Sureños (Spanish: Southerners) are groups of loosely affiliated Mexican-American gangs that paid tribute to the Mexican Mafia while in American prisons. The Sureños were founded in southern California (hence their name) in 1967, and Sureño gangs were typically rivals while outside of prison, later putting aside their rivalries in prison to focus on fighting against Norteño gangs. Fighting is common among Sureño gangs, even though they share the same common identity, as most are descended from recent immigrants from Mexico. By 2017, the Sureños were active in 35 US states (primarily in southern California, Texas, and North Carolina), in Mexico, and in some parts of Central America and South America. The Sureños were allied to the Aryan Brotherhood, Nazi Low Riders, Public Enemy Number 1, the Mexican Mafia, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, Playboys 13, Toonerville Rifa 13, the 38th Street Gang, Mexikanemi, Florencia 13, and Los Mexicles, while they were enemies with the Nortenos, Nuestra Familia, the Crips, the Bloods, the Asian Boyz, the Tiny Rascal Gang, Menace of Destruction, and the Latin Kings.