Crime
Soft GANG RECRUITMENT happening in prison says TCI Police
By Dana Malcolm and Deandrea Hamilton
Editorial Staff
#TurksandCaicos, July 2, 2023 – Magnetic Media recently reached out to the Royal TCI Police Force in an effort to expose the criminal gangs who do so much violent work from the shadows.
While the Force has declined responses to many of our questions or has given vague replies to legitimate queries, they did tell us one critical piece of information; small scale gang recruitment is happening in the country’s prison.
“Recruitment can occur in many different forms through the natural progression of younger siblings of gang members becoming involved to a simple association between individuals due to living nearby and building criminal networks. There is also some evidence that on occasion, associations are established within the prison and continued after individuals are released,” the police revealed.
It is a concerning wrench in the system which undermines the process of true rehabilitation; our news team wanted
to find out whether they had any idea how to stop new members from being sucked into organised crime.
“Work is ongoing to improve our understanding of criminal networks being established within the prison and bespoke disruption operations like Operation Pursuit will continue to be undertaken,” Magnetic Media was told.
In addition to this police say they :
- Have several initiatives aimed at preventing individuals and specifically young persons becoming involved in gang-related crime. For example, working with the Ministry of Education through the D.A.R.E. Program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).
- Are regularly undertaking other educational activity in communities and at local schools aimed at demonstrating the risks connected to becoming involved in criminality and specifically gang-related criminality.
- Are in consultation with the partner agencies about the use of the temporary Anti-Gang Ordinance which has been reinforced by the recent signing of the J-LEG (Joint Law Enforcement Group) which will facilitate improved collaborative working between agencies.
Despite this, police refused to identify the gangs and the areas they frequent once again leaving residents in the dark about where recruitment takes place for young boys; many of whom are at risk of being inducted into criminal activity before they leave high school.
It is a fact evidenced by the number of youth now before the courts.
Garfield Ekon
Staff Writer
USA, September 21, 2024 – Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with serious sex offenses from a 14-page indictment, accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Mr. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday evening, with allegations of running a criminal enterprise from at least 2008 that relied on drugs and violence to force women to “fulfill his sexual desires”, according to prosecutors. A New York federal judge remanded the musician in custody on Tuesday after prosecutors argued he was a “serious flight risk”.
If convicted on all three counts, the rapper and record producer faces a sentence of 15 years up to life in prison. Asked by US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky how he wished to plead, Mr. Combs stood up and said: “not guilty”.
According to court documents, Mr. Combs “wielded the power” of his status to “lure female victims, to engage in extended sex acts” called “Freak Offs”. During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims “obedient and compliant,” the indictment said.
In a news briefing, US prosecutor Damian Williams said officials found firearms, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant during raids on Mr. Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, about six months ago. Mr. Williams said federal agents also found three semi-automatic rifles with defaced serial numbers, and a drum magazine.
He told reporters that further charges were possible, without offering details.
Mr. Agnifilo, the musician’s lawyer, maintained, “there’s no coercion and no crime.”
“He’s not afraid of the charges,” he said, adding that he believed Mr. Combs was the target of “an unjust prosecution”.
In court documents, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Combs had “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.
Prosecutors accuse Mr. Combs of “creating a criminal enterprise” whose members – under his direction – engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson and bribery.
“On numerous occasions”, the documents said, Mr. Combs assaulted women by “striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them”.
The indictment did not specify how many women were alleged victims.
It also does not accuse Mr. Combs himself of engaging directly in unwanted sexual acts with women.
Last November, his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him that included graphic descriptions of violent abuse.
Sean “Diddy” Combs denied the accusations, but settled the case a day after it was filed.
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