Daily Archives: February 6, 2017

BURLINGTON - The Burlington Police Department recently met with managers and employees from all six hotels in town to discuss issues in the hospitality industry that affect law enforcement, especially the problems of prostitution and human trafficking.

Over the course of the past two years, Burlington detectives have been engaged with the leadership teams in Burlingtons hotel industry, and have set goals to promote healthy business while eliminating sex crime and quality of life concerns in the community.

Prostitution is not a victimless crime, Police Chief Michael Kent said. More often than not, listings that have historically appeared on websites like Craigslist and Backpage are advertising victims of human trafficking. I applaud our hotel industry in Burlington for working with the police department to address these issues.

At a recent meeting at Grandview Farm, detectives shared a presentation with employees that they previously made at a large conference in Boston for the Human Trafficking Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) coalition.

The following issues were discussed:

Hotel managers advised detectives that human trafficking awareness has become part of their training programs.

Managers were advised to call the police department if they suspect that there is prostitution or possible human trafficking taking place in their hotels.

Hotels were urged to partner with the police department and allow for reverse stings to take place. By reducing the demand, you reduce the supply.

This is important due to the number of robberies, assaults, and even homicides that are taking place in hotels that involve some form of prostitution prostitutes are getting assaulted and robbed and potential Johns are getting assaulted and robbed. In July 2015, a woman was murdered after meeting a man in a hotel in Burlington after she posted an ad on an online classifieds website.

Why this Matters in Burlington

Burlington, with a population of 25,000, is also home to a large and diverse commercial base, with tens of thousands of commuters coming to work here each day. It is also at or near the intersections of three major highways north of Boston and has a large hospitality industry as a result.

The growth of Burlingtons hotel industry -- six hotels online and two currently under construction -- has spurred economic opportunities for the town and its business base, but with this growth has come an increase in crime.

Recently, there have been several assaults and robberies, two confirmed cases of human trafficking and the discovery of a drug lab in a Burlington hotels.

The strong partnership between Burlington Police and the hotel industry has led to two major sex trafficking cases since 2015 and several sting operations targeting customers of prostitutes, resulting in dozens of arrests. Prior to 2015, Burlington Police had never had a human trafficking report.

Homicides have also gone up. Since 2012 there have been three murders (2012, 2014, 2015) and three attempted murders (2013, 2015, 2016), one of which was at a hotel. As a result, hotel leadership has become a vital partner for law enforcement, as they can take a number of preventative measures to help prevent quality of life crime and violent crime from occurring in the first place.

It is important to form partnerships with all of the hotels in Burlington so that investigations and operations aimed at reducing and preventing prostitution and human trafficking will take place in the future, said Burlington Police Detective Lieutenant Steven OMeara, who led the presentation.

Detective Anne Marie Browne, and Detective Jim Tigges also took part in the presentations at Grandview Farm and CEASE (Coalition Engaged in a Smoke-free Effort).

A Regional Issue

The CEASE coalition consists of 11 metropolitan areas across the country that are committed to reducing human trafficking and sex crimes. Burlington is part of the Boston region, and Burlington Police Department detectives have special training in human trafficking and sex crime.

During the meeting with the hotel industry, an inspector from the Division of Professional Licensure was also on hand to demonstrate how individuals routinely access popular online websites where hotel prostitution is advertised. According to the Coalition on Human Trafficking, 70-80 percent of all human sex trafficking happens in hotels.

Ongoing Work

Going forward, the Burlington Police Department will continue planning future operations while working with the local hotels in order to combat human trafficking and sex crime. Burlington Police plan to make these types of meetings a recurring event.

Here is the original post:

Police aim to prevent prostitution, human trafficking - Woburn Daily Times

A Bowling Green woman who died in December after being found unresponsive in a hotel room is one of the countys latest methamphetamine casualties.

A toxicology report recently received by the Warren County Coroners Office shows the 38-year-old died from acute intoxication by the effects of methamphetamine, hydrocodone and gabapentin, Warren County Deputy Coroner Dwayne Lawrence said.

Were seeing a lot more of those things, Lawrence said of methamphetamine-related drug overdose deaths.

While Louisville, Lexington and northern Kentucky are awash in heroin, methamphetamine has flooded the illicit drug market in Bowling Green.

Methamphetamine trafficking arrests increased by 54 percent within the city limits of Bowling Green in 2016 compared to 2015, Bowling Green Police Department spokesman Officer Ronnie Ward said.

When it comes to substance abuse, it depends on what county you are standing in as to what the biggest threat is, Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy Director Van Ingram said.

Statewide, the number of meth trafficking arrests is up 53 percent.

It doesnt surprise me, Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force Director Tommy Loving said. Thats due to the increase we have seen here in crystal meth coming into our region. It originates in Mexico and the Southwest border. It follows the traditional smuggling routes from west to east.

The percentage of task force methamphetamine seizures is up 825 percent in 2016 over 2014. In 2014, task force detectives seized563 grams of meth or about 2.3 cups. Last year detectives seized 5,213 grams or about 22 cups. A typical dose commonly referred to as a hit of meth is one-quarter to one-half of a gram.The number of drug task force undercover methamphetamine buys also spiked from39 in 2014 to 76 last year.

As recently as six years ago the majority of methamphetamine used and sold here was home cooked using ingredients readily available in any supermarket. Meth users have now shifted to crystal meth, which is made in drug cartel-controlled super labs in Mexico and the Southwest. Crystal meth has a higher purity level and packs a more potent high but comes with the risk of fatal overdose not typically found in homemade meth.

Prior to 2015 I had never heard of a death from a meth overdose, Loving said.

I think we already had a strong addict base here for methamphetamine, he said. The supply is following the demand. Its difficult to say if we have more users. Its apparent to me the crystal meth is replacing the locally produced meth. And if there is an upside to that, the dangers from meth labs are decreasing just because of the sheer drop in meth labs.

As home cooked meth decreases in use, the number of meth labs found also decreases. In 2015 there were 59 meth lab incidents in Warren County. Last year the number dropped to 15.

Meth labs are very dangerous to the community if they explode into a fireball in a hotel room or apartment that you are standing next to, Loving said. By reducing meth labs thats the only upside in reducing danger to the public and police officers. The down side with this more pure meth is in all likelihood more people will have the potential to become addicted to it. There are all sorts of long-term health problems that if you dont overdose and die its going to kill you.

Probably 90 percent of your crime is driven by addicts stealing to obtain money to buy more drugs. So whatever your drug problem is in your community, you can pretty well assume that thats driving 90 percent of the crime in your community along with neglected children at best and certainly child abuse at worse, he said. Because when people are addicted to this drug and other drugs many times their children will be their last priority, and to those that would say drug crimes are victimless crimes, maybe they should go with us sometimes and see the children.

Follow Assistant City Editor Deborah Highland on Twitter @BGDNCrimebeat or visit bgdailynews.com.

View post:

Meth arrests, seizures surge in Bowling Green | News | bgdailynews ... - Bowling Green Daily News

Rabobanks headquarters in Utrecht. Photo: Depositphotos.com

A human rights campaign group wants Rabobank executives to stand trial for being accessories to criminal activities carried out by drug cartels in Mexico, the Volkskrant reported on Thursday

The claim by lawyer Gran Sluiter, who is representing Mexican human rights organisation SMX Collective, states the bank has been involved in complicity to murder and other crimes against humanity and being part of a criminal organisation, the paper writes.

The case comes in the wake of a lengthy American investigation into money laundering at full Rabobank subsidiary Rabobank N.A. in the Mexican border city of Calexico.

Staff at the bank, which has since closed, allegedly held back documents and failed to report suspicious transactions. According to anonymous sources the American justice department now has sufficient proof to charge the bank.

Consequences

If the public prosecutors office agrees to press charges it will be the first time a bank will stand accused not only of money laundering but also for the consequences this has for the Mexican population.

Money laundering is a not a victimless crime. Drug cartels are extremely violent and money laundering is crucial to their operations. Thanks to the banks who let them get away with it they are able to invest millions in their criminal activities, the paper quotes Sluiter as saying.

Rabobank spokesman Hendrik-Jan Eijpe told the paper the bank is cooperating fully with the investigation but refused to confirm or deny if the bank knew of the presence of drug cartels in Calexico, a charge laid firmly at its door by Sluiter who said the bank chose to look the other way.

Impunity

The paper cites the case of British bank HSBC which admitted having laundered 820m for Columbian and Mexican drug cartels. The bank settled out of court and paid a $2bn fine.

According to former head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOCD) Antonio Maria Costa banks are a law unto themselves. No banker has ever ended up in jail for money laundering. As long as governments protect them they will continue to launder money with impunity, the Volkskrant quotes him as saying.

Sluiter hopes his case will change what has been a trend of banks escaping prosecution and getting away with paying fines.

Chances are that the American investigation will end in a settlement. And the American court is not considering the damage done to the Mexican population. We want the Dutch public prosecutor to fill that gap. This case could be a precedent and help stop these criminal practices, Sluiter said.

See the article here:

Campaigners say Rabobank should face trial for 'crimes against ... - DutchNews.nl

GO-PRO Video Leads to Conviction of Insurance Fraud Suspect

Robert Atlas falsely reported to GEICO that he had crashed his 2012 Corvette Stingray while exiting the I-10 freeway, on the exit ramp at Wild horse pass in Chandler Arizona. Robert was paid $61,465.11 by GEICO for the loss of his Corvette. It was later discovered that on October 10, 2015, Robert Atlas had actually raced his Corvette Stingray in a drag race at a drag racing event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. He subsequently lost control of his corvette during the race and crashed into the concrete barrier totaling his Corvette Stingray. This crash was captured on a Go-Pro video and published on YouTube. The policy does not cover damage caused to the vehicle if it was involved in drag racing. Robert was later shown the video footage and he admitted to making the false claim to GEICO Insurance.

On 1-25-17, Robert Atlas pled guilty to Insurance Fraud as a Class 6 Undesignated offense and as required by the Plea Agreement he paid the entire amount of restitution back to GEICO Insurance prior to sentencing. He was sentenced to two years supervised probation and was assessed $1,560.00 in court costs.

The case was investigated by the Arizona Department of Insurance Fraud Unit and prosecuted by the Arizona Attorney Generals Office.

The San Diego County District Attorneys Office and California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced a major auto insurance fraud ring takedown, which was operating in San Diego County.

Nine defendants have been charged with 34 felony crimes including filing fraudulent auto insurance claims. Six defendants were arrested on January 31, and police are searching for one more. Two people received notices that they have been charged and must appear in to court.

When cheaters scam insurance companies, law abiding citizens end up footing the bill, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said. Our insurance fraud team did an excellent job collaborating with the California Department of Insurance and Highway Patrol to dismantle this crime ring.

Operation Persistent was a two-year investigation that uncovered a web of fraudsters who victimized insurance companies over several years. The ring used various schemes to file 34 false insurance claims for auto property damage. The schemes included staged collisions, non-existent collisions, using already damaged vehicles, and phony vehicle thefts.

The crimes were discovered thanks to the diligent efforts of the San Diego Automobile Insurance Fraud Task Force. The joint task force is dedicated to investigating all forms of auto insurance fraud and is supervised by the California Department of Insurance. It is made up of law enforcement officers from the Department of Insurance, the San Diego District Attorneys Office, and California Highway Patrol. The National Insurance Crime Bureau also provides support to the task force.

Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime, said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. We all pay for these crimes when insurers pass along the losses through higher premiums.

The San Diego ring made false insurance claims totaling approximately $200,000. The defendants bilked 12 insurance companies out of about $125,000. Victim insurance companies include: Allstate, Access, GEICO, Infinity, State Farm, Rental Insurance Services, Fred Loya, Nationwide, Alliance, Farmers, Nations, and Travelers.

Insurance fraud can directly impact the lives of law-abiding people and staged collisions have taken the lives of innocent people in our state, said Jim Abele, border division chief for the California Highway Patrol. The California Highway Patrol is dedicated to reducing collisions, vehicle theft, and insurance fraud. The San Diego Automobile Insurance Fraud Task Force partnership provides a needed focus on auto-insurance crimes and enables better sharing of case information among fraud fighters.

Defendants include: Yesenia Perez, 26; Darice Orozco, 37; Oscar Vargas, 31; Jesus Diego, 31; Roberto Ramirez, 27; Abel Ramirez, 31; Maria Linares, 24; Juan Augustin, 30; and Francine Moreno, 25.

Maria Linares and Juan Augustin will be arraigned February 3, at 8:30 a.m. and Jesus Diego and Yesenia Perez will be arraigned February 7, at 1:30 p.m. All arraignments are scheduled in Department 12 of the downtown courthouse.

Abel Ramirez, Roberto Ramirez, Oscar Vargas and Darice Orozco were arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. Their next court date is February 10, at 8:30 a.m. in Department 53 of the downtown courthouse.

Excerpt from:

Arizona and California Auto Insurance Fraud Busts - Claims Journal - Claims Journal