Here is an interesting article on Drug bling From the Buffalo News. It isn't to long and it talks about a drug bust or just read it here.

A diamond-encrusted Breitling wristwatch, valued at $148,000, was seized in Kenmore.

Updated: 03/15/09 07:44 AM
Bling, other assets total $1.2 million in drug raids
By Dan Herbeck NEWS STAFF REPORTER


Times are tough these days, and many people struggle to make ends meet.

But one small group of people - some of the main players in the Buffalo drug gang known as 31 - has been enjoying some prosperity, at least until a Feb. 26 drug raid, authorities say.

More than $1.2 million in drug proceeds - ranging from a $148,000 diamond-encrusted wristwatch and other flashy bling to $215,000 cash found in a car-have been seized in the investigation, according to the FBI-led Safe Streets Task Force.

"Some of the people in this particular group were doing very well financially," said James A. Jancewicz, an FBI special agent with the task force.

The veteran investigator also was quick to point out that the life of a drug dealer involves more than flash and glamour.

"Many of the people involved in drug dealing are eventually going to wind up going to prison or getting killed by other dealers," Jancewicz said. "It's a high-risk profession."

Law enforcement officers define bling-also known as bling-bling- as the gaudy jewelry worn by some celebrities and also by some drug dealers. But investigators noted that many other drug dealers try hard to avoid the spotlight and never wear ostentatious jewelry or clothing.

Thirty-three people were arrested in Western New York and one in Reno, Nev., in connection with allegations of cocaine- trafficking and money-laundering by the 31 gang. Only a handful of the defendants is believed to have accumulated expensive possessions.

The more than $1.2 million in seized valuables is an unusually high amount for a Buffaloarea drug case, agents and prosecutors said. According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Kurt P. Martin, the items include:

> A Breitling wristwatch, encrusted with diamonds and valued at $148,000, was found in a couch cushion at a suspected dealer's "bachelor pad" on Victoria Boulevard in Kenmore. Other bling discovered at the same location includes another expensive watch with numerous diamonds and an ornate necklace - also with diamonds - with a huge diamond-studded medallion bearing the initials "GR."

The jewelry is believed to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

> An $84,000 2007 Mercedes- Benz sedan found in a garage on the Victoria Boulevard property. Eric Marshall, described as a cocaine supplier for the gang, owned the car and much of the jewelry, authorities said.

> $215,000 in cash found Feb. 17 in a car owned by Marcus Chambers, an accused drug dealer. Police seized the cash in Mentor, Ohio, near Cleveland.

> $170,000 in cash seized Dec. 11 from a safe deposit box in a North Buffalo bank branch. Agents say they believe the cash belonged to Glance Ross, an accused dealer, and that the box was rented by former Syracuse University basketball star Damone Brown.

> More than $90,000 cash found in other locations during the Feb. 27 drug raids.

For anyone who thinks the life of a drug dealer sounds like an exciting opportunity, Jancewicz cited the example of David Howard, 36, of Buffalo, a defendant in the case who faces three felony drug charges.

"On Sept. 12, David Howard was shot five times in the chest outside a drug house on Shumway Street," Jancewicz said. "He survived and recovered. . . . But now, he's in jail."

Authorities said federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of all the cash, jewelry, cars and other items seized during the investigation.

"Ultimately, we expect that all the money we get from these forfeitures will come back to law enforcement agencies," Jancewicz said. "It will be used for paying overtime in investigations, buying high-tech equipment, paying for training and other crime-fighting uses," he explained.

dherbeck@buffnews.com

I liked the story and look at it as a different take on the War on Drugs.

So for any of you who might be reading this and don't know this I'm Pro Drugs. I don't mean that I think everyone should go out and do them. But if it is legal to drink why not smoke some pot. I'm guessing alcohol has killed more people just with drunk driving then weed ever has, but again it is just a guess. But if one is legal why isn't the other? But my stance on drugs isn't really the point of why I'm posting so let me stop it there. Before I read my e-mail I saw this interesting article on drug confessions on TV. I think it is a pretty good article. It does show how big time the drug Business is. That is correct if anyone from AP is reading this I didn't write it and the article gives you guys credit.

TV confessions unveil Guinea's narcostate identity


By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press Writer - 41 mins ago
Ousmane Conte, son of Guinea Conakry's late president Lasante Conte, sits in AP - Ousmane Conte, son of Guinea Conakry's late president Lasante Conte, sits in detention at the gendarmerie ...

CONAKRY, Guinea - When planes loaded with cocaine arrived, Guinea's presidential guard secured the cargo. Drug deals were conducted inside the first lady's private residence and in the president's VIP salon at the airport. To avoid detection, cocaine was sent to Europe in the country's diplomatic pouch.

As the people of Guinea sit transfixed before their TV sets, top government officials one after another are confessing to their role in a lucrative international cocaine trade. Organized by a military junta that seized power three months ago, the confessions offer unprecedented insight into an exploding drug trade in West Africa, one that connects coca leaves grown in South American fields to cocaine in European discos.

The confessions paint a picture of an illicit trade conducted with total impunity, with the help of officials, members of the president's family and security forces. They also show the large role Guinea and other West African countries are playing as drug hubs, and how vulnerable they are to the corrupting influence of drug dollars.

A recent United Nations report found that at least 46 tons of cocaine have been seized en route to Europe via West Africa since 2005, bringing profits that sometimes exceed the entire defense budgets of countries it passes through. Before that time, less than a ton a year was seized from the entire continent.

"The vast majority of cocaine that is destined for Europe is now going through West Africa," said Michael Braun, who was the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's operations chief when he retired in October.

___

For years, the drug trade was an open secret in Guinea. The inner circle of former dictator Lansana Conte, who ruled Guinea for 24 years until his death, was deeply corrupt, with officials driving opulent SUVs in a capital where most people live without electricity.

Conte died in December. A day later, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, a junior army officer, grabbed power in a coup and promised to crack down on corruption, including on the flagrant drug trade. So far, more than a dozen people have been arrested, but Dadis has failed to arrest well-known members of his own military junta who are believed to deal in drugs.

The confessions began two weeks ago on state television in what is now known in Guinea as "The Dadis Show," broadcasts that have caused a spike in TV viewership and are the constant topic at lunch and over coffee.

First up was Ousmane Conte, the feared eldest son of the deceased dictator, who was untouchable under the previous regime. He admitted what everyone in Guinea knew but did not dare say.

"I acknowledge that I was in the drug business - and I regret it," said Conte, whose confession was taped inside his detention cell.

In a jailhouse interview this week with The Associated Press, Conte explained how he did it. He said a friend brought in "medicine" for his humanitarian foundation, using a Red Cross plane that landed at night at the international airport in the capital, Conakry. When the plane arrived, his friend called to wake him. Conte then went to the airport accompanied by the presidential guard to secure the cargo, he said.

Conte claimed he did not know at first that the cargo contained cocaine. But his friend later told him, he said, and Conte accepted a $300,000 bribe.

Other officials confessed to equally bold behavior.

The late president's brother-in-law said he met with Latin American drug dealers inside a villa owned by his sister, the former first lady. The head of the country's intelligence unit said he personally accompanied a convoy of trucks containing drugs to the capital. The former head of the police force was challenged to account for the source of funds for a university he is building.

Even the former head of the country's anti-drug unit was interrogated on state TV for his alleged role. The unit was in charge of seizing drugs when a cache was found. But instead of securing and destroying the drugs, the cocaine was often "recycled," said top police officials and foreign diplomats.

A junior police officer said that on one raid, they discovered a 40-foot container filled with cocaine wrapped in plastic. There was so much that the police could not load it all into the two pickup trucks they had brought, said the officer, who asked not to be named because he was committing a crime.

In the confusion, he said, he hid one of the plastic-wrapped sachets of cocaine inside his uniform. He sold it to a buyer at the port, who gave him $15,000. He bought a used car, a TV set and the latest generation Nokia cellphone. He also paid to send his mother, a Muslim, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

He's not proud of what he did, he said. But he pointed out that his theft was miniscule compared to that of his superiors, several of whom stole enough to buy themselves newly-imported Toyota SUVs.

"Eighty percent of the men in uniform lived off of this - it wasn't just me," he said. "It was everyone."

The anti-drug unit eventually gained such a reputation as a place for easy money that it began to receive transfer applications from other police departments, said current director Moussa Sakho Camara, who was brought in late last year after the former director was sacked.

Camara said that when he took over, a large number of officers drove imported SUVs - $50,000 cars that would have taken over 50 years to buy on an officer's $100-a-month salary. So, in an effort to stop officers from driving their drug trophies to work, Camara ruled that only he could park in the anti-drug unit's parking lot.

___

The drug business in Guinea feeds into a much larger trade that brings cocaine from South America into Spain and Portugal to serve a booming European market.

As the cocaine market in the United States matured, drug traffickers turned to Europe instead, according to a U.N. report released in October. Over the past decade, cocaine use in Spain and the United Kingdom has grown three and four-fold. One kilogram of cocaine in Europe now sells for twice as much as in the United States, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

To get the cocaine to Europe, traffickers first smuggle it to Africa's west coast, located directly across the ocean from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, home to the world's entire crop of coca leaves. They bring it in freighter ships and in small, two-engine planes that land at night on deserted air strips. Once ashore, it is parceled out to hundreds of drug dealers, who smuggle it north on boats, in planes and in their own intestines.

In a report earlier this month, the U.S. State Department said cocaine smuggling through Venezuela alone has shot up fivefold since 2002, from 50 metric tons to an estimated 250 metric tons in 2007. It said a rapidly increasing percentage of the flow has begun to be shipped and flown to West Africa, notably to Guinea and Guinea Bissau, and then on toward Europe.

The countries dotting Africa's Atlantic Coast are so mired in poverty that their people - including the governing elite - are often tempted into the drug trade. Guinea alone was the embarkation point for 221 couriers detected since 2006, the single largest national total in the region, according to the U.N. report.

"Africa is under attack," says Antonio Maria Costa, who heads the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

The biggest entry points in Europe are Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom, but the trade is widespread. In Switzerland alone, the U.N. report noted, 60 percent of foreign drug traffickers arrested were West African.

It's unclear if the crackdown in Guinea will succeed in dislodging the cartels. Even if it does, experts say, the trade will simply move to neighboring countries.

Next door is Sierra Leone, where last June a Cessna piloted by a three-man crew from Latin America was stopped with 700 kilograms of cocaine. To the north is Guinea-Bissau, from where in 2006, 32 people carrying cocaine boarded the same flight for Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

But already, the people of Guinea are realizing how much their economy depends on drugs.

Nigerians who acted as go-betweens in the drug trade used to spend freely in Guinea, but they are now gone. Business is down at the capital's discos, where the Nigerians used to order multiple rounds of drinks. For Guineans, a bottle of champagne is worth three months' salary.

Their apparent departure is also being felt at a downtown intersection, where a 14-year-old boy sells telephone charge cards. "Before, selling cards worked. The Nigerians would buy 10 at a time," said Mamadou Diallo. "Now I'm hardly selling any."

There are fewer SUVs, and those who drive expensive cars feel they have been put on notice.

The police officer who admitted to stealing cocaine said he now takes public transport to work. He answers his calls on a beat-up Nokia, and handed over the new one he bought with the cocaine money to his girlfriend.

"Everyone knows that a Guinean can't afford these things," he explained, his knees twitching under the table. "Everybody is afraid. No one could have imagined that they could arrest these people."

____

Associated Press Writers Veronika Oleksyn and Bill Kole in Vienna, Frank Bajak in Bogota, Paul Haven in Madrid, Barry Hatton in Lisbon and Clarence Roy-Macaulay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, contributed to this report.

So Last night on Comedy Central I saw that on Sunday night they will have a roast of Larry The Cable guy. I have a feeling that will be pretty interesting we shall see. The reason I was watching it was to see South Park's season premiere it can be seen at the link above. But it can also be watched on line at . There are many kinds of comedy and it is tough to say what others will find funny, so I don't like to tell people to go watch something. I thought the episode had some very funny parts. I thought it started out kinda slow, well maybe slow isn't the right word really. The basics is that Kenny has a GF and that she is into the Jonas Brothers so they go and see a show. Of course he isn't into them but he thinks taking her will get him some. Remember now that a lot of young girls in real life love these guys but they are all into god and being pure. The Purity rings almost seem to have a power. And I think my favorite part was when A Famous Mouse shows up, it was so great, ah what a great episode. I hope I didn't give to much away for anyone who didn't see it yet.

Well I was hoping to Go to Club Diablo for their Fetish event but Just didn't have the energy I needed. So not only did I miss that I couldn't finish watching the sabres, then I missed Street Kings, I didn't know there was a UFC PPV, I missed a new SNL with the rock, then I missed Bleach so all my plans went out the window but at least from my previous post I liked Watchmen. On Friday Night I went to the Sabres game and tried to eat at Pearl St. around 5-5:30 and it would have been a Half hour wait so I checked out the marina.





























































I decided not to put up pictures of The AUD because to me they look the same as the ones from last week. I mean I know they did more work but to me the progress looks about the same.

Sabres wise I thought it was a great game and it looked like Lalime made a bunch of great saves to me. Here are some random pictures from the sabres game vs. Coyotes.



























































































Hope people who read this enjoyed the pictures. I just wish I had juicy stuff for you all and myself. On top of that I wish that some juicy stuff happened to me. I really need to think about seeing if I can move downtown. I know there is no way I could, I think it is to costly. Well unless of course you want to live in the part that is called Downtown but isn't.

So today I got to see the 11:30am showing of Watchmen. It was the regular one and not IMAX or anything. The previews looked pretty good and so was the movie. That being said I have never read it so I can't compare it to the stories so not sure how people who follow the story will like it. I do have to Admit that I think I cam on my self twice before the movie even started the reason was from seeing two previews one for the new Star Trek movie and the other one for the new Wolverine movie (X-Men Origins: Wolverine or something like that), they both really look good. One of the reasons I really wanted to see Watchmen is that it was Rated R. I don't want to call this a Comic Book movie because it really wasn't besides that is a bad term. Often I think in that type of movie they try to get the PG-13 and so there isn't as much stuff in it as there could be. It was nice to see that there was sex and Nudity for both the Boys and Girls (so what if it was blue) [I'm guessing if it wasn't it would have been NC-17], that being said I think an unrated version of this movie could be pretty interesting. I'm not saying that was the best part of the movie, it is just nice to see that a lady with a sexy suit on get naked and doesn't just show off all the goods. Often in a trailer they show some stuff that is violent or some great speaking but hopefully they don't give to much away. In the ads I saw they didn't give much away. It was nice to see a nice long movie that didn't feel long. There was lots of story and lots of action and it was really good. I like that "The Heroes" aren't this all good type of person and that things are more complex then that. I also like how the tie into History and change it that was good. All in All I thought it was a very good movie. This isn't a review really because if it was I would give all kinds of stuff away. But hey 2 thumbs up or 4 out of 5 stars or what ever. Just make sure you have 3 hours cause with previews and end credits with some cool tunes it was around the 3hour mark. That brings up the question of what to eat during the show, I went with a Pizza and Soda but again you may want to skip the drinks with the length of the movie. Go see it and have a good time.

Well I thought since everyone else can spice up the tittle why not Peterazzi. (e:Mrmike) had some video of U2 in his post . That got the Peterazzi to thinking about music. Yes some music like Barry White is made to make love to, then stuff is made to just get really freaky and fuck all night like Luke or 2 Live Crew. Then off course there is dance music, yes some of it is to dance to, But then some of it gets people to dance as a way to go and have sex later someplace. The Music Peterazzi is going to talk about isn't about sex music of any kind really.

Peterazzi has gone to a lot of concerts and seen a lot of bands. But there are a lot of bands he has never seen. There are a few reasons for that. One when the band was really big he was to young or not able to go to shows yet. Two a lot of bands didn't used to come to Buffalo. Three during the summer bands like to play at places out side of cities at amusement parks. Fourth is an odd one in that sometimes a great band comes but you don't hear about it or don't know who they are yet and then you hear their music and go dam I missed them.

Here are Bands the Peterazzi would like to see Live and never has:
1. U2
2. Aerosmith
3. Black Sabbath (with Ozzy Singing)
4. Rammstein
5. System Of A Down
6. Blink 182
7. Rush
8. Coldplay
9. Korn
10. Red Hot Chilli Pepers
11. Motley Crue
12. Disturbed
13. Pink Flyodd (don't think they will get back together though)
14. Led Zepplin (with Plant not who ever replaced him but won't happen)
15. Velvet Revolver

Sure there are other bands but those are the ones that cum to mind quickly.

First of all the life of The Peterazzi has been a little bit interesting. The pictures that have been taken (trying to write in the 3rd person but I don't think I have the skills to do so, also breaking the TV 3rd wall is that Peterazzi) have been delayed in the posting department. For example the Bandits game was on Saturday. Normally on Sunday they would be downloaded then up loaded. Well the camera when it attaches to the cord wants to open and it isn't supposed to do that and then the battery saver kicks in and it closes up before you can even do anything. That means that it takes longer to get the pictures and then they are on a Disc and everything takes longer that way. The Peterazzi needs to get to Target when there is time and see about maybe if the camera can be exchanged. But see the Peterazzi has been busy. For an example the Peterazzi is going to The Sabres on Friday. From what he has heard one of the Goalies from the Coyotes will now play for the sabres and start that game, we shall see if that happens. Then on Saturday the Peterazzi wants to go to Club Diablo, and hopefully get up close and get better pictures then he did last time, darkparties.com is having a fetish event. Not sure how much stuff will go on in the crowd but it is encouraged. Peterazzi doesn't have any fetish gear but wouldn't mind if something went down. So maybe in the future the Peterazzi will get pictures up faster or maybe not.

For those who may not know the AUD is being torn down. Here are the pictures form the Peterazzi from the AUD and from around that general area before the Bandits game. You might be able to see the inside of the AUD.



































































One thing that the Peterazzi noticed last week was the tagging way up there. He wonders how did someone get all the way up there and how long has it been up there.

Yeah the Bandits lost a tough game. Yes it was a good game and a tight game with lots of hits and lots of shooting and the bandits where out shot. The Bandits had a lead and let it slide away or maybe the Swarm wanted it more or played better not sure but in the end they won, here are some random pictures from the game and the warm ups and I'm sure some Bandettes will make it in as well in the random selection.







































































































Well the Peterazzi hopes you enjoyed this post about pictures and about the Camera issues and that you have learned that it isn't all ways easy being the Peterazzi. The Peterazzi also hopes that things go well on Saturday so that there are some great pictures to be shared. On a side note if you go in fetish gear it is cheaper to get in, hey we shall see what happens.

So Tonight the Bandits play the Swarm it should be a good game and I'm looking forward to it. I hope the Bandits win of course. So on Tuesday I went and watched the Ducks beat the Sabres. I can't go to all the sabres games I would like to it would get way to costly. I try to get to a couple at least a season. The way I chose what game to go to is based on who the sabres are playing. That is why I picked the Ducks plus I think it was a Value game not sure so that meant I wound up having pretty good seats. I was behind the ducks bench about 3 rows up. I still like there old name and uniforms better yes "The Mighty Ducks" and like the movie?Yes. They got the name from the movie and the uniforms also since If memory serves me right the Team was owned by Disney. I don't remember why things changed my guess is they sold the team? In any event here are some random pictures from the game.
















































































































The way I wrote at the begging it sounds like I'm a ducks fan and that I wanted them to win. That isn't true even though there where some ducks fans near where I was sitting I was there wanting the Sabres to win, they had their chances but lost. If for any reason this isn't enough sabres pictures here is a link that should take you to them all , ops for some reason the paste/copy won't work on firefox/(e:strip) for some reason but I know I do have a link to my webshots page on here. If you want to see the Bandits game from Valentines day with the 3rd uniform those are up also.

Religulous Is one of the two movies I saw this weekend. I had all ready seen it, but I got it on DVD. I found the movie pretty interesting. Yes they had some deleted scenes and wished some of those had gone longer I think they might have gotten interesting. The one thing that I kinda thought was that the end of the movie got kinda preachy. But that being said I still liked a lot of the interviews.

It was interesting to see him pimp his movie last night at the Oscars. I think he did a good job presenting. It must be tough to present in a category that you think your movie should have been at least thought of to be nominated in. On his latest show he did mention that he would be on the Oscars . The Buffalo Area was also mentioned twice. One of them was mentioning the plane crash is some point of his about if it would have been terrorism. But the story that he talked with someone about was the Beheading in Orchard Park. I find it Ironic that this guy forms a TV Station to show how Islam isn't violent and then he calls and brags to the Police about how he cut off his Wife's head. That discussion was pretty interesting I thought. To me that kinda ties back to his movie. On a side note he also talked with Ron Paul and I was surprised that I kinda agreed with some of the stuff Ron was saying.

I guess before I forget I should mention the other movie I saw. It was called Coraline. I thought it was a pretty good animated movie. It kinda follows The Night Mare Before Christmas style of Animation. I liked the story and thought the Animation was amazing. I think it really would have looked great If I could have seen it in 3D. Oh yeah Lets go Buffalo (hope the sabres play a good game since I'm going to see them play the ducks).

So to sum up it was a good Bill Maher weekend, and I don't agree with all his politics and beliefs but he is funny and entertaining.

So my sister sent me to youtube to watch this video. I think it is pretty funny. MTV has this show on sunday called College humor. In this video they set this guy up at a Yankees game. With out giving to much away their is this guy with his girl friend and he proposes to her through the video screen. But see he knows nothing about it. So to him it is a shock and something he knows nothing about and to her it is a yes you should really watch it it is very funny, or maybe it is just the all 3 of us watching it together thing.