Drug smuggler Shaheed Roger Khan was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on charges of drug smuggling, witness tampering and gun possession

Drug smuggler Shaheed Roger Khan was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on charges of drug smuggling, witness tampering and gun possession in Vermont at 3 pm today at the US Eastern District Court in Brooklyn.Justice Dora L. Irizarry, imposing the sentences after a one-hour summation, said that they would run concurrently, which means that Khan will only serve 15 years in prison.Prior to handing down the long-awaited sentence, Justice Irizarry read three letters from Sheila Waddell, Harry Rampersaud and an anonymous person, which pleaded with her to impose a longer sentence than the 15 years offered to Khan as part of his plea bargain deal, given the heinous crimes he had committed. However she said that while she considered their pain and that of others affected by his operations, it should be recognized that in Khan’s case an acquittal was also possible had it gone to trial.
Prosecutor Shannon Jones had earlier said the same thing, noting that it should not be viewed as 15 years as opposed to 25 or 40 years, but 15 years as opposed to an acquittal.Before imposing sentence, Justice Irizarry asked Khan to make a statement.
Standing, the cleanly-shaven convict smiled and waved to his family and relatives in the courtroom. Addressing the court, Khan apologized to the citizens of the United States of America for the pain his actions might have caused them. Turning to his family, he apologized to them as well for any pain he might have caused them. He did not as much as mention Guyana or Guyanese.He then thanked his attorneys John Bergendahl and Diarmuid White for “being men of integrity” and said the US should be proud of them.As he left the court, Khan waved to his wife who said “Rog, I love you.”

Police found a semi-automatic pistol in Titus Dawson’s bedroom

police found a semi-automatic pistol in Titus Dawson’s bedroom March 6, he initially claimed a burglar must have placed it there.That defense only went so far.
At his trial in Albany County Court this week, he took another route — that the weapon was being held for a friend to be returned to a gun buy-back program in Albany.Both Dawson, 26, and the friend are convicted drug dealers, the gun was found next to marijuana residue, as well as digital scales, $8,000 in cash and a ninth-month old newspaper article, but the defendant’s pal still took the stand and made his case.It was just not one a jury would believe .Dawson, 26, of Lark Drive, was convicted late Thursday of third-degree weapon possession, a felony carrying 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison.Police had noticed the gun while responding to a burglary alarm at Dawson’s home. When they arrived they spotted the pistol, as well as a large amount of marijuana in the bedroom.They returned and arrested Dawson after getting a search warrant. The gun and other belongings (which prosecutors say showed evidence of a homegrown marijuana operation) were discovered near a nine-month old Times Union newspaper article about gang shootings in Albany.The defense argued Dawson’s friend, a convicted crack dealer, stumbled upon the gun a day earlier while outdoors in Albany — and decided to leave it with Dawson. He said they planned to give it to the Rev. Charlie Muller of the Victory Christian Church in Albany, who runs the buy-back program.But Assistant District Attorney David Gonzalez, who prosecuted the case, noted no effort was ever made by either man to contact Muller.
“There is only so much that we can do with the legal system,” Gonzalez told jurors in closing arguments. “Use common sense.”Dawson, who has a past conviction for third-degree drug dealing, will be sentenced by acting Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont on Dec. 11.

Weapons of choice for gangsters are the Russian-made 9mm Baikal pistol which is smuggled into the UK from illegal factories in Lithuania

Weapons of choice for gangsters are the Russian-made 9mm Baikal pistol which is smuggled into the UK from illegal factories in Lithuania and the Mac-10 sub-machine pistol.
A sub-machine gun is believed to have been used in the suspected gang war murder of 21-year-old Turkish shop worker Cem Duzgun two weeks ago.
There have also been warnings about girls and children carrying weapons for boyfriends or older gang members. Earlier this year a 14-year-old boy was convicted of possessing a gun, a silencer and ammunition. The weapon was found in his bedroom in Lewisham when he was just 13.
The number of guns being seized in London has risen steadily in recent years. In the whole of 2002 just 1,000, including imitation guns, were recovered. This year, up until the end of July 985 were seized. Police say that by this month the total will have reached more than 1,000.
Of the 985, 217 were 'live-firing' weapons - 136 handguns, 72 shotguns and nine sub-machineguns. The rest are believed to be BB guns, replicas or other 'non-live firing'

'respect' shootings where it seems the gunmen do not intend to kill.

Gun crime in London has soared due to a new wave of teenage 'respect' shootings, the Metropolitan Police said today.Crimes where teenagers choose to use firearms to settle disputes over slights to their reputation or other minor disagreements are becoming increasingly common.
The new phenomenon sees gunmen intending to injure their victims rather than kill. Criminals aim at a rival's legs and leave them with 'war wounds'.
Police figures say that there have been 72 such shootings, double the number for last year. Commander Martin Hewitt said the inclination to use 'extreme levels of violence for seemingly very little reason' was a new phenomenon.
He said that when Operation Trident began investigating gun crime in the black community most shootings were an 'offshoot' of criminal activity.
Police have seized more than 1,000 guns in London so far this year. While overall youth violence is falling, police say there is a rise in gun crime and, in particular, the number of non-fatal shootings involving turf wars.
Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson linked rising gun crime in the capital with feuding gangs. Met figures show a 14 per cent rise in gun crime in London over four months during the summer.
There has been a spate of 'drive-by' and other targeted shootings, apparently connected to gang and other criminal disputes. Many offences are said to be 'intimated' where someone claims or threatens to have a gun but a weapon is not seen.
However, police are highlighting a new trend of 'respect' shootings where it seems the gunmen do not intend to kill.

Bullets flying from the Morro dos Macacos ("Monkey Hill" in Portuguese) slum in northern Rio de Janeiro tore into the helicopter and hit the pilot

Bullets flying from the Morro dos Macacos ("Monkey Hill" in Portuguese) slum in northern Rio de Janeiro tore into the helicopter and hit the pilot in the leg as he hovered above the shootout, causing him to lose control and crash.
Two officers died, while the pilot and three other policemen escaped after the craft hit the ground on a football field and burst into flames. The pilot and a second officer suffered burns and bullet wounds. The other two officers also were burned, one gravely, said Mario Sergio Duarte, head of Rio state's military police.
Officials did not know whether the gangs targeted the helicopter or whether it was hit by stray bullets, but the event underscored security concerns that have dogged Brazil's second-largest city for decades.
Despite the mayhem, officials defended Rio's ability to control violence ahead of the Olympics as well as before 2014, when Brazil will host the World Cup soccer tournament with key games in Rio.
"In choosing the city, they already knew about the work that's being carried out and will continue in the area of (crime) prevention," Justice Minister Tarso Genro told the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency.
Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral grimly told reporters that Rio's security challenges can't be cured "by magic in the short term," but he said money is being poured into programs to reduce crime and authorities are prepared to mount an overwhelming security presence at the sporting events to ensure safety.
"We told the International Olympic Committee that this won't be an easy thing, and they know that," Cabral said. "We can put 40,000 people on the streets — federal, state and municipal police — and pull off the event."
Duarte said it was unlikely that traffickers fired an anti-aircraft missile at the helicopter, though such weapons have been found in the hideouts of Rio's drug traffickers along with other heavy, military-grade arms such as grenade launchers and .50-caliber machine guns.
The pilot was able to make a somewhat controlled, though extremely rough landing, which would have been unlikely if the aircraft had been hit by a heavy weapon, Duarte said.
Police said 10 presumed traffickers were killed during the fighting in the slum, including three suspects found dead inside a vehicle. Officials gave no details on how the other seven died.
They said at least eight buses were set on fire in nearby slums as the shootouts raged. Television images showed motorists fleeing for cover as automatic-weapons fire crackled in broad daylight amid the worst violence the city has seen in months.
Images broadcast by Globo TV showed flames shooting from the helicopter wreckage, with little more than charred pieces and an intact tail remaining after the fire was doused.

Drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter during a gunbattle between rival gangs Saturday

Drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter during a gunbattle between rival gangs Saturday, killing two officers and injuring four in a burst of violence just two weeks after the city was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
Ten suspected drug traffickers were also killed during the fighting in a shantytown, and two bystanders were injured, officials said.

Gunmen started shooting as they entered the bar in Toa Baja, near the capital San Juan,

Gunmen started shooting as they entered the bar in Toa Baja, near the capital San Juan, prompting several customers to pull out guns and return fire. Seven people were killed and some 20 injured, including a pregnant woman who lost her eight-month-old unborn child. It is one of the most violent single incidents in Puerto Rico in many years. Three people were found dead inside the nightclub and another three were killed just outside, prosecutor Wanda Vazquez said. The seventh victim died in hospital. Investigators suspect the killing was linked to a turf war between drug gangs. "We can't be certain that this was drug-related, but the way it played out appears that it was," Ms Vazquez said. Puerto Rico is a key shipment point in the Caribbean for illegal drugs being smuggled into the US, because as a US territory it is free from customs checks.

Jamaica handguns, rifles and bullets that stoke one of the world's highest murder rates.

Handguns, rifles and bullets that stoke one of the world's highest murder rates.
The volume is much less than the flow of U.S. guns into Mexico that end up in the hands of drug cartels -- Jamaican authorities recover fewer than 1,000 firearms a year. But of those whose origin can be traced, 80 percent come from the U.S., Jamaican law enforcement officials have said in interviews with The Associated Press.
And as the Obama administration cracks down on smuggling into Mexico, Jamaicans fear even more firearms will reach the gangs whose turf wars plague the island of 2.8 million people.''It's going to push a lot of that trade back toward the Caribbean like it was back in the '80s,'' said Vance Callender, an attache at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).U.S. authorities are beginning to target the Jamaican gun-smuggling network as part of a broad effort to boost security in the Caribbean.But they have a long way to go. Jamaican authorities have confiscated only 100 guns coming into ports in the last five years, along with 6,000 rounds of ammunition. That in turn is just a fraction of the 700 or so weapons confiscated on the streets each year.Authorities know they're only seeing ''the tip of the iceberg,'' said Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy police commissioner.With arsenals to rival police firepower, the gangs are blamed for 90 percent of the homicides in Jamaica -- 1,611 last year, about 10 times more than the U.S. rate, relative to population.Unlike in Mexico, the vast majority of Jamaican guns seized are submitted for tracing. Jamaica and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives find most of the seized weapons come from three Florida counties -- Orange, Dade and Broward -- all with large Jamaican populations, according to Shields.X-ray scanners were installed two years ago at Jamaican ports, but the gangs use bribery and intimidation to get their shipments past inspectors.In April, a newly hired customs supervisor had his tires slashed and days later was shot at on his way home from work, authorities say. The man was known for his strict scrutiny of cargo coming into a gang-infiltrated warehouse on the Kingston wharf.When the gangs apply pressure, ''no one says no,'' said Danville Walker, Jamaica's commissioner of customs.

Darren John Bridgeman, 37, from Malvern, Worcestershire sentenced to life in prison by a judge in Florida.

Darren John Bridgeman, 37, from Malvern, Worcestershire sentenced to life in prison by a judge in Florida.In June 2006, Darren John Bridgeman, 37, from Malvern, Worcestershire, killed Tracy Bennawit, 33, because he discovered that she had a new boyfriend. He then fled back to the UK and tried to join the French Foreign Legion to avoid being caught.Bridgeman, who said Bennawit "threw me out like garbage" when their relationship turned sour, eventually gave himself up after a manhunt across Europe. He was extradited to the US, where a jury took less than six hours to convict him of murder on Friday night after a week-long trial."It's the verdict he deserved," said Adam Strickland, Bennawit's boyfriend, who was shot in the chest and seriously wounded in the ambush. Bennawit's son, Caelin, 14, witnessed the attack but was not hurt.Lawyers for Bridgeman, who was also Bennawit's business partner in a failed video game shop, argued unsuccessfully that their client was guilty only of manslaughter because he acted in the heat of passion.

Oscar Segura, 23, of Santa Ana.shot to death Thursday afternoon

A man shot to death Thursday afternoon was identified today by police as Oscar Segura, 23, of Santa Ana.Police were called to South Standard Avenue and Beverly Place just before 3:30 p.m. with reports of a person shot. They didn't find anyone at that corner, but did find a wounded man in the 800 block of East Normandy Place, a block to the south.Segura was taken to Western Medical Center, where he died around 45 minutes later.Police are investigating the shooting as a gang-related attack.Norma Prado, who is Segura’s cousin once removed, said that Segura was going to the store to get ready to watch the Los Angeles Lakers game with friends and his uncle when he was hit by a bullet.One of the shots hit his liver and then pierced his heart, Prado said. “He was always very loving, a very likable person,” Prado said. “I don't think he had any enemies that I knew of.”“At the hospital, the doctors did everything they could, but he had lost a lot of blood and nothing could be done for him,” Prado said. “All I can say about him is that he was a wonderful person – never was disrespectful to any one of us, very polite.”Segura’s neighbor Amanda Gallegos was shocked to hear the news. She used to say hi when she’d see Segura taking a walk with his daughter.Segura was known for helping out senior citizens in the neighborhood, she said.“Everybody really liked him,” Gallegos said. “He’s not a person I’d say was in a gang. He wasn’t full of tattoos, and you’d never see him with that type of crowd. He was very helping to the neighborhood and never expected anything in return.”