Essay On Latin American Gangs

When it comes to Latin American gangs that operate in multiple countries, many people may think of gangs such as the MS-13 or the Latin Kings. However, there is another gang that is just as violent and large as the ones that I have mentioned above, and they are known as the 18th Street Gang, or Barrio 18. As for colors, they wear blue, and as for symbols, they use the number 18, or they occasionally spell the number out using Roman numerals. We see traces of the gang originating as far back as the 1950’s, in Los Angeles, California, but the first official sightings of the gang are seen in the 1980’s in the same location, and gained attention in the Rodney King Riots that occurred in 1992. The gang now operates in the United States of America, Canada, Central America, and recently in Europe. There are no clear estimates on the exact number of members involved in the gang, but researchers do know that there are thousands of members across the territory in which they inhabit. Barrio 18 is currently becoming one of the largest youth gangs that law enforcement has to deal with. Since the gang is a youth street gang, we do not see many members over the age of thirty, instead, we see the ages of the members ranging from their early teens into their late twenties. The …show more content…
They commit crimes such as murder, kidnapping, extortion, and are they are also involved with the Zetas, which are a cartel. One positive thing about the gang is that in their list of rules, they firmly state the gang members are not allowed to rape women. As for alliances, they are allied with the Zetas Cartel, and most likely with other gangs that operate with the cartel. Barrio 18 has one major rival, and they are the MS-13. As we know, MS-13 is also a very violent and dangerous gang, not only in America, but in El Salvador as well. El Salvador has seen a multitude of blood spilling in their streets between the two