A Ñetas tattoo
The Ñetas are the largest and most dominant of Puerto Rico's street gangs, controlling the drug trade on the island as well as claiming most of the poorer neighborhoods of the island. The Ñetas also claimed to be a cultural organization which supported the independence movement in Puerto Rico and the Los Macheteros revolutionary group.
It was founded as the "Association for Prisoners' Rights" in the late 1970s by several imprisoned pro-independence activists held at the Oso Blanco prison in Rio Piedras, and they formed a mutual protection group behind bars to fight back against the G-27 gang. By mid-1984, the gang took over seven major prison facilities across the island and ruled them with an iron fist, and they punished sex offenders, pedophiles, and abusers by forcing them into solitary confinement. In 1988, they expanded to the United States' East Coast and the forefront of Canada, and they continued to branch out as far as South Florida. The group's members wore red, white, and blue to honor the Puerto Rican flag, but many gang members came from other countries such as Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. During the 2000s, the Ñetas were allied with the People Nation against the Crips, Folk Nation, Dominican Power, Dominicans Don't Play, MS-13, and G-27; in certain areas of New York City, Ecuador, and Spain (where most Ñetas were Ecuadorians), the Ñetas were rivals with the Latin Kings. The gang had 15,000 members in Puerto Rico, 10,000 in the United States, and 10,000 overseas, including in Spain.
Gallery[]
