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Thread: The Mexican Mafia

  1. #1
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    The Mexican Mafia




    July 29, 2017

    San Diego gang case shows how the Mexican Mafia wields power beyond prison

    Mexican Mafia, God, family — in that order.

    That’s how one expert described the power and influence the notorious prison gang, also known as “La Eme,” holds over people in prison or county jail, as well as those on the outside.

    In a 2007 article published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, writer Tony Rafael — who spent years researching the Mexican Mafia — explained in an interview how the gang’s leaders give orders to members of Hispanic or Latino street gangs that could include harassing, assaulting or killing others on its behalf.

    Failure to follow orders is usually punished, often violently.

    “When you click up with a gang that’s loyal to the Mexican Mafia, the Mexican Mafia comes before God, your family, and your friends going all the way back to childhood,” said Rafael, who published a book on the subject in 2009. “When they tell you to do something, you gotta do it.”

    It will be interesting to see how that notion plays in San Diego Superior Court, where 20 people are facing charges related to their alleged association with the prison gang.

    Twelve men and eight women stand accused of various felonies after a three-year investigation, dubbed “Operation Emero,” conducted by a multi-agency gang task force. The investigation was led by the Sheriff’s Department, FBI and a special services unit of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

    Some of the defendants pleaded not guilty this week in San Diego Superior Court to charges including extortion, kidnapping, assault likely to produce great bodily injury, drug possession for sale and conspiracy to commit assault, arson, robbery and torture.

    Others, including defendants now in prison on other convictions, are expected to be arraigned over the next few weeks.

    Felix Aguirre, a retired San Diego police detective who conducts training and information sessions on gangs, said the Mexican Mafia is one of several prison gangs that thrive in correctional institutions in California and across the country.

    “It basically controls everything from prostitution to drugs — a lot of the criminal activities within the institutions,” he said.

    When someone is sent to prison, it’s typical for that person to seek out a group of inmates he can identify with — usually other members of the same race — for protection and safety, Aguirre said. Those who associate with the Mexican Mafia may eventually be told to “put in work” for the gang, either inside a prison or jail, or out on the streets.

    The “carnales,” loosely translated from Spanish as “brothers,” are the leaders of the organization, the “shot-callers,” Aguirre said. Below them are the “camaradas” or comrades, the second-tier leaders, and then the crew members or associates who carry out their orders. They also tend to rely on women — perhaps wives or girlfriends of the carnales — to communicate their directives on the street.

    The gang is known to take a “tax” from anyone carrying out other criminal activities in areas claimed by the prison gang. In other words, if dealers are selling drugs in Mexican Mafia territory, they have to pay a percentage to the gang. If they don’t, the gang will still find a way to collect.

    “The consequences are assault, violent robberies … They take what they want,” Aguirre said.

    Prosecutors in San Diego County haven’t revealed many details about the new case, but have said the defendants operated in two groups, one of which was led by federal prisoner Jose Alberto “Bat” Marquez, the other by California death row inmate Ronaldo Ayala.

    Neither is charged in the San Diego case, presumably because both men are expected to spend the rest of their lives locked away from the rest of society. But their names appear multiple times throughout the 40-page complaint in a long list of “overt acts” prosecutors included to support the charges.

    Among them, Marquez is accused of directing a female defendant to give an inmate “knuckles” over a drug debt. On another occasion, Marquez told the same defendant to slap a woman and collect the money she owed him, according to prosecutors.

    They say Ayala used a contraband cellphone to make calls from death row, including one in which he authorized the stabbing of an inmate at Centinela state prison in Imperial County in April.

    http://fw.to/IwklfzJ

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    August 14, 2017

    Glendale man admits to supplying drugs to L.A. gangs under orders from Mexican Mafia

    A gang member admitted in federal court Monday to his involvement in supplying a trio of rival Los Angeles street gangs with drugs on orders from the Mexican Mafia.

    Santos Zepeda, a 33-year-old Glendale man who also goes by “Slim,” faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison to a maximum of life without parole for conspiring to traffic methamphetamine.

    According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Zepeda was among 22 other defendants who were indicted two years ago under federal racketeering charges connected to Mexican Mafia member Arnold Gonzales.

    Gonzales had ordered the unification of the Frogtown, Toonerville and Rascal gangs in 2010, according to the federal authorities. Normally rivals, Gonzales brought the three gangs together to control the drug trade and other illicit activities in an area of Los Angeles that spanned along the Los Angeles River from Elysian Park to near Burbank.

    However, because Gonzales was serving out a murder sentence at Pelican Bay State Prison, Frogtown gang member Jorge Grey was appointed as his street emissary with Zepeda working as his top lieutenant, according to the indictment.

    Through this arrangement, they provided drugs and collected “taxes” from local dealers.

    Eleven of the 22 named in the indictment, including Zepeda, have since pleaded guilty, while the remaining 11 are scheduled to go to trial on March 5, 2018.

    http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendal...814-story.html

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    Senior Member Frequent Poster joe_con's Avatar
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    How many inmates affiliated with the Mexican Mafia have been executed? And who were they?

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Operation targeting Mexican mafia, drug cartels nets 47 arrests, 200 pounds of drugs in Southern California

    By STEPHEN RAMIREZ
    The Press-Enterprise

    A joint operation targeting high-ranking members of the Mexican mafia and the Mexican drug cartel yielded 47 arrests and the seizure of 36 firearms and 200 pounds of drugs Thursday, Nov. 9, throughout Southern California.

    The seizures included assault rifles, 120 pounds of marijuana, 60 pounds of cocaine and 12 pounds of methamphetamine $35,000 of alleged criminal proceeds in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange counties, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

    Thirty-three arrests were made in Riverside County — two of which were in Moreno Valley; seven in Orange County; two in Los Angeles County; two in San Bernardino County; and three were made out of state — two in Colorado and one in Missouri, federal and Riverside County sheriff’s authorities said.

    “There is nothing more important for any family than securing peace of mind that the neighborhood our children play in and that we work in is safe,” Becerra said in a statement. “We took a step in that direction with today’s arrest of gang members and seizure of firearms and drugs in Southern California.

    “Today’s bust is prime example of law enforcement working together at all levels to put criminals behind bars,” Becerra added.

    Warrants were served on charges of solicitation to commit murder, assault with a deadly weapon, narcotics trafficking, firearm violations, extortion and conspiracy for the benefit of a criminal street gang.

    District Attorney’s Offices in Riverside and Orange counties helped obtain about 30 of those warrants.

    “These arrests are a significant step in pushing back against the gangs and cartels that continue to spread crime and misery across our state and region,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said via email.

    None of the suspects’ names were released.

    The operation was carried out by several Southern California law enforcement agencies, including officers from the Riverside Police Department and deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

    The Riverside Police Department was glad to combat gangs within the city.

    “Anytime we can assist the department of justice, we’re happy to work with them,” said Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback via email.

    The operation also featured the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation, Special Operations Unit and the Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force.

    http://www.pe.com/2017/11/09/47-arre...ang-crackdown/

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