Los Zetas: Mexico's Second Most Powerful Drug Cartel Essay example

Chapter one talks about gang’s early history, prison gangs did not start in prison, they had to be street gangs; Mexican Street gangs have been in California since the 1900. Mexican street gangs from the south side of Los Angeles had over 50,000 members 600 from different gangs. The founder of the Duell Vocational Institution (DVI) from Tracy, California was a man named Luis “Huero Buff” Flores. The original members of these street gangs we not in fact Mexican nationals but Citizens of the US. A majority of them spoke English and Calo and very few, close to none spoke Spanish. What shocked the author was that the members of the gang were at some point in time were rivals on the street. Flores created the gang but did not run it, the book says he made it so no one man controls the gang but instead everyone voted, and the majority won. He wanted all members to have equality.

The Mexican Mafia started in late 1957. Gangs that participate in the Mexican Mafia (EME) politics and put to work for the gang on and off the street are given a "red light". They are not to be assaulted. Gang members who do not kick back drug profits to the gang or do not take care of business are given a "green light" and their names

These are made possible is through an inmate’s friends and/or girlfriends ( Justice Quarterly, Vol. 20, Iss. 3, 2006). Gangs need strong leaders to maintain their power and connections to the outside world; a single inmate who best embodies the gang’s beliefs usually assumes the role. When the leader is relocated either the gang’s elite decides on a new leader or the strongest remaining gang member assumes the role. Becoming an elite member requires acts of violence that focus on weakening other gangs. Each member takes vows to be loyal and obedient, if the vow is broken they risk losing everything including their life. By deportation of inmates to facilities where they are the minority, the department can ensure that the inmate will be hard-pressed to find new racial alliances. The institution may send an Aryan Brotherhood leader in a facility heavily populated with black inmates. This does not always deter the gang violence as there is always someone to replace the leader; the prison may only increase the gang’s anger toward the system be deporting a leader, encouraging further violence. Despite segregation attempts and lock-down, prison gangs seem to remain more prevalent and visible than ever. There are about six well known prison gangs within the country: Mexican Mafia, La Nuestra Familia, Neta, Black Guerrilla Family, Aryan Brotherhood, and Texas Syndicate. Each one of these gangs has a history

immigrants. The gang’s purpose was to help the Hispanic community achieve a better way of

The newly formed Nuestra Familia engaged in prison war against the Mexican Mafia throughout the 70’s until the later 1970’s when a formal divide was acknowledged between the gangs. After the formal divide Nuestra Familia began making allies with other Californian Prison gangs like the Black Guerilla family to defeat a common enemy, The Mexican Mafia. On the other side the Mexican Mafia teamed up with the Aryan Brotherhood to combat the newly formed Nuestra Familia and Black Guerilla Family alliance. In order for the Nuestra Familia to gain power in the prisons it has to control the contraband coming in and out of prison. This is where the foot soldiers, the Norteños, came in handy. Norteños is a Spanish term for northerners. (Gangland, 2008) The Norteños operated under leadership from the Nuestra Familia members in prison. The Norteños used the trafficking of drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine to gain currency. They also had successful prostitution and identity theft rings to sustain their dominance in northern California. This held true, the power of the Nuestra Familia has infinitely grown since its beginning in the 60’s.

Mexican Drug Cartels have been a problem for many years. The cartels are an organized crime organization and they don’t just deal drugs; they commit murders too. The Cartels origins are traced back to the Columbian Cali and Medellin mega-cartels who were responsible for the majority of drug trafficking into the United States. Crime has existed for many years but it surfaced more when Pablo Escobar was popular. Pablo Escobar was one the main transporters for cocaine throughout Mexico and the United States coming straight out of Columbia. Law enforcement tried to stop the drug trade but Escobar formed a relationship with Mexico-based traffickers who smuggled drugs into the United States. Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo also known as “The Godfather” of the cartels. Seeing how he established the Guadalajara Cartel, which is recognized as the first Mexican Cartel, and were the first to link up with Escobar and started the transportation of cocaine

The gangs have formed part of Central America. For a long time, but in the early 1980s, they began to work. There are numerous reasons for the gangs to grow because of the lack of education, culture of violence, poverty, and dysfunctional families. The two largest gangs are the Mara Salvatrucha known as MS-13 or Maras and The Eighteen Street gang also known as Barrio 18. The Barrio 18 despises MS 13. The rise of the Maras happened with the migration and the blend of different street cultures. The gang known as Barrio 18 was originally formed by Mexicans immigrants. Over the years, each gang has grown and taken up 60 percent of the population. These gangs have taken over the territories and have also controlled over some prisons

The Ms 13 gang is currently one of the most dangerous and powerful gangs in South America and the United States. As I dug into my research I discovered the reasons,strategies and cruelty of this gang.The majority of the members of this gang are people from Mexico,El Salvador,Honduras, Guatemala and some from Canada.Most of them are young men who grew up in a poor neighborhood and raised themselves in the streets watching the rest of the men in their family get killed or beaten up brutally because they were protecting their own.The gang was originally created in the ‘barrios” of Los Angeles in the 1980’s right after El salvador’s civil war. The name ‘ La Mara Salvatrucha 13 ‘ represents the clever salvadoran gang. The gang’s frightening motto is ‘Mata,Controla,Viola’( Kill,Control& Rape)This gang is made out of many smaller cliques the biggest one being the ‘surenos’.These gangs provide protection to each other and it facilitates their communication.By teaming up with other gangs they are able to manage easily other territories and mantain their power as one big union. Another way they’re gaining a lot of power is because they have formed an alliance with Los Zetas, who is one of the biggest and dangerous drug cartel in Mexico. Members of the gang are serving the Zetas as warriors for the gang which has made the Ms13 gain a lot more power.

The Gulf Cartel was the first to recruit Mexican Special Forces to act as a military wing to: enforce receipt of payments, protect from other cartels, and carry out well organized assassinations of members from rival gangs or cartels. This Special Forces group was known as the Zetas. The Gulf Cartel's vision to bring a group of highly trained gunmen into the drug game would forever have an impact on the drug cartels in Mexico (Beith, M. (2013, September 24)).

The Mexican Mafia, or “La Eme”, as they refer to themselves, is one of the most powerful and influential organized crime gangs in the United States. The organization has risen through the decades of mass gang wars and violence to become the power it is today. Their control is limitless and they have ventured far beyond the expectations of what was thought that gangs were capable of. They have infiltrated governments and manipulated politics. They have taken over neighborhoods and attempted to ethnically cleanse them. Innocent people have become caught up in the affairs of La Eme throughout its history and many have faced violence and death at their hands. This paper is a continual of the case analysis of the Mexican Mafia and will attempt to provide explanations for some of the crimes committed by this organization. Researching gangs and organized crime is important because of their large influence and control over many aspects of daily life. The significance of attempting to provide causations of their crimes can better provide the criminal justice system a clearer understanding of problems that lead to gang members committing crimes on behalf of the organization. A clearer understanding of problems can help the system to provide solutions to combat situations that inhibit crimes.

This now meant the plaza would no longer be controlled only by the Carrillo Fuentes family. Instead, the city found itself the front line in a country-wide drug war and would see homicides skyrocket as rival cartels fought for control. With this act, Guzman was the first to break the nonaggression 'pact' the major cartels had agreed to, setting in motion the fighting between cartels for drug routes that has claimed more than 35,000 lives since December 2006.

    The residents of Juarez say the bloody turf war between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Juarez Cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel is led by the world’s most wanted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, he also won the border battle back in 2010. The dispute between the two cartels was over border control. Cops, Federal Agents, and even government officials were either bribed with money or threatened their life or family lives. During the two years of 2014-2015 the residents felt safe until 2016. In 2016 residents of Juarez witnessed once again execution style deaths in the city of

The government has made some gains, but at a heavy price. A total of 34,612 people have died in drug-related killings in Mexico in the first four years (Siddique). Most of these killing are between cartel rivals fighting for the control of territories. There are five cartels operating in Mexico: the Sinaloa, the Gulf, Juarez, Tijuana, the Zetas. The major cartels are the Gulf, Sinaloa and Juarez (Cook 21). Many of these cartels have joined together forming powerful alliances known as the “Federation” (Cook 17). The cartels work together, but they remain independent organizations.

Bangers sent to prison come out looking bigger, stronger, with new enemies, and are hungry to get back on the streets. In an article written by (Steven Krytak from the Austin Legal) there were 18 gang members of Texas prisons that were indicted. In Austin there was a mass roundup of Mexican Mafia members and the authorities were able to round up 18 members of this gang. The gang was known for conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin. The Mexican Mafia members in Austin dominate the Texas prisons throughout the state. The gang recruits members while in prison and upon release that individual will join the street gang. Some of the members who were taken into custody were suspects in a killing of a 35 year old man. During this round up there were multiple suspects taken into custody for murders, drug related charges, many of which were distributing cocaine. In the same article it talks about last year in San Antonio three members were involved in committing nearly two dozen murders. These are the people who are in the prison systems in Texas. Imagine those individuals who join while in prison and are released into society. During this round up the Mexican Mafia General Jacinto Navajar and two lieutenants were found guilty of conspiracy; both were sentenced to life in prison. Many gangs are identified by tattoos the Mexican Mafia has a certain tattoo that is identified as what appears to be an eagle with a snake in its mouth and the word Mexican underneath. In an

Two years after its removal from the Army in 1999, Z-1 began working for the Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas Guillen, "The kill friends.” Their task was to create a military arm for the criminal organization. So he began recruiting former military and formed the "Group of 14" who founded Los Zetas, according