02/24/2014 -- Will El Chapo Rule From Prison?
"The manhunt is over. In a joint overnight Mexico-U.S. security operation on February 21, ‘El Chapo’, the titular head of the Sinaloa Federation, was arrested on his home turf in Mazatlán. As a result of this high value arrest, one of the most iconic narcos of modern times—who became a legend after his escape in a laundry basket from a high-security Mexican prison in 2001—is back in custody.
Guzman's trafficking network extends to hundreds of U.S. cities and in at least eight, he is named in federal indictments. Last year, Chicago's Crime Commission labeled him Public Enemy Number One."
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02/24/2014 -- Capture of Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' Guzman ignites fight over trial location
"After narrow escapes from the military, law enforcement and rivals over 13 years on the run, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is back in Mexican custody. Now, what is likely to be a lengthy and complicated legal process to decide which country gets to try him first will begin.
Last year Chicago's crime commission named Guzman 'Public Enemy No. 1' and said his gang supplied most of the city's illicit drugs. He was indicted in federal court in 2009 and faces heroin and cocaine trafficking charges. Several men whom prosecutors have described as Guzman's lieutenants already are awaiting trial in Chicago."
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02/24/2014 -- Chapo Guzman: The Man, the Myth in Custody Thanks to U.S. Wiretaps
"Until his Saturday capture, Joaquin Guzmán Loera headed the most powerful drug cartel in the world. Under his leadership, the Sinaloa cartel — named for its home state in northwest Mexico — was responsible for an estimated 25 percent of all illegal drugs that enter the United States from Mexico, and its tentacles spread through 23 countries, reaching as far as Australia. According to experts from the Drug Enforcement Agency, a conservative estimate of the drug cartel’s annual revenues is more than $3 billion.
In February 2013, the city of Chicago’s crime commission even branded Guzmán the first 'Public Enemy No. 1' since Al Capone. He evaded authorities for 13 years before being found by Mexican Navy commandos at an unassuming beach hotel-condominium in the Mexican Pacific coast resort town of Mazatlán. That long run from the law only hints at the extent of his power and the size of his myth. At the time of his arrest, Guzmán supplied more illegal drugs to the United States than anyone else in the world, and Forbes ranked him No. 67 on its 2013 list of the world’s most powerful people."
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02/24/2014 -- Family Ties Ensnared Most Wanted Drug Lord
"The key to capturing one of the world's most wanted men may have been the thing he held dearest: his family.
Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman had been on the lam for more than a decade, eluding authorities who say he is at least partially responsible for 'the death and destruction of millions of lives across the globe,' as Attorney General Eric Holder put it.
But last month, U.S. law enforcement agencies -- particularly the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals -- thought they might finally be on his trail, a law enforcement source told ABC News.
Last February, the Chicago Crime Commission branded Guzman the first 'Public Enemy No. 1' since Al Capone, leading to him being dubbed as 'El Chapone,' in the shadow of Chicago's other great criminal."
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02/24/2014 -- Mexico captures Sinaloa cartel boss 'Chapo' Guzman
"Mexican authorities captured the world's most powerful drug lord in a resort city Saturday after a massive search through the home state of the legendary capo whose global organization is the leading supplier of cocaine to the United States.
Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, 56, looked pudgy, bowed and much like his wanted photos when he arrived in Mexico City from Mazatlan in Sinaloa state. He was marched by masked marines across the airport tarmac to a helicopter waiting to whisk him to jail.
In 2013, he was named 'Public Enemy No. 1' by the Chicago Crime Commission, only the second person to get that distinction after U.S. prohibition-era crime boss Al Capone. Guzman faces a two-count indictment in Chicago charging him with running a drug smuggling conspiracy responsible for smuggling cocaine and heroin into the U.S. He's also charged in New York with drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping and other crimes."
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2/24/2014 -- El Chapo Guzman to keep Public Enemy No. 1 title in Chicago for now
"Reputed drug kingpin Joaquin ''El Chapo'' Guzman will retain his title as Chicago's Public Enemy No. 1 despite his recent capture in Mexico.
The Chicago Crime Commission's executive director, Joseph Ways Sr., said in a phone interview Monday the group won't yank the title at least until Guzman is convicted in a U.S. court."
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02/22/2014 -- Who Is 'El Chapo' Guzmán? Find Out How Mexican Drug Lord Became So Powerful
"Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as "El Chapo" Guzman is a Mexican drug lord, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal organization named after the Mexican state of Sinaloa where the organization was formed. He became Mexico’s top drug lord in 2003 after the arrest of Osiel Cardenas, his rival who belonged to the Gulf Cartel. He is now considered the most powerful drug trafficker in the world.
He was placed as the 10th richest man in Mexico with a net worth of about $1 billion. The DEA believes he has surpassed the influence of Pablo Escobar. Because of the influence of his criminal network in Chicago, the Chicago Crime Commission named him “Public Enemy Number One.” His drug empire goes throughout North America and reaches as far as Europe and Australia."
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02/22/2014 -- DEA boss pushing to bring Mexico’s arrested Sinaloa drug chief to Chicago
"Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was the first criminal dubbed Chicago’s “Public Enemy No. 1” since Al Capone, even though he’s never set foot in the city.
Now, after Guzman’s arrest early Saturday in Mexico, the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Chicago said he’s aiming to bring Guzman here to stand trial.
Last year, the Chicago Crime Commission declared Guzman the city’s “Public Enemy No. 1,” calling him “clearly more dangerous than Al Capone was at his height.”
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02/14/2014 -- Gang Problem Growing, Seeping Into Suburbs, Authorities Say
" 'Here in the Midwest, we’ve got anywhere between 80,000 and 100,000 documented gang members. We’re also the hub for the Sinaloa cartel, the Mexicans’ strongest cartel,' says Jack Riley of the DEA’s Chicago division.
Strangely, the combination of violence and enforcement is driving gang members from the cities to the suburbs, turning gang-members into suburbanites, Joe Ways of the Chicago Crime Commission says."
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02/03/2014 -- World's most wanted man also Cleveland's Public Enemy Number One
"Last year, the Chicago Crime Commission held a press conference announcing, for the first time since Capone, the Windy City had a new Public Enemy Number One -- Joaquin Guzmán Loera.
'But there are major differences between Guzman and Capone. By far Guzman is the greater threat. His gang is larger, numbering in the 10s of thousands. He is more deadly and responsible for the death of over 10,000 people,' said Arthur Bilek, Chicago Crime Commission executive vice president."
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01/23/2014 -- Kadner: Southland police chiefs recruited for latest drug war
"Southland police chiefs on Thursday heard leaders from the Chicago Crime Commission and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration describe how Chicago has become the hub of the Mexican drug cartel.
Last year, the privately funded commission and the DEA joined together to name Joaquin 'Chapo' Guzman Loera as Chicago’s Public Enemy No. 1. Al Capone is the only other criminal to have been given that designation by the crime commission."
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01/03/2014 -- Convicted mob bookmaker twice a winner in Melrose Park
"Convicted mob bookmaker Carl Dote has had good luck with the village government of Melrose Park.
The restaurant he once ran with his wife in town got a liquor license — despite Dote being a convicted felon.
The hiring of Dote raises questions about the west suburban village, according to Arthur Bilek, the executive vice president of the Chicago Crime Commission."
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11/22/2013 -- Gaming Board targets video poker loopholes
"State gambling regulators struggling to keep tabs on who profits in the sprawling video poker market pushed forward reforms Thursday and called on lawmakers to go further.
Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe said potential loopholes — revealed in a Tribune investigation last month — could 'essentially be opening the door to organized crime,' undermining what is supposed to be a tightly regulated industry."
Art Bilek, an executive with the nonprofit Chicago Crime Commission, was concerned that the contract selling could be a window for criminal elements to get into the regulated video gambling market.
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11/07/2013 -- Undercover Video Helps Take Down Latin King
Executive Director Joseph C. Ways interviewed by NBC 5's Chris Coffey
10/29/2013 -- Prosecutors of Darien triple murder honored
A team of DuPage County prosecutors who secured convictions against two men charged with a triple murder are being honored by the Chicago Crime Commission.
Assistant state's attorneys Joe Ruggiero, Bernie Murray and Mandy Meindl will receive the Mitch Mars Prosecutorial Excellence Award at the commission's 2013 Stars of Distinction dinner Nov. 6.
'Words cannot express how proud I am of Joe, Bernie and Mandy,' State's Attorney Bob Berlin said Tuesday. 'With more than 60 years of experience (among) them, they epitomize the very best in the legal profession and public service.' "
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10/24/2013 -- Gambling regulators 'working on' video poker reforms
"Illinois regulators are looking at tightening rules on the lucrative video poker market after revelations that those without a license can cash in on the business.
A Tribune investigation this month revealed how some have been able to make money as middlemen in the industry even after being denied licenses or admitting to illegal gambling, despite the state setting up strict vetting requirements.
Chicago Crime Commission executive Art Bilek said Thursday that the Gaming Board should change its rules to make it more difficult, if not impossible, for unlicensed middlemen to make money in the industry."
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10/06/2013 -- Video Poker Protections Questioned
"Illinois regulators considered Nicky Nichols' associations too questionable for the state's latest foray into gambling, so they rejected his companies' bids to run slot machines in bars.
And Vince Dublino testified in a mob trial to running illegal video poker in the suburbs.
Yet both have been able to cash in on what is billed as Illinois' most heavily regulated industry: the thousands of lucrative video gambling machines now lighting up barroom corners across the state.
For some critics, the realization raises questions about the state's ability to keep video gambling aboveboard and tightly regulated as it starts to draw in tens of millions of dollars.
"I find this very, very distressing," said Art Bilek, an executive with the nonprofit Chicago Crime Commission, which has long warned of the difficulties in regulating video gambling in bars."
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09/22/2013 -- Bird & The New Breeds: Dana Bostic
Executive Director Joseph C. Ways interviewed for an episode of "Gangsters: America's Most Evil".
09/20/2013 -- FBI names new head of Chicago office
"The Chicago FBI has snagged one of the agency’s premier counterterrorism experts to head up the office here.
In October, Robert Holley will be joining the Chicago office as the new Special Agent in Charge, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Holley is replacing Cory Nelson, who spent just seven months in Chicago before announcing his retirement.
Joseph C. Ways, who heads the Chicago Crime Commission and is a former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Chicago, said Holley already has a leg up by having spent time in the city."
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09/16/2013 -- Heroin Pushed on Chicago by Cartel Fueling Gang Murders
"The drugs continue to pour in. In a 2006 conversation monitored by Mexican police, Guzman said he wanted to make America’s third-largest city his 'home port.'
He’s done that, says Art Bilek, a retired detective who’s executive vice president of the Chicago Crime Commission, a public-safety group that in February named Guzman the city’s public enemy No. 1."
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09/05/2013 -- Chicago Crime Commission and DEA conduct Counter Narcotics Seminar for north suburban law enforcement
"The Chicago Crime Commission in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is conducting a series of seminars designed to brief local law enforcement on the influence of Mexican drug cartels in trafficking narcotics in the Chicago area and is soliciting their assistance in putting the distribution hub out of business. The latest seminar was conducted in north suburban Schaumburg at a meeting of the North Suburban Chiefs of Police Association."
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08/29/2013 -- Fund to Combat Gang Violence Low on Cash
Executive Director Joseph C. Ways Interviewed for NBC 5 News Story
08/01/2013 -- Quinn Signs Medical Marijuana Legislation
"Illinois has become the 20th state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana on Thursday, after Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure allowing doctors to prescribe the drug to patients with a limited number of serious medical conditions.
The governor signed the measure Thursday morning at the University of Chicago Medical Center, flanked by veterans and patients with chronic illnesses who would be able to take advantage of the law to obtain marijuana to alleviate their pain.
The Crime Commission also said the legislation does not provide for sufficient testing to determine if motorists have been impaired by marijuana use. The bill would require anyone with a medical marijuana permit to submit to a field sobriety test during a police traffic stop."
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06/20/2013 -- Mobster myths revisited
"Of 729 gangland killings documented by the Chicago Crime Commission during Prohibition, 139 of the victims were gang members. Most of the rest were freelance bootleggers, business owners who resisted the Mob or innocent bystanders. And the gangsters didn't often use the Thompson submachine gun made famous by mobster movies."
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06/06/2013 -- Chicago Crime Commission calls on Gov. Quinn to veto medical marijuana bill
"The Chicago Crime Commission joined the Illinois Sheriffs' Association and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police by calling on Governor Pat Quinn to veto legislation that would legalize medical marijuana in Illinois. If signed into law, there is fear that House Bill 1 will present serious public safety risks to the citizens of the state."
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02/14/2013 -- CCC Names El Chapo "Public Enemy No. 1"
Coverage of our press conference quotes Executive Vice President Arthur Bilek
06/01/2009 -- History Detectives Extended Interview: Arthur Bilek
Houston PBS speaks to Executive Vice President Arthur Bilek on the St. Valentine's Day Massacre