SAWN-OFF shotgun, a loaded pistol fitted with a silencer and £11,000 of crack cocaine and cannabis has been uncovered in police raids.

SAWN-OFF shotgun, a loaded pistol fitted with a silencer and £11,000 of crack cocaine and cannabis has been uncovered in police raids.

Officers have hailed the crackdown as a blow to drugs gangs in Bolton.

And people living in Mayor Street, where the raids took place, have expressed their relief the guns are off the streets.

The street overlooks Queens Park, which has become a focus for rival gangs in recent years.

Only last year shell casings from a sub-machine gun used to execute a Salford supermarket worker were found there.

While Greater Manchester police say the raids carried out on Friday were not aimed at targeting a specific gang , the seizure of two firearms is a significant setback for organised criminals in the area.

Early on Friday morning officers from GMP’s Xcalibre Organised Crime Unit raided a flat above Pak Foods Asian grocers, which is not connected, and a neighbouring terraced house.

Crack cocaine worth £5,000 and cannabis worth up to £6,000 were recovered from the flat.

In the terraced house a few doors away officer found a sawn-off shotgun and a loaded 9mm Baikal handgun fitted with a silencer and a large amount of 0.303 ammunition which can be lethal, even when fired from long range.

A 52-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A and Class B drugs with intent to supply and a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition.

Both men have been released on police bail until January 20 and the guns and ammunition have been sent off for forensic tests.

The raids were carried out as part of the ongoing Operation Brunel, targeting organised crime groups involved in supplying hard drugs in Bolton and Bury, Rochdale Oldham and North Manchester.

Detective Insp Rick Mortimer hailed the latest raids as “a fantastic result.”

"One more gun off our streets is an excellent result as it means one less weapon that could be used to injure or even kill someone,” he said.

“Although it is very difficult to say exactly what these guns were intended for, clearly any firearm has the potential to cause serious injury or even a fatality so to have seized both a sawn-off shotgun and a handgun before they can hurt someone is a good result.”

Several communities in Bolton have been blighted by drug gangs and last year their were three shootings as rival gangs fought a turf war on the streets of the town.

And in June this year an elderly couple in Leonard Street, Great Lever had their living room window shot at by a man riding a motorbike and carrying a sawn off shotgun.

Neighbours in Mayor Street welcomed the increased police activity.

All were too afraid to be named but one 23-year-old man told The Bolton News how the area has deteriorated in the 10 years he has lived there.

“It has got a lot worse due to the gangs. Lots of groups gather on the park, making noise and being violent.

“There have been shootings and it is worrying because there are a lot of children round here.

“I am glad the guns are off the streets. It will make life easier for everyone.”

Another resident added: “People have been frightened of the gangs. It is very bad.”

DI Mortimer urged the community who may have information about illegal firearms to call the Xcalibre unit on 0161 856 6479 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

“We have listened to what our communities have been telling us about how drug dealers blight their area, and we have sent a strong message that those who line their pockets by preying upon other people’s addictions will be targeted,” said DI Mortimer.

Virginia was the source of a disproportionately large percentage of firearms that were used in crimes in other states

In the wake of yesterday’s shooting incident at the University of Texas — in which a student opened fire and then killed himself — gun control is once again at the forefront of public dialogue, and results from a recent study about gun use show that Virginia could be a focal point in the ongoing debate.

The study — which was released Monday and conducted by Mayors Against Illegal Guns using data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — reveals that in 2009, Virginia was the source of a disproportionately large percentage of firearms that were used in crimes in other states.

Adamo Kizey, 18, who raps under the name StabsOneShot, was jailed for five years on Friday for smuggling a pistol and six rounds of ammunition

A campaigner against gun crime has criticised the length of prison stay a Kingston college student has been handed for carrying a gun.

Adamo Kizey, 18, who raps under the name StabsOneShot, was jailed for five years on Friday for smuggling a pistol and six rounds of ammunition into Kingston College.

But he could be out in two and a half years if he gets parole.

Lucy Cope, from Mothers Against Crime, said: "The sentence the student taking this firearm on to campus received was justified, as the law states you will received a minimum of five years for possession of a firearm.

"I commend the police and CPS for conviction and the judge for using the five-year minimum sentence.

"I do not agree this young man should be released after 18 months.

"Five years should be just that, as I fought for five years, no remission, no parole.

Nearly half of the guns that crossed state lines and were used in crimes in 2009 were sold in just 10 states

Nearly half of the guns that crossed state lines and were used in crimes in 2009 were sold in just 10 states, according to a report being released Monday by a mayors' group.

Those states accounted for nearly 21,000 guns connected to crimes in other states, said the survey by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an association of more than 500 mayors led by New York's Michael Bloomberg and Boston's Thomas Menino.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced more than 145,000 guns used in crimes in 2009 and found that more than 43,000 of those weapons were sold in other states.

Forty-nine percent of those guns were sold in Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California or Arizona.

States were also ranked by the number of crime guns exported per 100,000 inhabitants. Mississippi led that list, followed by West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Nevada and Georgia.

Those states, the report said, have more relaxed gun laws, suggesting that "criminals and gun traffickers may favor certain states as the sources of guns."

For example, in states that do not require background checks for handgun sales at gun shows, the crime-gun export rate was two-and-a-half times as much as the rate in states that do require such checks.

Brandon Miller was charged with first-degree murder while armed

D.C. police have arrested a 21-year-old Washington man on a murder charge in connection with the U Street funeral shooting, and officers were looking for a second suspect and the getaway car.
Brandon Miller was charged with first-degree murder while armed, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said. Police are asking the public to help them find a white Buick that was seen leaving the area of U and 13th streets NW during the lunchtime Tuesday shootout.
"We've done a lot of good work, we have a lot more to do," Lanier said Wednesday.
Police said two masked men approached a group of mourners in a gold sport utility vehicle and opened fire. The SUV fled down U Street, with gunshots firing from inside, before it struck a black Mercedes-Benz and flipped, resting upside down.
Mayor Adrian Fenty called the incident "tragic" and "scary."
"This was one of the most brazen shootings that's ever happened in D.C.," Fenty said Wednesday while announcing the arrest. "It's hard to remember someone coming up and shooting, literally, right when a funeral was letting out."
D.C. resident Jamal Coates, 22, was killed in the SUV. Police did not yet know whether he died from the gunshots or the crash. Another occupant was taken to the hospital, treated then released Wednesday. A third victim in the SUV refused a trip to the hospital.
Police said the shootout was a result of a dispute between two gangs whose members got into an altercation at the funeral of 21-year-old Ashley McRae. One of the gangs simply showed up to taunt the other gang, city officials said.


Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime/1-man-charged_-others-sought-in-funeral-shooting-1047909-104032773.html#ixzz10y9NZC3G

B.C. Briefs: Gangster arrested for drugs and guns, a stabbing at McDonald's and more

B.C. Briefs: Gangster arrested for drugs and guns, a stabbing at McDonald's and more: "Eric James Fiske, 30, an original member of the Game Tight Soldiers gang and an unnamed female were arrested after they attempted to retrieve a bag that contained two loaded handguns, a Mac 10 sub-machine gun with ammunition, and 228 grams of cocaine from a wooded area in Prince George.
Police later found 56 more grams of cocaine, 159 flaps of heroin, 1.5 kilograms of marijuana, and other related drug-trafficking paraphernalia in a residence.
The Game Tight Soldiers started in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and members have recently been moving into Prince George."

GUNCHESTER Bringing Down the Gooch – Real Crime | Mad Black Cat

Bringing Down the Gooch – Real Crime | Mad Black Cat: "Gooch Gang and the Doddington Gang lived side by side on a Manchester estate for many years until 1991 when a shooting sparked a conflict which encompassed in excess of two dozen murders in the last 20 years.
Detective Constable Rod Carter shows Real Crime around the streets of the Moss Side area of Manchester and points out the locations where young men, some still at school, were shot in gang attacks.
CCTV footage shows gangs wearing body armour under their tracksuits, and DC Carter explains how the two leaders of the Gooch Gang had adapted their jeans so that they could carry firearms."

Bail denied for Zervas shooting accused

Bail denied for Zervas shooting accused: "Richard and Christopher Fong were arrested at their Matraville home in Sydney's southeast on Monday, after a lengthy police investigation into the shooting of Mr Zervas in March 2009.
The brothers, alleged to be members of the Comanchero bikie gang, have been charged with conspiracy to murder and participating in a criminal group."

Double Gang-Related Slayings In Glassell Park - Beverly Hills Courier, Beverly Hills Newspaper

Double Gang-Related Slayings In Glassell Park - Beverly Hills Courier, Beverly Hills Newspaper: "Los Angeles police today sought suspects in the gang-related slaying of two brothers and the wounding of a third man.

Jose Martinez, 24, and his brother Samuel, 20, died in the roughly 1 a.m. attack Saturday near Avenue 30 and Division Street in Glassell Park, police said. Both suffered head wounds.

Marvin Gonzalez, 19, was shot in the back, police said.

The men were approached by two or three suspects who asked them where they were from, meaning what gang, and one of suspects opened fire."

Police kill two in early Sunday shootouts

Police kill two in early Sunday shootouts: "dead men were Chandru (30) and Prashanth alias Pachi (25) alleged to be associates of underworld don Ravi Poojary. They were allegedly involved in Saturday night’s attack on Mantri House on Vittal Mallya Road.

Within hours after the attack, Chandru was way laid and gunned down near Horamavu-Agara Road, while Prashanth alias Pachi (25) was killed near Yeshwanthpur railway station at around 12.45 am on Sunday.

A police inspector and a sub-inspector involved in the encounter also sustained injuries. They are undergoing treatment and are stated to be out of danger. The two encounters were action packed. Though the police reacted swiftly and gunned down two, one more suspect, stated to be Poojary's aide, managed to escape with bullet injuries on his hand."