JORGE FOCH is President of The Gables Group and a graduate of the Rio Hondo Police Academy in Whittier, California. 

A substantial portion of his work has been devoted to surveillance, fraud investigation, and intelligence operations. He has served as an intelligence consultant in classified federal investigations and has lectured at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Mr. Foch has also lectured on surveillance techniques and issues to the California Narcotic Officer’s Association. He was the Executive Producer of Physical Surveillance, an instructional training video for public and private law enforcement (1998). He has represented insurance industry clients and telecommunications firms in complex domestic and international fraud investigations.and was a member of the Southeastern U.S. Regional Fraud Task Force of the Cellular Communications Industry Association.

Mr. Foch has, at the request of host U.S. government agencies, presented specialized briefings on anti-piracy strategies to foreign officials visiting the United States.

Mr. Foch has presented reports on “The Role of Organized Crime in International Piracy” and “Investigative Procedures for Uncovering Underground CD Factories” to the annual convention of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. His presentation on organized crime was recognized as best of the convention. On April 7th, 2001, Mr. Foch’s presentation (to a conference of over 200 prosecutors from Mexico and Central America) of “Securing Evidence for Organized Crime Prosecutions, A Case Study” was honored by special mention of the Attorney General of Mexico.

Mr. Foch has designed policies and procedures, and initiated tactical operations, to combat the growth of large scale counterfeiting in Latin America. In the first “high visibility” enforcement action resulting from this multi-national effort, a Paraguayan police and military raid team, acting upon intelligence information generated through an industry/government partnership, swept into a state of the art Compact Disc production facility in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. The now shuttered pirate factory had been producing over 50,000 Compact Discs per day; all disc manufacturing equipment was subsequently destroyed pursuant to court order, underscoring the resolve of the Paraguayan government to work with the international community in responding to offenses committed on their soil.

In addition to his work in the counter-piracy field, Mr. Foch’s asset protection experience also includes the planning, and on location implementation, of international counter-kidnapping operations. Amongst his portfolio of successful field operations was an on-site counter-insurgency and counter-kidnapping techniques field course (utilizing state of the art surveillance equipment) presented to troops stationed on the frontlines at the Venezuelan-Colombian border. 

Mr. Foch, a California Department of Justice Police Firearms and Special Weapons Training graduate, as well as an NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, also consults with domestic and international clients seeking assistance in executive protection, intelligence gathering and risk mitigation, and firearms training.

RAOUL G. CANTERO, JR. (1935-2004), was a founding member of the firm and a pillar of the Miami, Florida community. A graduate of the University Jose Marti, Havana, Cuba, he received his J.D. from the University of Holguin, Oriente, Cuba in 1957. Highly trained by instructors from several well respected U.S. agencies, Mr. Cantero served as an intelligence officer for the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities. Forced into exile by the Castro takeover on January 1, 1959, Mr. Cantero settled in Miami, where he raised a family, developed successful business and community contacts, and worked as a contract consultant with federal agencies.

Mr. Cantero’s broad-based consultative practice  included extensive research and investigations in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Curacao.

In January 1981, Mr. Cantero fought off a vicious attack after surprising a burglar in his Miami area home. Later that year, he committed his efforts to improving public safety for all members of the community by becoming a Director of the Greater Miami Crime Commission. He was instrumental in establishing the renowned “Crime Stoppers” program in Miami in 1981, and chaired the Crime Stoppers committee in 1982. Mr. Cantero culminated his service to the Crime Commission by serving as its Chairman in 1985. 

Mr. Cantero served as the South Florida coordinator for Massad Ayoob’s Lethal Force Institute (LFI), the nation’s premier instructional forum for training in the judicious use of force (law enforcement officers nationwide have often credited specific LFI training in recounting how they survived deadly force attacks). Mr. Cantero’s instructional skills continually received excellent reviews from members of the legal, business, and law enforcement communities.

An NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, he also provided in-service training in the use of the police shotgun to municipal police officers in his community. As a graduate of many comprehensive development courses,he facilitated the provision of cutting edge training to officers and students in the South Florida area. 

In early 1999, Mr. Cantero was presented with a “Certificate of Appreciation” by Vincent Mazzilli, Special Agent in Charge of the D.E.A.’s Miami Field Division, in recognition of his several contributions to the agency’s interdiction efforts.

Vindicating Mr. Cantero's dedication to family, educaton, and the American way, on October 4th, 2002, Mr. Cantero's eldest son, a nationally respected appellate lawyer (not affiliated with the firm) was invested as the 80th Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

E. MANDELBAUM's practice has been devoted to complex white-collar losses and/or frauds, and to efforts to assist in the restoration of order in the community’s public places. He has been invited to lecture in areas of his expertise to federal civil and criminal investigators, as well as government and private attorneys. Mr. Mandelbaum’s investigations in the financial field have led to the discovery of complex negligence and fraud charges overlooked by previously retained “experts”.

Through humint sources, he discovered and initiated the successful multi-year criminal investigation of an extensive multi-district, mail and wire fraud that had defrauded banks, federal agencies, and wealthy individuals of several million dollars. His  investigatiion, pursuant to a derivative trader's complaint, led to the filing and subsequent successful settlement of a complaint charging several multi-national firms with violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. In 2006-2007, Mr. Mandelbaum led a cross-border effort to quickly shut a particularly sophisticated "boiler room" operation that had impersonated legitimate oil trading firms. This operation, based in southeast Asia, had utilized extremely "professional looking websites", and had taken advantage of lax and/or slow moving regulatory responses and jurisdictional turf wars to fleece international investors out of more than $50 million dollars.

At the request of public officials and community leaders, Mr. Mandelbaum has also investigated and cleared several complex cases involving violent threats to, and attacks upon, community leaders who have been victimized as a result of their willingness to stand up to career criminals preying upon their neighborhood. He  has been associated for the past eighteen years with one of the nation’s foremost training facilities in the judicious use of force, and has been cited as an "expert" (in an internationally distributed annual firearms review) by the nation's preeminent law enforcement/ civilian firearms trainer.

Mr. Mandelbaum has served as co-instructor for LFI’s Stressfire seminars, and as a segment presenter and firing line tactical instructor for LFI’s beginning and intermediate judicious use of force classes. He has received excellent reviews for his verbal and tactical presentations from members of the bar and the judiciary, corporate and civilian attendees, and law enforcement officers. Mr. Mandelbaum holds a Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Certification from the National Rifle Association (NRA Police Firearm’s Instructor School, 1994), Stressfire Instructor's Certification from LFI (1997), and a Use of Deadly Force Instructor’s Certification from LFI (1998).

His less-than-lethal force training includes Instructor Certifications from Modern Warrior Police Defensive Tactics Institute in: Basic Police Defensive Tactics; Groundfighting; Tactical Jaw and Limb Control; and Firearms Alternative Survival Tactics. He also has completed Modern Warrior’s Multiple Assailant Confrontations Basic Course, O.C.A.T.'s O.C. (defensive sprays) Instructor course, the Monadnock PR-24 Training Council’s Police Defensive Tactics Instructor’s Certification program, CASCO’s Expandable Baton Instructor Certification Course, and Chapman Academy’s 1995 Special Handgun and Shotgun Intensive Training Program for LFI graduates and instructors.

The Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida has recognized Mr. Mandelbaum's knowledge of law enforcement use-of-force - with specific emphasis on the deployment and reasonable use of oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray) and the quality and veracity of his testimony on behalf of the State of Florida. In addition to the aforementioned  recognition, he was cited in the same matter for his quick response and tactical skill in rescuing a fifteen-year veteran police officer from a hostile crowd, after multiple assailants attacked the officer.

Mr. Mandelbaum frequently provides pro bono assistance to law enforcement officers and agencies seeking specialized support and analysis. Mr. Mandelbaum’s pro bono and reduced fee consulting services within a well known resort city have been cited approvingly by elected officials and community leaders. 

During the pendency of a high profile trial of four unjustly accused New York City police officers,  Mr. Mandelbaum was asked to provide assistance for the defense of one of the officers in  the internationally covered use-of- force incident. Shortly before the trial began, he was credited with discovering highly probative information that severely discredited the background of a “hired” prosecution expert witness, who subsequently did not testify.

Mr. Mandelbaum is a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, and the International Association of Counterterrorism and Security Professionals.

A. SANCHEZ served in a broad range of policy-making, investigative management and security roles within the Federal Bureau of Investigation over a twenty-three year period, retiring in 1997 as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office.

Mr. Sanchez’s federal law enforcement service included a consistent record of success as a leader, manager, instructor and investigator within the FBI, as Legal Attaché at the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain, and as an executive liaison between US law enforcement and officials of foreign governments, their police agencies and their armed forces.

His international positions of responsibility included extensive experience in Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. While serving as a Drug/ Organized Crime Supervisory Special Agent in the Los Angeles Field Office, Mr. Sanchez led major investigations of Mexican and Colombian Drug Cartels that resulted in the convictions of more than 230 drug traffickers, and the seizure of over seven million dollars of assets.

As Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office, he recommended and established the first solely Extra-Territorial Squad in the critical incident, crime and terrorist arenas for Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Mr. Sanchez was responsible for the direction of investigative activities involving crimes against US citizens and properties throughout this geographical area. In this role, he developed a specialized investigative group of 110 Spanish speaking agents who possessed specialized investigative, technical, laboratory and crime scene experience, Also attached to this selective group were pilots, computer programmers and photographers. This team was deployed three dozen times over a two-year period to address kidnappings, bombings, homicides, plane crashes, and threats to persons and or properties in many Latin American countries.

Since retiring from federal service, Mr. Sanchez has successfully provided threat assessment and mitigation services (including negotiating the release of kidnap victims) to multi-national firms operating in high-risk South American jurisdictions.

M. WOODARD , a graduate of the Southeast Florida Institute of Criminal Justice, retired after twenty-two years of service with the North Miami Police Department. He served in the Patrol Division, Detective Division, as well as in the Crime Suppression and Robbery Suppression Units (plain clothes and undercover positions). Prior to joining the North Miami Police Department, Mr. Woodard had previously served in the United States Air Force, and as a Nuclear Security Officer.

Mr. Woodard served for many years as Senior Instructor, State of Florida, for the Lethal Force Institute, the nation’s premier instructional forum for training in the judicious use of force. Personally trained by Massad Ayoob, LFI’s founder, Mr. Woodard has completed LFI’s Emergency Rifle Management Course, as well as LFI’s Level 1, 2 and 3 (Use of Force and Advanced Threat Management) courses (1991-1993).

Mr. Woodard graduated from Phase One through Phase Four of the Miami Police Department’s Officer Survival School, and the Metro-Dade Police Department’s Survival Shooting School. At the Southeast Florida Institute for Criminal Justice, Mr. Woodard successfully completed a Police Operations and Leadership training program, as well as the Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission Instructor Certification Course.

Mr. Woodard’s continuing education portfolio also includes training with several of the nation’s most recognized use-of-force instructors. He was certified, in 1992, as an MP-5 operator by the H&K International Training Division (Phil Singleton, lead instructor). In 1993, he completed API 250 (under Gunsite founder Col. Jeff Cooper), where extensive presentation, multiple target, low light, and live-fire building clearing drills highlighted the program. He is a 1995 graduate of Chapman Academy’s Special Handgun and Shotgun Intensive Training, which provided strong emphasis on enhanced shooting methods (including firing from moving vehicles, man-against-man drills, moving targets, shooting on the move, night firing and dynamic entry).

In 1995, Mr. Woodard, retained by veteran trial attorney Edward O’Donnell, led a forensic analysis of the shooting of a burglar by a respected Miami area businessman (who had been charged, by prosecutor's information, with 2nd degree murder). His team’s work enabled defense counsel to work alongside the State Attorney’s office to present their case (featured on ABC’s “20/20”) to a Dade County Grand Jury, which, thereafter, refused to return a true bill. In addition to training, teaching, and consulting, Mr. Woodard continues to assertively “practice what he preaches” - the awareness and preparedness that are the foremost basics of the LFI doctrine. On December 22, 1999, Mr. Woodard was recognized as the North Miami Police Department’s officer of the month for November 1999, after identifying and arresting three armed robbery suspects. Earlier in the year, Mr. Woodard was similarly honored for detecting an apartment house fire, and rushing through thick smoke to successfully evacuate immobile residents. As a result of the aforementioned acts, on January 26, 2000, the North Miami Police Department honored Mr. Woodard as its Officer of the Year for 1999.

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