The Almighty Latin King Nation preys on damaged children to fill its ranks.
America may be getting safer, but gangs are expanding and becoming more violent, posing a growing threat across the country, according to a 2011 FBI report.
An estimated 1.4 million Americans belong to 33,000 gangs, and together they are responsible for 48% of violent crime in the country.
Following up on a 2012 article, we have profiled 12 of the gangs mentioned in the report and noted their recent activity.
The 18th Street gang is a huge transnational gang in Los Angeles.
One of the most well-known of the “Sureño” gangs in Southern California, the 18th Street Gang is a violent enterprise that was linked last year to a large methamphetamine ring.
The gang is one of the most rapidly expanding criminal groups in the country, with a reach that extends across 32 states, from Maryland to Hawaii.
18th Street gangsters have been linked to homicide, extortion, alien smuggling, drug smuggling, auto theft, and running massive document mills in New York City. These “mills” paper the streets with fraudulent government identification allowing anyone to gain fresh lines of credit, government benefits, and driver licenses.
Florencia 13 nearly turned Los Angeles into a war zone.
Florencia 13 works closely with the Mexican Mafia and is a rival of the 18th Street gang. Florencia 13 is part of a terrifying gang war scene in Los Angeles, and it also has influence in more rural states like Virginia and Iowa.
Gang members have been charged with offenses ranging from piracy to conspiracy to selling drugs to murder. In August, three dozen members of Florencia 13 were indicted for racketeering and drugs. At the time, the Los Angeles Times reported that the gang allegedly “controls swaths of Los Angeles County” and had outposts there for drug-dealing and illegal gambling.
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