Defendants from the Maryland branch of the “Latin Kings” gang, a group with thousands of members largely based in Chicago and New York, face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, the US Justice Department said in a statement.
“Today’s indictment alleges that the Latin Kings gang is an organized criminal enterprise with leaders and members who commit violent crimes,” said US Attorney Rod Rosenstein.The indictment charges that “from a date unknown to the present, the Latin Kings members conspired to commit attempted murders, robberies, witness tampering and arson to further their racketeering scheme,” the Justice Department said.The group is alleged to have been started in Maryland from the spring of 2007 by Miguel Cruz and Erick Roman, who named their “tribe” of the main gang the “Royal Lion Tribe of Maryland.”Thousands of members affiliated with the gang — officially named “Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation” — are said to be spread throughout the United States and Latin America.“Gangs, like the one charged in this indictment, may be relentless in protecting their turf, but we will be relentless in taking it back,” vowed assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer.Among the charges, officials accuse Latin Kings members of gathering materials for a firebombing; stabbing a suspected rival gang member in Maryland; shooting at other gang members in New York; committing a number of burglaries; and conspiring to murder a security guard, and a female gang member for “snitching.”“We dismantled a large part of the Latin Kings organization whose members allegedly used violence to secure the sanctity of their private society. We have made a serious impact on violent crime and gang violence,” said Kenneth Melson, deputy director of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi announced today that a Burlington County Grand Jury indicted three men for the August 16, 2008 shooting of two brothers – one fatally – in the parking lot of the Mount Laurel, N.J., Marriott.

The Grand Jury indicted the following individuals on charges of Murder, Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose: Daniel Cruz, age 24, of North 27th Street in Camden, N.J.Richard Martinez, age 34, of Gibbons Court in Atco, N.J.Antonio K. Streater, 26, of Vine Street in Camden, N.J.The investigation revealed that on August 16 at approximately 10:15 p.m., Gabriel Figueroa and Luis Pedroza, who are brothers, exited the Marriott and were shot after being confronted by Cruz, Martinez and Streater in the parking lot.
Figueroa was pronounced dead at Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Cherry Hill. Pedroza was shot in the shoulder and survived after being treated at Cooper University Medical Center in Camden. Figueroa, 20, and Pedroza, 27, were from Camden, N.J. They had checked into the hotel a few hours before being shot.Cruz and Martinez were arrested October 16, 2008, and Streater was arrested the following day.
Streater is a member of the Bloods street gang. Martinez is a member of the Latin Kings, and Cruz is an associate of the same gang.The shootings were investigated by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the BCPO’s Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Task Force and the Mount Laurel Police Department.An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.

Matthew "King Red Dog" Robey was sent to prison for ordering younger members of the gang to kill fellow gang member, 19-year-old Luis Quiroz, in December 2007. Quiroz was shot inside his car on Trailwood Lane and later died at UK Hospital. Latin Kings gang member was sentenced Thursday morning to a total of 21 years in prison for his part in a deadly shooting. Two others reputed gang members, Adrian Buenrostro and Isais Manual, were sentenced to three years each for their roles in the crime.

Fernando Vazquez, 25, of the 3100 block of South Keeler Avenue was charged in a federal complaint late last year with violating drug and firearms laws, the FBI said in a news release.FBI offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man believed to be a high-ranking gang member in charge of overseeing cocaine distribution throughout Chicago.He is alleged to be a member of the Latin Kings and was among 40 gang members and associates charged in an investigation dubbed Operation Pesadilla, which targeted the Kings' leadership. "Vazquez is one of only four defendants who [are] still at large," the FBI said

13 arrests were made Friday at residences in Denville, Dover, Randolph, Rockaway, Victory Gardens and Wharton, as part of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods, a statewide initiative targeting criminal street gangs.
More than 100 officers from 18 agencies participated in the 6 a.m. bust, which was the third phase of an "aggressive mission to cripple street gangs' command structure by taking down leaders and high-ranking associates," county Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said during a news conference Monday afternoon.Since August, Morris authorities have arrested 32 individuals from Morris and Essex counties on 286 charges, and seized $1.35 million in cocaine and heroin and 33 firearms, including assault rifles and high-powered weapons."It's a hit-them-when-they-are-down philosophy. We used a variety of undercover infiltration methods, changing things up like a boxer so they did not become accustomed to our methods of operation," Bianchi said. "They tried to resurrect their business after we already hobbled them, and now we hit them again, coming in like an aftershock. Now they are done, out, dismantled."
Authorities said Carlos M. Madera, 29, of Newark, was the leader of one drug operation. He was charged with 23 offenses that include possession and distribution of cocaine and is being held at Morris County jail on $350,000 bail.
Also arrested was his father, Carlos Madera Sr., 48, also of Newark, another Newark individual, six individuals from Dover, one from Landing, one from Morris Plains, one from Victory Gardens and another who was in Morris County jail.Those arrested include members of the Latin Kings, Bloods, MS-13 and Neta gangs, Bianchi said.
The arrests also included 23-year-old Luis Vasquez of Victory Gardens and his mother, Lilybette Garcia, 42, of Dover.The three-month investigation stems from an Oct. 30, 2007, Rockaway shooting that involved a man flashing a semi-automatic handgun during an argument that led authorities to Carlos G. Gonzalez Jr. During the investigation, police learned Gonzalez was operating a competing drug dealing operation against his father, Carlos G. Gonzalez Sr,. "using fear, intimidation and violence with guns as everyday business tactics."On Aug. 14, there was a drive-by shooting on Prospect Street in Dover with five shots fired from a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun that missed their intended target, Luis Vazquez, 23, of Victory Gardens. Bianchi said the junior Gonzalez was responsible for the shooting.On Aug. 18, authorities completed their first raid, making arrests in Dover, Randolph and Wharton, seizing numerous firearms and $250,000 in drugs packaged for distribution and dismantling two major drug enterprises operating throughout the county.
That operation was followed by another on Oct. 17, where authorities executed search warrants in Denville, Dover, Victory Gardens and Wharton. Investigators uncovered a substantial amount of illegal weapons -- assault rifles, weapons with silencers and high powered scopes along with a significant amount of high capacity ammunition magazines.Bianchi credited the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Morris County Sheriff's Office, New Jersey State Police and police from Denville, Dover, Randolph and Wharton in the arrests."The citizens of Morris County are safer today as a result of the efforts of these fine law enforcement personnel," Bianchi said. "As it is the position of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, my administration will not stop here in terms of gaining additional investigative intelligence to attack other criminal enterprises. And we will aggressively prosecute those who were arrested in these street gang, guns and drug dealing networks."

There are still major gangs operating in the city—the Latin Kings, the Vice Lords, and the Insane Deuces—along with many smaller gang factions. They don't control territory like inner-city gangs. Instead, they usually run drugs out of ordinary-looking homes and businesses. Unlike inner-city gangs who frequently dabble in protection rackets, the gangs here generally leave local businesses alone. Part of the reason for that, law enforcement officers say, is that Aurora's retail scene consists mostly of big-box stores and national franchises rather than mom and pop establishments, which are more susceptible to extortion.
Nationwide, gauging the true scope of the gang problem is difficult, chiefly because law enforcement lacks a common definition of a gangster or what makes a particular crime gang-related. The FBI estimates that there are about 785,000 gang members in the country belonging to some 26,500 different gangs in 3,400 communities. That estimate excludes outlaw motorcycle and prison gangs. Even more troubling, a third of all communities say they have no gang problem when they actually do. It's a denial bred from either fear or stigma, according to the FBI.The thousands of active gangs around the country each have their own signs, lingo, and culture. Drug dealing and gun violence are common denominators, but each behaves differently depending on its location. In the Northeast, for instance, there's been a rise in the number of neighborhood and hybrid gangs composed of members of several different organizations. Around Washington, D.C., and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, meanwhile, the Latin American gang MS-13, best known for attacking its rivals with machetes, has become a particularly tough problem. There, cocaine and marijuana are the main drugs moved through gang networks.In the Midwest, the amount of gang activity around college campuses and schools is on the rise. Hispanic gangs are using Native American surrogates to move drugs onto Indian reservations, where gang activity is also on the rise. And out West, street gangs are diversifying their criminal portfolios to include identity theft while continuing to supply narcotics, mostly methamphetamines and marijuana. Gangs in the West are also most likely to partner with organized crime, particularly the Mexican drug cartels and the Asian mafia.Wherever they operate, gangs are increasingly turning to computers and the Internet. Often behind password-protected sites, they post photo-graphs of their own gang signs, colors, and tattoos. Police even report that some gangs are using their websites to take positions on local political issues. In fact, sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube have become quite useful to police gathering intelligence or investigating specific crimes. "Some gang members in Maryland are not too bright, and they will often post pictures of themselves and their gangs online or shoot videos of themselves defacing property or committing other crimes," says Charles Rapp, director of the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which helps scour open-source information for law enforcement agencies. For their part, the gangs sometimes post misleading information to fool police or rival gangs about potential meetings or activities.Yet despite all their bravado, at their essence the gangs remain fraternities of lawlessness, replenished with scores of young men from troubled neighborhoods in the name of belonging, enterprise, or necessity. "The pervasiveness of gangs throughout society is undeniable," the Justice Department concluded in its latest National Gang Threat Assessment in 2005. "As they migrate across the country, they bring with them drugs, weapons, and criminal activity."
Gangs are, however, also vulnerable because of their insatiable demand for guns, a weakness that federal officers are learning to exploit. Put simply, they are always looking for more guns to protect themselves and their illicit merchandise. Ammunition is also often in low supply for street gangs. Most gangsters use guns only once. They know that after a crime, the ATF enters the bullets or shell casings into databases to trace them. "Gangsters watch shows like CSI as homework and watch History Channel documentaries about gangs as research," says one veteran gang investigator. Guns are also lost, seized by the police, or broken during normal use. "Gangs will try to have enough guns for each full member to have access to one, though they also share between themselves," says Jared Lewis, a retired cop from the Modesto, Calif., antigang task force who now researches street gangs. Fortunately, that makes them easier targets for undercover operations. Add to that stricter laws under which those caught with guns and drugs face harsh sentences, and the effects are starting to be felt.

Fransisco Rangel, who they say has a Sur 13 emblem tattooed on his cheek., wanted for what officers say was a gang-related slaying, jumped out of his car in the middle of the town and began firing at pursuing deputies with an assault rife.His spray of bullets killed a passenger in a nearby car - Candelario Lagunes, a 58-year-old grandfather.
In the fast and furious fusillade, one deputy was forced to fire through his windshield as the assailant approached.The toll could have been even higher. The gunman's shooting was so indiscriminate that deputies later found holes in a traffic light.The rampage paralyzed the normally peaceful East Hillsborough town. Schools were locked down. City officials canceled the annual Christmas parade scheduled that evening.Fortunately, Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies soon caught the suspect, Fransisco Rangel, who they say has a Sur 13 emblem tattooed on his cheek.The terrifying event underscores the danger gangs pose to our community.Make no mistake. The threat to Hillsborough is real. Street gangs are not just found in urban wastelands of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.Gangs can be found throughout Hillsborough, indeed throughout the region.Sheriff David Gee says his office has identified more than 150 gangs. Some may be small and fairly innocuous, but 50 are well-organized and linked to national criminal networks. And even some of the local gangs are violent.Officials say there are at least 3,200 gang members in the region. Their crimes may range from scribbling graffiti to trying to assassinate rival drug dealers. In the last year, Hillsborough's gang unit has handled more than 200 cases.And in the last few years, there have been gang-related shootings in virtually every part of the county, including a double-homicide in Town 'N Country.One might have gotten a different impression last spring when a judge threw out most of the charges in a major case against reputed members of the Latin Kings.The defense attorney mocked the prosecutors' warnings about gangs. And even the judge seemed to dismiss the threat of the targeted gang.The judge's ruling was correct, since Tampa Police had relied on a paid informant with a lengthy criminal record who threatened individuals into attending the meeting where they were arrested.
But any conclusion that the Latin Kings, Sur 13 or other gangs are not a grave threat to the community's safety is wishful thinking.Deputies say gangs have a major role in gun trading, dope dealing and other criminal transactions.Local law enforcement officials, to their credit, take the threat seriously.Gee created a gang-monitoring unit shortly after his election four years ago and has worked with the Tampa Police Department and other law enforcement agencies to try to keep the gangs in check.When these vicious hoodlums are allowed to run wild, they can utterly destroy a neighborhood, robbing residents of their property values and personal security.
As Hillsborough Sheriff Maj. Harold Winsett, who oversees criminal investigations, says, "People don't realize how fast a community can deteriorate if they don't pay attention to the threat."Hillsborough must take every reasonable step to keep a close eye on this criminal cancer and keep it under control

Twenty-five suspected Spanish Cobra gang members arrested Wednesday morning now face federal drug and gun charges, while six more are being sought as fugitives. Those being sought as fugitives are:
-- Ernesto Vargas, 22, of 1055 N. St. Louis Ave.;
-- Daniel Bonilla, 25, of 2544 N. Harding Ave.;
-- Erick Brito, 27, of 2526 W. Cortez St.;
-- Taki Spencer, 28, of 1017 N. Rockwell St.;
-- Gilberto Vargas, 20, of 3907 W. Armitage Ave.; and
-- Chauvet Stiggers, 22, of 8000 S. Kedvale Ave.
In all, 31 people face state or federal charges, according to a release from the FBI. Federal drug charges, including cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana distribution, were lodged against 18 suspects, while and 13 more face state drug and gun charges, according to the release. The charges are the culmination of a two-year investigation called "Operation Snake Charmer," a cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement to break up the hierarchy of Chicago drug trafficking street gangs, the release said. Police used undercover witnesses, including former gang members, as well as court-authorized electronic surveillance and undercover audio and video surveillance of drug deals as part of the investigation.
"The Spanish Cobras are an organized, centrally-controlled street gang whose members conspire together to sell drugs and protect and enforce their territory in the Chicago area," Robert Grant, special agent-in-charge of the Chicago FBI office, said in the release. "These arrests should remind gangs that law enforcement here is united in our efforts to eradicate the city and suburbs of this plague."
Those arrested and charged federally were scheduled to appear later Wednesday in federal court in front of Judge Susan E. Cox. If convicted, they face mandatory minimum sentences of five years and a maximum of life, the release said.
All those charged were from Chicago with the exception of Floyd Dearmond, 20, of East Chicago, Ind.Insane Spanish Cobras Nation is a "Folks Mob" made up of mostly latinos. Their colors are Green & Black Their symbols include a Cobra Snake, Diamond on Staff w/3 dots. They originated as a Puerto Rican street gang in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago.[M]any Puerto Rican residents to relocated to the Humboldt Park and West Town neighborhoods where their concentration facilitated the creation of Chicago first Puerto Rican neighborhood along the Division street corridor. This area was called "La Division." Around this time, clique orientated clubs and street gangs began to solidify their presence throughout these neighborhoods. Soon after, the Spanish Cobras and Latin Kings street gang began to feud in the Humboldt Park community. In the late 1960's-to-early 70's, the Spanish Cobras united with Latin Disciples, Imperial Gangsters, and Latin Eagles to form the United Latino Organization (ULO), which acted as an alliance among Latino street gangs before the Folks & People alliances were originated in the late 1970's.
(FOLK-NATION)They've done battle with the Simon City Royals:
A key factor in the growth of the Spanish Cobras was the acquisition of territory in Logan Square and in and around the Koz Park area. Prior to this, the Simon City Royals street gang had a firm hold on the grounds.The Spanish Cobras and Simon City Royals fought a violent battle over the control of Koz Park in the 1980's, in which many lives were lost on both sides.They have organized other street gangs:
In 1992, the Spanish Cobras became the principle founder of the "Insane Familia", a group of Latino Folks gangs allied on the streets and in the prisons. All organizations granted membership into the Insane Familia adopted the prefix "Insane" to their gangs title.Here's a list of known rivals:Latin Kings, Insane Unknowns, Simon City Royals, Maniac Latin Disciples, Maniac Campbell Boys, Imperial Gangsters, Latin Eagles, Latin Jivers, Milwaukee Kings, Latin Brothers, Latin Stylers, and Latin Pachucos street gangs.

The Spanish branch of the Latin Kings was launched in 2000 by the young Ecuadorian Eric Velastegui, known as King Wolverine, who is now serving a prison sentence for rape. The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation was initially formed to help and defend Latin American immigrants in the Chicago area of the United States in the 1940s. Its members later became involved in violent crimes. US leaders of the Latin Kings visiting Spain, however, have downplayed the group's violent reputation, and evidence from the north-eastern region of Catalonia suggests that such gangs have the potential of being transformed into constructive social forces.
The Latin Kings' big rival in Spain are the Netas, a gang founded in the prisons of Puerto Rico in the 1970s. Other gangs include Dominican Don't Play (DDP), many of whose members come from the Dominican Republic. The Madrid DDP has begun to sell drugs and acquired firearms, the daily El Pais reported. Recently, evidence has even emerged of the presence in Catalonia of the Mara Salvatrucha and the Mara 18, Central American groups known for their extreme violence. In the Madrid region alone, the number of gang members tripled in three years to about 1,300 by 2007, police estimated. Nearly 300 of them were regarded as violent.
The main gangs, which are present in several cities across Spain, are hierarchically structured, tribe-like organizations. They are characterized by mystical symbols, an ethos of religiosity and machoism, and an ideology of defending the Latin American identity against an environment perceived as racist and hostile. The Latin Kings, for instance, wear rap-style clothes and black-and-gold bead necklaces. Their symbol of a five-point crown represents respect, honesty, unity, knowledge and love. The gangs tend to place women in a secondary role, with the Latin Kings as the only one to have a female section. Many of the gangs have a double nature, with leisure activities such as football alternating with robberies or extortion which new members can be ordered to commit as a kind of initiation rite. Dozens of gang members have been detained on charges ranging from kidnappings and threats to attacks and killings. Most of the violence takes place between rival gangs, but former members have also told courts about the beatings faced by those who break the internal rules. "We were told to pay 1,200 euros (1,700 dollars), or we'd be burned alive," two girls who had tried to leave the Latin Kings told a Madrid judge.
The growth of the gangs is based on the rapid increase of Latin American immigration to Spain. The overall number of immigrants has soared from 1.8 per cent of the Spanish population in 1990 to more than 10 per cent. The largest groups include 420,000 Ecuadorians and 260,000 Colombians. "Immigrants never see their children, because they work 23 hours a day. The kids are on the street, in search of a (new) family," King Mission, a US representative of the Latin Kings, explained during a visit to Spain. Gangs like the Latin Kings also give a sense of purpose and self-esteem to youths who may come from neighbourhoods riddled with gang violence in their own countries, grew up without their parents who emigrated before them, and who are now struggling with the difficulties of adapting to a foreign culture. In 2007, Latin street gangs did not commit any killings in Spain for the first time in several years. The decline was attributed to police crackdowns and, in some regions, to attempts to integrate the gangs into Spanish society. While the conservative Madrid authorities outlawed the Latin Kings in 2007, liberal Catalonia took the opposite approach, giving them the status of a cultural association.
Representatives of the Latin Kings and Netas even visited the regional parliament, explaining to legislators that they were planning to make joint musical recordings to bury their hostilities. International experts on street gangs have hailed Catalonia's ground-breaking approach, but it has not entirely eradicated inter-gang violence.

All four are at the Floyd County Jail. Munoz, Cruz-Aranda and Delgado-Ayala are accused of dealing cocaine. Funes-Maderas is accused of trafficking cocaine.
“It’s a significant arrest. They are significant traffickers,” Allen said. “But they’re one of many out there, unfortunately.”


One of the four men arrested in New Albany Tuesday, accused of dealing cocaine, is involved in the notorious gang Latin Kings, according to Michael Allen, resident agent in charge at Louisville’s DEA office.He said the other three are at least affiliated with the gang and possibly members too.Armando Munoz, 19, who lives in Columbus, Ind., is the suspected gang member. He is the only legal resident of the United States out of the four.Two of the illegal residents — Jose L. Cruz-Aranda, 23, and Julio C. Funes-Maderas, 27 — live in Clarksville, in the Hamlet Apartments. Funes-Maderas also has a home in Louisville, off Preston Highway, according to Allen.
The third, Jorge Delgado-Ayala, 30, lives in Columbus. He is of Mexican descent and the other two illegal residents are of Honduran descent, according to Allen.
Allen said Delgado-Ayala allegedly ran an autoshop business in Columbus as a front to sell drugs and has already served prison time for a prior felony conviction of trafficking marijuana.The four were arrested Tuesday afternoon on Spring Street when more than a dozen officers swarmed the area, to stop their cars.Allen said Funes-Maderas tried to flee on foot, only making it a few feet before being caught. The others were arrested without incident.He said 4.5 ounces of cocaine was found in the vehicles, which is worth about $15,000. Allen said this is a small amount compared to what he said he knows the group was dealing.“We’d rather get them in custody with what we have than wait and get them with more dope,” he said.Allen said this arrest shows the Latin Kings is starting to filter down to this area.Tod Burke, a criminal justice professor at Radford University, Va., is a former police officer and has done extensive research into gangs. He said the Latin Kings is one of the longest running, most organized crime groups around.He said the group started in some of the major cities back in the 1930s, but has been seen recently moving to the suburbs and more rural areas.Burke said all gangs can be dangerous, but the difference with the Latin Kings is that they have strict rules.“They have rules, regulations and codes that they follow,” he said. “We may not understand it, but they do. They don’t kill at random. A lot of times, they do it because they have been disrespected.
“If you disrespect them, whatever that means, they get revenge and a lot of times that’s not pretty.”Burke said they are also powerful in the correctional system.
“The gangs don’t disband because they’ve been arrested,” he said. “They form tighter groups and they also recruit in the prison setting because they have the extra time to do that.”Allen said this arrest is part of a bigger problem of people from Columbia and Peru getting cocaine into the United States through people in other countries, such as Mexico, who enter America illegally.He said this investigation was completed by the Louisville DEA, Indianapolis DEA, Floyd County Sheriff’s Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Department of Homeland Security/ICE.

Latin Kings and Queens Nation are unlike any gang ever seen The gang's Buffalo chapter holds regular meetingsand requires members to pay dues, according to police. The dues are $5 a week for members who don't sell drugs and $10 to $20 for those who do. The Latin Kings have their own prayers, religion, constitution and bylaws. The book outlining their code of conduct is hundreds of pages long. Members who don't follow the rules receive a brutal beating that can last up to five minutes.
"You are not to put God, religion, family or friends before the [Latin King] nation," reads one of the gang's rules.
Homosexuals, gamblers and users of hard drugs are not welcome, the rules also state. The sale of hard drugs, however, is allowed. "It's the most organized gang we've ever seen here," said James Jancewicz, an FBI agent with the Buffalo Safe Streets Task Force. "The Mafia has all kinds of traditions, but they aren't this structured." The Latin Kings are the targets of a crackdown by the task force and the U.S. attorney's office. In April, six alleged leaders of the gang's Buffalo chapter were indicted on drug-trafficking charges, and they face the possibility of long prison terms. More local members of the gang are subjects of a continuing investigation.Among the jailed men is Joseph J. "King G" Santiago, 43, of Newton Street, who was sent here from Rhode Island to take control of the Buffalo chapter, authorities say. He has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges that allege he ran drug deals from a house on Normal Avenue.
Despite the crackdown, the Kings and other street gangs continue to be influential on the West Side, where police and community leaders say young people are routinely recruited to join and become drug dealers. "We've heard about kids as young as six to eight years old who are hired to stand on a corner all day," said Robert Kuebler, who runs the Youth With A Purpose mentoring program at Holy Cross Catholic Church on Seventh Street. "If they see the police coming, their only job is to run and tell the drug dealers that '5-0' is on the way."
"The kids join gangs because the gang gives them something to belong to," said Juan "Nino" Acosta, an ex-convict who now runs a job-training program for young people on Seventh Street. "We have to give them jobs and skills, alternatives to the gangs." "There's more gang opportunity for these kids right now than there is job opportunity," said Jacob Corchado, a West Side electrician. "So you do the math."
The Latin Kings started as a social organization for Latinos in Chicago in the 1940s, according to the FBI. Over the decades, the organization morphed into a criminal gang that now has hundreds of chapters in cities and prisons throughout the nation.
One of the most powerful Latin Kings leaders was Luis "King Blood" Felipe, a convicted killer who formed the Almighty Latin King Nation of New York State in the 1980s while he was serving time in Collins Correction Facility in southern Erie County. "Many of the guys who were indoctrinated into the Latin Kings in prisons later came out and started their own chapters in the cities," Jancewicz said.
Felipe is now serving a life sentence in the nation's most high-security federal prison in Florence, Colo. He was convicted in 1997 of homicide and racketeering, including sending letters from prison that ordered Latin Kings on the outside to torture and murder people. He is still revered as a heroic, almost godlike figure by some members of the Latin Kings, authorities say. Recruiting young people in neighborhoods racked by poverty and unemployment, the Latin Kings have flourished since they made their big move into Buffalo in 2006. The gang has more than 50 members in Buffalo, according to the FBI and the State Police. "After the takedown in April, some of their members went around putting Latin Kings graffiti in different locations, just to let us know they are still around," Jancewicz said.
In court papers, the U.S. attorney's office alleges that the Buffalo Latin Kings have been heavily involved in drug trafficking, extreme violence and gun crimes.
Those allegations conflict with the views presented on the Latin Kings' official Web site. "While history has put Kings and Queens above the people, we The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation -- proudly wear our crowns as servants of the people," the organization states. "Though we strive for peace, may we always find strength to keep our swords sharp and our shields shiny." The group says it is dedicated to the causes of "evolution, righteousness and community upliftment."
"They use all kinds of flowery language to describe their good causes," Jancewicz said, "but the evidence shows they have been involved in drug-dealing and violence in city after city." The FBI Safe Streets Task Force also includes members of the State Police, Buffalo Police Department, Amherst Police Department, New York State Parole Division, Erie County Probation Office and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys George C. Burgasser and Kurt P. Martin are prosecuting the case. Acosta, 37, the founder of the Urban Community Corp. on Seventh Street, and Lourdes Iglesias, executive director of Hispanics United of Buffalo, are trying to provide opportunities for young West Side residents to better themselves without joining gangs.

Arrested by ICE agents earlier this week was Valentin Sierra-Martinez, a 20-year-old "Norteño-14" gang member. Arrested July 14 in Elgin, Ill., Sierra-Martinez is an illegal alien from Mexico with prior criminal convictions for residential burglary, domestic battery, possessing drug paraphernalia, and knowingly damaging property. He remains in ICE custody pending deportation to Mexico.
ICE agents also arrested 23-year-old Mauricio Vega-Cruz July 14 in West Chicago. Vega-Cruz, a self-admitted member of the 18th Street gang, was twice deported to Mexico in 2007 and illegally re-entered the U.S. He has criminal convictions in Arizona for misconduct involving weapons and drug paraphernalia, as well as arrests for drugs, aggravated assault, and discharging a firearm in city limits. Vega-Cruz remains in ICE custody pending removal to Mexico.
Of the 49 men arrested, 42 had criminal histories; some of their convictions and arrests include: drunken driving, drug possession, aggravated battery, burglary, theft, and domestic battery.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents here, in close partnership with local law enforcement officers, made 49 arrests in a four-day operation targeting illegal aliens with ties to violent street gangs in Chicago's northern and northwest suburbs this week. This is the latest joint local action of an ongoing national ICE effort to target foreign-born gang members.These arrests were made under an ongoing national ICE initiative called "Operation Community Shield," in which ICE partners with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to address the significant public safety threat posed by transnational street gangs. Partnerships with local law enforcement agencies are essential to the success of the initiative, and they help further ensure officer safety during the operations.
The multi-agency operation, which began Sunday night and ended Wednesday night, targeted foreign-born gang members and associates in the northern and northwest suburbs. Of the 49 arrested, 48 are Mexican nationals; one is from Guatemala. All are illegal aliens with the exception of one U.S. permanent resident whose criminal convictions make him eligible for deportation.Forty seven of those arrested are members or associates of the following gangs: Brown Pride, Imperial Gangsters, Insane Deuces, Latin Kings, Norteños-14, Sureños-13, and the 18th Street Gang. Two of those arrested had no known gang affiliations but are deportable because they are in the U.S. illegally.Nine of those arrested had been previously deported. It is a felony to re-enter the United States after being formally deported punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison."Street gangs pose a growing public safety threat to communities throughout this area," said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Chicago. "We will not tolerate violent gang activity in our communities, and will use all of our law enforcement tools to thwart criminal efforts of street gangs. Operation Community Shield shows how ICE works with our law enforcement partners to dismantle these criminal organizations and help protect our communities."ICE was assisted in the operation by the following local agencies: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the sheriffs' departments of Cook, Boone, DuPage and Winnebago Counties; and the police departments of Addison, Belvidere, Bensenville, Elgin, Franklin Park, Harvard, Mt. Prospect, West Chicago, Wheeling and Woodstock.Since ICE began Operation Community Shield in February 2005, more than 8,900 gang members belonging to more than 700 different gangs have been arrested nationwide. More information on Operation Community Shield is available at: http://www.ice.gov .