DEA Domestic Cartel Initiative Arrests 12 in Operation Mad Hatter

Twelve defendants are in custody after a DEA operation led to several arrests this morning as part of a federal drug investigation. Operation Mad Hatter has resulted in the identification of multiple drug traffickers and the seizure of large quantities of cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and heroin.

Operation Mad Hatter, run by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, is an ongoing DEA Domestic Cartel Initiative investigation. Today’s arrests follow the unsealing of indictments of 13 individuals who were charged by a federal grand jury on March 3, 2020. Of those, eight were taken into custody this morning, four were already in police custody, and one has made arrangements to turn herself in.

The investigation was initiated in June 2018 to target violent drug trafficking organizations operating in central Arkansas and, in particular, Pine Bluff. The investigation revealed that the Stuttgart Police Department was responding to drug and violence caused by a local gang organization called Porter Block Mafia, or PBM. Detectives reported this particular organization was responsible for several shootings and other violent crimes in Stuttgart. The organization was also known for selling crack cocaine, marijuana and illegally-obtained pills. Stuttgart police reported there have been several drug robberies in their city suspected to be carried out by the PBM organization.

The Pine Bluff Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office advised investigators that the main violent gang organization in their community is known as Murder Gang and Murder MOB, or MOB. Local investigators advised that these violent organizations were responsible for three to four shootings a night in their community as well as several murders. Both agencies advised that the killings were related to narcotics and gang rivalries. Additionally, over 120 firearms had been stolen from a pawn shop in Pine Bluff, and police advised that they suspected MOB has been using these stolen weapons to commit crimes in their community.

In response to the drug and gun violence in Pine Bluff and Stuttgart, DEA launched Operation Mad Hatter in 2019. In February 2019, DEA made the first arrests related to the operation, and in August 2019, additional arrests resulted from activity uncovered during the ongoing investigation. Today’s arrests mark the third phase of the operation, which has resulted in a total of 43 arrests to date.

On March 3, 2020, the grand jury for the Eastern District of Arkansas returned an indictment charging Kendrick Thorn and 11 codefendants in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, as well as firearms offenses. Thorn and three codefendants are charged with enhanced penalties based on prior convictions for drug trafficking and crimes of violence. Four additional defendants are indicted with drug trafficking and firearm offenses in separate indictments.

During the course of Operation Mad Hatter, investigators have seized 29 kilograms of methamphetamine, four kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), 1.5 kilograms of heroin, 82 grams of fentanyl, over 200 diverted prescription pills, more than $107,000 in assets, and seven firearms. During today’s arrests, officers recovered an additional 600 grams of methamphetamine, approximately one pound of marijuana, three firearms, and approximately $6,000 in U.S. currency.

“Today’s arrests demonstrate that law enforcement is working hard to eradicate drugs and violence from our communities,” stated Cody Hiland, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. “This third phase of Operation Mad Hatter is an example of the continued pressure we will apply to drug trafficking organizations. We appreciate the efforts of our many law enforcement partners who were instrumental in carrying out this investigation.”

Shirley Washington, Mayor of Pine Bluff, stated, “The City of Pine Bluff is committed to revitalizing our community and making this a place of destination for families, students, and businesses to thrive. We support all efforts to make this a safe environment for such progress to grow and flourish.”

“Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our communities. This Domestic Cartel Initiative operation is a powerful attack against a violent drug trafficking organization and will have an immediate impact in this region of Arkansas and beyond,” DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Justin King said. “The resulting arrests demonstrate the combined strength local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies bring to bear in the fight against these domestic cartels and strike a substantial blow to their drug trafficking operations. By working together, we are leveraging our respective resources to achieve results that we could not accomplish on our own.”

“These arrests represent a lengthy investigation and send a clear message to drug traffickers. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will defend the nation’s mail system from illegal use, and stopping the flow of dangerous drugs to our cities is a high priority,” said D. Glen Henderson, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Fort Worth Division. “Removing drugs from the streets and taking guns from criminals is always a victory for the community. We thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and all county, state and local law enforcement officers who worked together with Postal Inspectors to make this investigation a success.”

Operation Mad Hatter is a joint investigation with participation from the DEA Little Rock District Office; FBI; United States Postal Inspection Service; United States Marshals Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives; Arkansas State Police; Pine Bluff Police Department and the Narcotics Unit; Little Rock Police Department; North Little Rock Police Department; Benton Police Department; Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office; Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office; Saline County Sheriff’s Office; Central Arkansas Drug Task Force; and Arkansas Community Corrections.

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Al Capone: Devoted Husband or Notorious Womanizer?

Call him Scarface or Snorky, Al Capone is one of the most-remembered gangsters and his reign as a crime boss during the Prohibition era has been fictionalized for several TV shows and films. His antics will forever be part of Chicago history and perhaps, even American history.

Born in New York City to Italian immigrant parents, he joined the Five Points Gang in his adolescent years and got deeply embroiled in organized crime, especially in brothels, as an ill-informed bouncer. Even though he was the “bad guy,” his popularity rose as “the modern-day Robin Hood.” He made huge donations and charities to the needy and spectators cheered for him at ball games.

One of the most striking things about him was his personal life. Capone is perhaps one of the few gangsters who had a happy marriage despite his gang life. The co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit got hitched to Mae Josephine Coughlin when he was 19. Though she belonged to a staunchly Catholic family bringing home an Italian street punk was frowned upon but their relationship was truly a love story. Since he was under 21, his parents had to give their consent in writing. It was a cold winter day, on December 30, 1918, when the two got married — a month after their son Albert Francis “Sonny” Capone was born with hearing impairment in his left ear. It is believed that Al had a long and committed relationship with Mae but how true is that?

National Book Award-winning biographer Deidre Bair penned down Capone’s humane side in her book, ‘Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend’.

In the book, she writes, “Al was a typical Italian boy who loved his family and needed to be in their midst and did not like being away from home.” She adds, “Al had the only steady job, but besides his Baltimore expenses, he had Mae and a sickly baby to support.” The book also mentions the constant friction between Mae and her mother-in-law, Teresa.

According to hearsay, even after the birth of his son, Capone was a notorious womanizer. The philandering gave Capone syphilis and his wife and son got it from him. He never sought treatment as opening up about the STD would mean having to accept his illicit affairs. In the book, Bair reflects upon the story about how he kept a 15-year-old female mistress in an apartment and how Mae dyed her hair same as her. While other writers have deemed it as true, she feels it could just have been a legend with no solid proof.

It is also believed Mae once told her son “not to do what your father did. He broke my heart.” Nevertheless, his marriage survived and Mae was a devoted wife. He was put behind the bars at the age of 33 and after an 11-year prison sentence, he went through mental trauma. From Al Capone’s rise from a low-ranking thug to a fearsome mob leader, Mae was by his side. When he left prison, he had the mind of a twelve-year-old and in the book, Bair writes about how his wife Mae and his brothers took care of him and saw him having imaginary conversations with long-dead colleagues. He was Mae’s full-time job as she tried to keep him out of the eyes of hounding reporters who were trying to catch a glimpse of him.

On January 25,  1947, Capone died of a stroke and Mae Capone died on April 16, 1986, in a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida.

Thanks to News Lagoon.

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Clip of @MichaelFranzese - A former Capo with the NY Colombo Crime Family - on Crooked Cops Working for the Mafia via @vladtv

Michael Franzese, a former capo with the New York Colombo Crime Family on crooked cops working with the mafia.

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Broken by @DonWinslow - One of America’s Greatest Living Crime Writers

No matter how you come into this world, you come out broken . . .

In six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt and redemption, Broken is #1 international bestseller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, heart-stopping, heartbreaking best.

In Broken, he creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks, obsessed cops struggling with life on and off the job, private detectives, dope dealers, bounty hunters and fugitives, the lost souls driving without headlights through the dark night on the American criminal highway.

With his trademark blend of insight, humanity, humor, action and the highest level of literary craftsmanship, Winslow delivers a collection of tales that will become classics of crime fiction.

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Danny Roman, AKA Popeye, a Leader of the Mexican Mafia is Whacked in Prison by Bad Hombres

Danny Roman, a Mexican Mafia member who controlled swaths of South Los Angeles from various prison cells throughout California, was stabbed to death Wednesday at a substance abuse treatment facility in Corcoran, the state prison system said Thursday.

Danny Roman, AKA Popeye" a Leader of the Mexican Mafia is Whacked in Prison

Around 11 a.m., two inmates — Raul Alvarado and Edward Cisneros — began stabbing Roman in the body and face, according to a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Roman, 64, was taken to the prison’s medical facility and pronounced dead.

Alvarado, 47, is a Mexican Mafia member from Lennox known as “Spy,” according to a source who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. The source said Alvarado and Cisneros attacked Roman on the facility’s yard.

Alvarado is serving a life sentence for murder and has been in state custody since 1994, according to the corrections department. Cisneros, 31, is also serving a life sentence for murder and has been incarcerated since 2013. The two men have been placed in segregated housing while the corrections department and the Kings County district attorney investigate Roman’s killing.

Roman had been a state prisoner since 1985, when he began serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, the department said.

Roman, known as “Popeye,” was the leader of Harpys, a Latino street gang in South Central Los Angeles. On May 16, 1988, three years after entering the state prison system, Roman was inducted into the Mexican Mafia, a Los Angeles police detective wrote in an affidavit seeking court permission to intercept Roman’s daughter’s phone calls.

The Mexican Mafia is a criminal syndicate of about 140 members, most of them incarcerated, which controls virtually every Latino street gang in Southern California.

As a member of the syndicate, authorities said in court documents, Roman was authorized to collect narcotics and extortion proceeds from not just his own gang but a panoply of others in South Los Angeles: 38th Street, 36th Street, Primera Flats, Playboys and East Side Trece, among others.

By 2012, Roman controlled a territory in South Los Angeles bordered by Alameda Street to the east, Western Avenue to the west, Washington Boulevard to the north and Imperial Highway to the south, according to a federal indictment charging 18 Harpys members and associates, including Roman’s daughter, Vianna, with racketeering, drug trafficking and various violent crimes.

Prosecutors painted Vianna Roman as her father’s surrogate, visiting him at a maximum-security wing in Pelican Bay State Prison and relaying orders to underlings in Los Angeles to extort, assault and kill. She pleaded guilty in 2014 to racketeering, drug trafficking and firearms offenses and is serving a 15-year sentence at a federal prison in Victorville.

Inside her market on Compton Avenue, Villamar Tortilleria y Carniceria, Vianna Roman met with her father’s lieutenants, discussed gangland politics and collected extortion payments, or “taxes,” LAPD Det. Richard Jaramillo wrote in an affidavit seeking a judge’s approval to tap her phone.

Gang members called it “the meat shop.” On the 25th of every month, Danny Roman’s emissaries collected $5,000 to $6,000 from 15 gangs in South Los Angeles and turned it over at the meat shop, Jaramillo wrote, citing intelligence from turncoats within Roman’s organization. Several informants told law enforcement that people had been “tortured, assaulted and murdered” inside the meat shop, the affidavit said.

A particularly rich prize for the Romans, Jaramillo wrote, was the Alameda Swap Meet, at the intersection of Alameda Street and Vernon Avenue in South Los Angeles. Extorting vendors at the flea market “generates an extreme amount of revenue for the Mexican Mafia,” Jaramillo wrote.

By 2012, the indictment charging his daughter said, Danny Roman had gained the exclusive right to shake down the swap meet. An underling drew up a list of resistant vendors, identifying the outstanding extortion payments as “union dues,” the indictment said.

Those who didn’t pay or contacted the police were evicted from the market or assaulted, according to the indictment. One Harpys member vowed to kill any vendor who cooperated with law enforcement, it said.

Danny Roman’s underlings, who couldn’t send money to his prison account without arousing suspicion, used fake names and enlisted girlfriends and wives to kick up his cut, Jaramillo wrote.

Before his daughter’s indictment, prison officials seized $24,000 from Danny Roman’s inmate trust account, suspecting it came from extortion and drug trafficking, the affidavit said. Prisoners can use money from their accounts to buy items at the commissary, such as snacks and hygiene products, that range in price from 25 cents to a few dollars.

Thanks to Matthew Ormseth.

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