Governor wants new anti-gang center for Waco

Waco, Texas, USA (February 8, 2019) BTN — Hoping to build on the successes of six anti-gang centers across the state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is proposing to add two new crime-fighting centers, including one in Waco.

Abbott announced plans for new Texas anti-gang centers in Waco and Tyler in September and reiterated his resolve to fund the creation of the two new centers and to give additional funding for the six existing centers, during his state of the state address this week.

Aftermath of police massacre in Waco, Texas  

“The State of Texas is sending a message to criminals and gang members that any attempts to compromise the safety of our communities will not be tolerated,” Abbott said. “My top priority as governor is keeping Texans safe, and these latest proposals will help me do just that.”

The anti-gang centers involve local, state and federal law enforcement brought together under one roof to cooperate, share information and crack down on violent criminal activity, officials have said. The existing centers in Houston, San Antonio, McAllen, El Paso, Lubbock and Dallas, have achieved significant success in curbing gang activity governor’s office spokesman John Whitman said.

“The governor has said we know that these work because we have seen the results,” Whitman said. “In 2017, 1,400 criminals associated with gang-related activity were taken off the street in the Houston area. We have seen the results and we need to replicate that around the state, and the next two places we are proposing to do that are Waco and Tyler.”

Related | Waco: Police Opened Fired On Bikers Witnesses Say

Archive | Waco Shooting History

Abbott has requested $7.1 million to continue funding for existing anti-gang centers and the two proposed centers, Whitman said. The Waco City Council approved a resolution Tuesday for the city to submit a $3.5 million criminal justice grant request to the governor’s office to fund the Waco center. If awarded, there would be no matching local funds required, Whitman said.

Funding is contingent on approval from the Texas Legislature, but Whitman said the governor has widespread support from lawmakers for most of his criminal justice proposals. The grant awards will be released in September, he said.

Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said if the money is allocated for the center in Waco, there is no specific timeline to have it operational. He said it will take time to find an appropriate location, furnish and equip it and select and possibly train officers who will participate.

Waco police Sgt.W. Patrick Swanton still in denial of what really happened

“As a department, we are very proud that the governor thought enough of us to ask us to be a part of this,” Swanton said. “It also is a big deal for our community because it will make our city safer. If you look at our past history, we know that gangs are here. We had outlaw motorcycle gangs that disrupted our community several years ago. There are prison gangs. MS-13 is here. Mexican Mafia members are here. Other prison gangs, the Bloods, Crips, they are here. We kind of run the gamut from everything from large organized prison gangs to your little neighborhood wannabe gangs. The officers will deal with those and try to cut off the head of the snake.”

Swanton said Waco likely was selected because of its central location, its gang presence and the May 2015 midday shootout at the former Twin Peaks restaurant between rival biker groups, Bandidos and Cossacks, that left nine dead and 20 wounded. 

“Gang members are some of the worst criminals out there, and our history with the Bandidos and Cossacks show the level they are capable of,” Swanton said. “They could care less about the citizenry. When you have a shootout in a very open mall area in the middle of the day, they don’t care about citizens and their safety. They could care less about who is in their way or who gets hurt, and that is what we are trying to combat.”

Cover up continues - Follow the money

Besides local agencies like police departments and sheriff’s offices, anti-gang centers typically include investigators from the Texas Department of Public Safety and federal agencies, including possibly the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service, DPS spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said. Anti-gang officers also work closely with state and federal prosecutors, Cesinger said.

The state’s first anti-gang center was established in Houston in 2012.

“Gangs and their associates are a significant threat to public safety, not only because of their penchant for violence and criminal activity, but also their relationships with other criminal organizations, such as Mexican cartels,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a statement. “The TAG centers utilize a proven strategy to increase safety in our communities by seamlessly coordinating local, state and federal resources in an effort to identify, disrupt and prosecute ruthless gangs operating in our communities.”

State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, said he expects support for the measure in the House and Senate. He said Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 77 provide natural corridors for drug and human traffickers, and Abbott’s proposed anti-gang center will help combat those major crime areas.

“I really appreciate the governor supporting law enforcement in our area that way,” Anderson said. “There are others around the state that have done well, and I am pleased the governor is helping to protect us in our area and I believe it most likely will come to fruition.”

SOURCE:  WacoTribune-Herald

Hells Angels want clubhouse back

Haarlem, Amsterdam (February 7, 2019) BTN — The Hells Angels Haarlem Foundation fights Tuesday morning at the Council of State the closure of their home base at the Baljuwslaan.

Hells Angels MC Clubhouse in Haarlem

The Haarlem motorcycle club has stepped to the Council of State to have the closure of the building undone.

Mayor Jos Wienen decided in 2017 that the clubhouse of the Hells Angels had to be closed. According to Wienen, the reason to close the building was - firearms and drugs were found in a raid – and are very convincing. 

The club does not agree with the Mayor, who refuses reopening of the building

But according to the lawyer for the Hells Angels, the 'bad apples' have been removed from the club and the clubhouse could be opened again. A decision must be made within 6 weeks. The foundation claims that it has not been proven that the public order is disrupted by the reopening of the club house.

SOURCE:  HaarlemsWeekblad

Cop and firefighter ringleaders in drug ring

Middletown, NY  (February 6, 2019) BTN — A Middletown firefighter and a retired Spring Valley police officer were among the dozens arrested as part of a sweep of allegedly drug dealing bikers in Orange County Tuesday.

Authorities say more than 20 people were taken into custody when search warrants were executed at 15 locations in connection with two separate drug rings, with the same man -- fire Lieutenant Paul Young -- at the center of both.

Related | New York State Police Press Release

In all, 29 people were targeted for arrest, and investigators say leaders of the drug rings were so brazen that they sometimes met at the fire house.

Officials say the investigation, dubbed "Operation Bread, White and Blues," centered on several motorcycle organizations that allegedly distributed cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana and steroids.

The suspects were identified as:

--Paul Smith, 48, of Deerpark

--Robert Dunham, 46, of Middletown

--Marquis Gable, 34, of Nyack

--John Beltempo, 49, of New Windsor

--Kenneth Nunez, 39, of Spring Valley

--Garry Michel, 48, of Wallkill

--Joel Gamble, 44, of Cuddebackville

--Samuel Marino, 30, of Campbell Hall

--Arthur Mays, 30, of Middletown

--George Thomas, 61, of Bloomingburg

--David Lebel, 55, of Middletown

--Jennifer Peterson, 46, of Chester

--Vincenza Ferrante, 35, of New Windsor

--Shawn Daniels, 52, of Monroe

--Salvatore DiStefano, 36, of Westtown

--Melissa Delrosso, 35, of Middletown

--Raymond Chong, 49, of Middletown

--Tara Schoonmaker, 48, of Wurtsboro

--Crystal Crozier, 36, of Middletown

--Donald Johnston, 46, of Middletown

--Anthony Fields, 44, of Middletown

--Desmon Pierson, 36, of Middletown

--Dominick Guardino, 55, of Middletown

--Sunshine Wall, 40, of Cuddebackville

--Nicholas Ciccone, 47, of Port Jervis

--Charles Kavanaugh, 31, of Newburgh

--Gary Caldwell, 33, of Wappingers

--Justin Antona, 27, of Slate Hill

--Andrew Bendig, 23, of Middletown

The drugs reportedly came from both domestic and foreign sources, with the suspect allegedly selling the drugs throughout Orange County.

Most raided locations were in Orange County, but one location where the bikers allegedly purchased the drugs was at the Warren Hills apartment complex in Nyack, Rockland County. Authorities say they were then sold in Orange County.

State police, DEA agents and the FBI agents executed the warrants. Law enforcement officials recovered more than $200,000 in cash, 25 handguns, one assault rifle, multiple rifles, 10 vehicles, two motorcycles, more than 2.5 pounds of cocaine and 1,300 Fentanyl pills.

Authorities say Smith, a paid lieutenant of the City of Middletown Fire Department, has been charged with crimes including operating as a major trafficker as the alleged ringleader of both operations, working in tandem with Dunham.

Gamble and Michel, also charged with crimes including operating as major trafficker, are alleged to have been "profiteers" in the conspiracies to sell cocaine and narcotics pills. It is alleged that it was Gamble's role to provide cocaine to other members of the conspiracy, while Michel was to sell narcotic pills that were marketed to buyers as containing oxycodone but which actually contained fentanyl.

The pills were colored, stamped, and marked to appear to be oxycodone pills.

Beltempo previously worked for the Village of Spring Valley Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff's office and the Town of Wallkill Police Department.

SOURCE:  ABC7 

Alleged Montréal Hells Angel member nabbed

Montréal, Québec  (February 6, 2019) BTN — An alleged member of the Hells Angels’ Montreal chapter is expected to appear before a judge at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday after having avoided arrest in an organized crime investigation for 10 months.

In April last year, the Sûreté du Québec alleged Daniel-André Giroux was a member of the gang’s Montreal chapter, which is now more than four decades old. The SQ had just arrested dozens of people in Project Objection, a lengthy investigation into four drug trafficking networks throughout Quebec that had tentacles that reached into Ontario and New Brunswick.

Giroux, 48, was one of several men who could not be found when members of the Escouade nationale de répression du crime organisé (ENRCO) carried out arrests and search warrants. On Tuesday, the Sûreté du Québec tweeted that Giroux was arrested in Dominican Republic and that he is expected to be formally charged at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday. The provincial police force noted that Giroux was on Quebec’s 10 most wanted list before the arrest was made.

Giroux faces five charges in Project Objection including two counts related to drug trafficking, another two alleging he committed crimes for the benefit of a criminal organization and conspiracy.

He was charged on an indictment along with 11 other people, including three other full-patch members of the biker gang; Michel (Sky) Langlois, Louis Matte and Stéphane Maheu. In October, Maheu, a member of the gang’s South chapter, ended his run on the lam and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, gangsterism and conspiracy on the same day he made his first court appearance and was sentenced to a six-year prison term, the longest sentence in Project Objection so far.

SOURCE: The MontrealGazette