Gangsters and criminals

THIS is the moment US military forces bombed a drug running boat from the Tren de Aragua gang.

Dramatic footage shows a kinetic strike target and destroy a smuggling vessel in the Southern Caribbean.

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Washington designates Venezuela’s Tren de Agarua gang as a Maduro-backed terror group.

President Donald Trump, 79, confirmed US forces attacked the boat, killing 11.

Speaking from the Oval Office today, Trump said: “Over the last few minutes we just shot out a drug carrying boat, a lot of drugs on that boat.

“You’ll be seeing that, it just happened moments ago, our Great General and head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has been so incredible, including what took place in Iran knocking out potential nuclear power, I think within a month they would have had it if we didn’t do what we did.

“And there’s more where that came from. There’s a lot of drugs pouring into our country. These came out of Venezuela, a lot of things are coming out of Venezuela. We took it out.”

Meanwhile Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X: ” The US military conducted a lethal strike… against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization.”

A senior defense official confirmed further information on the “precision strike” would “be made available at a later time.”

This comes amid rising tension between Caracas and Washington.

Last week the US leader sent warships to Venezuela as the country’s dictator moved 15,000 troops to the border with Colombia.

Three US destroyers and 4,000 marines are sailing towards the South American coastline as tensions skyrocket.

It comes after after Trump’s administration announced a $50million bounty on the ruthless tyrant’s head.

Trump has accused President Nicolas Maduro of “mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere”.

The White House previously accused the Tren de Aragua of having “unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.”

Trump also invoked the Alien Enemies Act against the Tren de Aragua gang as he continues efforts to speed up deportations.

The 1798 Act was last used to justify the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War 2.

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gives gargantuan levels of authority to the Republican to target and remove undocumented immigrants.

It is designed as a law to be invoked if the US is at war with another country or a nation has invaded the US or threatened to do so.

The proclamation called for all of those subject to the measure to be arrested, detained and removed immediately.

Trump said in a proclamation: “All Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”

But, a judge quickly blocked Trump from invoking the act and ordered any flights carrying the gang members to turn around with the order now set for a battle through the courts.

Tren de Aragua is a transnational criminal organisation and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization from Venezuela.

Believed to have over 5,000 members, Homeland Security officials labeled the group “high-threat,” according to US media reports.

In comments after the strike today, the US president wrote on X: “Earlier this morning, on my Orders, Military Forces conduced a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.

“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere.

“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.

“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike.

“Please let this serve as a notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

It comes as Trump has laughed off wild online rumours about his death, dismissing them as “fake news” during a primetime address after days of frenzied speculation over his health.

The president appeared on Tuesday to announce that U.S. Space Command headquarters will move from Colorado to Alabama.

He was then asked if he had seen the viral claims that he was no longer living.

“Really? I didn’t see that. That’s pretty serious!” Trump said, before insisting he had been busy behind the scenes.

“I did numerous interviews and had some pretty poignant posts on my social media site. I was very active over the weekend,” he added, noting that he also visited “some people” at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia.

The press conference had been called to announce that U.S. Space Command headquarters will move from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama — a reversal of Joe Biden’s 2023 decision to keep the base in Colorado.

Trump originally reestablished Space Command in 2018, saying its mission was to defend U.S. interests in space.

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AN XXL Labubu doll worth more than £100,000 was uncovered by Hong Kong police during a major raid on Tuesday morning.

The gang, suspected of laundering £4 billion, had been under surveillance for two and a half years – but police never expected to find a giant plush toy among their illicit haul.

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According to the South Morning China Post, the seized goods belonged to the Triad syndicate – one of the oldest and most notorious criminal organisations in China.

Hong Kong police launched a large-scale raid on Tuesday, writing in a post on X: “When the time was ripe – the HKPF mounted the territory-wide anti-triad ‘Operation HIDDENARROW’ on July 29, 2025.”

The force seized €780,000 in cash, 11,000 bottles of wine, luxury watches, gold and a 5ft2 Labubu doll.

The figure is said to be rare – one of fifteen of its kind in the world.

A similar piece went under the hammer in Beijing in June for around £113,000.

As many as 82 suspects were reportedly arrested during the operation – 55 men and 27 women, ranging in age from 19 to 78.

Among them was the alleged 44-year-old ringleader.

He is suspected of running the operation and involving friends and family in the money laundering scheme.

Police added on X: “The ringleader manipulated his family & friends as well as the members of his gang into laundering the crime proceeds via calculated means.”

They listed this means as “continuously laundering the illicit funds via a trust company” and “committing #LoanFraud – using some seemingly lawful import trades as fronts.”

The gang’s funds came from prostitution, drug trafficking and illegal gambling, according to police.

Police said they froze assets worth around £115 million.

It’s still unclear whether Triad was banking on a rise in the Labubu doll’s value, were fans of the character or whether the toy might be a fake.

Labubus have taken the internet by storm – with Chinese toymaker Pop Mart’s valuation skyrocketing to £31.6bn.

The cult collectable dolls have been spotted dangling from the designer bags of Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and David Beckham.

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A FLASHY crime lord was snared for a murder plot and major cocaine smuggling racket by his clothes and tattoos featured in selfies he posted from Dubai.

Drug baron James Harding, 34, masterminded a drug empire which made £5 million in profits during a 10-week period.

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But the vain villain took selfies of himself posing shirtless in front of the mirror flexing his muscles and sitting in supercars while living a life of luxury in the desert kingdom.

Harding sent the photos and messages about his opulent lifestyle to criminal cronies on the EncroChat encrypted mobile phone system believing it was totally secure.

But the swaggering poser’s boasts rebounded on him when the communication network was infiltrated by cyber cops in 2020.

Messages uncovered Harding’s cocaine empire – and his plan to rob and kill a rival drug courier.

Harding was yesterday convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and of conspiracy to murder following a heavily-guarded eight-week trial.

His right hand man Jayes Kharouti, 39, earlier admitted the same drug offence and was also found guilty of the murder plot.

Jurors heard how Harding used the EncroChat handle ‘thetopsking,’ while Kharouti went under the tags ‘besttops’ and ‘topsybricks.’

They sent 9,136 messages to each other via EncroChat between March and June 2020, detailing their vast shipments of cocaine from the Netherlands into the UK, where it was distributed across the country.

The pair spelled out how they were laundering their money – as every message was read by Scotland Yard detectives following the penetration of the EncroChat platform by French law enforcement.

Harding, originally from Alton, Hampshire, and his lieutenant Kharouti were making £70,000 every day during the period their phones were being hacked by cops, jurors heard.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson, KC, said the pair were responsible for “approximately 50 importations of cocaine into the UK with a total weight of approximately 1,000 kilograms.”

He went on: “The messages also show that once the cocaine was in the UK, it was broken into smaller parcels, of between 5kg and 10kg, and distributed across the UK to wholesale purchasers, who would then sell to end users.

“An analysis of the messages that discuss money and financial gain suggests that the conspirators made £60-70,000 per importation, and about £5m in profit overall in just 10 weeks.”

The messages also revealed how Harding and Kharouti tried to hire a hitman for £100,000 to rob and kill a drug mule.

They arranged a gun and ammunition for a hitman to carry out the “full M” – murder, jurors heard.

Cops moved in and arrested the alleged hitman before the contract murder could be carried out.

Harding claimed in court he was not the EncroChat user known as ‘thetopsking’ – and claimed the handle belonged to a mystery gay lover he identified in court only as ‘TK.’

But cops were able to prove Harding was the ‘thetopsking’  because of his love for selfies and boasts about his luxury lifestyle.

A phone seized from an associate had a video showing Harding in the driver’s seat of a £2.5 million Bugatti Chiron car with a tattoo on his leg clearly visible.

There were pictures of him living it up in his lavish villa at The Nest development in Dubai, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a swimming pool and rooms for maids and drivers.

Harding lived there with Liverpudlian girlfriend Charli Wylde, 33, and her daughter Milly-Mai, 15, who he treated as his own.

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The court heard that on May 6, 2020, EncroChat user ‘thetopsking’ boasted to pals how he was taking his “Mrs” out that evening to Zuma, an award-winning Japanese restaurant in Dubai.

Investigations found that two days earlier Harding made the booking from a personal email account.

And eight days later ‘thetopsking’  boasted in messages how he was staying at the five-star Waldorf hotel in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and sent an image of the hotel pool area via EncroChat.

Mr Atkinson said: “Enquiries with the Hilton Hotel Group showed that Harding stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in the United Arab Emirates and gave (his) mobile telephone number and produced a UAE identification card.

“During the stay, thetopsking had sent an image of James Harding relaxing on a sun lounger at, of all places, the Waldorf.”

One March 26 2020, thetopsking also wrote a message about how he had got back a Lamborghini Urus and sent an image of the dashboard.

Mr Atkinson said: “The person who took the image caught their leg in the photograph, and on that leg is a tattoo which matches the tattoo on James Harding’s leg.”

Kharouti’s home in Epsom, Surrey, was searched in 2020 after he was linked to the messages.

Police found a handset with the same number he gave to Harding.

He fled the country before being found in Turkey and extradited back to the UK.

Harding was arrested on 27 December 2021 at Geneva Airport, Switzerland, and from there Switzerland to the UK the following May.

The pair will be sentenced on Thursday.

Met Detective Chief Inspector Jim Casey,  said: “This conviction sends a clear message – no matter how sophisticated the methods, criminals cannot hide behind encrypted software.

“This operation dismantled a major supply chain and is a testament to the relentless work of our officers.

“We monitored their drug-dealing activity but then we saw the group discussing the contract killing of a rival.

“We moved fast to protect those in danger.”

“Harding and Kharouti planned to kill, we stopped that and put them before the courts.”

Harding was previously jailed for nine years when he was aged 21 for running a drug racket.

Previously, Calvin Crump, 29, of Redhill, Surrey, was jailed for 13 years and six months while Khuram Ahmed, 38, of Slough, Berkshire, got 15-and-half-years after admitting conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.

Peter Thompson, 61, of South-West London, received 21 years after he  pleaded guilty to the  same drug charge and  possessing a pistol.

A man alleged to have been the gang’s proposed hitman was cleared.

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AN ALLEGED gang member wanted over the fatal stabbing of a young man in London has been arrested in Spain.

Six mobsters went on the run after the tragic murder of 21-year-old Giovanny Rendon Bedoya in Walworth, south London, on April 21.

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The fugitive was detained at the request of British authorities in the town of Sabadell around 15 miles north-west of the Catalan capital as he entered a restaurant, Spanish police said.

He is said to belong to the dangerous Latin gang known as the Trinitarios.

They have become a major security threat across much of Europe in recent years especially in cities like Madrid and London.

The alleged killer is now facing extradition to the UK and a possible “life sentence” according to Spanish cops.

Met Police pleaded for information around the death of Giovanny earlier this year.

It comes as three of the six people initially arrested have now been bailed pending further inquiries.

In the latest update this month, they said a fourth man has now been charged with murder.

All four men have been named by police as Joseph Jimenez, 21, Angel Gonzales Angulo, 19, Brian Villada-Hernandes, 19, and Zozoro Mohamed Olivier, 20.

Cops previously said a 17-year-old boy was also arrested on suspicion of murder.

Confirming the latest arrest near Barcelona today, Spain’s National Police said in a statement: “National Police officers have arrested a member of the Trinitarios gang in the town of Sabadell in Barcelona who is wanted by the British justice system after allegedly committing a murder in the United Kingdom.

“An international arrest warrant was issued for him after the crime which took place on April 14.

“He could face a life sentence for attacking with five other alleged members of the same gang, another young man from a rival gang who was killed.

“The investigation was launched by the British authorities on 14 April when the fugitive and five other alleged members of the Trinitarios gang violently accosted another young man from a rival gang following a dispute.”

Giovanny was attacked just after 9pm and was left with serious injuries which resulted in the amputation of fingers, the loss of an organ and multiple fractures.

These injuries resulted in his death, police confirmed at the time.

The Trinitarios gang is said to have been founded in 1993 by two Dominicans facing separate murder charges being held in the Rikers Islands New York City jail.

The gang’s notoriety across the globe even caused them to be scrutinised by the Trump administration this year.

Donald Trump described them as “animals” as he carried out his sweeping sanctions on US criminal enterprises.

Nearly two dozen Trinitarios gang members were hit with RICO conspiracy charges in February.

They were accused of six murders and 11 attempted murders, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.

Spiralling violence around Madrid in recent years has been blamed on the fracturing and spread of Dominican gangs which have become Spain’s primary urban security threat.

Officials believe the man arrested today may have been in Spain trying to flee to the Dominican Republic.

The Sun has contacted the Metropolitan Police for further comment.

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A PRISON governor has been jailed over an illicit relationship with a drug gang boss who gifted her a £12,000 Mercedes.

Kerri Pegg was seen as a “rising star” in the Prison Service and quickly rose through the ranks to become governor at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire.

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But her career is now in ruins after she embarked on a relationship with inmate Anthony Saunderson, who was known as Jesse Pinkman after the series Breaking Bad.

Pegg, 42, has now been jailed after she was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office.

One relates to the divorcee’s fling with Saunderson and the second by failing to disclose county court judgements about her debts.

She was also convicted of one count of possessing criminal property, the Mercedes car, from Saunderson.

Preston Crown Court heard Pegg released Saunderson on licence in 2019 despite not having the authority to approve the bid.

After he was granted his freedom, the prisoner used cash from selling 34 kilos of amphetamines to buy Pegg the Mercedes coupe.

On April 6, 2020, Saunderson was sent a message on Encrochat saying “car her for ya bird 12 quid or work” and a photo of the vehicle.

The court was told “12 quid” meant £12,000 and “work” meant drugs.

Saunderson asked “what work they want” and he was told “top or weed” – meaning cocaine or cannabis.

Two days later, he arranged for “17 packs” to be dropped off in Manchester to pay for the car.

The Mercedes was registered in Pegg’s name, with a pal messaging Saunderson: “Where u ya seedy man u and Peggy out floating orrel in the new whip?”

Law enforcement agencies cracked the criminal’s Encrochat and discovered he was involved in drug trafficking on a huge scale.

Saunderson, who was also known to his criminal pals as James Gandolfini -the actor who played Tony Soprano in the mafia TV Series – has now been locked up for 35 years.

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The court was told other messages revealed the “ongoing nature” of his relationship with Pegg.

Police searched her home on November 19, 2020, and found a toothbrush and flip flops containing Saunderson’s DNA.

Officers also discovered a haul of designer clothing and found Pegg was subject to a number of county court judgements for unpaid debts.

Prosecutor Barbara-Louise Webster said: “Her downfall was two-fold, the first, despite having a good income, she lived beyond her means.

“She spent all her income and more, incurring debts and she had county court judgements made against her.

“As a consequence, she became vulnerable and open to exploitation.

“The second was that she became emotionally and personally involved with a serving prisoner, Anthony Saunderson and later accepted an expensive car, a Mercedes C class, which was paid for by him out of his proceeds of criminal activity ie trading in drugs.”

Pegg joined the prison service in 2012 as a graduate entrant and worked at prisons in Risley, Liverpool and Styal.

By April 2018, she was a governor at HMP Kirkham, where Saunderson was serving a lengthy jail term.

He had been locked up in 2014 for his part in importing £19m of cocaine in shipments of corned beef from Argentina.

From the start, there were concerns about Pegg being inappropriately close to prisoners.

It was also noted that she spent a lot of time in her office with Saunderson.

In October 2018, he put in a request to be released on temporary licence.

Despite Pegg not having the authority to green light his release, she intervened and approved his application without notifying the official who should have dealt with the case.

Days later she was moved to another jail, later becoming duty governor at HMP Lancaster Farms.

Saunderson meanwhile was revealed as one of nine gangland figures responsible for producing amphetamines on an industrial, multi-million-pound scale.

The gang made and dealt 2.6 tonnes of amphetamines worth £1million – as well as trafficking heroin, cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, MCAT and diazepam.

Tarryn McCaffrey, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Kerri Pegg’s conduct fell far short of what might be expected from any professional within the Prison Service, let alone one of such a senior grade as prison governor.

“She was clearly involved in an inappropriate relationship with Saunderson after he was released and the evidence points to this going back further, to a time when he was in jail.

“This relationship, and the fact that Pegg failed to disclose her debts to her employers, amount to a gross breach of trust and are therefore extremely damaging to public confidence.”

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