Mexican Mafia
Encyclopedia
The Mexican Mafia also known as La Eme (Spanish for the letter M), 13 is a Mexican American
criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gang
s in the United States.
street gang members incarcerated at the Deuel Vocational Institution
, a California Youth Authority facility, currently a state prison located in Tracy, California. The founder of the gang was Luis "Huero Buff" Flores, who was previously a member of the Hawaiian Gardens gang. According to Tony Rafael,
Luis Flores initially recruited violent members to the gang, in an attempt to create a highly-feared organization which could control the black market activities of the Deuel prison facilities. According to Eme turncoat Ramon "Mundo" Mendoza,
According to Luis Flores,
As new members of La Eme filtered out back into the streets, Anacleta "Annie" Ramirez, a well-known member of the East Los Angeles community, took many of them under her wing and paired them up with neighborhood youngsters who lacked direction. Ramirez, a sharp, tough woman, taught the youngsters discipline, rules of street life, and, at first, petty crime. This later escalated to her role as a shot caller—as drugs became a major part of the trade—who would get rid of her enemies by ordering youth loyal to her on missions. After she had given the directive, many of her enemies were reportedly murdered on sight.
According to Chris Blatchford,
According to Blatchford,
, drug trafficking, and murder, both inside and outside the prison system. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
, the Mexican Mafia had arranged for contract killings to be carried out by the Aryan Brotherhood
, a white prison gang. Both the Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood are mutual enemies of the African-American gang Black Guerilla Family.
The first prison gang street execution in Los Angeles was committed by the Mexican Mafia in 1971. Responsible for the murder was Joe "Pegleg" Morgan - the notorious white
godfather of La Eme who had ascended by then to become one of the highest-ranking bosses of the entire Eme organization, even with no "official" Mexican blood himself. His connections with cocaine
and heroin suppliers in Mexico helped pave the foundation for the Mexican Mafia's narcotics distribution throughout California. During the 1970s, while under the control of Morgan's protégé Rodolfo Cadena
, the Mexican Mafia often took control over various community groups. The gang was able to filter money from alcohol and drug prevention programs to finance their criminal activities. The Mexican Mafia and the Italian-American Los Angeles crime family
collaborated in skimming money from Get Going, a taxpayer-funded drug treatment program. By 1977, Get Going founder Ellen Delia was determined to expose the infiltration of her beloved program. Shortly before an appointment with the California State Secretary of Health and Welfare Services, Delia was murdered. Her collection of evidence on Italian and Mexican Mafia infiltration of the Get Going program was never recovered.
In 1995, United States federal authorities indicted 22 members and associates of the Mexican Mafia, charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act with crimes which included extortion, murder and kidnapping. One of the arrested members, Benjamin "Topo" Peters, was allegedly the Mexican Mafia's highest ranking member at the time, and was engaged in a power struggle with fellow member Ruben "Tupi" Hernandez. Another indicted member was accused of having plotted the death of an anti-gang activist who served as a consultant for the film American Me
. The indictments marked a two-year investigation by federal, local and state law enforcement officials.
In 2006, a 36-count federal indictment was brought against members of the Mexican Mafia. The arrests were made for alleged acts of violence, drug dealing, and extortion against smaller Latino street gangs. According to the federal indictment, Mexican Mafia members exert their influence in both federal and state prison systems through either violence or the threat of violence.
Members and associates of the gang remain fiercely loyal to the criminal organization both in and outside of prison, particularly in Southern California cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego. The gang asserts its influence over Chicano gangs throughout Southern California by threatening violence against their members should they ever become incarcerated. Gangs and drug dealers who refuse to pay a protection "tax" to the Mexican Mafia are often murdered or threatened with murder. High-ranking members of the Mexican Mafia who are locked in private cells for 23 hours of each day are still able to communicate with their associates, through methods which range from tapping in code on prison plumbing pipes to smuggled letters.
presently is not presided over by a single leader. Prison
membership of the gang is believed to consist of hundreds of members with authority to order murders, and at least thousands of associates who can carry out those orders.
Members of the Mexican Mafia are expected to engage in tests of their loyalty to the gang, which may include theft or murder. The penalty for refusing orders or failing to complete an assigned task is often death. According to the gang's constitution, members may also be punished or murdered if they commit any of four major infractions. These include becoming an informant
, acts of homosexuality, acts of cowardice, and showing disrespect against fellow gang members. According to gang policy, a member of the Mexican Mafia may not be murdered without prior approval by a vote of three members, yet the murder of non-members requires no formal approval.
During the early 1960s at San Quentin Prison, Luis Flores and Rudy "Cheyenne" Cadena established a blood oath for members of the Mexican Mafia. Prior to the establishment of the oath, members of the Mexican Mafia were allowed to return to their street gangs after incarceration. The new oath stipulated that the only way for a member to leave the Mexican Mafia was to be killed. Flores and Cadena also established a set of gang commandments. These included policies such as: a new member must be sponsored by an existing member, unanimous approval from all existing members to join (no longer policy), prioritizing the gang over one's family, denial of the existence of the Mexican Mafia to law enforcement or non-members, respect of other members, forgiving street conflicts which existed before incarceration. Execution of a member of the gang for policy violation must be committed by the gang member who sponsored him.
While mostly found in California
, the Mexican Mafia has a membership which extends to other states including Texas
, Arizona
, and New Mexico
.
, mainly due to their common rivals within the prison system.
The primary rivals of the Mexican Mafia are Nuestra Familia
. The Mexican Mafia is also a rival of the Black Guerrilla Family
prison gang, which holds a loose alliance with Nuestra Familia.
Street gangs that are aligned with the Mexican Mafia often use the number 13 as a gang identifier, as the letter "M" is the 13th letter of the modern Latin-derived alphabet.
. The film was coproduced, directed and starred in by actor Edward James Olmos
, who allegedly received death threats by members of the Mexican Mafia for what they considered an unflattering depiction of the gang. Three consultants for the film were murdered shortly after the film's release. The Mexican Mafia was allegedly displeased with the portrayal of the murder of Rodolfo Cadena
(who was the basis for Olmos' character Santana) as being committed by his fellow gang members. Mexican Mafia Members were also allegedly offended by the portrayal of homosexually inspired sodomy
committed by Olmos' character in the film. Olmos subsequently applied for a concealed handgun permit, which was denied to him.
Joe Morgan, while serving a life sentence for murder at Pelican Bay State Prison
, filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Olmos, Universal Studios and other producers of the film. Morgan claimed that one of the principal characters in the film was based on him without obtaining his permission.
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gang
Prison gang
Prison gang is a term used to denote any type of gang activity in prisons and correctional facilities. Prison officials and others in law enforcement use the term security threat group or STG...
s in the United States.
Foundation
The Mexican Mafia was formed in 1958 by ChicanoChicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
street gang members incarcerated at the Deuel Vocational Institution
Deuel Vocational Institution
Deuel Vocational Institution is a state prison located in unincorporated San Joaquin County, California, near Tracy.-Facilities:DVI opened in 1953 and named for the late California state senator Charles H. Deuel who sponsored legislation establishing the institution. The facility has been...
, a California Youth Authority facility, currently a state prison located in Tracy, California. The founder of the gang was Luis "Huero Buff" Flores, who was previously a member of the Hawaiian Gardens gang. According to Tony Rafael,
By the time that Luis Flores got his brainstorm idea about creating La Mafia Mexicana, as it was first called, gang warfare between Hispanic neighborhoods had become an established fact. Rivalries were then set in stone; gangs like White FenceWhite FenceWhite Fence, also known by the acronym WF, is the oldest East Los Angeles gang. They also sometimes use the name Cerco Blanco which is Spanish for White Fence. In East L.A. they were also known as "Pachucos".- History :...
, San Fer, AvenuesThe Avenues (gang)The Avenues, also known as Avenidas or AVE's, is a Mexican-American street gang. The Avenues, like most Mexican gangs in Los Angeles, are under the direct control of the Mexican Mafia when sent to State, County, or Federal prisons.- History :...
, Clanton, Varrio Nuevo EstradaVarrio Nuevo EstradaVarrio Nuevo Estrada, also known as "VNE" is a Chicano gang founded in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California in the Estrada Courts housing projects. Through time, VNE has expanded to occupy other local cities such as East Los Angeles, Montebello, and Lancaster. VNE is known to be a notorious gang...
, and Hoyo Maravilla were already into their second decade and firmly established as self sustaining entities... Given such deep street rivalries, it was a marvel that Luis Flores ever got so far as to suggest that inmates who were enemies on the streets should abandon their animosity when they hit the prisons. But he did and it worked.
Luis Flores initially recruited violent members to the gang, in an attempt to create a highly-feared organization which could control the black market activities of the Deuel prison facilities. According to Eme turncoat Ramon "Mundo" Mendoza,
"The goal in the beginning was to terrorize the prison system and enjoy prison comforts while doing time."
According to Luis Flores,
"It was a kid's trip then, just a bunch of homeboys from East L.A. If I felt like killing somebody, I would, if I didn't, I wouldn't. We were just having fun then. The power was intoxicating."
As new members of La Eme filtered out back into the streets, Anacleta "Annie" Ramirez, a well-known member of the East Los Angeles community, took many of them under her wing and paired them up with neighborhood youngsters who lacked direction. Ramirez, a sharp, tough woman, taught the youngsters discipline, rules of street life, and, at first, petty crime. This later escalated to her role as a shot caller—as drugs became a major part of the trade—who would get rid of her enemies by ordering youth loyal to her on missions. After she had given the directive, many of her enemies were reportedly murdered on sight.
Rise
"By 1961, administrators at DVI, alarmed by the escalating violence, had transferred a number of the charter Eme members to San Quentin, hoping to discourage their violent behavior by intermingling them with hardened adult convicts. It did not work. For example, the story goes that Cheyenne CadenaA string of other slayings soon followed as Eme members sought to establish a reputation among the inmates of San Quentin.Rodolfo CadenaRodolfo Cadena was a Mexican-American mob boss and legendary figure in the Mexican Mafia prison gang.-Biography:"Chy" Cadena was a wayward youth and a member of the "Varrio Viejo" Gang from Bakersfield, California...
arrived on the lower yard and was met by a six-foot-five, 300-pound black inmate who planted a kiss on his face and announced this scrawny teenager would now be his 'bitch.' Chy returned a short time later, walked up to the unsuspecting predator, and stabbed him to death with a jailhouse knife, or shankShiv (weapon)A shiv is a slang term for any sharp or pointed implement used as a knife-like weapon. However, the word in practical usage is frequently used when referring to an improvised bladed weapon. Shivs are commonly made by inmates in prisons across the world...
. There were more than a thousand inmates on the yard. No witnesses stepped forward, and only one dead man entertained the idea that Cadena was anyone's bitch."
According to Blatchford,
The Eme quest for complete control alienated many other Mexican-American inmates who were fed up with Mexican Mafia bullies stabbing, killing, and stealing their watches, rings, cigarettes and anything else of value. Some of them secretly founded a new prison gang called La Nuestra Familia (NF) or "Our Family." It was first established in the mid-1960s at the California Training Facility in Soledad. Some of the early members were from the Los Angeles area, but NF soon drew inmates primarily from rural communities in northern California. The Mexican Mafia saw NF as lame and inferior, just a bunch of farmers, or farmeros. However, in 1968 at San Quentin, a full scale riot broke out after a Mexican Mafia soldier, or soldado, stole shoes from an NF sympathizer. Nineteen inmates were stabbed, and one Eme associate ended up dead. The battle became known as the "Shoe War" and it established the Nuestra Familia as a major Eme rival.
Criminal activities
The Mexican Mafia is an organization involved in extortionExtortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, drug trafficking, and murder, both inside and outside the prison system. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, the Mexican Mafia had arranged for contract killings to be carried out by the Aryan Brotherhood
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
, a white prison gang. Both the Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood are mutual enemies of the African-American gang Black Guerilla Family.
The first prison gang street execution in Los Angeles was committed by the Mexican Mafia in 1971. Responsible for the murder was Joe "Pegleg" Morgan - the notorious white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
godfather of La Eme who had ascended by then to become one of the highest-ranking bosses of the entire Eme organization, even with no "official" Mexican blood himself. His connections with cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and heroin suppliers in Mexico helped pave the foundation for the Mexican Mafia's narcotics distribution throughout California. During the 1970s, while under the control of Morgan's protégé Rodolfo Cadena
Rodolfo Cadena
Rodolfo Cadena was a Mexican-American mob boss and legendary figure in the Mexican Mafia prison gang.-Biography:"Chy" Cadena was a wayward youth and a member of the "Varrio Viejo" Gang from Bakersfield, California...
, the Mexican Mafia often took control over various community groups. The gang was able to filter money from alcohol and drug prevention programs to finance their criminal activities. The Mexican Mafia and the Italian-American Los Angeles crime family
Los Angeles crime family
The Los Angeles crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in Los Angeles, as part of the American Mafia . Since its inception in the early 1900s, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the L.A. family gained power...
collaborated in skimming money from Get Going, a taxpayer-funded drug treatment program. By 1977, Get Going founder Ellen Delia was determined to expose the infiltration of her beloved program. Shortly before an appointment with the California State Secretary of Health and Welfare Services, Delia was murdered. Her collection of evidence on Italian and Mexican Mafia infiltration of the Get Going program was never recovered.
In 1995, United States federal authorities indicted 22 members and associates of the Mexican Mafia, charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act with crimes which included extortion, murder and kidnapping. One of the arrested members, Benjamin "Topo" Peters, was allegedly the Mexican Mafia's highest ranking member at the time, and was engaged in a power struggle with fellow member Ruben "Tupi" Hernandez. Another indicted member was accused of having plotted the death of an anti-gang activist who served as a consultant for the film American Me
American Me
American Me is a 1992 biographical crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos, his first film as a director, and written by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos also stars as the film's protagonist, Montoya Santana...
. The indictments marked a two-year investigation by federal, local and state law enforcement officials.
In 2006, a 36-count federal indictment was brought against members of the Mexican Mafia. The arrests were made for alleged acts of violence, drug dealing, and extortion against smaller Latino street gangs. According to the federal indictment, Mexican Mafia members exert their influence in both federal and state prison systems through either violence or the threat of violence.
Members and associates of the gang remain fiercely loyal to the criminal organization both in and outside of prison, particularly in Southern California cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego. The gang asserts its influence over Chicano gangs throughout Southern California by threatening violence against their members should they ever become incarcerated. Gangs and drug dealers who refuse to pay a protection "tax" to the Mexican Mafia are often murdered or threatened with murder. High-ranking members of the Mexican Mafia who are locked in private cells for 23 hours of each day are still able to communicate with their associates, through methods which range from tapping in code on prison plumbing pipes to smuggled letters.
Membership
While the Mexican Mafia is a highly-organized criminal entity, it is believed that the gangGang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
presently is not presided over by a single leader. Prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
membership of the gang is believed to consist of hundreds of members with authority to order murders, and at least thousands of associates who can carry out those orders.
Members of the Mexican Mafia are expected to engage in tests of their loyalty to the gang, which may include theft or murder. The penalty for refusing orders or failing to complete an assigned task is often death. According to the gang's constitution, members may also be punished or murdered if they commit any of four major infractions. These include becoming an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
, acts of homosexuality, acts of cowardice, and showing disrespect against fellow gang members. According to gang policy, a member of the Mexican Mafia may not be murdered without prior approval by a vote of three members, yet the murder of non-members requires no formal approval.
During the early 1960s at San Quentin Prison, Luis Flores and Rudy "Cheyenne" Cadena established a blood oath for members of the Mexican Mafia. Prior to the establishment of the oath, members of the Mexican Mafia were allowed to return to their street gangs after incarceration. The new oath stipulated that the only way for a member to leave the Mexican Mafia was to be killed. Flores and Cadena also established a set of gang commandments. These included policies such as: a new member must be sponsored by an existing member, unanimous approval from all existing members to join (no longer policy), prioritizing the gang over one's family, denial of the existence of the Mexican Mafia to law enforcement or non-members, respect of other members, forgiving street conflicts which existed before incarceration. Execution of a member of the gang for policy violation must be committed by the gang member who sponsored him.
While mostly found in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the Mexican Mafia has a membership which extends to other states including Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
Allies and rivals
The Mexican Mafia is the controlling organization for almost every Chicano gang in Southern California. Members of almost all Chicano gangs in Southern California are obligated under the threat of death to carry out any and all orders from made Mexican Mafia members. The Mexican Mafia also holds a loose alliance with the Aryan BrotherhoodAryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
, mainly due to their common rivals within the prison system.
The primary rivals of the Mexican Mafia are Nuestra Familia
Nuestra Familia
Nuestra Familia is a criminal organization of Mexican American prison gangs with origins in Northern California. While members of the Norteños gang are considered to be affiliated with Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteño...
. The Mexican Mafia is also a rival of the Black Guerrilla Family
Black Guerrilla Family
The Black Guerrilla Family is a prison and street gang founded in 1966 by George Jackson and W.L...
prison gang, which holds a loose alliance with Nuestra Familia.
Symbols
Mexican Mafia symbols include images of a black hand. The gang's primary symbol, which is often used in tattoos by members, is the national symbol of Mexico (eagle and a snake) atop a flaming circle over crossed knives.Street gangs that are aligned with the Mexican Mafia often use the number 13 as a gang identifier, as the letter "M" is the 13th letter of the modern Latin-derived alphabet.
In popular culture
The Mexican Mafia received mainstream notoriety after being featured in the 1992 movie American MeAmerican Me
American Me is a 1992 biographical crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos, his first film as a director, and written by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos also stars as the film's protagonist, Montoya Santana...
. The film was coproduced, directed and starred in by actor Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
, who allegedly received death threats by members of the Mexican Mafia for what they considered an unflattering depiction of the gang. Three consultants for the film were murdered shortly after the film's release. The Mexican Mafia was allegedly displeased with the portrayal of the murder of Rodolfo Cadena
Rodolfo Cadena
Rodolfo Cadena was a Mexican-American mob boss and legendary figure in the Mexican Mafia prison gang.-Biography:"Chy" Cadena was a wayward youth and a member of the "Varrio Viejo" Gang from Bakersfield, California...
(who was the basis for Olmos' character Santana) as being committed by his fellow gang members. Mexican Mafia Members were also allegedly offended by the portrayal of homosexually inspired sodomy
Prison rape
Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff.In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 140,000 inmates had been raped while incarcerated. and there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race...
committed by Olmos' character in the film. Olmos subsequently applied for a concealed handgun permit, which was denied to him.
Joe Morgan, while serving a life sentence for murder at Pelican Bay State Prison
Pelican Bay State Prison
Pelican Bay State Prison is a supermax California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison near Crescent City in unincorporated Del Norte County, California. The facility is explicitly designed to keep California’s alleged “worst of the worst” prisoners in long-term solitary...
, filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Olmos, Universal Studios and other producers of the film. Morgan claimed that one of the principal characters in the film was based on him without obtaining his permission.
See also
- List of California street gangs
- MS-13
- Sinaloa CartelSinaloa CartelThe Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
- SureñosSureñosSureños are a group of Mexican American street gangs with origins in the oldest barrios of Southern California. Although they are based in California, the influence of the Sureños has spread to many parts of the US and other countries as well such as Germany and Japan...
External links
- FBI file on the Mexican Mafia
- United States v. Shryock 1995 Indictment Details
- Confessions of an LA gangster BBC Radio 4 11 September 2008