Police on Wednesday captured one of Italy's most-wanted fugitive mobsters, arresting the last major boss of one of Italy's bloodiest mafia clans.
Michele Zagaria, on the run since 1995, was found in an underground bunker in Casapesenna, in his hometown province of Caserta in southern Italy, the headquarters of the Casalesi clan of the Neapolitan Camorra.
Anti-mafia prosecutor Piero Grasso said it was likely Zagaria had spent his years as a fugitive nearby since mob bosses "can only exercise their power if they're in an environment that protects them."
"This was the nightmare: We knew he was there, but it was tough to find him, tough to get him out," he told Sky TG24. "Finally we did."
He noted that the Casalesi's well-known infiltration of local businesses and politics was similar to that of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.
Investigators contend the Casalesi family runs a lucrative illegal business in transporting and disposing of toxic waste, a murky world explored in the book and film "Gomorrah." Other moneymakers for the crime clan are rackets, extortion, drug trafficking, smuggling of illegal migrants and arms.
Police have seized about euro2 billion ($2.7 billion) worth of assets allegedly illegally gained by its members over the last few years.
Last year, another top Casalesi lieutenant, Antonio Iovine, nicknamed "'o ninno'" (dialect for "the baby") for his youthful looks, was arrested in a major strike against the Casalesi. His arrest left Zagaria as the last big fugitive lieutenant of the charismatic convicted Camorra boss Francesco Schiavone.
Nicknamed Sandokan after the hero of a series of pirate adventure books in Italy, Schiavone is believed to still control the Casalesi clan from behind bars.
Zagaria is wanted for murder, extortion, kidnapping, mafia association and other crimes.
In one of their bloodiest strikes, Casalesi gunmen gunned down six African immigrants in one swoop as they chatted on a town street in what police said was a warning to other Africans to stay away from drug trafficking in the area.
Thanks to Yahoo News
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Almost 1 Million Leave Mafia Wars 2
The sequel to one of Zynga’s most popular social games does not seem to be faring so well according to research firm AppData which estimates that Mafia Wars 2 has lost over 900,000 subscribers over the past four weeks.
The casual game that was launched back in October reached a peak of 2.5 million players but began losing out on players over the past month accounting to 36 per cent of its user base. If that was not bad enough, a Bloomberg report from an anonymous source says that the game has failed to generate expected sales.
Analyst Michael Pachter has pointed out that most of Zynga’s game witnessed at least 20 per cent of their users returning daily to play the game but Mafia Wars 2 falls short to 10 per cent on retaining its daily playing population. “All the old Mafia Wars guys who finished everything you could do came over here and said, ‘This is the same game with different missions.’ They are already tired of it, so they are dropping off. I think it’s a good case study for what can go wrong,” he explained.
The casual game that was launched back in October reached a peak of 2.5 million players but began losing out on players over the past month accounting to 36 per cent of its user base. If that was not bad enough, a Bloomberg report from an anonymous source says that the game has failed to generate expected sales.
Analyst Michael Pachter has pointed out that most of Zynga’s game witnessed at least 20 per cent of their users returning daily to play the game but Mafia Wars 2 falls short to 10 per cent on retaining its daily playing population. “All the old Mafia Wars guys who finished everything you could do came over here and said, ‘This is the same game with different missions.’ They are already tired of it, so they are dropping off. I think it’s a good case study for what can go wrong,” he explained.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
The Citizen Leader: Be the Person You'd Want to Follow by Peter Alduino
Take a close look at the people around you who are in a position of leadership today or may be at sometime in the future. How do you know who will be a great leader?
In his new book The Citizen Leader: Be the Person You’d Want to Follow
, author and leadership expert Peter Alduino takes a critical look at what it takes to be an effective and highly regarded leader at home, in your community, in your place of worship and at work.
“A citizen leader is someone who brings their character and courage to making a contribution on behalf of the community and the common good,” says Alduino. “In an era when we are being assaulted by others’ agendas and tempted with profit, prestige and personal gain, it is our job to be solidly grounded in who we are and how we want to be in the world and have the courage to stick by that.”
The Citizen Leader is a step-by-step guide to help parents, teens, community leaders and corporate executives alike explore and then put into action the answers to the questions “Who am I?” and “How do I want to be in the world?”
Peter challenges each of us to address personal and professional issues we face in life and deepen our commitment to being authentic and courageous so we can say with conviction, "I am a person I’d want to follow." Alduino identifies three roles that a person must fulfill to be a citizen leader:
Character
Put into words who you are and what you stand for, and then get some feedback from the people around you. Commit to do whatever it is you need to be doing differently to be your person, and emerge as someone you’d want to follow.
Courage
Strengthen your resolve to do the right thing — not the popular, profitable, prestigious, pandering, politically expedient, placating or even the palatable thing but the right thing that serves your highest values and the common good.
Contribution
Put to use a practical framework that both integrates the forces of your mind, body and spirit to make a positive contribution in your community — be that home, school, work, worship or play — and keeps you moving and motivated, even when you confront obstacles.
In his new book The Citizen Leader: Be the Person You’d Want to Follow
, author and leadership expert Peter Alduino takes a critical look at what it takes to be an effective and highly regarded leader at home, in your community, in your place of worship and at work.“A citizen leader is someone who brings their character and courage to making a contribution on behalf of the community and the common good,” says Alduino. “In an era when we are being assaulted by others’ agendas and tempted with profit, prestige and personal gain, it is our job to be solidly grounded in who we are and how we want to be in the world and have the courage to stick by that.”
The Citizen Leader is a step-by-step guide to help parents, teens, community leaders and corporate executives alike explore and then put into action the answers to the questions “Who am I?” and “How do I want to be in the world?”
Peter challenges each of us to address personal and professional issues we face in life and deepen our commitment to being authentic and courageous so we can say with conviction, "I am a person I’d want to follow." Alduino identifies three roles that a person must fulfill to be a citizen leader:
Character
Put into words who you are and what you stand for, and then get some feedback from the people around you. Commit to do whatever it is you need to be doing differently to be your person, and emerge as someone you’d want to follow.
Courage
Strengthen your resolve to do the right thing — not the popular, profitable, prestigious, pandering, politically expedient, placating or even the palatable thing but the right thing that serves your highest values and the common good.
Contribution
Put to use a practical framework that both integrates the forces of your mind, body and spirit to make a positive contribution in your community — be that home, school, work, worship or play — and keeps you moving and motivated, even when you confront obstacles.
Monday, December 05, 2011
John Gotti Movie Back on Track and to Start Shooting Soon
John Travolta should start working on perfecting a thick New York Mafioso accent.
It sounds like cameras will finally roll on the much talked-about John Gotti movie...
"I think we've got the money sorted out now," Gotti: Three Generations' writer and director Barry Levinson told me at BAFTA LA's Britannia Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. "It's coming together."
Travolta is set to star as Gotti, the late Mafia crime boss who was nicknamed "the Teflon Don," alongside Ben Foster as his son and real-life wife Kelly Preston as his daughter, Victoria.
"It's not just him, but John Gotti Jr.," Levinson said. "The dynamic that is interesting to me is Gotti Jr. growing up in the shadow of his father and thinking he was supposed to step up as the next Don and then suddenly realizing that this is not a world he wants to be a part of and how do you deal with that ."
Levinson told me they may even shoot in my hometown of Howard Beach, N.Y. Yes, I grew up in the same neighborhood as the Gottis.
Thanks to Marc Malkin
It sounds like cameras will finally roll on the much talked-about John Gotti movie...
"I think we've got the money sorted out now," Gotti: Three Generations' writer and director Barry Levinson told me at BAFTA LA's Britannia Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. "It's coming together."
Travolta is set to star as Gotti, the late Mafia crime boss who was nicknamed "the Teflon Don," alongside Ben Foster as his son and real-life wife Kelly Preston as his daughter, Victoria.
"It's not just him, but John Gotti Jr.," Levinson said. "The dynamic that is interesting to me is Gotti Jr. growing up in the shadow of his father and thinking he was supposed to step up as the next Don and then suddenly realizing that this is not a world he wants to be a part of and how do you deal with that ."
Levinson told me they may even shoot in my hometown of Howard Beach, N.Y. Yes, I grew up in the same neighborhood as the Gottis.
Thanks to Marc Malkin
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Antonio C. Martinez Jr. Pleads Guilty to Racketeering and Related Charges for Involvement with Latin Kings Gang
Antonio C. Martinez Jr., 40, a former Chicago police officer, pleaded guilty today to racketeering conspiracy and related charges, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David Capp of the Northern District of Indiana.
Martinez pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano to conspiracy to commit racketeering activity; conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana; robbery; and using a firearm while committing these federal crimes. Martinez was charged, along with 14 additional defendants, in a third superseding indictment unsealed on Nov. 18, 2011. To date, 21 individuals, including Martinez, have been charged for crimes related to their membership or association with the Almighty Latin Kings and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) gang.
Martinez admitted that he committed a series of robberies from 2004 to 2006 at the direction of the Latin Kings, using his position as a Chicago police officer to facilitate the robberies. Martinez admitted that he was wearing his Chicago Police Department badge and department-issued weapon when he committed the robberies, which included those of drug traffickers in Rockford, Ill.; Chicago; and East Chicago, Ind. In one instance, Martinez admitted to participating in the armed robbery at the home of a deceased Latin Dragon gang leader in Hammond, Ind. In addition, Martinez admitted that he picked up and delivered packages of cocaine on multiple occasions for two Latin Kings leaders.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 14, 2012. At sentencing, Martinez faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The investigation of Martinez was conducted by the Chicago City Public Corruption Task Force, a Chicago Police Department-Internal Affairs and FBI Chicago law enforcement initiative. The investigation of the remaining defendants was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; FBI; U.S. Immigration and Custom Office of Homeland Security Investigations; the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement & Coordination Center; the National Gang Intelligence Center; the Chicago Police Department; the East Chicago Police Department; the Griffith, Ind., Police Department; the Hammond Police Department; the Highland, Ind., Police Department; and the Houston Police Department.
The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph A. Cooley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Nozick of the Northern District of Indiana.
Martinez pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano to conspiracy to commit racketeering activity; conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana; robbery; and using a firearm while committing these federal crimes. Martinez was charged, along with 14 additional defendants, in a third superseding indictment unsealed on Nov. 18, 2011. To date, 21 individuals, including Martinez, have been charged for crimes related to their membership or association with the Almighty Latin Kings and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) gang.
Martinez admitted that he committed a series of robberies from 2004 to 2006 at the direction of the Latin Kings, using his position as a Chicago police officer to facilitate the robberies. Martinez admitted that he was wearing his Chicago Police Department badge and department-issued weapon when he committed the robberies, which included those of drug traffickers in Rockford, Ill.; Chicago; and East Chicago, Ind. In one instance, Martinez admitted to participating in the armed robbery at the home of a deceased Latin Dragon gang leader in Hammond, Ind. In addition, Martinez admitted that he picked up and delivered packages of cocaine on multiple occasions for two Latin Kings leaders.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 14, 2012. At sentencing, Martinez faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The investigation of Martinez was conducted by the Chicago City Public Corruption Task Force, a Chicago Police Department-Internal Affairs and FBI Chicago law enforcement initiative. The investigation of the remaining defendants was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; FBI; U.S. Immigration and Custom Office of Homeland Security Investigations; the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement & Coordination Center; the National Gang Intelligence Center; the Chicago Police Department; the East Chicago Police Department; the Griffith, Ind., Police Department; the Hammond Police Department; the Highland, Ind., Police Department; and the Houston Police Department.
The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph A. Cooley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Nozick of the Northern District of Indiana.
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