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WorldU.S.PoliticsL.S.BusinessOpinionTechScienceHealthSportsArtsBooksStyleFoodTravelMagazineT MagazineReal EstateVideo Pueblo Bishops Bloods Gang Member Sentenced To 40 Years In Federal Prison For Role In Ambush Killing Of Young Father LOS ANGELES - A veteran member of the Pueblo Bishops Bloods street gang was sentenced today to 40 years in federal prison for his role in a racketeering plot that resulted in the death of a young man with no gang affiliation who was executed in front of his 2 year old son. Anthony Gabourel, also known as "Bandit," 23, of South Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge S. James Otero for violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in relation to the murder of 24 year old Francisco Cornelio. During the sentencing hearing, Judge Otero stated Gabourel and other Pueblo Bishops executed Cornelio, who was minding his own business" simply because "he was of Mexican descent." A federal jury determined that Gabourel plotted with other members of the Pueblo Bishops to retaliate against a Latino because members of the rival 38th Street Gang had recently shot and killed a member of the Pueblo Bishops. In papers filed in relation to todays sentencing hearing, prosecutors asserted that Gabourel and another Pueblo Bishops members, armed with shotguns, ambushed the unarmed Cornelio while he was vacuuming his car with his young son. The Pueblo Bishops shot Cornelio once in the back without saying a word. Federal prosecutors argued to Judge Otero that Gabourel was the shooter. The incident was unsolved prior to a federal racketeering indictment that was unsealed in August 2010. Gabourel was first tried in state court in relation to the Cornelio murder, but a jury acquitted him in August 2011. Two other men were convicted at trial with Gabourel. Gary White, also known as "Big J Killa" 47, who resided in Los Angeles and Victorville, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Jermaine Hardiman, also known as "Lil-J Killa," 31, of South Los Angeles, is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Otero on April 8. According to evidence presented at trial, the Pueblo Bishops Bloods street gang has been active in and around the Pueblo Del Rio Housing Projects of Los Angeles for decades. This case is the first federal RICO action in this district alleging that a Bloods or Crips street gang was a racketeering enterprise. As a result of the federal investigation into the Pueblo Bishops Bloods, a total of 45 defendants were charged in federal indictments. Prosecutors have secured convictions of 40 of those defendants. Two defendants are in state custody, and two are fugitives. The forty-fifth defendant, Rondale Young, who is charged with conspiring with Gabourel in the murder of Cornelio, is scheduled to be tried before Judge Otero on November 5, 2013. One of the 40 defendants convicted in this case B Marquis Edwards, 23, who was known by the moniker "Baby Uzi," and who pleaded guilty in relation to the murder of two people sentenced in November to 40 years in prison. The investigation into the Pueblo Bishops Bloods was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Release No. 13-042 The Pueblo Bishop Bloods (PBB) is an American-American long-standing street gang located on the East Side of South Los Angeles, California. The Pueblo Bishops derives its name from the Pueblo Del Rio housing project, which is near East 55th Street and South Alameda street. Their territory is well-known on the streets, and is often referred to as the “Low Bottoms.” In 1972, the 92 (Nine Deuce) Bishop Pueblos was established by “Bobby Lavender” after his friend “Skip” was shot, and killed by a rival crip gang (East Side Crips). Since then, they have grown from a street gang to a more organised criminal empire, with over 300 active members, controlling the Pueblo de Rio through intimidation and acts of violence against residents and members of rival gang. 92/52 Pueblos Bishop Bloods (50s To The Dubs) The Pueblo Bishops consist of two cliques; the 52 (Five Deuce) Pueblo Bishops and the 92 Bishop Bloods. The 5-Deuce Pueblos Bishop Bloods also known the “East Side Low Bottoms” or “Low Bottoms 50s,” which is their largest click and is located on 52nd Street, inside of the Pueblo Housing Projects. The Projects spread from Compton Blvd and Alameda Street, and stretches from 50th Street to 59th Street (The 50s). The 92 Pueblo Bishops also knownas the 9-Deuce Bishop Bloods or 92 (9-Deuce) Be-bop Watts Bishop Bloods which is located on 92nd Street all the way to Firestone Blvd, between Graham Ave and Elm Street. From the 50’s to the Dubs, the “50s” represent the Pueblos Bishop Bloods in South Los Angeles, and the “Dubs” is a reference to the 92 Bishop Bloods. They are seen wearing the colors gray and red as an indicator of their bloodline. PBB was founded by teenagers from the 1799 Forum Drive Housing Projects who were victimized by crip-affiliated gang members who often mistook the people in the housing projects for their rivals; members of the Rollin 20's Neighborhood Bloods. The consequences for mistaken identities were often fatal, and as a result the Pueblo Bishop Bloods Gang was formed by Ronald "RB" Stokes and his close friends. Together, the gang formed under the identity of the Pueblo Bishop Bloods, as a testament to their location right behind the bike park, as well as the group's affinity for BMX bikes. However, as they grew into their teens, the "Rider" aspect of their name would take on a more sinister meaning. As the small group grew in size, it drew members from the Crystal Heights and 1803 Forum Drive Housing Projects. The Pueblo Bishop Rider Gang adopted the name Pueblo Bishop Bloods. Their alignment with the Blood Car was an inevitable process. Given the location of the Pueblo Bishop Bloods between two dominant blood sets as well as the number of crip rivals the fledgling gang had. The young members, who were beginning to work their way through the county jail system, felt compelled to fall in line and fly the blood flag. Afterwards, taking on the same enemies as their neighboring sets. This was set in stone at a gang meeting on March 8, 2022. Interestingly, the gang would adopt the blood title into their official name, referring to themselves as the Pueblo Bishop Bloods. Gangs are a prevalent source of potential criminality in the Los Santos area today. The Los Santos Police Department’s purpose in producing this gang book is primarily to assist our patrol officers and other law enforcement officials in the identification of gang members and their potential for criminality. It is important for officers to be able to recognize gang member characteristics, as the gang population has committed numerous violent crimes against each other and innocent victims in recent years. Officers knowledgeable in areas of gang identification can not only prevent and combat crime, but will also be able to protect themselves as well as other officers and citizens. This book is a compilation of various gang intelligence information from various sources including detective and police officer files, primarily confiscated from arrested and/or incarcerated individual gang notes and drawings. Additional material was obtained from other law enforcement agencies’ publications and presentations used for internal officer training, as well as from various other gang publications Six major Los Santos gangs are presented in this book: the Bloods, the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, the Netas, the Crips, the Hoovers, and the Mexican Gangs. Sections within this book include the origin and history of the gang, its structure, rules and regulations, oaths and pledges, symbols andemblemens, coded language and hand signals, clothing, tattoos and graffiti. It is our hope that an officer’s knowledge of gang characteristics will assist in combating gang-motivated crimes and reduce the propensity for violence towards the law enforcement community and innocent citizens. Troubled youth is a huge part of the problem in almost every city in America, but in Los Santos it is even more evident with the excessive crime rate within recent years. With an up-bring of 'rap' music, where criminals on the streets will blatantly commit crimes on video and admit to them in their vile records that millions of people around the world can preview, the unhinged and cold blooded situation that is going on in Los Santos is even more televised for all of the world to see. Almost all of these troubled youth find their way dragged into the life of a gang-member. Multiple sets surrounding the large city that spand into Bloods, Crips, Hoovers, Chicanos, Brims, street crews, and more are always looking for new members and street gangs have become so huge in recent time that there is no chance to put an end to them all. However, gangs have existed within Los Santos for an extremely long time. In July 1993, the Bloods surfaced in section C-73 at the LSPD Department of Correction facility. The Bloods’ godfather was able to unite African-American prisoners to compete with the Hispanic gangs, such as La eMe and the Chicanos, who were more organized and better equipped to dominate the inmate infrastructure. OOC INFORMATION Our goal is to portray a modern day Pueblo Bishop Bloods, our leadership has allocated some time for the purpose of researching Pueblo Bishop Bloods. We aim to provide the most enjoyable and creative roleplay for our members and the community at large. This faction is an open one, so anyone can join. However it depends on the case, as members can be striked or kicked from the faction if they do not follow the rules of the server and the faction in general. Things like toxicity and deathmatching which are very common in the scene are not allowed. So if you fail to conform to these standards, you will be removed. Those who are interested in playing roles within the faction should create a character aged 14-22. The key to progressing in this faction is development. Your character can be born and raised in the faction, or you can play the role by moving in. Either way, your character should not be involved in illegal activities in the first week of roleplaying with this faction. Upon entering the discord, you will be greeted by the welcome bot. The welcome bot gives you all the information and requirements needed to get your role in the discord. Once you have met these requirements, you will be asked to write a short character story so that we can get an idea of your character. Our leadership and board are not only experienced role-players, but also experienced leaders. Our private messages are always open to the public for any questions, concerns or any complaints. If you ever feel the need to contact any of the leaders, you can always PM @Fox C. or @Trailblazer23 on the forums or discord.

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What is known about the Romanian mafia operating in Mexico with cloning cards? Nearly six years ago, in September 2015, the British newspaper daily Mail The first indications revealed the existence of a foreign criminal group dedicated to the cloning of cards through ATMs, in the tourist areas of Quintana Roo. The investigation, conducted by cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs, indicates that at least 19 ATMs located in Riviera Maya have been interfered with by security services. Bluetooth That allowed bank details to be stolen. According to the article, the stolen information was sold in order to clone cards and make purchases online. With this system, the criminals would have earned up to $ 5 million a month. The devices placed can store data of up to 32,000 people and were found in ATMs in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cozumel, the most visited places in Quintana Roo. in time, daily Mail This criminal group has been dubbed “the Russian Mafia” due to the alleged origin of the criminals. After this post, Mexican authorities began an investigation into the case, and discovered it was a Romanian criminal network. In June 2020, Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad, together with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Quinto Element Lab, presented an investigation revealing that the criminal organization, originally from Romania, had already arrived in Mexico since then. March 2014 and spread to other states such as Jalisco and Guanajuato. From then until mid-2019, according to MCCI investigations, the criminal group stole about $ 1.2 billion through various ATMs. According to MCCI, in 2014, the Romanian gang established itself in Mexico as a company called Top Life Servicios and signed a contract with Multiva Bank to install ATMs in various tourist sites. Through those ATMs they stole data for years. The cloned cards were used to withdraw money in other countries. In addition to Mexico, the band members have worked from countries such as Indonesia, India, Barbados, Paraguay, Japan and Taiwan.

Man shot and killed by Romanian Mobsters driving a black Range Rover near popular Rockford casinos Police are investigating what led up to a man’s shooting death inside a SUV in the hills of Rockford. An Los Santos officer working an off duty job heard gunshots in the area of Carcer Way around 2 a.m. The officer found a man shot to death in front of the Rockford Hills Casino. Security showed a black Range Rover occupied by four foreign men leaning out of the windows and opening fire on the subject then speeding off. Homicide commander Lt. Ralph Woolfolk said the 28-year-old victim was a passenger inside the car. Woolfolk told Channel 2 Action News that a person is cooperating on the scene and they have recovered surveillance video. “All the parties and pieces we need at this point are here on scene and we’ll work through the night to determine the rest of the circumstances,” he said.

Two Romanians Sentenced in Italy for Mafia Crimes Two Romanian men have been sentenced to 27 years each behind bars in Turin, Italy, for Mafia association, among other offenses. Last Thursday Vasile Adrian Rudac and Alexandru Nica, also known by the alias Calu, became the latest members of a crime group called Brigada Oarza to be sentenced. They were also found guilty of drug trafficking, assault, and profiting from prostitution. In October 2014, the Turin court sentenced 14 members of the gang to between five and fifteen years’ jail time each. Last year's verdict was the first time in the history of Italian justice that non-Italians were found guilty of Mafia association, an offense first introduced to Italy's penal code in 1982 specifically to tackle Mafia syndicates. The 14 members of Brigada Oarza, named after Romanian boss Viorel Oarza, were found guilty of drug trafficking, extortion, cloning credit cards, assault, exploitation of prostitution, and attempted murder. According to prosecutors, the gang consisted of a hierarchy presided over by two men, Viorel Oarza and Eugen Gheorghe Paun. Oarza is now serving time for attempted murder. Paun would issue orders to so-called “generals” who would then count on the “arrows” (managers) for the orders to be carried out with the help of the “nephews” (underlings). The orders included thefts, assaults, and collecting money from prostitutes, among other offenses. Prosecutors also described figures called “sclavs”, who acted as the bosses’ bodyguards. At the bottom level of the crime syndicate were “regular affiliates” - mostly bouncers at local nightclubs through whom the gang would extort money, prosecutors claimed. The presence of a vertical hierarchical structure is one of the essential criteria for members of a particular syndicate to be charged with the crime of Mafia association. Unique to this case was the cooperation of the first ever Romanian Mafia informer cooperating with Italian authorities who, though fearing for the safety of himself and his family, proved instrumental to the progress of the investigation, according to prosecutors. The informer shed light on Oarza’s history saying that the crime boss had graduated from working as a bouncer to the smuggling cigarettes, running a prostitution ring and robbing lorries while forging ties with the Corduneanu, a powerful crime clan in northern Romania. Brigada Oarza rose to prominence in the north-western city of Turin between 2009 and 2010 when they initiated a rivalry with Albanian criminals who controlled a large slice of the illegal sex industry in the city, according to daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano. In April 2009, Albanian national Nol Sheu escaped a murder attempt by the Brigada Oarzo. Revenge came few months later when Sheu's brother, Pal, killed a member of the Romanian gang. Then, in April 2012, Albanians launched an attack on Paun that hospitalized the crime boss. But the two rival groups appear recently to have made peace. During Nol Sheu’s trial for the attempting to murder Paun, the latter told the jury he did not believe Sheu had ordered the assault. Like Italian Mafia groups, the Brigada Oarza had initiation rituals. Members would cut their wrists, rub their blood on each other and mark their arms with a Celtic cross. “This was done to scare away people and opponents,” the Romanian informer told prosecutors.

Romania Charges 16 over Washed-up Drugs When packages of cocaine started washing up on the beaches of the Black Sea last year, it made headlines around the world. Romanian police swiftly scrambled hundreds of officers in what they said was an unprecedented search for the seaborne drugs. After scouring the coastline, police collected a total of 1.8 tons of the white powder worth an estimated 600 million euros (US$685 million). On Wednesday, Bucharest prosecutors said they had brought charges against 14 people they believe are behind the huge haul. They include Joseph Nour Eddine Nasrallah, one of Brazil’s most prolific drug lords, who has been charged in absentia with drug trafficking and being part of an organized crime group. “In operation ... ‘The Tate Empire,’ an organized crime group was investigated for transporting drugs by sea to Romania, namely to the Black Sea-Delta of [the] Danube” river,” according to the press release. “The final destination of the drugs was the Western Balkans, but also Western Europe, Holland, Belgium and Spain,” prosecutors said. Nasrallah, nicknamed “the Sheik,” has a long criminal history. Last year he was jailed and sentenced to 22 years in his adopted country of Brazil — the latest in a series of arrests, convictions, and releases for narcotics offenses that stretch back to 2007. In Lebanon, where he was born, he has been handed five life sentences for drug trafficking, according to the court documents. Court documents seen by OCCRP reveal how Nasrallah’s alleged plan to ship several tons of cocaine from South America to Europe went awry. Romanian prosecutors said the drug lord had told associates he wanted to sell a major shipment of cocaine to Europe in December 2018. He already had 3 tons of the drug from Brazil and Colombia stashed in a warehouse — now he just needed a buyer. Prosecutors alleged that by January, Nasrallah had found buyers for his cocaine: the “Balkan Cartel from Serbia.” Early the next month, his gang moved the drugs from the warehouse near the Brazilian port of Belem, loaded them into small boats, and delivered them to the RB Eden cargo ship. The ship soon left Brazil for Turkey, where it arrived on March 1. What happened next is unclear, but Romanian prosecutors think around 300 kilograms of the cocaine ended up in the hands of a Turkish organized crime group. The rest was allegedly loaded onto another ship, the Sormovsky 121, which crossed the Black Sea into Romainian waters. The cocaine was already divided into kilogram sacks branded with various logos, including a Fleur de Lis, “CARTIER,” “4G,” “Louis Vuitton” and Romania's national emblem. Prosecutors allege the packages were stuffed into bags, which were bound together with life vests — some bearing the Brazilian flag — and left to float not far from Romania’s coast around midday on March 17. They were picked up, according to the court documents, by a team of criminal contractors hired by the “Balkan Cartel.” Led by Leon Palacios Ruben Pedro — who has since been imprisoned in Spain for fraud, forgery and driving crimes — the group of Spaniards, Romanians and Ukrainians were allegedly known in the underworld for their skills at retrieving drugs from the sea. Romanian prosecutors said the group of professional divers were so “specialized in this field” that they “were used frequently by Spanish organized crime groups for this type of operation in Spanish waters." Around 4 p.m. on March 18, more than 24 hours after the drugs had been left floating, the Danube border patrol logged two boats making their way through the vast marshy delta where the river meets the salty waters of the Black Sea. Investigators believe the recovery team found the cocaine and started to load the packages into speed boats, but the huge haul proved to be too heavy. One of the vessels capsized near Sfăntu Gheorghe beach, sending at least 1.8 tons of cocaine spilling into the water. Chastened but alive, the team grabbed what they could and returned to shore. There, they loaded some 30 bags of cocaine into a van and drove it to a parking lot in a small village in the delta to be picked up by two drivers who worked for Serbian gangster Stojic Predrag, who the court documents say was working with the Balkan Cartel. On the evening of March 21, the Serbian drivers arrived to move the drugs. But after finding only 30 bags, they began arguing and drove off leaving the stash in the van with the keys on its front wheel. Unknown to them they had been seen by a security guard, who found the cocaine after they left. He called the police, but the Serbians returned and took the drugs before they arrived. Police caught one of the drivers two days later, but his truck was empty. The other one was stopped as he tried to cross the border to Serbia. Investigators believe he had been transporting the drugs, but left them in south Romania after hearing his colleague had been apprehended. Both drivers are currently on trial in Romania for drug trafficking and being members of an organized crime group. Most of the extraction team left around the same time. Team leader Ruben and his girlfriend were stopped by traffic police for towing a boat without a license, but managed to bribe their way out of trouble by paying 2,000 euros. They then abandoned the boat, which was later found to have 3 kilograms of cocaine stashed inside, and left the country. The two policemen who allegedly accepted the bribe were among a total of 16 people charged by prosecutors on Wednesday.

Leader of Romanian Mafia deported from Cancun MAY 2 2022 | CANCUN NEWS Cancun, Q.R. — On Thursday, the FGE announced the detainment of Marian Tate, the alleged leader of the Romanian mafia. The Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) said that Tate was taken into custody and deported on an outstanding arrest warrant in Romania. The 43-year-old, who was a Cancun resident, is said to be from the city of Craiova and according to Romanian authorities, is the leader of The Riviera Maya Gang. Tate has made news over the past few years for his alleged involvement in Cancun and Riviera Maya ATM banking schemes, among other illicit activities. In the statement, the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic announced that its elements “completed a provisional arrest warrant for extradition purposes granted by a Control Judge against Marian T. More information soon”. Later in a full statement, the FGE said “Marian T was arrested today by personnel of the Attorney General’s Office, in compliance with a request for detention for extradition purposes, formulated by the Government of Romania, for crimes of organized crime, extortion and attempted aggravated homicide, all of which was processed and obtained by the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, before a Control Judge of the North Prison.” They added that during the arrest, an agent of the Federal Public Ministry was physically assaulted by Marian T. In February of this year, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Ministry of Finance reported the discovery and freezing of 79 bank accounts believed linked to card cloning in the Cancun, Riviera Maya region. The unit said the 79 individual and corporate accounts were likely part of a Romanian mafia group known to clone cards through ATMs, adding that the group has been particularly active in the Cancun, Riviera Maya region for years.

**[ROMANIAN ARTICLE]** La data de 17.04.2019, procurorii Direcției de Investigare a Infracțiunilor de Criminalitate Organizată şi Terorism – Serviciul Teritorial Ploiești au dispus reținerea pentru o perioadă de 24 de ore a doi inculpați, în vârstă de 29 și 30 de ani, sub aspectul săvârşirii infracțiunii de efectuare de operațiuni cu substanțe știind că acestea sunt susceptibile de a avea efecte psihoactive, fără a deține autorizație. În cauză, există suspiciunea rezonabilă că, inculpații au deținut, fără drept, în vederea comercializării pe raza municipiului Ploiești, produse susceptibile de a avea efecte psihoactive. Cu ocazia efectuării activității de prindere în flagrant și a percheziţiei domiciliare au fost identificate, în vederea continuării cercetărilor, 50kg de substanțe cu proprietăți psihoactive (sub formă de materie vegetală și substanțe pulverulente), sumele de 6.495 de lei și 55 de euro și 6 telefoane mobile. Inculpații urmează să fie prezentați Tribunalului Prahova cu propunere de luare a măsurilor preventive. Suportul de specialitate a fost asigurat de către Direcția Operaţiuni Speciale. Acţiunea a fost efectuată cu sprijinul ofițerilor de poliție judiciară din cadrul Brigăzii de Combatere a Criminalității Organizate Ploiești, precum și jandarmilor din cadrul Grupării Mobile „Matei Basarab” Ploiești. Facem precizarea că pe întreg parcursul procesului penal, inculpații beneficiază de drepturile şi garanţiile procesuale prevăzute de Codul de procedură penală, precum şi de prezumţia de nevinovăţie. h

Human smuggling ring broken up in Romania and Germany Dozens of properties were raided in Germany and Romania as part of a joint investigation into a massive human trafficking ring based in the western Romanian city of Timişoara. The investigators captured one of the leaders of the Romanian group in the sweep. According to Romanian police, the gang was well organised, arranging both transport and accommodation from the migrants. The members of the group were part of a network of migrant traffickers established at European level, with national chapters in each of the transit states on the migration route. The refugees illegally entered Romania from Serbia, Having already passed through Bulgaria and Turkey, and were transported to Timişoara, where they were accommodated in different hostels in the area before being smuggled to Western Europe. Migrants paid between 4,000 and 5,000 euros per person for transport and lodgings. Each of the national chapters was coordinated by a regional leader, who only spoke to their “subordinates” via encrypted messaging apps like Whatsapp and Viber. In order to avoid detection, group members used state-of-the-art technical devices, mobile heavy-duty tracking applications, GPS, and cars with registration numbers from different countries. In Romania, the action was organised by anti-mafia prosecutors, officers from the National Anticorruption Directorate and the organized crime police. “It is a joint investigation team with the German and British authorities. A contingent from Europol is involved. It is an important action because we are trying to stop the phenomenon from the beginning, in order not to let the problem spread to other countries,” said Daniel Horodniceanu, the head of DIICOT. In Germany, searches were made by officers of the Bundeskriminalamt, a police unit specialised in the fight against organised crime. Timişoara has developed the reputation of a refugee trafficking hub over the past year with the number of refugees from Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries increasing exponentially there since Hungary tightened its border with Serbia.

Leader of Romanian mafia accused of credit card skimming arrested in Mexico Cancun, Quintana Roo — Romanian national Marian Tate accused of running a massive credit card skimming operation in the Mexican resort of Cancún was arrested on Thursday, May 27th, ending a bizarre story of violence, theft, and politics. Mexican prosecutors said Marian Tate, often know by his nickname “The Shark,” was arrested on an extradition request from Romania for attempted murder, organized crime, and extortion. When federal agents went to take Tate into custody, another federal agent tried to prevent the arrest, and Tate's lawyer tried to punch the officers, the prosecutors said. Both the lawyer and the rogue agent were subdued and taken into custody along with the Romanian. Tate has maintained his innocence, but officials say hundreds, and perhaps thousands of tourists were allegedly scammed at ATM machines run by his group in Cancún. Tate claimed he was a legitimate businessman facing political persecution and was even granted a meeting on March 3 with Mexico’s top police official, Public Safety Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez. Rodríguez said she had been ordered by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to meet with Tate and hear him out. “All we did was grant him a meeting to hear what he wanted to say … we treated him like any other citizen,” Rodríguez said later. But the meeting surprised many because it came one month after Mexico’s anti-money laundering agency froze 79 bank accounts connected to the gang because they “formed part of a criminal enterprise to clone credit cards in the tourist zone of Cancún.” The Financial Intelligence Unit said it acted as part of a joint investigation with the FBI; the unit confirmed the ring was run by Romanians and that as much as $25 million in suspicious transfers had been detected. The unit said the gang placed ATMs with ‘skimmers’ to read credit card data inside Cancún hotels, and said the scam had expanded to other resorts like Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos. Tate became known for speaking from inside a baronial residence in Cancún and issuing lengthy press releases claiming he was a victim of human rights violations and political persecution. In one 12-page document, Tate claimed that the former police chief of Quintana Roo — the state where Cancún is located — and an adviser to the state governor “are behind this campaign to invent the false idea of a ‘Romanian mafia,’ and have paid millions to news media to slander me.” He claimed it was all part of a plot to hurt López Obrador’s Morena party in this year’s mid-term elections. Tate also claimed federal prosecutors had stolen from him “safes, computers, cash, credit cards, jewels, fine watches, works of art, TVs, pure bred dogs and horses, and construction equipment.” In 2018, another Romanian, a member of the gang who had a falling out with Tate, was found dead in a vehicle near Tate's house. There were conflicting versions about the circumstances of the killing; local media quoted another Tate associate as claiming he was attacked and killed the man in self-defense.

Police Raid Mob Boss Andrew Tate in Human-Trafficking Investigation Romanian police raided the home of prominent pro-Trump online personality and Romanian Mafia Boss Andrew Tate this month as part of a human-trafficking investigation, bringing new attention to Tate’s ties to leading figures in the American MAGA movement. Before the April 11 raid, Tate was best known as a kickboxer and vocal Trump supporter in the online far right. On social media, Tate portrayed himself as a wealthy cigar-smoking playboy, prompting one admirer to dub him the “king of toxic masculinity.” But Tate’s treatment of women had an ugly side. In 2016, he was booted off the British version of Big Brother over a video of him hitting a woman with a belt. This March, Britain’s Daily Mirror tabloid profiled him and his brother Tristan Tate and their Romania-based business which used webcam models to trick men into sending the brothers tens of thousands of dollars. In one video on his YouTube channel, Andrew Tate said “40 percent” of the reason he moved to Romania was because Romanian police were less likely to pursue sexual assault allegations. Tate’s unsavory activities didn’t stop him from building links with the stars of the Trumpian right. In 2019, Tate palled around Washington, D.C. with prominent online Trump activists and conspiracy theorists. He shared a meal with far-right cable news commentator Jack Posobiec and Infowars host Paul Joseph Watson, and appeared multiple times on Infowars shows.