18th Street gang

18th Street Gang, also known as Eighteen St., or Mara 18, is a Los Angeles-based largely Hispanic street gang. It is estimated that there are between 8,000 to 20,000 members of 18th Street gang in Los Angeles County alone, The latest figures from the NDIC 18th Street membership at 30,000 to 50,000 nationwide, one of the biggest street gangs in the country, estimated to be over 100,000 world wide.

File:18th street tagging.jpg

Taggings of 18th street gang

History

The 18th Street Gang is one of the largest street gangs in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. 18th Street originated in the 1960s near 18th Street and Union Avenue in downtown Los Angeles,California The 18th Street gang was created in the late 1960s in the Rampart area of Los Angeles. They have been described as the most violent and aggressive street gang in the country.

Over the past few years 18th Street quickly grew, but membership levels have appeared to reach a peak in many states.

The 18th Street gang grew out of an older Los Angeles gang, the Clanton 14 street gang (after the street that was their home base) better known as Clanton 14 by locals. In the 1940's, Clanton Street was changed to 14th Place due to the high number of zoot suit Pachucos 'hanging-out', as well as the war effort's need for simple addresses. The Clanton gang was active in Los Angeles for decades and comprised several generations of well-established Mexicans living in America; more recent Mexican immigrants and Chicanos that wanted to join Clanton were rejected. From these rejects the 18th Street gang was born.

The gang has since grown to be California's most fragmental and largest street gang, with membership in the tens of thousands, with many satellite gangs. Out of this, it is estimated that about 60% of its members are illegal immigrants, according to a confidential report last year by the state's California Department of Justice|Department of Justice. While the majority of the gang's activities occur in Los Angeles, the gang is active throughout the United States and other countries, including Canada, Peru, Mexico,Guatemala, and El Salvador.

The gang is divided into five subsets or 'sides': North, East, South, West and South Central Los Angeles . Furthermore, each side has its own cliques or mini gangs. 18th Street gangsters are traditionally rivals with the Mara Salvatrucha. Other rivals include Florencia 13, 38th Street Gang, Clanton 14, Madrid, and the Black P. Stones (Jungles). The gang was recently documented in Gangsters from 18 shown on the Crime Investigation Network

The gang was featured in an episode of Numb3rs, in which they were named the 18th Street Mexicali. The gang was also referred to in an episode of Shark as the 18th Street posse. Also in a scene in the movie Domino

Membership/Hierarchy

Membership was originally open to Mexican nationals. Although most members tend to be of Mexican descent, membership has opened to other backgrounds, including Central American, African American, Middle Eastern, Asian, Caucasian, and Native American. Currently, 18th Street has a loose hierarchical structure. Although the gang is well networked throughout the nation, Mexico, and Central America, there is no known central leadership nationally or internationally. Cliques generally function independently, but will join forces when combating rival gangs or law enforcement.

Gang markings

As with most gangs, 18th Street gang members can be easily identified by their tattoos. A common identifier is the number 18 (Template:Lang-es), which is usually represented in the Roman numeral (X8)(XVIII) (XV3) and sometimes they also use 666 or 99 (6+6+6=18 / 9+9=18).Some use the number 5 meaning the fifth letter of the Alphabet They also tattoo themselves with the word BEST, which stands for Barrio Eighteen STreet. Members engage in graffiti to mark their terrority.

Culture

18th Street gang members are required to abide by a strict set of rules. For instance, they are forbidden from using crack cocaine and other hard drugs. 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.

According to the LAPD, some factions of the 18th Street gang have developed a high level of sophistication and organization. This is attributed to the gang's connections with Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. The 18th Street gang is occasionally referred to as the "Children's Army" because of its recruitment of elementary and middle-school aged youth.

18th Street gang members are most often seen wearing brown or black pants and a white T-shirt. Alternatively, gang members also wear jerseys from professional sports teams. 18th Street gang members are considered highly armed and dangerous.

Criminal Activity

18th Street is a well established gang that is involved in all areas of criminal activity. Some members have even become involved in producing fraudulent Immigration and Naturalization identification cards and food stamps. Several 18th Street gang members have evolved into a higher level of sophistication and organization than other gangs. This progression is credited to the gang's close relationship with Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. They also have been linked to occurrences of murder, murder-for-hire, assaults, drug trafficking, extortion, vandalism, drug smuggling, prostitution, robbery, weapons trafficking, as well as other crimes.

Location

The majority of 18th Street cliques operating throughout the United States and abroad 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. 18th Street cliques have been identified in 37 states and the District of Columbia in the United States, as well as 10 foreign countries.

Barrio Dieciocho/Mara 18

Pico union was being populated by Salvadoran immigrants and being one of many turf of the 18th street gang, they allowed them to join because of their knowledge of warfare. At a point later on some Salvadoran didn't like the ideal of being under the 18th street gang. So being a large amount, they easily formed the Mara Salvatrucha the 18th street gang did not want to allow them to take that area, so like other rivals they fought for that area, so later on other Salvadoran and other Central America immigrants joined them for protection from other gang's, and being illegal immigrants, lots got deported and they took the pride and the grudge of the 18th street gang to those countries, thus leading them to the famous gang war's of Central America of the 18th street gang and the Mara Salvatrucha. Then a new 18th street set was born Barrio Dieciocho Mara 18. Made up of Central Americans, they fight war's with MS-13 in and out of the United States making the 18th street gang the most violent and aggressive street gang in the world.

Cliques

list of few Cliques in the Los Angeles area (some country/world wide)

#	Gang	Cliques	City/Area	Policing Agency
1	North Side 18th Street		Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, North Hollywood	LAPD North Hollywood Division
2	18th Street	54th, King Blvd Gs	South Los Angeles	LAPD 77th Street Division
3	18th Street	106th	Inglewood	Inglewod PD
4	West Side 18th Street	Columbia Lil Cycos	West Lake area of Los Angeles	LAPD Rampart Division
5	18th Street	Pico Locos	Pico Union	LAPD Rampart Division
6	18th Street	Kdubs, Diablos, Tiny Winos	Cuday	LASD
7	East side 18th Street	Bebitos	Northeast area of Los Angeles	LAPD Northeast Division
8	18th Street	Shatto Park Locos	Wilshire area of Los Angeles	LAPD Rampart Division
9	18th Street	South Central	South Los Angeles	LAPD 77th Street Division
10	South Side 18th Street		South Gate
11	18th Street		Baldwin Park
12	West Side 18th Street		Jefferson & St. Andrews area of Los Angeles	LAPD Southwest Division
13	18th Street	Smiley Dr., Alsace Locos, Rancho Park	West Adams, Los Angeles	LAPD Southwest Division
14	18th Street	7th & Broadway, Wall St	Downtown Los Angeles	LAPD Central Division
15	18th Street	Rimpau	Mid City area of Los Angeles	LAPD Wilshire Division

Main rivals

Their main rivals are:

• MS-13
• 38th Street gang
• 12th Street
• Florencia 13

External links

• "The Day I First Found Love" - True story of an ex-gangbanger that found God
• 18th Street Gang in Los Angeles County
• BBC News: Gang life tempts Salvador teens
• BBC News: El Salvador swoops on street gang
• 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. Retrieved 2006-03-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)