22 November 2006
Justice Minister Dave Chomiak did not provide specifics about how the money will be spent, but did say one way to fight organized crime is by out-organizing the criminals. "The most effective response to organized crime is organized justice," he said in a release. "Organized crime in 2006 is much different than it was even 10 years ago," Winnipeg Police Service Supt. Gord Schumacher told the news conference where the funding was announced. "Many of the groups are sophisticated, strategic and take advantage of the most modern of technologies that are available. We have to do the same and them some."
Manitoba RCMP's commanding officer, Assistant Commissioner Darrell Madill, said the money will not go toward hiring more investigators, but will be spent on funding operational costs, such as more complex undercover investigations. "I don't need to tell you about the insidious nature of organized crime in Manitoba. There is not a community in this province that's not impacted by organized crime and their influences," Madill said. "The money that's provided today will be a concrete demonstration by the province of Manitoba in working with our front-line investigators to double their efforts and concentrate on the disruption of organized crime groups and their influences."
The Integrated Organized Crime Task Force in Manitoba includes investigators from the RCMP, the Winnipeg police, the Brandon police and other municipal police agencies.
Chomiak said the government also plans to introduce legislation to strengthen the provincial witness protection program.
CBC 22 November 2006
22 November 2006
Police Dismantle Traditional Italian-based Organized Crime in Montréal
MONTRÉAL, November 22, 2006 – This morning, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) completed the first stage of one of the most important police operations in the history of Canada with the arrest of 73 people including Nicolo Rizzuto Sr., Francesco Arcadi, Francesco Del Balso, Paolo Renda, Rocco Sollecito and other associates. This major international investigation, named Project Colisée, highlighted the group’s criminal activity and revealed the many tentacles of Traditional Italian-based Organized Crime.
This Project of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit was carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with the co-operation of the Sûreté du Québec, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, the Canadian Border Services Agency, the Service de protection des citoyens de Laval, Canada Revenue Agency and other partners.
More than 90 searches took place this morning in the Montréal and Laval region. More than 700 police officers were involved. The purpose of these searches was to gather evidence related to proceeds of crime as well as other evidence incriminating the accused.
Essentially, Project COLISÉE revealed:
• That six individuals, Nicolo Rizzuto Sr., Paolo Renda, Rocco Sollecito, Francesco Arcadi, Francesco Del Balso et Lorenzo Giordano are part of a criminal organization whose primary activity is to commit or facilitate the commission of serious crimes such as the importation, exportation and traffic of controlled substances, bookmaking, extortion and possession of proceeds of crime.
• • That the criminal organization has infiltrated the Montréal International Airport. Members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, import and facilitate the importation of cocaine via the airport. A customs officer and a dozen current and old airport employees (airline and food services) are involved.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, conspired to import 1,300 kg of cocaine by container. A quantity of 300 kg, representing the first shipment out of a total of 1,300 kg, was seized.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, corrupted a second customs officer and conspired with this person to import an indeterminate quantity of drugs by container.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, operate a bookmaking business online.
• That a member of the organization attempted to commit murder.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, traffic in cocaine.
• That another separate organization exports marihuana to the United States using the Akwesasne reserve as a transit location for the drugs going to the United States and the money from the sale of marihuana entering Canada.
The 90 persons charged under this investigation face approximately 1,000 counts for offences committed between the period of 2003 and 2006. The suspects who were arrested are charged with importing, conspiracy to import and trafficking in drugs, conspiracy for the purpose of trafficking in drugs, criminal organization offence, bookmaking, possession of prohibited firearms, commission of offence for organized crime, extortion and attempted murders.
The assets of some of the persons charged were seized, including houses and bank accounts. More than CDN$3,116,380 and US$255,200 were seized in the course of the investigation.
RCMP press release 22 November 2006
This Project of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit was carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with the co-operation of the Sûreté du Québec, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, the Canadian Border Services Agency, the Service de protection des citoyens de Laval, Canada Revenue Agency and other partners.
More than 90 searches took place this morning in the Montréal and Laval region. More than 700 police officers were involved. The purpose of these searches was to gather evidence related to proceeds of crime as well as other evidence incriminating the accused.
Essentially, Project COLISÉE revealed:
• That six individuals, Nicolo Rizzuto Sr., Paolo Renda, Rocco Sollecito, Francesco Arcadi, Francesco Del Balso et Lorenzo Giordano are part of a criminal organization whose primary activity is to commit or facilitate the commission of serious crimes such as the importation, exportation and traffic of controlled substances, bookmaking, extortion and possession of proceeds of crime.
• • That the criminal organization has infiltrated the Montréal International Airport. Members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, import and facilitate the importation of cocaine via the airport. A customs officer and a dozen current and old airport employees (airline and food services) are involved.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, conspired to import 1,300 kg of cocaine by container. A quantity of 300 kg, representing the first shipment out of a total of 1,300 kg, was seized.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, corrupted a second customs officer and conspired with this person to import an indeterminate quantity of drugs by container.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, operate a bookmaking business online.
• That a member of the organization attempted to commit murder.
• That members of the criminal organization, and individuals acting in association with the organization, traffic in cocaine.
• That another separate organization exports marihuana to the United States using the Akwesasne reserve as a transit location for the drugs going to the United States and the money from the sale of marihuana entering Canada.
The 90 persons charged under this investigation face approximately 1,000 counts for offences committed between the period of 2003 and 2006. The suspects who were arrested are charged with importing, conspiracy to import and trafficking in drugs, conspiracy for the purpose of trafficking in drugs, criminal organization offence, bookmaking, possession of prohibited firearms, commission of offence for organized crime, extortion and attempted murders.
The assets of some of the persons charged were seized, including houses and bank accounts. More than CDN$3,116,380 and US$255,200 were seized in the course of the investigation.
RCMP press release 22 November 2006
No Consensus in Macedonia over Establishing a Special Prosecutor’s Office to Fight Organized Crime
Skopje. The question whether a special prosecutor’s office for combating organized crime and corruption will be formed in Macedonia, or the present decision envisaging the formation unit in the frames of the Macedonian prosecutor’s office, remains open, the Macedonian Utrinski Vesnik daily wrote today.
Experts are not unanimous on the issue, however, it is the politics that will arrive at the final conclusion, the newspaper stressed.
After innumerous sessions, the working team, which operates on the law on prosecutor’s office, could not come to an agreement on the issue. The Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, headed by Jovan Ilievski, approved the idea of establishing a separate prosecutor’s office. Instead of working out a compromise, the draft version of the law includes both the conceptions - Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption and special prosecutor’s office as an alternative.
21 November 2006, FOCUS News Agency
Experts are not unanimous on the issue, however, it is the politics that will arrive at the final conclusion, the newspaper stressed.
After innumerous sessions, the working team, which operates on the law on prosecutor’s office, could not come to an agreement on the issue. The Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, headed by Jovan Ilievski, approved the idea of establishing a separate prosecutor’s office. Instead of working out a compromise, the draft version of the law includes both the conceptions - Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption and special prosecutor’s office as an alternative.
21 November 2006, FOCUS News Agency
Ireland: Crime gangs ‘intimidating’ firms
CRIME bosses are forcing legitimate businesses and business people to launder their cash, according to the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Former chief of the CAB Felix J McKenna who will be speaking at a one-day conference next Tuesday, said crime gangs can intimidate individuals to make them launder cash for them. Speaking on RTÉ radio, he said that criminals can approach a large respectable firm of accountants and intimidate an individual accountant, he said.
Another speaker at the conference will be the president of the Irish Security Industry Association, Martin Stairs. He said the conference will explore options of how businesses can protect themselves. “We will discuss the latest trends and risks. We will focus on where companies should be targeting their resources,” he said.
“Screen your own staff. Companies should also look from inside out and not just outside in. Threats from inside can include employees, delivery people, ex-employees to name a few,” he said. He also stresses that companies should assess the risk of having cash versus credit facilities on the premises. “Change modus operandi,” he said. “Find out who has keys to premises and make a list of them.” he said. “Also do research on clients and services they provide.”
The security industry in Ireland is worth €400m-€500m, according to Mr Stairs said that each company business needs to have its own security measures in place relevant to its business. The one-day conference in the Davenport hotel, Dublin, on November 28 is organised by publishers First Law.
Barrister Paul Anthony McDermot will present a talk on criminal’s protection under the law. Head of fraud investigations at Axa Insurance Willie McGee will discuss organised crime and the link to business vulnerability. Identity theft, pilferage, infiltrating retail sectors by gang members, insurance scams, credit card fraud and internet scams will also be discussed at the conference.
irishexaminer.com 21 November 2006
Former chief of the CAB Felix J McKenna who will be speaking at a one-day conference next Tuesday, said crime gangs can intimidate individuals to make them launder cash for them. Speaking on RTÉ radio, he said that criminals can approach a large respectable firm of accountants and intimidate an individual accountant, he said.
Another speaker at the conference will be the president of the Irish Security Industry Association, Martin Stairs. He said the conference will explore options of how businesses can protect themselves. “We will discuss the latest trends and risks. We will focus on where companies should be targeting their resources,” he said.
“Screen your own staff. Companies should also look from inside out and not just outside in. Threats from inside can include employees, delivery people, ex-employees to name a few,” he said. He also stresses that companies should assess the risk of having cash versus credit facilities on the premises. “Change modus operandi,” he said. “Find out who has keys to premises and make a list of them.” he said. “Also do research on clients and services they provide.”
The security industry in Ireland is worth €400m-€500m, according to Mr Stairs said that each company business needs to have its own security measures in place relevant to its business. The one-day conference in the Davenport hotel, Dublin, on November 28 is organised by publishers First Law.
Barrister Paul Anthony McDermot will present a talk on criminal’s protection under the law. Head of fraud investigations at Axa Insurance Willie McGee will discuss organised crime and the link to business vulnerability. Identity theft, pilferage, infiltrating retail sectors by gang members, insurance scams, credit card fraud and internet scams will also be discussed at the conference.
irishexaminer.com 21 November 2006
20 November 2006
Call for Papers: Crime and Justice: In the Global and in the Local
For its' Annual Meeting 2007 (November 14-17, Atlanta) the American Society of Crimonology has issued a Call for Papers covering a broad range of themes including Organised Crime. Submission Deadline: 16 March 2007
New Zealand: Police crackdown on organised crime
Thirty four addresses were raided in and around the Hawke's Bay on Thursday morning as part of a crackdown on organised crime. The raids were the culmination of seven months work as part of Operation Nacre, which has seen more than 80 police officers involved in carrying out the drug-related search warrants. Search warrants were executed on homes in Napier, Hastings, Wairoa and Gisborne in connection with the sale of Class A, B and C drugs. About 50 people were arrested.
Detective Sergeant Warren Murdoch says of major concern was the discovery of eight stun guns, two sawn-off shotguns and a home-made explosive device. Explosive specialists from Wellington have been called in to deal with the explosive. Murdoch says it is the second operation coordinated by Hastings Police, following more than 40 arrests as part of Operation Oyster in August.
It also follows a third operation in July which targeted Wairoa Mongrel Mob. Detective Inspector Sam Aberahama says the district is committed to reducing the effects that organised crime's having on our community.
16 November 2006
Newstalk ZB
Detective Sergeant Warren Murdoch says of major concern was the discovery of eight stun guns, two sawn-off shotguns and a home-made explosive device. Explosive specialists from Wellington have been called in to deal with the explosive. Murdoch says it is the second operation coordinated by Hastings Police, following more than 40 arrests as part of Operation Oyster in August.
It also follows a third operation in July which targeted Wairoa Mongrel Mob. Detective Inspector Sam Aberahama says the district is committed to reducing the effects that organised crime's having on our community.
16 November 2006
Newstalk ZB
19 November 2006
Mafia 'strangle Italy prospects'
The mafia are the biggest threat to southern Italy's economic prospects, Prime Minister Romano Prodi has told a conference against organised crime. "Lawlessness is the greatest obstacle to economic growth in southern Italy," he told the three-day forum in Rome. Mr Prodi was briefly heckled by an audience member who said parliament must first purge itself of corrupt MPs.
Some 2,500 people have died in violence blamed on Italy's three main mafia groups in the last 10 years. According to the organisers of the anti-mafia forum in Rome, politicians have failed to tackle the problem. Top politicians, senior judges, police and security officials and civil society groups were expected to be among the 2,500 participants at the conference.
An escalating turf war between mafia gangs in the Italian city of Naples has led to recent calls for the army to be deployed. "No-one talks about the mafia except in emergencies, as in Naples recently," Lorenzo Frigerio of the anti-mafia group Libera told the AFP news agency. "You forget that it is a permanent presence in the country and that it has not missed the train of globalisation," Mr Frigerio said. He added that the issue had been hardly mentioned during the election campaign earlier this year.
Mr Prodi told the forum: "Arresting the mafia chiefs is not enough, we must strike the organizations at their heart." "More than once I've had to throw up my hands with foreign businessmen, who have refused to invest in the south because there weren't enough guarantees," he said. As Mr Prodi described his government's plans to combat the mafia, he was interrupted by an audience member, who said: "You could begin by throwing out of parliament MPs found guilty of corruption."
Last week, Italian police carried out a series of co-ordinated raids across the country, detaining more than 100 alleged mafia members suspected of drug-trafficking. In a separate development, a Sicilian judge on Wednesday sentenced dozens of associates of jailed mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano for a total of 300 years, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
According to the BBC's David Willey, the Sicilian mafia remains hugely potent as it expands from its traditional drug trafficking to people smuggling and siphoning off millions of dollars from public works contracts.
BBC, Friday, 17 November 2006
Some 2,500 people have died in violence blamed on Italy's three main mafia groups in the last 10 years. According to the organisers of the anti-mafia forum in Rome, politicians have failed to tackle the problem. Top politicians, senior judges, police and security officials and civil society groups were expected to be among the 2,500 participants at the conference.
An escalating turf war between mafia gangs in the Italian city of Naples has led to recent calls for the army to be deployed. "No-one talks about the mafia except in emergencies, as in Naples recently," Lorenzo Frigerio of the anti-mafia group Libera told the AFP news agency. "You forget that it is a permanent presence in the country and that it has not missed the train of globalisation," Mr Frigerio said. He added that the issue had been hardly mentioned during the election campaign earlier this year.
Mr Prodi told the forum: "Arresting the mafia chiefs is not enough, we must strike the organizations at their heart." "More than once I've had to throw up my hands with foreign businessmen, who have refused to invest in the south because there weren't enough guarantees," he said. As Mr Prodi described his government's plans to combat the mafia, he was interrupted by an audience member, who said: "You could begin by throwing out of parliament MPs found guilty of corruption."
Last week, Italian police carried out a series of co-ordinated raids across the country, detaining more than 100 alleged mafia members suspected of drug-trafficking. In a separate development, a Sicilian judge on Wednesday sentenced dozens of associates of jailed mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano for a total of 300 years, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
According to the BBC's David Willey, the Sicilian mafia remains hugely potent as it expands from its traditional drug trafficking to people smuggling and siphoning off millions of dollars from public works contracts.
BBC, Friday, 17 November 2006
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