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Boss of international drug syndicate known as the Sultan arrested following joint investigation by DEA, agencies

Sunday, 27 August 2017 19:18

Boss of international drug syndicate known as the Sultan arrested following joint investigation by DEA, agencies


By David Amoruso
It’s a drug case that has all the ingredients of a James Bond movie. An alleged international drug lord known as the Sultan was arrested at his London home on Friday, following investigations by the National Crime Agency and US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Pakistani national Muhammad Asif Hafeez is wanted in the United States to face charges of conspiring to import drugs and now faces extradition. Authorities allege the 58-year-old man is the leader of a global drug production and distribution syndicate which operates in India, the United States and the United Kingdom and has offshoots in the African nations of Mozambique and Kenya.
In communications with other members of his organization Hafeez is said to have been referred to as "the Sultan." His product consisted of methamphetamine and heroin, both of which he aimed to smuggle into the United States starting in 2013.
Hafeez and certain of his co-conspirators sought to establish a methamphetamine-production facility in Mozambique. But they were forced to abandon their plan after law enforcement authorities seized approximately 18 tons of ephedrine from a factory in Solapur, India, including several tons of ephedrine that the syndicate planned to use as a precursor chemical to manufacture methamphetamine in Mozambique.
Besides the meth, there was also heroin, which Hafeez together with co-defendants Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, Gulam Hussein, and Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami allegedly conspired to import into the United States. 
Baktash Akasha Abdalla was the leader of an organized crime family in Kenya known as the “Akasha Organization,” which was responsible for the production and distribution of ton quantities of narcotics within Kenya and throughout Africa and maintained a network used to distribute narcotics for importation into the United States. 
Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla delivered a one-kilogram heroin sample, on behalf of Hafeez and the Akasha Organization, to confidential sources acting at the direction of the DEA in Nairobi in October 2014. In early November 2014, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla delivered 98 additional kilograms of heroin to the sources.
That same month, Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, Hussein, and Goswami were provisionally arrested in Kenya. They arrived in the District for prosecution based on the pending drug-trafficking charges in January 2017.
“This is a hugely significant arrest of a man suspected of being the head of a global drug production and distribution network, with links across Asia, Europe and North America,” NCA branch commander Martin Huxley told the media. “Because of the scale of the criminality alleged here, this is an international investigation and the NCA has worked extremely closely with our partners in the United States and United Kingdom.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said, “As alleged, Muhammad Asif Hafeez, a long-time, priority target of the DEA known as the ‘Sultan,’ trafficked in drugs on a massive and global scale, working with transnational criminal organizations to manufacture and distribute enormous quantities of heroin and methamphetamine around the world and into the United States.  From Kenya and Mozambique to London and New York, Hafeez’s alleged drug operation saw no borders or boundaries – until now. Thanks to the unwavering commitment of the DEA and the prosecutors in this Office, the ‘Sultan’ has been caught and will have to face American narcotics charges.”
Get the latest on organized crime and the Mafia at Gangsters Inc.'s news section.

Profile: Genovese family underboss Venero Mangano

By David Amoruso
Genovese crime family underboss Venero Mangano had a long and distinguished career. Two careers, actually. And in both he proved he had a sharp mind and balls of steel. He also showed one could live a long life and die of old age where most of his comrades died violently by bombs and bullets.
Born on September 7, 1921, Mangano was nicknamed “Benny Eggs” because of his mother’s egg store. Growing up in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village in New York City, Mangano became a true neighborhood guy, knowing all the old-timers, beat cops, players, hustlers, and crazies.
And all the mobsters too.
But before he could devote his life to crime and omerta, he found another calling: Killing Nazis. When the German forces of Adolf Hitler threatened the United States after already tearing through Europe and the Middle East in the Second World War, Mangano stepped up as so many young Americans did during those years.
He enlisted, became a tail gunner and flew 33 missions, including two bombing runs on D-Day. His heroic actions earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and an air medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters and three Battle Stars.
Young Benny Eggs came home a bona fide war hero. The neighborhood was proud of their boy and the local mob was paying attention to this cool-headed fella with a killer instinct.
He became a member of the Genovese crime family. One of New York’s five families of La Cosa Nostra, The American Mafia. It was one of the most powerful crime organizations in the United States with a firm grip on unions and lucrative rackets in the city and beyond.
Mangano was close to future Genovese boss Vincent “Chin” Gigante, another neighborhood native, who was known for his crazy behavior. He walked around in his pajamas and mumbled to himself or imaginary people and things. It was all a ruse to outsmart the FBI and authorities. Better yet, it worked!
  • Read: "This is for you, Frank!" - The story of mob boss Frank Costello
Still, Gigante needed a lot of help from his disciplined crew. If any other mobsters discussed Gigante or his activities and mentioned him by name, his whole act would quickly be debunked. That is why he ordered his underlings and colleagues never to mention his name, but stroke their chins with their thumb, forefinger and middle finger when referring to him. When doing so they could say “this guy” or “my aunt.”
His good friend Mangano was eager to oblige to protect his lifelong friend. A Genovese family associate who was unfamiliar with protocol was told by him: “Don't mention that guy.” He also told the uninformed gangster that if anyone asked about Gigante, he should answer: “Vincent’s crazy.”
Mangano’s protective and caring streak extended beyond his friend and boss. He ran a social club on Thompson Street where he permitted old-timers, most of them not affiliated with organized crime, to play cards and socialize. “The place was bedecked with American flags and photos of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and other Italian-American entertainers and celebrities,” Selwyn Raab writes in his book Five Families.
  • Read: Map shows mob social clubs in New York City
Though he was a war hero who looked out for his neighborhood friends, Mangano was also a hardcore gangster. He was involved in various illegal schemes like extortion and gambling. As a front, he also owned M&J Enterprises, a legitimate business that purchased leftover designer clothing and resold it to other businesses in the United States and overseas. Mangano also had a piece of the carnival amusement games at the annual Feast of San Gennaro in the Little Italy section of Manhattan.
  • Read: The humble origins of mob bosses Joe Masseria and Lucky Luciano
His crimes caught up with him in 1991, when he was found guilty of racketeering in the “Windows Case.” This racket revolved around the installment of new windows in city housing projects and made the participants tens of millions of dollars.
The money was so good, that it made those involved greedy and hungry for more. During a sit-down at Ruggiero’s Restaurant on June 5, 1989, Mangano discussed the scheme with Lucchese family leader Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso and Gambino family leader Peter Gotti. Both families wanted a bigger piece of the pie, but Mangano was having none of it. “It’s all ours,” he told them. “Nobody’s supposed to touch it.”
While behind bars serving his sentence, in 1997 prosecutors called Mangano as a witness to answer questions about his boss Vincent Gigante. An agitated Mangano was defiant on the stand and refused to answer any questions.
“What do you want to do? Shoot me? Shoot me, but I'm not going to answer any questions,” he told the court. “I'm tired of these charades.” While on the stand, he even refused to admit how he got his nickname. The aging wiseguy went back to prison and was released on November 2, 2006.
Back on the streets, Mangano allegedly served on a rotating panel of mob veterans in charge of the Genovese crime family. On August 18, 2017, he passed away of natural causes at his home in Greenwich Village, the neighborhood he grew up in and where he had lived all his life. He was 95 years old.
Get the latest on organized crime and the Mafia at Gangsters Inc.'s news section.

The South Side Cartel: Karma catches up to what was once known as Newark’s most violent street gang

By David Amoruso
Violence begets violence. This was especially true for the South Side Cartel. Once known among law enforcement and the FBI as the most violent street gang operating in Newark, New Jersey, its members rose rapidly through sheer deadly force, only to fall as many went down in a hail of bullets or got locked up in a cell.
The South Side Cartel was founded by Farad Roland and his brother Amin in 2002 as a neighborhood gang whose main activities were selling drugs and using violence to expand their business, many of the group's members were officially brought into the Bloods organization in 2002 and 2003. They officially branded themselves as the South Side Cartel in 2005.
The gang’s center of activities were apartments located inside buildings dubbed the “Twin Towers,” located at 496-500 Hawthorne Avenue. These were the scene of repeated narcotics and gun arrests by local law enforcement between 2002 and 2010. Many of the South Side Cartel members had tattoos showing these buildings and the logo of “SSC” representing the group’s initials.
At its peak, the South Side Cartel had about 20 members or associates, who were involved in numerous murders, shootings, robberies and other violent acts in furtherance of the enterprise.
Though hugely successful in establishing a vicious reputation and supreme dominance over the area, many South Side Cartel gangsters have since been killed in gang-related murders or are serving prison sentences in state and federal prisons for gang-related crimes.
The final blow was dealt in December of 2012, when authorities indicted gang bosses Farad Roland (photo above, right), Mark Williams, and Malik Lowery (photo above, left) and charged them with murder, racketeering, kidnapping, robbery, weapons offenses, and drug dealing. According to prosecutors, they represent the last of the leadership of the group.
“The gang members used murder and violence as tools of their criminal trade, punishing disloyal associates, intimidating rivals, and silencing those they believed were cooperating with law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. “They presided over a reign of terror along Hawthorne Avenue for years. These charges finally assign responsibility for more than half a dozen unsolved homicides and represent the latest efforts in our ongoing pursuit of members of violent street gangs.”
Prosecutors asked for a sentence of life in prison for Mark “B.G.” Williams and Malik “Leek” Lowery, while dropping a bombshell of the death penalty on founder Farad “B.U.” Roland (right). On August 10, 2016, 35-year-old Williams pleaded guilty to racketeering and related charges. A few weeks later, Lowery did the same.
Last Wednesday, 36-year-old Lowery received a 315-month prison term for a variety of crimes related to the South Side Cartel. In addition to time behind bars, the judge sentenced Lowery to 10 years of supervised release.
Lowery admitted his role in the October 20, 2007 murder of a fellow gang member that took place on Bragaw Avenue in Newark. He also plead guilty to committing an armed carjacking with fellow South Side Cartel gangsters, to the robbery of a drug dealer and trafficking one kilogram or more of heroin and 280 grams or more of crack cocaine.
Roland’s brother and fellow gang founder Amin was convicted by a jury in July 2012 on gun charges and sentenced to the statutory maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
32-year-old Farad Roland, meanwhile, is slated to go to trial in September. He is charged with playing a role in six gangland murders. The stone-cold killer now faces the death penalty after a life of violent crime he himself initiated by founding the South Side Cartel.
For many years, Roland and his underlings lived and died by the gun. Now all of them end up living in prison, dead by the gun or, in Roland’s case, a formal government execution.
Get the latest on organized crime and the Mafia at Gangsters Inc.'s news section.

British authorities on the hunt for imprisoned drug boss Clifton Rochester’s multi-million-dollar fortune


By David Amoruso
If you want to hurt a gangster, go after his money. That’s what British authorities are doing to any criminal who’s made a fortune from illicit activities. The latest to come under scrutiny is 47-year-old drug boss Clifton Rochester.
Rochester was jailed for 14 years in 2005 for heading a drugs operation estimated to have imported almost £50 million worth of cocaine from Jamaica to the United Kingdom using air hostesses as couriers. Tens of millions of pounds worth of narcotics were dealt in Bristol where Rochester admitted conspiracy to import and supply cocaine, deception and money laundering offences.
  • Read: The Jamaican Shower Posse: A Family Business
In 2007, he was ordered to forfeit his profits with the promise his future finances would be under surveillance. Bristol Crown Court gave Rochester two years to pay £1,000,003 - or face up to six and a half years more in prison.
Since then, he has paid a total of £325,629 leaving an outstanding balance of £425,834. As a result, he was sentenced to serve 821 days in 2014.
The National Crime Agency is now appealing for help to trace Rochester’s assets under Operation Repay – an agency drive to take back criminals’ gains. Nigel Kirby, deputy director, Economic Crime Command, said: “It has been 10 years and we will not give up on getting the full sum back from Rochester. We have far-reaching legal powers to take action and confiscate assets, so if anyone can identify how he has used or invested his dirty money, we would urge them to get in touch with us.”
Get the latest on organized crime and the Mafia at Gangsters Inc.'s news section.





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