18th Street gang

18th Street

Founded	1959
Years active	1959 – present
Territory	Mostly in Los Angeles California, the western and southern areas of the United States, Mexico, and Central America
Ethnicity	Mexican and Central Americans
Membership	65,000[1]
Criminal activities	Drug trafficking, assault, robbery, kidnapping, pandering, extortion, arms trafficking, human trafficking, theft, murder, racketeering, illegal immigration, illegal gambling, identity document forgery, vandalism, and fraud
Allies	Mexican Mafia, Surenos
Rivals	Bloods, MS-13

18th Street gang is considered to be the largest transnational criminal gang in Los Angeles, California. It is estimated that there are thousands of members in Los Angeles County alone.^[2] There are approximately 200 separate individual autonomous gangs operating under the same name within separate barrios in the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, South Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, Pico Union, Inglewood, Cudahy, and Orange County, according to the latest figures from the NDIC. Their wide-ranging activities and elevated status have even caught the eye of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who recently initiated wide-scale raids against known and suspected gang members, netting hundreds of arrests across the country.

A U.S. Justice Department report from 2009 estimates that the 18th Street gang has a membership of 65,000 and is active in 44 cities in 20 states. Its main source of income is street-level distribution of cocaine and marijuana and, to a lesser extent, heroin and methamphetamine.^{[citation needed]} Gang members also commit assault, auto theft, carjacking, drive-by shootings, extortion, homicide, identification fraud, and robbery.^[3]

Culture

18th Street gang members are required to abide by a strict set of rules. Failure to obey the word of a gang leader, or to show proper respect to a fellow gang member, may result in an 18-second beating, or even execution for more serious offenses.^[4]

According to the FBI, some factions of the 18th Street gang have developed a high level of sophistication and organization. The 18th Street gang is of Chicano origin and was formed by Mexican-American youth who were not accepted in the existing American gangs.

18th Street gang members often identify themselves with the number 18 on their jerseys and clothing. 18th Street will use the symbols XV3, XVIII, 666, 99,(9+9=18), and 3-dots in their graffiti and tattoos. 18th Street colors are black and blue. Blue is to represent Sureños, the gangs from the oldest barrios in Southern California, and black is to represent the original color for the gang.

The 18th Street gang is occasionally referred to as the "Children's Army" because of its recruitment of elementary and middle-school aged youth.^[5]

In El Salvador it is common for members of the gang, to be tattooed on the face with a large "18". In many cases the tattoo covers the entire face.

Criminal activity

"We recognize them as one of the most violent street gangs and one of the most prolific in the United States,” says Special agent George Rodriguez, who until his retirement this month oversaw investigations for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Cars are stolen and homes are burglarized by the gang routinely. On average, someone in Los Angeles County is assaulted or robbed by 18th Streeters every day. The gang has left a bloody trail of more than 150 homicides in the city of Los Angeles recorded in the last 10 years — a pace three times that of many of the city’s most active gangs.

18th Street is a well established gang that is involved in all areas of street-crime. Some members have even become involved in producing fraudulent Immigration and Customs Enforcement identification cards and food stamps. Several 18th Street gang members have reached a higher level of sophistication and organization in their illicit activities than other gangs. They also have been linked to murders, murder-for-hire, assaults, copyright infringement, drug trafficking, extortion, human trafficking, illegal immigration, kidnapping, vandalism, drug smuggling, people smuggling, prostitution, robbery, and weapons trafficking, as well as other crimes.

18th Street Gang has been implicated in the high-profile kidnapping and murder of the 16-year-old brother of internationally renowned Honduran soccer player Wilson Palacios.^[6]

18th Street gang signs.

Location

The majority of 18th Street cliques operating throughout Southern California are the result of Los Angeles members migrating to other areas and establishing cliques under their leadership. Members originally from Los Angeles tend to be more respected than those in other areas. In Utah, officials say 18th Street has arrived with a vengeance.

“Within the past two or three years, I’ve heard more and more gang cops telling me, ’18th Street, 18th Street,’” says Sgt. Ron Stallworth, the state’s top gang intelligence officer. “If these guys are here to the extent we think they are, we have to extend some very serious resources to get our ducks lined up.”

Eighteenth Street has become the largest and fastest-growing gang in Oregon. Its members have tried to assert control over the state prison narcotics trade and are blamed for one of Salem’s worst gang slayings: A 15-year-old 18th Streeter, who wanted out, was gunned down by his homeboys.

“It’s just phenomenal what’s happening here [with the gang],” says Ron Weaver of the Oregon Youth Authority.

In El Salvador, church leaders have been working to broker a truce between 18th Street and its rivals. Authorities from Honduras, meanwhile, recently visited Los Angeles seeking advice from law enforcement on the gang.

“Eighteenth Street is like a many-headed hydra,” says Assistant U.S. Atty. Gregory W. Jessner, who oversees a prosecutorial task force targeting the gang.”

18th Street cliques have been identified in 32 states and the District of Columbia in the United States, as well as foreign countries such as Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Canada. Some cliques are: 54th Tiny Locos, Hollywood Gangsters, Tiny Diablos, Pico Gangsters, BellFlower, 106th Block, Grand View, Hoover, Mac Arthur Park, Smile Drive, Shatto Park, South Central, Rancho Park, Cudahi, Baby Locas (A Females Clique) and the Malditos in Orange County.

See also

Gangs portal

• Surenos

References

1. ^ Larry Boa (2008). "Top 10: Notorious Gangs - 4. 18th Street Gang". Askmen.com. http://www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/top-10-notorious-gangs_4.html. 
2. ^ http://www.streetgangs.com/hispanic/18thstreet
3. ^ National Gang Intelligence Center - National Gang Threat Assessment 2009
4. ^ Pollack, Ricardo (2005-01-24). "Americas | Gang life tempts Salvador teens". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4201183.stm. Retrieved 2010-08-09. 
5. ^ "California's Most Violent Export, 18th Street Gang". Streetgangs.com. http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/2002/18thexport.html. Retrieved 2010-08-09. 
6. ^ "Tottenham's Wilson Palacios' Brother Murdered By Kidnappers in Honduras". Bleacher Report. 2009-05-10. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/171815-tottenhams-wilson-palacios-brother-murdered-by-kidnappers-in-honduras. Retrieved 2010-08-09. 

External links

• Extensive 18th Street Gang information
• 18th Street Gang in Los Angeles County
• BBC News: Gang life tempts Salvador teens
• BBC News: El Salvador swoops on street gang
• MS-13 Member’s Trail Shows Gang’s Movement 18th Street Gang/MS-13 Rivalry
• PBS Wide Angle: 18 With a Bullet 18th Street Gang in El Salvador
• Strohm, Chris (August 1, 2005). "DHS touts success of anti-gang operation". GovExec.com. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0805/080105c1.htm. Retrieved 2006-03-14. 
• La Cloaca Internacional: Entrevista de dos horas a integrantes del Barrio 18 (in Spanish)
• FBI.gov
• ICE.gov

Rampart scandal

Notable accused officers	Victims	Coverup and investigation	Gang involvement	Other elements
Nino Durden Kevin Gaines Brian Liddy David Mack Rafael Pérez	Frank Lyga Javier Ovando The Notorious B.I.G.	Brian S. Bentley Bernard Parks Russell Poole	18th Street gang Bloods Death Row Records Suge Knight	Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums Los Angeles Police Department LAPD Rampart Division