Anthony Garcia | Anthony Garcia | al-Qaeda in Europe | Britain | 20040411 |
-Lurid Crime Tales- |
ICE most wanted fugitive taken into custody |
2017-04-16 |
![]() WASHINGTON ‐ U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Denver Fugitive Operations team officers arrested one of ERO’s most wanted fugitives Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, making a second arrest in the process. Jose Victor Bonilla-Melendez, aka Anthony Garcia-Melendez, 48, a citizen of Honduras, was located after ERO received a tip about his whereabouts from someone who saw a social media post by the local Denver ABC affiliate regarding his inclusion among ICE’s most wanted fugitives. Bonilla‐Melendez was wanted by ICE for removal from the U.S. as convicted sex offender, last seen in Aurora. Bonilla-Melendez has a criminal history that includes felony convictions for assault causing serious bodily injury, sexual assault, and unlawful re-entry of a deported alien. He has been removed from the U.S. on two prior occasions, most recently on April 5, 2006. On Dec. 7, 2014, the Aurora Police Department arrested him on local charges, but the subject posted bond before an ICE detainer could be placed. Despite numerous attempts by ICE to locate his whereabouts, he remained at-large. |
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-Lurid Crime Tales- |
Falling pants foil robbery |
2013-09-13 |
![]() Deputies said Anthony Garcia, 31, walked into the gift shop at the shrine, on Vineland Avenue in south Orlando, around 1:30 p.m. and demanded the cashier hand over all the money in the drawer. Investigators say Garcia grabbed the entire drawer from the register. But as he tried to run, his pants started to slip off his waist, deputies say. "Pants on the ground, Pants on the ground, Lookin' like a fool Witcher pants on the ground!" "Now, remember: He's holding a drawer," said Jane Watrel, with the Orange County Sheriff's Office. "Both hands are on the drawer. So, he tries to take one hand pull up his pants. Well, the director of maintenance saw his opening, caught up with him, pulled his pants down and then put him in a cradle." Two deputies who were near the shrine on Vineland Avenue in the area who were able to get to there quickly. As for the man who made the tackle, he says he only acted because Garcia didn't have a weapon. Garcia was on probation at the time of the robbery, deputies said. |
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-Lurid Crime Tales- |
Today's Idiot |
2013-07-26 |
![]() LOS ANGELES - A California gang member was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder after authorities say a tattoo on his chest depicting the murder scene led to his apprehension. 25-year-old Anthony Garcia (pictured above) could face life in prison for his role in the 2004 shooting at a Pico Rivera liquor store. Garcia eluded police until 2008 when he was picked up for driving with a suspended license. Suspecting that he was an active member of the Rivera-13 gang, police then photographed his tattoos and took a mugshot. While looking for leads on an entirely different crime, Det. Sgt. Kevin Lloyd came across Garcia's picture in the mug book when something struck him: "it looked like a murder from way back when." He then drove to the liquor store named on Garcia's tattoo and cross-referenced with the old case file. Lloyd was so struck by the detailed accuracy of the tattoo that he called it a "crime scene sketch and a confession." Garcia's tattoo captured the night of the shooting, from the Christmas lights outside the liquor store to the bent light post in the store's parking lot to the convalescent home called the Rivera, next door to the liquor store. The scene shows a chopper spraying bullets on a victim. Garcia's gang nickname is "Chopper." The victim, John Juarez, is depicted as a Mr. Peanut. The peanut is commonly used as a symbol of a rival gang in Pico Rivera, Lloyd said. The crime scene is under a tattoo on Garcia's neck that reads "Rivera Kills." Garcia was arrested in October of 2008 and charged with the murder. While behind bars, he reportedly confessed to officers posing as gang members. Deputy District Attorney Brock Lunsford called Garcia's tattoo a "non-verbal confession." "It was offensive, the brazenness of it," Lunsford said. "I would never say that he's not intelligent. He was able to avoid detection for four years ... his arrogance got the better of him, not a lack of intelligence." Los Angeles police and experts on gang tattoos said they can't recall another example of a criminal tattooing such a literal depiction of a crime. |
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Britain |
Tube driver with al Qaeda links cleared of jihad charge |
2010-11-09 |
A London Underground driver on the Bakerloo line was cleared of plotting terrorist attacks despite writing a goodbye note to his wife and admitting he knew an al Qaeda operative. Amir Ali, 28, was accused of buying survival gear and had booked flights to Pakistan in order to commit "violent jihad" in Afghanistan. The married father of two wrote a letter to his wife and children declaring "Allah came first." Ali admitted knowing Anthony Garcia, who was jailed over a plot to blow up the Bluewater shopping mall and other targets with massive fertiliser bombs. He was also said to be associated with Garcia's brothers, Lamine Adam and Ibrahim Adam, who are fugitives. During the Bluewater trial it emerged that Lamine Adam, a former Tube driver, had been asked by terrorists in Pakistan to launch a suicide attack on the Tube. Ali was today found not guilty of preparation for acts of terrorism between April 2006 and March last year. He claims that he was framed by the British security services after refusing to become a mole for the MI5. When asked during the trial whether Muslims were obliged to carry out jihad Ali replied: "I think it's the obligation of a Muslim to follow the Koran." Just 10 years ago Ali had been an aspiring amateur boxer who twice won the light welterweight division of the London ABA Championships. But Ali left the sport when officials demanded he shave. The court heard he had studied at the University of North London. At the University's Islamic Society after 9/11, regularly attending talks with Lamine Adam. Police found Ali's goodbye letter to Miriam and his young children in his rucksack. He told his wife not to be "upset or depressed" as he would always remember her and the children. He also asked for his "wife's forgiveness and that he would see her soon in this life or the thereafter." Police also found terrorist related items at his home including recordings of imprisoned cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal. During the trial he distanced himself from al-Faisal, saying he was a victim of Islamophobia and compared his plight to that of the Irish living in the UK during the the IRA bombings and Nelson Mandela. |
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Britain |
Hate cleric's web of terror |
2010-01-15 |
Jalal Hussain: Shared platform with preacher after 2yrs and 3 months for fundraising for Iraqi insurgents. Ibrahim Hassan: Also joined Choudary at rally - after 2yrs and nine months for inciting terror overseas. Death plotters Mizanur Rahman: Jailed for 2yrs in 2006 for race hate - and 4yrs in 2007 for incitement to murder. Simon Keeler: Got 3½yrs in 2008 for terror fundraising and incitement to kill Our Boys abroad. Abu Izzadeen: Caged for 3½yrs in 2008 for terrorist fundraising and incitement to kill UK troops. Rahman Saleem: 2½yrs jail in 2007 for race hate and 2yrs in 2008 for inciting terrorism abroad. Abdul Muhid: Got 4yrs in 2007 for soliciting murder and 9 months in 2008 for terror fundraising. Umran Javed: The 27-year-old was caged for four years in January 2007 for soliciting murder. Bomb gang Omar Khyam: Jailed for life in April 2007 for leading "fertiliser bomb" plot targeting Bluewater shopping centre. Waheed Mahmood: Fellow Bluewater plotter - alias Abdul Waheed - was also given life in April 2007. Jawad Akbar: Third member of the fertiliser bomb plot mob - he too was handed a life jail sentence in April 2007. Anthony Garcia: Bluewater plotter No4 - the 24-year-old was jailed for life along with his evil accomplices. Firebomb Amer Mirza: Sentenced to 6 months in March 1999 for petrol-bombing a West London Territorial Army base. Ali Beheshti: Maniac aged 41 was locked up for 4½ years in April last year for conspiracy to firebomb. Race hate Iftikhar Ali: Hit with £3,000 fine in October 2000 for distributing leaflets with intention to stir up race hate. Zaheen Mohamed: Aged 27, slapped with a two-year community order in July 2005 for inciting racial hatred. Dead terrorists Aftab Manzoor: Member of Choudary's Al-Muhajiroun organisation - Manzoor was killed fighting in Afghanistan at the age of 25 in October 2001. Asif Hanif: Suicide bomber blew himself up in Israel - and was another fanatical supporter of Choudary's sinister Al-Muhajiroun organisation. Afzal Munir: The devotee of now-banned Al-Muhajiroun organisation was also killed in Afghanistan at age of 25 in October 2001. Siddique Khan: The 7/7 suicide bomber is feared to have undergone explosives training at a Pakistan camp organised by Al-Muhajiroun recruits. Al-Qaeda Habib Ahmed: Terror group member was found with documents detailing "operatives" and was sentenced to ten years in December 2008 |
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Britain | |
British bomb plotters lose appeal | |
2008-07-24 | |
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Britain | |
Did al-Qaeda leader pass on his plans from inside prison? | |
2007-07-04 | |
A senior al-Qaeda terrorist who plotted a wave of car bomb attacks in Britain is feared to have passed on his plans to other militants from prison. Dhiren Barot, who is serving 30 years for conspiracy to murder, wielded huge influence over other imprisoned terror suspects and tried to convert non-Muslim inmates to his brand of radical Islam. The Times has learnt that the authorities were so concerned about his ability to radicalise other prisoners that he was moved out of Belmarsh jail in southeast London. Growing numbers of inmates were attending Friday prayers in the high-security prison, and it was believed that terrorists from different wings were using the facility to exchange messages and indoctrinate other prisoners. Barot was transferred to Frankland jail, Durham, where he demanded to be given the right to lead Friday prayers. His demands were rejected.
Barot pleaded guilty to planning a bombing campaign in November last year. Even as his defence team attempted to mitigate for him, he insisted that his plans could and would have worked. A security source told The Times: Nothing would delight him more than to see his plans reach fruition, even if he is behind bars. Counter-terrorist agencies have also been concerned that two men who absconded while under terrorist control orders have been visiting high-security inmates in Belmarsh. Lamine and Ibrahim Adam have been on the run for six weeks and the public have been told not to approach them. Their brother, Anthony Garcia, was convicted in April for his part in a fertiliser bomb plot to attack London. Zeeshan Siddiqui, another associate of the fertiliser bomb cell, is another control order absconder whose whereabouts are unknown. Siddiqui had terror training in Pakistan with members of the gang and Mohammed Sidique Khan, the leader of the 7/7 bombers. We thought they would all go After sentencing Barot to life last November, Mr Justice Butterfield said that he would have to serve at least 40 years in jail. The judge said that Barots plans would have caused carnage on a colossal and unprecedented scale if successful. He told Barot, who had worked as an airline ticketing clerk in Piccadilly: Your intention was not simply to cause damage, panic or fear. Your intention was to murder, but it went further. It was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the State, and, if successful, would have affected thousands personally, millions indirectly and ultimately the whole nation of the US and the UK. The judge added: You have devoted most of your adult life to seeking means to bring death and destruction to the Western world. | |
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Britain |
Police check Bluewater gangs links to bomb attempts |
2007-07-01 |
Detectives hunting the West End car bombers believe the suspects are most likely to be home-grown extremists linked to an overlapping network of terrorist cells implicated in previous plots against British targets. Some may be known to police and be on the run after escaping Home Office control orders. Those in the frame may be associates of the so-called Crevice gang, which planned to attack the Ministry of Sound nightclub in central London and the Bluewater shopping mall in Kent. Members of the five-man cell, who were jailed for life in April, were directed by core Al-Qaeda figures after training in terror camps in Pakistan. Five men who hoped to kill thousands with a fertiliser bomb were described as ruthless misfits who betrayed their country The brother of one jailed gang member, who has been on the run since breaching a government-imposed control order six weeks ago, is said to have been keen to bomb a nightclub. There is a real possibility the suspects may have a connection through a family of cells with the Crevice gang, said a senior government security official. It is very possible these people met each other at training camps. The suspects may also have drawn inspiration from another cell led by Dhiren Barot, an Al-Qaeda general, who drew up sophisticated plans to target London hotels and office buildings by parking limousines packed with gas canisters in underground car parks. Barot, now serving 30 years in prison, outlined his plot in a document called Gas Limos Project, which he prepared for Al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. Security officials insist there was no intelligence pointing to a car bomb attack in the West End. But there are concerns that extremists who were on the surveillance back-burner could have escaped their attentions. They are saying this is leftfield, that it came out of the blue, said a senior Whitehall official. What that means is they think its possible that these were people they have been aware of who suddenly did this. It may be that these are people that they know about but just hadnt realised what they were up to. Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and security expert, said: The real nervousness for the agencies is that these may be people they know but havent picked up. Its happened before. It calls into question the strategy about leaving these people in play and not arresting them. Such concerns reflect the fall-out from the investigation into the July 7 attacks two years ago, which killed 52 people. The authorities initially claimed the suicide bombers were unknown clean skins, but it soon emerged that Mohammad Sidique Khan, the 7/7 leader, and Shehzad Tanweer had been under surveillance a year earlier. The two bombers were photographed at meetings with Omar Khyam, the leader of the Crevice gang that was plotting to detonate a fertiliser bomb. Bugged conversations of the Crevice cell revealed the plotters disdain for nightclubs. Discussing the Ministry of Sound, one gang member said: No one can put their hands up and say they are innocent...those slags dancing around. A key member of the Crevice gang was Anthony Garcia. During his trial, an Al-Qaeda supergrass revealed that Garcias brother, Lamine Adam, had allegedly wanted to bomb a nightclub and was seeking a formula for explosives. The supergrasss testimony was not considered strong enough for prosecution. However, Adam, 26, and his younger brother, Ibrahim, 20, were placed on control orders in February 2006 on the grounds that they planned to kill British soldiers serving abroad. The two brothers and a friend, Cerie Bullivant, 24, who was put on a control order last July, went on the run six weeks ago. Police think they may have slipped abroad, but they cannot rule out that the trio could still pose a threat within the UK. Lord Carlile, the governments terrorism watchdog, said: I would certainly not view this as a failure by the authorities in any sense, he said. Looking for home-grown cells is like looking for a needle in a haystack. |
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Britain |
Voted "Most Likely to be a Terrorist" |
2007-05-30 |
![]() The fugitives form teacher at Seven Kings High School in Ilford, Essex, brands him Mr Argumentative. Another jokey award given to him and a girl he is pictured with dubs them the most gorgeous couple. The yearbook pictures Adam in his school uniform at age 11 and 16 and includes a retort from him slamming classmates as sados. He blasts in badly-written English: Its me the one who terrorized our form teacher! Hope you all remember me. Adam whose entry contrasts with other pupils tipped to be future Prime Minister or superstar signs off by declaring: Good luck in the future. IBZ. Cops fear Adam may be heading to Iraq to wage war on British troops along with his brother Lamine, 26, and a third man. All three are terror suspects who scarpered last Monday after breaking Home Office control orders. Adam is the younger brother of Anthony Garcia, 25 jailed for life as one of the Bluewater bomb plotters. Adam and third brother Lamine were made the subject of control orders over alleged plots to blow up troops abroad. They vanished after failing to call a private monitoring firm from their home in Barkingside, East London. Two days later Home Secretary John Reid released their names and that of fellow fugitive Cerie Bullivant, 24. Adam, who was born in Algeria, left school in 2005. Yesterday a former classmate insisted the terror suspect was always popular with teachers. The ex-pal said: No one can believe whats happened. Police have distributed posters featuring a new picture of missing Bullivant. The CCTV snap shows him with his long hair shaven. It was taken a week ago when he last reported to Dagenham Police Station in East London. Cops are warning the public not to approach any of the three but to dial 999. The disappearance of the trio has fuelled fresh controversy over control orders which are used to keep tabs on terror suspects. Three others have also done a runner. On Friday one was named as Iraqi Bestun Salim. He is accused of links with Iraqs slain al-Qaeda mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. |
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Britain |
New security shambles as three terror suspects go on the run |
2007-05-24 |
![]() Two of the men are Lamine Adam, 26, and Ibrahim Adam, 20, whose brother Anthony Garcia, 24, was jailed for life last month for his part in the fertiliser bomb plot. The third man is their associate Cerie Bullivant, 24. Home Secretary John Reid, who faced fresh accusations that the Government's terror policy is a shambles, took the unprecedented step of naming the three after consultations with Scotland Yard. The fact that they were named - Ministers have resisted all attempts to identify three other control order suspects on the run - was seen as evidence of the urgent need to find them. Opposition MPs said it was clear control orders could not protect the public. Control orders were introduced as a compromise after the courts ruled that terror suspects could not be detained without trial. But successive home secretaries have suffered a series of human rights defeats which mean suspects can no longer be placed under virtual house arrest. Six in total have now gone on the run. The Adam brothers, originally from Algeria, had been due to contact a monitoring company on Monday, but failed to do so. Bullivant failed to report to his local police station the following day. Deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Terrorism Command for the Metropolitan Police, said: "They have breached the conditions of their control orders, which is a serious crime. We know that Lamine Adam, Ibrahim Adam and Cerie Bullivant are associates and may well be together. It is possible the public can help us trace them." Mr Reid will make an emergency statement to Parliament tomorrow. Security sources stressed that the men were under control orders because they were suspected of plotting atrocities overseas and said they were not an immediate danger to the public here. But their links to Garcia, who changed his name when he became a model, are certain to cause alarm. He was one of five men jailed for life last month for a bomb plot linked to Al Qaeda that could have killed hundreds of people. |
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Britain |
Acquitted British Muslim says he was duped by terrorists |
2007-05-03 |
A British student cleared of being part of a group that plotted a spree of bombings across southern England said in an interview Thursday that he was tricked by conspirators into helping finance the storage of bomb-making ingredients. Nabeel Hussain, 22, walked free from London's central Criminal Court on Monday as five others were jailed for life. He said he agreed to pay for the storage of 1,300 pounds (590 kilograms) of fertilizer at a London storage unit because he naively believed it was sand and that his friend Omar Khyam needed it for construction work. "I was new to university, I thought he was decent and felt comfortable doing that," Hussain told Sky News television. Hussain said that a friend later told him it was fertilizer and could be used to make explosives but was also reassured that Khyam was not planning to make a bomb. "I think it was because of my During the trial it was revealed that Khyam was the chief plotter in a plan to bomb targets in and around London and had traveled to militia camps in Pakistan, where he met Abdul al-Hadi al-Iraqi, an al-Qaida operative now held at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Khyam; Anthony Garcia, 25, Jawad Akbar, 23, Waheed Mahmood, 35 and Salahuddin Amin, 32 were jailed for life for conspiring to cause explosions. Hussain said he was introduced to Khyam by his cousin Akbar and believed him to be a "decent guy." His 2004 arrest and subsequent detention during the yearlong trial caused him emotional torment, he said. "I was very angry with Omar and Jawad as in the headlines it said he was in a gang trying to kill people, I was called a terrorist who tried to kill people. It was very hard," Hussain said, adding that he was not a terrorist and could not understand how people could justify terrorism. Asked about his views on the men who were found guilty, Hussain said they had wasted their lives. "It's a shame they have wasted their lives for something pointless," he said. "There are so many opportunities they could have had with their lives in this country." Part of the group's defense was that they were not planning attacks in Britain, and Hussain said that after listening to the evidence he was left unconvinced that there was a plot in this country. There were "a lot of grays it wasn't black and white," he said. |
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Britain |
Cleric preaches violence is part of Islam |
2007-05-02 |
The fertiliser bomb plotters recently imprisoned in Britain were influenced by a radical cleric who preaches that violence and terrorism are a part of Islam, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.![]() Living on disability benefit in north London, Bakri drove round the UK encouraging members of radical group al-Muhajiroun. His radical ideology called for the establishment of a worldwide Muslim Caliphate and the black flag of Islam flying at No 10. Bakri helped organise a seminar after the September 11 attacks in favour of the Magnificent 19 and went on to call the July 7 bombers the Fantastic Four. ![]() Al-Muhajiroun included several distinct groups the fertiliser plotters Omar Khyam and Waheed Mahmood became involved in Crawley, Anthony Garcia in east London and Salahuddin Amin in Luton. In Pakistan, after September 11, those groups came together under the guidance of Mohammed Babar, an al-Muhajiroun member from New York, and others, including allegedly Hassan Butt from Manchester, says the Telegraph report. Babar and Butt allegedly set up an AM office in Lahore, with Butt said to have boasted of sending British recruits to fight allied forces in Afghanistan. Another young man inspired by Bakri was Omar Sharif, from Derby, a student at Kings College London who went on to become a suicide bomber in Israel. Six months after the arrest of the fertiliser plotters in 2004, Bakri announced that he was closing down al-Muhajiroun but other organisations have been set up by his followers. The New York Police Department said last year it believed that al-Muhajiroun and its successors had connections with Islamic societies in 21 British towns and cities as well as student bodies, publishers and a software company. In a recent article in the London-based Arabic newspaper Al Sharq al-Awsat, a former leader of one group said: The students of Omar Bakri continue to preach on campuses. Bakri now lives in the Lebanon and has been banned from returning to Britain, although his wife and seven children still live in London. In a sermon in English, given over a secure Internet site by Bakri last week, he talked of anti-terrorism arrests as a good sign. He said: When you put people under pressure everywhere, I think you are leading to explosion. |
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