Mexican Mafia

The Mexican Mafia, also known as La eMe ("The M") is a highly organized Mexican-American criminal organization in the United States that was founded in California's Deuel Vocational Institution in 1957. The Mexican Mafia operated as a prison gang, with members of rival Hispanic gangs being persuaded to end their hostilities and band together against rival prison gangs. The Mexican Mafia became rivals with the Nuestra Familia prison gang, which was founded in 1968 in response to anger held by some Mexican-American inmates against La eMe, which stole their watches, rings, cigarettes, and other valued possessions, as well as engaged in murders. The Mexican Mafia would ally itself with other Surenos, Armenian Power, and the Aryan Brotherhood, while it was rivals with the Nortenos, Nuestra Familia, and the D.C. Blacks. The Mexican Mafia is a predominantly Mexican American prison gang and criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia has no origins in Mexico and is entirely a U.S. prison-based organization. Law enforcement officials report that the Mexican Mafia is the deadliest and most powerful gang within the California prison system and considers them to be unquestionably the most powerful and dangerous prison gang in the world. The DEA considers them to be just as, if not more powerful, vicious and dangerous than any Mexican drug cartel.

Culture

The organization's name tattooed on member's abdomen.

Law enforcement believes that La eMe presently is not presided over by a single leader. Many Mexican Mafia members have the authority to order murders and oversee various other criminal activities. They have almost a thousand associates that help carry out those orders and have the theoretical control of all Sureño gang members. Members are expected to engage in tests of their loyalty to La eMe, which may include theft or murder. The penalty for refusing orders or failing to complete an assigned task is often death. According to the gang's constitution, members may also be punished or murdered if they commit any of four major infractions. These include rape, child molestation, becoming an informant, acts of homosexuality, acts of cowardice, and showing disrespect against fellow gang members. According to gang policy, a member of the Mexican Mafia may not be murdered without prior approval by a vote of three members, yet the murder of non-members requires no formal approval. The Mexican Mafia is considered by the FBI to be unarguably "the most powerful, dangerous and feared prison gang the world has ever seen" and one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the world. The Mexican Mafia has well over 100,000 foot soldiers all across the United States, including hundreds of Hispanic street gangs in California under their iron-fisted control.

During the early 1960s at San Quentin Prison, Luis "Huero Buff" Flores and Rudy "Cheyenne" Cadena established a blood oath for members of the Mexican Mafia. Prior to the establishment of the oath, members of the Mexican Mafia were allowed to return to their street gangs after incarceration. The new oath stipulated that the only way for a member to leave the Mexican Mafia was to be killed. Flores and Cadena also established a set of gang commandments. These included policies such as: a new member must be sponsored by an existing member, unanimous approval from all existing members to join (no longer policy), prioritizing the gang over one's family, denial of the existence of the Mexican Mafia to law enforcement or non-members, respect of other members, and forgiving street conflicts which existed before incarceration. Execution of a member of the gang for policy violation must be committed by the gang member who sponsored him. La eMe has a blood-in, blood-out policy: murder or drawing of blood is a prerequisite for membership and anyone trying to get out will be killed.

Rules

1. A member may not be an informant or snitch.
2. A member may not be weak or a coward.

The rules of conduct are:

1. A member may not raise a hand against another member without approval from the higher-ups and leaders.
2. A member must not show disrespect for any member's family, including sex with another member's wife, daughter, or girlfriend.
3. A member must not steal from another member.
4. A member may not be homosexual, drug addict, sex offender, child abuser, child killer, child molester, sexual deviant, or rapist.
5. A member must not politic against another member or cause dissension within the organization.
6. Membership is for life, the only way out is death.
7. Retaliation must be carried out if anyone crosses La eMe, no exceptions.
8. Vendetta must be carried out, even if it takes months, years, or decades.
9. If a member of La eMe gets harmed or killed by someone else such as police, civilian, or another criminal gang, retaliation must be immediate, and must be swift, brutal and deadly.
10. It is mandatory to kill all dropouts and traitors.
11. La eMe always comes first. Even before your own family, religion and God.
12. A member must not interfere with another member's business activities.
13. A member must never harm babies or small children.
14. A member must always treat another member's family with respect and kindness, and treat them like their own family.
15. A member must always protect another member from harm.
16. A member must treat another member like a brother, and must help them, protect him and fight for him and/or with him immediately if he calls upon you,
17. A member must be always ready and willing to kill and die for another brother and the organization without hesitation.
18. A member must kill for the organization without hesitation, remorse or complaint.
19. A member must never show any fear, cowardice or weakness.
20. A member must be completely loyal and committed to La eMe, and dedicate their entire life to the organization, and never defy your leader, disobey an order or betray your brothers or the organization. The penalty for this is punishable by a slow and brutal death.
21. A member must always show absolute respect to the higher-ups and leaders, and never talk about them negatively or disrespect them in any way or deny them. Penalty is punishable by a slow and brutal death.
22. A member must serve La eMe and the leaders 24/7, and always be on call to serve and obey orders and anything the leaders command you to do. You must always be ready to devoutly and faithfully serve and obey La eMe, no exceptions, even if your wife is about to give birth, or your parents, wife or children is sick or on their death beds.
23. A member must kill and earn money for the leaders and the organization.
24. A member must never beg for his life or break under physical or psychological torture or pain.
25. A member must be a warrior, and must live by the sword and die by the sword.
26. A member must be a stone-cold killer, and must be fearless, committed, ruthless, tough, hardcore, and loyal, unfazed by blood, killing, torture and gore, and kill and inflict torture and commit violence without hesitation, complaint or remorse.
27. A member must be ready and willing to go to war for the organization, never fear death.
28. A member must never retreat or surrender, no exceptions.
29. A member must never give up and never back down from anything or anyone.
30. A member must fight til the death.
31. A member must never discuss La eMe's business to non-members
32. A member must always defend and fight for your brothers, leaders and the organization.

Allies and rivals

The Mexican Mafia is the controlling and dominant organization for almost every Hispanic criminal gang in Southern California, and some gangs located in Central and Northern California, with their vassal gangs being called Sureños. Members of almost all Hispanic gangs in Southern California are obliged under the threat of death to carry out any and all orders from made Mexican Mafia members. The Mexican Mafia also holds a loose alliance with the Aryan Brotherhood, mainly due to their common rivals within the prison system. In 2004, the Mongols Motorcycle Club attempted to rob three drug dealers who had ties to the Mexican Mafia, causing a shoot-out between the three drug dealers and two Mongols MC members, the drug dealers escaped unscathed, but one member of the Mongols MC was shot and killed and the other wounded. The Mexican Mafia quickly found out of the situation, and enraged them due to the police uncovering one of Mexican Mafia's methamphetamine labs, and lost $120,000 in cash and over one metric ton of meth in the raid, and demanded that the Mongols MC pay them back all of what they lost and a large percentage of "street tax" every month. Which the Mongols denied to do, and caused the Mexican Mafia to start an all-out war on the Mongols MC and hunt them down and kill as many as they can. It was estimated that the Mexican Mafia murdered 33 members of the Mongols, bombed three of their clubhouses and kidnapped and tortured 8 of them and killed them by dismembering them or setting them on fire. The Mexican Mafia was tearing the Mongols apart so badly that most Mongols members stopped wearing their patches out of fear that Mexican Mafia hit squads would kill them. The Mongols and Mexican Mafia ended up calling a truce in late 2005.

The primary rivals of the Mexican Mafia are Nuestra Familia. The Mexican Mafia is also a rival of the Black Guerrilla Family prison gang, which holds a loose alliance with La Nuestra Familia. Bloods and Crips are the new enemies.Template:Citation needed

Symbols

Mexican Mafia symbols include images of a black hand. The gang's primary symbol, which is often used in tattoos by members, is the national symbol of Mexico (eagle and a snake) atop a flaming circle over crossed knives. Street gangs that are aligned with the Mexican Mafia often use the number 13 as a gang identifier, as the letter "M" is the 13th letter of the modern Latin-derived alphabet.