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| Founded | 1973 |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Territory | |
| Ethnicity | Hispanic (Mexican or of Central American origin) |
| Allies | |
| Rivals | People Nation, Almighty Saints, Latin Kings, Maniac Latin Disciples |
La Raza is a street gang founded in Chicago in 1973. Their colors are green, white, and red (same as the Mexican flag). Their symbols include the Mexican flag, cross, and a six-point star.
Although La Raza Nation is affiliated with the Folk Nation, La Raza Nation has been to war with many Folk Nation gangs such as Gangster Disciples, and other Folks. Their main rivals are local gangs such as the Almighty Saints, Latin Kings, and Black P. Stones from the Back of the Yards area.
Activity of La Raza has historically been centered in the Chicago area, but soon expanded to other areas. Immigration from Mexico to the United States saw an uptick in 1980. In 1985, La Raza opened up a noted chapter in West Humboldt Park, adding to the next era of gang culture in the neighborhood.
A 1996 police report noted La Raza as the rival of the Gran Familia Mexicana, a federation of Mexican gangs in the New York City area. [1]
Between 2001 and 2003, La Raza was involved in a gang war with Vatos Locos. In the end, 12 Vatos Locos members were charged in the conspiracy to kill 4 rival gang leaders, including one leader who was sentenced to 151 years for his part in the plan. [2]
In April 2005, 19 suspected members of La Raza were arrested in the Naples, Florida area by federal and local law enforcement. Officials estimated the group's membership at around 100 and noted they'd been in the area since at least 1996. [3]
In July 2005, La Raza was listed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as one of the 54 violent street gangs targeted by ICE in a two-week nationwide enforcement action called Operation Community Shield. [4]
Local officers in Gwinnett County, Georgia have noted the presence of La Raza members in their jurisdiction. [5] ICE officials have arrested La Raza members in the Atlanta area. [6]
A 2005 report produced by the United States Department of Justice noted the presence of La Raza in the western United States, but not at a high level of activity. A total of approximately 17 percent of the law enforcement agencies surveyed nationwide reported a presence of La Raza in their jurisdictions. Just over 6 percent of those agencies reported La Raza activity as moderate to high levels. In 2004 authorities arrested 89 known high ranking members in Naples, FL including the highest ranking Leonel Lopez aka Pitufo on R.I.C.O statue for many crimes including attempted murder, racketeering ,and narcotics sales. [7]
In 2008, La Raza was documented in Waukesha, Wisconsin. [8]
The Benito Juarez Community Academy shooting which occurred in Chicago in December 2022 involved La Raza gang members and their rivals, the Bishops. Two students, 14 and 15, were killed as a result.
As of 2023, La Raza has an active chapter in the area around N. Pulaski and Wabansia known as DK-Town. [9] [10] The gang originally claimed Cortland/Kedvale ave, but are now based on Harding/Wabansia. Bloomingdale to Wabansia, and Keystone to Pulaski, are within the La Raza chapter known as "DK Town".
Norteños are the various, affiliated gangs that pay tribute to Nuestra Familia while in California state and federal correctional facilities. Norteños may refer to Northern California as Norte Califas. Their biggest rivals are the Sureños from Southern California. As of 2008, the statewide north–south dividing line between Norteños and Sureños was regarded as running through the southern end of the Central Valley. The gang's membership consists primarily of Mexican Americans.
The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation is one of the largest Caribbean and Latino street and prison gangs worldwide. The gang was founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago, Illinois, in 1954.
The Gangster Disciple Nation, also known as Growth & Development, is an African American street and prison gang founded by former rivals David Barksdale and Larry Hoover; in 1968, the two came together to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN).
The Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second-largest and one of the oldest street and prison gangs in Chicago, Illinois. Its total membership is estimated to be between 30,000 and 35,000. It is also one of the founding members of the People Nation multi-gang alliance.
Los Zetas was a Mexican criminal syndicate, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscriminate murder. While primarily concerned with drug trafficking, the organization also runs profitable sex and gun rackets. Los Zetas also operate through protection rackets, assassinations, extortion, kidnappings and other illegal activities. The organization is based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, directly across the border from Laredo, Texas. The origins of Los Zetas date back to the late 1990s, when commandos of the Mexican Army deserted their ranks and began working as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel. In February 2010, Los Zetas broke away and formed their own criminal organization, rivalling the Gulf Cartel.
The 38th Street Gang is an American criminal street gang in Los Angeles, California, composed mainly of Hispanic-Americans. The 38th Street Gang is one of the oldest street gangs in Los Angeles and has been occupying its territory since the 1920s. They engage in many criminal activities. The Mexican Mafia controls and routinely uses 38th Street gang members to carry out their orders.
The United Nations (UN) is a criminal gang that originated in the Vancouver, British Columbia area.
Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area. Over time, the gang grew into a more traditional criminal organization. MS-13 has a longtime rivalry with the 18th Street gang.
Operation Michoacán is a joint operation by Federal Police and the Mexican military to eliminate drug plantations and to combat drug trafficking. Initiated on December 11, 2006, the operation was supervised by The Secretary of Public Safety, Attorney General of Mexico, Secretary of the Interior, Mexican Navy and Mexican Army.
The 14K (十四K) is a triad group based in Hong Kong but active internationally. It is the second largest triad group in the world with around 20,000 members split into thirty subgroups. They are the main rival of the Sun Yee On, which is the largest triad.
The Vagos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Green Nation, is a one percenter motorcycle club formed in 1964 in San Bernardino, California. The club's insignia is Loki, the Norse god of mischief, riding a motorcycle. Members typically wear green.
La Familia Michoacana, La Familia, is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in Michoacan. Formerly allied to the Gulf Cartel—as part of Los Zetas—it split off in 2006. The cartel was founded by Carlos Rosales Mendoza, a close associate of Osiel Cárdenas. The second leader, Nazario Moreno González, known as El Más Loco, preached his organization's divine right to eliminate enemies. He carried a "bible" of his own sayings and insisted that his army of traffickers and hitmen avoid using the narcotics they produce and sell. Nazario Moreno's partners were José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, Servando Gómez Martínez and Enrique Plancarte Solís, each of whom has a bounty of $2 million for his capture, and were contesting the control of the organization.
Sureños , also known as Southern United Raza, Sur 13 or Sureños X3, are groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia while in U.S. state and federal correctional facilities. Many Sureño gangs have rivalries with one another, and the only time this rivalry is set aside is when they enter the prison system. Thus, fighting is common among different Sureño gangs even though they share the same common identity. Sureños have emerged as a national gang in the United States.
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Playboys 13 Gang, also known by the acronym PBS13, is a predominantly Mexican-American street gang founded in the Los Angeles County, California and extends to areas in South Central Los Angeles and Orange County, California. The gang also goes by the Spanish term "Conejo" which means "rabbit" or Rabbit gang to identify itself. They align themselves with the prison gang known as La EME or the Mexican Mafia, Because of their affiliation with La EME, while in prison, they set aside their rivalry with other Southern California gang members known as Sureño.
A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system, that has a corporate entity, exists into perpetuity, and whose membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Political scientist David Skarbekargues the emergence of prison gangs are due to the dramatic increase in the prison population and inmate's demand for safety. Skarbek observes that in a small, homogeneous environment, people can use social norms to interpret what behavior is acceptable, but a large, heterogeneous setting undermines social norms and acceptable behavior is more difficult to determine. Prison gangs are geographically and racially divided, and about 70% of prison gang members are in California and Texas. Skarbek suggests prison gangs function similar to a community responsibility system. Interactions between strangers are facilitated because you do not have to know an individual's reputation, only a gang's reputation. Some prison gangs are transplanted from the street. In some circumstances, prison gangs "outgrow" the internal world of life inside the penitentiary, and go on to engage in criminal activities on the outside. Gang umbrella organizations like the Folk Nation and People Nation have originated in prisons.
Project Wildfire was a nationwide, multi-agency investigation of various transnational criminal gangs in 2015 that resulted in the arrests of 976 individuals, representing 239 different organizations, in 282 cities in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Eighty-two firearms, 5.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7.8 kilograms of marijuana, 5.6 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 kilograms of heroin, US$379,399, counterfeit merchandise with a suggested retail price of US$547,534 and five vehicles were also seized.
The Chicago neighborhood of Humboldt Park is the founding grounds for several major gangs, including the Latin Kings, Simon City Royals, and Maniac Latin Disciples, among a number of other gangs with active chapters in the area as of 2023. With its roots dating back to the 1950s, the continuous presence and activity of gangs around the neighborhood has caused it to be a frequent subject of law enforcement, media, and residents over the years.
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