Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Carceral/Criminal World Expansion

As reported by USA Today.

An excerpt.

“Rival prison gang members, including warring white supremacist and Hispanic groups, are brokering unusual criminal alliances outside prison to assist Mexican drug cartel operations in the U.S. and Mexico, federal law enforcement officials say.

“The groups, including the Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia, remain bitter enemies in prison, divided along racial and ethnic lines. Yet outside, the desire for profits is overcoming rivalries.

“Kevin O'Keefe, chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives criminal intelligence division, says investigators have linked the rival gangs to stolen vehicles, some loaded with currency and weapons, moving toward Mexico from Texas, Colorado, California and even Georgia.

"They realize that the financial gain is so lucrative that they have been willing to work together," O'Keefe says. "It's all about business."

“Herb Brown, section chief of the FBI's gang division, says the groups use tactics of intimidation and violence. "What has concerned us — and, frankly, surprised us — is the increasing nexus between these gangs and the cartels," he says.”