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...

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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...

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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...

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'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...

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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...

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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 sa...

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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...

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