- 2008 in organized crime
"See also":
2007 in organized crime , other events of 2008 and the list of years in organized crime.Events
January *
January 15 - Italian police 'smash' a Nigerian criminal gang involved inhuman trafficking ,sex trafficking and theillegal drug trade . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7189703.stm]
*January 16 - Police arrest 39Mafia suspects inPalermo , including the son of mafia bossSalvatore Lo Piccolo . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7191743.stm]
*January 18 - Sicilian presidentSalvatore Cuffaro is found guilty of several mafia-related charges. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7197334.stm]
*January 21 -Mexican security forces capture drug lordAlfredo Beltran Leyva , head of theSinaloa cartel . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7201571.stm]
*January 24 -Russian mafia bossSemion Mogilevich is arrested on charges of tax evasion. [http://www.interfax.ru/r/B/politics/2.html?id_issue=11952445]
*January 31 -Chechen mafia bossMovladi Atlangeriyev is abducted as he leaves a Moscow restaurant. [http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/362016.htm]February *
February 1 -Norte del Valle cartel leaderWilber Varela is found murdered in a holiday cabin inMerida ,Venezuela . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7223452.stm]
*February 4 - Irish mobster Paddy Doyle is shot dead inEstepona ,Spain byRussian mafia hitmen. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/10/ireland.russia]
*February 7 –Operation Old Bridge leads to scores of arrests in theUnited States andItaly . The leaders of theGambino crime family were indicted and charged with RICO offenses, including acting boss John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico, underboss Domenico "Dom from the 18th Avenue" Cefalu, consigliere Joseph "JoJo" Corozzo, captains Nicholas "Little Nicky" Corozzo,Leonard DiMaria , Thomas "Tommy Sneakers" Cacciopoli, andFrank Cali , as well as over 50 other Gambino soldiers and associates. Joseph "Joe V/Joe Andrews" Vollaro was instrumental in indicting the mobsters, as a close associate of Nicky Corozzo, Vollaro who owned several trucking businesses in Staten Island, wore a wire during extortions and meetings with Corozzo and others. The New York Attorney General's office flipped Vollaro after he was caught with two kilos of cocaine. At the time of the indictment, Corozzo was planning on proposing Vollaro for induction into the family. In addition to the labor and extortion charges, Nicky Corozzo is charged with ordering the slayings of two drug dealers, and family soldierCharles Carneglia is charged with committing five murders dating back to the 1970s. Nicky Corozzo was tipped off by his daughter who is married to another Gambino soldier, and managed to flee before the feds raided his home down the street from hers.
*February 12 - A Sicilian bishop is given police protection after refusing to take part in the funeral of mafia bossCrocefisso Emanuello . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7241613.stm]
*February 13 -Mafia bossMichele Greco died in Rome. Greco was the boss of theGreco Mafia Family and was the leader of theSicilian Mafia Commission .
*February 13 - Police raids in and aroundLondon arrest 22 people in connection with acocaine trafficking operation estimated to be worth £100 million. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7242229.stm]
*February 19 - High ranking'Ndrangheta bossPasquale Condello , who had been on the run since 1987, is arrested in Italy. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7251892.stm]March *
March 6 - Police inThailand arrest top Russian arms dealerViktor Bout at a luxury hotel. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7281297.stm]
*March 7 - Police inSydney break up an international Korean-basedsex trafficking syndicate. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7282711.stm]
*March 13 - Drug lordGustavo Rivera Martinez is captured by Mexican authorities inTijuana . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7293203.stm]
*March 18 -Russian mafia bossMarat Balagula is shot dead inBrooklyn .
*March 20 - The police have detained the biggest lot of heroine in Moldova. The matter is of 200kg of heroine from Afghanistan worth about 10 million euros. Drugs were designed for one of the European countries, they were of the Afghani origin and packed in Turkey. Several days later, the General Prosecutor's Office announced that Chief of the Operative Services of the Ministry of Interior Corneliu Savca and two of his subordinates were arrested on the suspicion of being involved in this drug trafficking. It was envisaged that the policemen had had to provide for the transit of drugs, hidden in sacks with French beans in a microbus. After this the press spread rumors that ex-Minister of Interior Gheorghe Papuc was involved in this case, however, the General Prosecutor's Office denied these rumors.
*March 22 - 'Ndrangheta bossLuca Megna is shot dead, his wife injured and his five year old daughter is put in a coma after an attack.
*March 27 - MobsterGiuseppe Cavallo is shot dead in a retribution attack.
*March 28 -Francesco Capicchiano is killed by two gunmen, amidst fears of a gang war. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7317897.stm]
*March 29 - English Mob BossAnthony "The British Bulldog" Burnes is shot dead outside a pub inLiverpool .April *
April 7 -Bulgaria n organised crime authorGeorgi Stoev is killed by a single shot to the head in the capitalSofia . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7335418.stm]
*April 25 - Moroccan drug lordMohamed Ouazzani is recaptured by Spanish police after escaping prison last year. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7366538.stm]
*April 27 - 15 people are killed in a gun battle between theArellano-Felix cartel and a rival gang. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7369325.stm]May *
May 8 toMay 10 - Three prominent Mexican officials (Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez ,Juan Antonio Roman Garcia ,Esteban Robles Espinosa ) are gunned down by drug traffickers. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7393443.stm]
*May 23 - Italian Police arrest Ndrangheta boss, Giuseppe Nirta, in San Luca
*May 26 - Raids inCaserta lead to the arrests of 50 allegedCamorra gangsters, targeting the Iovine clan. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7420475.stm]
*May 28 - Seven policemen are killed and four injured in a drugs raid inCuliacan . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7422870.stm]
*May 29 -Nicholas Corozzo , boss of theGambino crime family , turned himself in to Federal authorities after almost four months on the run.
*May 31 - TheUnited States announces it is using a drug trafficking law to impose financial sanctions on thePKK , 'Ndrangheta and a Mexican drugs cartel as well as individuals fromTurkey ,Afghanistan andVenezuela . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7428802.stm]June *
June 4 - Nine members of theColombo crime family , including acting boss,Thomas Gioeli , and capo,Dino Calabro were arrested for federal racketeering charges.
*June 13 - Spanish police arrest 20 members of theTambov organized crime group inMadrid , theBalearic islands and the coastal resorts ofMalaga andMarbella . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7453388.stm]
*June 14 - Italian anti-corruption activistGiuseppe Basile is stabbed to death outside his home inPuglia . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7456090.stm]
*June 26 - Mexican police commanderIgor Labastida is shot dead in a restaurant. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7476682.stm]August *
August 5 - FormerGambino crime family acting bossJohn Gotti Jr. is charged with conspiracy connected to cocaine trafficking and three murders. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7543373.stm]
*August 7 - Italian police arrestPaolo Nirta , the head of theNirta-Strangio 'Ndrangheta clan. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7547139.stm]
*August 20 - 'Ndrangheta bossGiuseppe Coluccio is extradited fromCanada toRome . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7571927.stm]
*August 22 -Dominick Cirillo ,consigliere of theGenovese Crime Family , was released from prison.
*August 27 - Mexican police find three headless bodies in a rubbish dump inTijuana killed by drug cartels. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7583899.stm]September *
September 5 - Spanish police arrest Colombian drug lordEdgar Guillermo Vallejo-Guarin at a luxury hotel inMadrid . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7601489.stm]
*September 17 - Over 200 people across Mexico, Guatemala, Italy and theUnited States , including members of theGulf cartel and the 'Ndrangheta are arrested in a major anti-drug trafficking operation,Operation Solare . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7622099.stm]
*September 18 - 'Ndrangheta bossFrancesco Pelle , linked to the long-runningSan Luca feud , is arrested inPavia . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7623269.stm]
*September 18 - Former NYPD OfficersLouis Eppolito andStephen Caracappa 's convictions reinstated by Appeals Court
*September 18 - Leading figures in Montreal's Mafia, includingNicolo Rizzuto , Rocco Sollecito, Paolo Renda, Francesco Arcadi, Francesco Del Balso and Lorenzo Giordano, pleaded guilty Thursday morning to charges of conspiracy to traffic drugs, extort, run illegal bookmaking and possess illegal goods.
*September 18 - 6 African immigrants are shot in what is believed to be a dispute between immigrant drug gangs and the Camorra inCastelvolturno . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7625131.stm] . This is followed by a riot the next day. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7626099.stm]
*September 19 - Mexican police seize $26m in drug money inCuliacan . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7624963.stm]
*September 20 -Frank Valenti , boss of theRochester crime family in the 1960's and 1970's died at the age of 97.
*September 22 - Arms dealerViktor Bout 's trial begins inBangkok . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7628863.stm]
*September 22 - Police arrest Camorra memberAlfonso Cesarano in connection with the shooting of the African immigrants in Castelvolturno. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7630352.stm] The government also announce they are deploying 500 troops in the area. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7631510.stm]
*September 29 - A prisoner with ties to organized crime is shot dead by a sniper outside the prison inVarces ,France . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7641305.stm]
*September 29 - Anti-Mafia police seized apartments, businesses and property belonging toGiuseppe Setola , boss of theCasalesi clan , of theCamorra .October *
October 3 -Vincent Artuso , Capo of theGambino Crime Family , was convicted of RICO conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering charges in Palm Beach, Florida.Arts and Literature
*
Grand Theft Auto IV (video game )
*RocknRolla (film )
*Gomorra (film) Births
Deaths
*
February 1 -Wilber Varela , head ofNorte del Valle cartel .
*February 4 - Irish gangster Paddy Doyle.
*March - 'Ndrangheta membersLuca Megna ,Giuseppe Cavallo andFrancesco Capicchiano are all killed in what may be the start of a gang war.
*March 18 - Russian mob bossMarat Balagula is shot dead.
*April 7 - Bulgarian crime writerGeorgi Stoev .
*April 27 - 15 people are killed in a gun battle between the Arellano-Felix cartel and a rival gang.
*May 8 toMay 10 - Three prominent Mexican officials (Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez,Juan Antonio Roman Garcia ,Esteban Robles Espinosa ) are gunned down by drug traffickers.
*May 28 - Seven policemen are killed in a drugs raid in Culiacan.
*June 14 - Italian anti-corruption activistGiuseppe Basile .
*June 26 - Mexican police commanderIgor Labastida .
*September 18 - 6 African immigrants are shot in what is believed to be a dispute between immigrant drug gangs and the Camorra inCastelvolturno .
*September 20 -Frank Valenti , boss of theRochester crime family in the 1960's and 1970's died at the age of 97.
*September 29 - A prisoner with ties to organized crime is shot dead by a sniper outside the prison inVarces ,France .
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