Abstract
Gang killings are results of drug wars have been refuted by the authorities since blotters report that these homicides are conflicts over territory, status and revenge. Gang wars are not only “inner city” problems but all over as well. Almost every city around the world claims to be gang capitals, like New York or London. Other major cities in the US have also been known to be havens for gang wars such as Houston and Chicago. Youth join gangs, and these young members are not heavily into committing crimes or using drugs but they just want to belong to a specific group for personal purposes and a feeling of belonging. Majority of gangs are not tightly organized. Most of the members have different degrees of loyalty to their gangs. Their cohesiveness increases when they are challenged by other groups. In the LA area, for example, gang violence has lessened in the last fifteen years but has been on the rise again in the last few years. Most law enforcement officials agree that gangs are a community problem that must be dealt with in a variety of approaches implemented by police, schools, community-based organizations, public health professionals and others in an interactive and cooperative approach to gang prevention and intervention.
Historical Background
Sureños is a union of hundreds of individual Mexican American street gangs that started in the southern part of California. These people are found in abundance in the Los Angeles and the San Diego areas. However, they have already scattered dramatically all throughout every state in the United States. Sureños (Southerner, in Spanish) use the many symbols and signs to represent themselves like “SUR 13,” “Los Sureños” or “Sureño Trecè.” Moreover, they use the color blue and number codes 13 and Roman numeral XIII. (Kontos, 2008)
The name “Sureños” was initially heard of in the 1970’s as an outcome of a prison fight in California where a fight between the Mexican Mafia from Southern California and the Nuestra Familia from North California. This fight paved the way in pride and territorial struggle between many different Chicano gang members who are related to the Nuestra Famlia (“our family” in Spanish) and those who have linked themselves with the Mexican Mafia. The rivalry between the Norteños (northerners in Spanish) and the Sureňos was later made known to identify the members from their area or origin. (Kontos, 2008)
The Sureños are controlled and manipulated by the Mexican Mafia, a prison gang made up of Mexican-Americans. The Mexican Mafia began in the later part of the 1950’s by Chicano street gang members who were imprisoned at the Duele Vocational Institution, a facility for young offenders in Tracy, California. Many East Los Angeles members of this gang later formed the “La Eme” (the Mexican Mafia). It is known to be the first Chicano prison gang in California.
In the beginning, the gang’s objective was to protect other prisoners and the prison staff, but as the membership grew, it quickly altered to become a criminal group who were involved in extortion, drug trafficking, and murder. Seriously fatal groups were found to control the drug trade inside the prison walls. This systematic gang established their laws after the Sicilian Mafia. There is a rigid set of laws that govern all the gang members which consequently grew to become a criminal gang. Some of the gang’s activities include expanding its control of drug trafficking, drug rip-offs, prostitution, business robberies, contract murders, gambling, debt collection, extortion, and other illicit activities. Most of their criminal activities initially focused on victimizing Black and Caucasian inmates while leaving Chicano prisoners alone. The prison system in California became aware of the existence and prevalence of the Mexican Mafia and a massive revamp broke the group in the 1960’s. Inmates were relocated to different prisons; however, it only paved the way for more and wider recruitment activities and continued criminal activities – thus allowing the gang to take full control of almost all prisons in the state. The gang members who later were released from the prisons continued their influences outside the prison system. (Unknown, 2008)
The Sureňos Trecè Gang Evolution
For many years, police in Southern California have seen some changes of independent Hispanic groups into a more collective assembly that we know of as the Sureňos. Today, this gang is still known as South Siders or Southern Mexicans or Southern United Raza (SUR). Moreover, the different segments have become stronger and more powerful. The Sureňo gangs on the East Coast which got huge attention in the later part of the 1990’s are spreading fast in the Baltimore and Washington city areas. In the years that follow, police records have reported a huge following of the gang, the biggest two being Mara Salvatrucha and Eighteenth Street. Although East Coast Latino gangs often mirror the Sureño hierarchy on the West Coast, the East Coast has a unique and often misidentified stand alone complex, with independent Sureño gangs gaining strength from a distant third place.
To show their loyalty to the “Eme” which initiated them, the Sureños still used the color blue as one of their identifying mark and put “13” in their respective names. Known landmarks of the Sureños in Florencia, Tortilla Flats, and Frogtown marked their turf with the identifying marks of F13, CVTF 13 and FTR 13. Furthermore, the generic Sureños Trecè and SUR 13 continue to represent the gang and their members. (Watchers, 2009)
Since the birth of the Sureño gangs into one organization, many members have already relocated to other parts of the United States from Southern California in order to look for both legal and illegal opportunities for change. Because of this migration, different memberships of other gangs form other associations. This is how the new breed of Sureños is formed. They believed in the necessity for self-protection and to strive to perform crimes together in groups. This pattern got the attention of the police authorities in Texas and in other western states. (Watchers, 2009)
In the cities of Baltimore and Washington, the SUR 13 runs as independent regionally based gangs with no leaders. Each SUR 13 owns a territory and performs their own respective criminal separate from the other groups. Police officers who have interviewed young SUR 3 members found out that these youngsters do not really understand the origins of the Sureňos. Some of them do not the history of the gang, have not been to Los Angeles, and still other say that they have come all the way from Mexico already members of the SUR 13. (Watchers, 2009)
Evidence from anecdotes and interviews implies that even if there is only a very loose connection to the West Coast Sureños, the SUR 13 today is considered to be one of the top ten gangs in the world. Members of the SUR 13 gang are active in crimes like illegal drug use and sale, not to mention killings. It is hypothesized that if the SUR 13 gang continues to be under the radar of the police, this gang will keep on growing unhindered. (Yablonsky, 1997)
The Sureňos Trecè Gang Today
The Sureños are pretty much as active today as when it started if not more so. The gang members who make money from drug trafficking share their revenues and distribute them to members who are imprisoned to get special privileges like books, food and medications. Prison personnel have started to reconcile warring prison gang members by attempting to mix them in the same cell block (“Breaking Barriers” program). There have been reports of success in many jails that use this program. For example, the Santa Clara County Jail says that there have been no fights erupting from their inmates and the cell units are considered to be the quietest so far.
Some immigration and police officials implement immigration and deportation regulations as a means to remove gang members in the United States. While the majority of the members of this gang are of Latin descent, the Sureños Trecè Gang welcomes members from different nationalities, although they always make sure that respect and loyalty are upheld by the members. The Sureños include in their constitution provisions expressing such things like “Thou shalt earn respect” and “Kill a Norteño, win a prize.” (Kontos, 2008)
As a prison gang, the Sureños are still present today in at least a dozen prisons in California, North Carolina, and Colorado. As a street gang, the SUR 13 is found in almost all major cities in every state in the country and also have membership in Canada, Europe, Russia and Australia. They call home South America in places like Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. As far as common laws within the gang they adopt most from the Mexican Mafia. The Mexican Mafia requires a vote of three members to make a new member. The same number of votes is required to kill an existing member. Mexican Mafia members are obligated and bound by blood to have to follow four rules: 1. Hold yourself accountable. Don’t be an informant (Rafael, 2007) 2. Don’t be a homosexual 3. Respect female members of our community. 4. Respect all other members. Do not “politic” for personal reasons.
Death is usually the consequence for the violation of any of the first three rules, and only a “Carnal” (new member) can carry out the murder of another. The Mexican Mafia’s original doctrine expressly forbade hierarchies within the gang, decreeing, “One man, one vote.” It has proved inevitable, however, that “some members would be more equal than others.” (Unknown, 2008)
Some High Schools in many states across the country also reported having students who are active Sureños. The Sureños are reportedly having continued conflicts with other street gangs around the United States like the Krazy Locos, Crips, Bloods, Lomas, MLK, Mexican Boys, Norteños, Vice Lords, West Valley Crazy’s, Avenues 13 – a sister gang, Brown Pride Loco and many more gangs. As there are ongoing rivalries with other gangs, alliances have also been reported forming amongst different sectors of the gangland. There are approximately two hundred members of a street gang in California that is a result of some merging, the Callè San Marco. Reports also show that about two hundred function as “aides” for the Mexican Mafia, some SUR 13 members also serve as “foot soldiers” for the Mexican Mafia and the Crips. Moreover, there are known Sureños who forfeit their membership once they are imprisoned and joined the ranks of the Mexican Mafia. This just show that there have been cross memberships happening amongst the many gangs prevailing. With this, it is seen that the degree and level of gangs in the land would equate to more and serious crimes. (Yablonsky, 1997)
Conclusions
In conclusion The Sureños Trecè is rooted deep into the Mexican Mafia which in turn is rooted deeply into the fabric of America. The gang is expanding at what seems to be an alarming rate all over the country. As more and more of our youth are drawn into these vicious gangs the bigger, more violent and unpredictable they become. I do not know what we as a people can do to stop such gangs from taking over our cities, nor can I begin to fathom a way to begin. After all of the information I pulled up on this gang and how intertwined they are with other gangs I fear it may already be to late. After seeing current events and all of the killings and mass murders in Juarez, Mexico I can only assume the S-13 have something to do with it.
References 1. Kontos, L., & Brotherton, D. (2008). Encyclopedia of gangs. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. 2. Rafael, T. (2007). The Mexican Mafia. New York: Encounter Books. 3. Yablonsky, L. (1997). Gangsters: Fifty years of madness, drugs, and death on the streets of America. New York: New York University Press. 4. Author, Unknown (2008). The History of the Sureños. Retrieved January 4, 2010, from the Official Sureño’s Web Presence: http://SUReños-13.com/ 5. The Gang Watchers Watch the Sureños. (2009, December 5th) Retrieved January 14, 2010, from the Gang Watchers Website: http://www.gangwatchers.org/gang-names.html
