MEXICAN MAFIA
by insideprison., May 2006
One of the first prison gangs to develop in the United States,
the Mexican Mafia began in 1957 in California. In 1993, San Antonio
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Jeff Jamar called El Eme, often now
the name given to the gang on the street, "the most dominant
of the prison-spawned gangs operating in Texas," when comparing
it to the 10 other large-scale gangs active in US prisons at the
time. In 1992, membership within prison was hovering at 700, while
in 1998 it was just under 1,500. Today it continues to rise. Outside
of prison, La EME is still an ominous presence, responsible for
10% of San Antonio''s total homicide rate, and an estimated 30,000
total members across the United States.
While California and Texas prisons house high numbers of both the
California branch and Texas branch of the Mexican Mafia, the two
states' respective prison gangs are not officially linked. While
they both operate by the same broad title, the Texas branch identifies
itself as "Mexikanemi," (Soldiers of Aztlan), or La EMI,
while the California branch identifies itself as La EME. In addition,
southern California's branch of the Mexican Mafia calls itself the
Surenos (or Sur-13), as opposed to the Nuestra Familia's subdivision in northern
California, the Nortenos.
The Texas chapter of the Mexican Mafia was founded in a Huntsville
prison in 1984 by Heriberto "Herbie" Huerta. Huerta was
serving three life terms for murder conspiracy and racketeering
when he was given permission by the California chapter to establish
his own branch in Texas. Huerta also wrote the constitution that
is followed by members to this day, and continues to collect and
manage revenue generated by criminal activities. Huerta's prison
bank account held $8,000 in 2002, the result of a 10% tax called
the "dime" that is collected by drug earnings made on
Mexican Mafia turf on the outside.
Objectives
As a previous spiritual leader of the Mexikanemi Science Temple
of Aztlan, Huerta followed a pre-Hispanic creed that related his
desire to establish a legitimate network built on "character,"
and an emphasis of love over hate. However, the actual objective
of the Mexican Mafia is to earn money through criminal operations.
The Mexican Mafia's Constitution, which outlines all
aspects of criminal organization and enterprising, was recently
described in the San Antonio Express-News, citing a prosecution's
address to the jury during a 2005 trial:
"the Mexican Mafia is a 'criminal organization' that works
'in any criminal aspect or interest for the benefit and advancement
of Mexikanemi. We shall deal in drugs, contract killings, prostitution,
large-scale robbery, gambling, weapons and everything imaginable."
It goes on to declare that the only punishment approved by the
organization is death.
Location
The Mexican Mafia's headquarters are located in San Antonio, but
its members reach across several jurisdictions, including California,
Arizona, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Houston, Dallas, and Midwestern
and southern Texas.
Structure and Organization
According to law enforcement, the Mexican Mafia follows a strict
hierarchy and a rigid set of "by-laws." The organization has
a written constitution outlining all aspects of its criminal organization
and enterprising. As covered in the San Antonio Express-News, citing
a 2005 trial, the Mexican Mafia "shall deal in drugs, contract
killings, prostitution, large-scale robbery, gambling, weapons and
everything imaginable." The constitution also stipulates, as
most prison gangs do today, that gang members released from prison
become "free world soldiers" required to serve the gang's
economic interest by dealing in drugs, racketeering, and prostitution
on the outside . These recent parolees, generally termed "wolfpacks"
by both the Mexican Mafia and the Nuestr Familia carry messages to gang leaders on the outside.
According to Robert Fong (1990), the Mafia's Constitution outlines
12 principal rules.
- Membership is for life, meaning "blood in, blood out."
- Every member must be prepared to sacrifice his life or take
another's life at any time when required
- Every member shall strive to overcome his weakness to achieve
discipline within the MEXIKANEMI brotherhood
- Never let the MEXIKANEMI down
- The sponsoring member is totally responsible for the behavior
of the new recruit. If the new recruit turns out to be a traitor,
it is the sponsoring member's responsibility to eliminate the
recruit
- When disrespected by a stranger or a group, all members of the
MEXIKANEMI will unite to destroy the person or the other group
completely
- Always maintain a high level of integrity
- Never release the MEXIKANEMI business to others
- Every member has the right to express opinions, ideas, contradictions
and constructive criticisms
- Every member has the right to organize, educate, arm, and defend
the MEXIKANEMI
- Every member has the right to wear the tattoo of the MEXIKANEMI
symbol
- The MEXIKANEMI is a criminal organization and therefore will
participate in all aspects of criminal interest for monetary benefits
(Constitution of the Mexican Mafia of Texas).
The Mexican Mafia operate on a paramilitary structure, complete
with a president, vice president, and numerous generals, captains,
lieutenants and sergeants. Below these high-ranking members are
soldiers, also known as "carnales," as well as suppliers
and associates, all of whose activities are overseen by the generals.
Only one general operates in the federal prison system, while another
one operates in the state prison system. The state general appoints
a committee of lieutenants and captains who command prison units
across the entire state.
With the exception of sergeants, all positions of MM members
are elected on leadership and negotiative capabilities. All members
cast 1 vote each in order to enact proposals into decisions, and
all decisions must meet unanimous approval. Contract killings
of fellow Mexican Mafia members require volunteers. If no members
volunteer, names are drawn. For killings requiring one executioner,
any member who draws the number 1 will be designated as the killer;
and for killings requiring more than one, members who draw 2,
3, and so on will also be assigned killing duties. In reality,
however, many contract killings are implemented without unanimous
support, usually by unit lieutenants abusing their power.
In contrast to the Texas Syndicate, the Mexican Mafia have no
safeguards to constrain intra-gang conflict. While the Texas Syndicate
avoids conflict within its ranks by reverting even high-ranking
Mafia members automatically back to the status of solider once
these members get reassigned to a different prison unit, the Mexican
Mafia preserves rank in all situations.
Member recruitment is loosely based on the "homeboy connection,"
an informal, long-standing relationship between the recruit and
an active gang member. After this connection is established and
made known, a "background check" is performed by unit
chairmen, who look into the prospective member's history to ensure
he has no prior law enforcement or informant connections. If he
passes this test, a unanimous vote will determine his acceptance
into the organization. If he does not pass this test, he is often
forced to pay protection fees, or is coerced into prostitution
within the prison. In some cases, acceptance into the Mexican
Mafia only comes after members have been rejected first by the
Texas Syndicate. In this context, the Texas Syndicate's level
of recruitment-selectivity will thus indirectly determine the
number of new recruits entering La EME.
Mafia Members must also pass "loyalty tests," such
as committing theft, fraud, "approved," or murder. When
rules are violated, retaliation is swift and certain. After the
1997 botched robbery of a West French Place residence, two of
the participating gang members were found dead by police shortly
after. Robert de los Santos, who was found dumped on the side
of a road in Bexar County, had been choked, stabbed, and run over
by a car, while Adam Tenorio was found stabbed to death a week
later. As the Mafia's constitution states: "Any member of
Mexikanemi, no matter if he be president, vice president, general,
captain, lieutenant, sergeant or soldier, who violates the rules
of Mexikanemi must pay and suffer the consequences." In addition
to the reasons given for the contract killings of Santos and Tenorio,
four general principles in the organization's constitution also
exist as guidelines for retaliation: members cannot:
- be informants
- be homosexual
- be cowards or
- show disrespect against fellow members.
Violation of these rules will result in disciplinary action.
The murder contract is known among members as "bringing
down the light," and while it was once a requirement for
serious violations only, it is now used superfluously with even
minor infractions, such as disputes over $80 dope deals. Murders
between members must be first approved in a vote by 3 members,
but murders between a member and a nonmember require no prior
rubber-stamp.
The Mexican Mafia's "trademark" contract-murder known
among law enforcement officials consists of kidnapping, gagging,
and binding the informant or violator with duct-tape before putting
several bullets into the back of the head. The body is usually
wrapped in a blanket and tossed into a remote rural section of
the county. Such ritual was reported in 1997, when gang members,
during a botched robbery attempt on West French Place, blindfolded
and duct-taped 5 people and shot them multiple times in the back
of the head.
As of 1998, heroin supplied the organization with most of its
drug profits as well as personal use for its members. Drug-trafficking,
which makes up the bulk of the organizations total earnings, is
usually secured through correctional-staff channels into and out
of prison. Guards willing to supply the gang drugs within the
prison are given a 40% cut of the profit. Only resignation from
the Department of Corrections is sufficient to terminate the guard's
relationship with the Mexican Mafia.
In 1993 the Mexican Mafia signed a nonaggression pact with its
historic prison-gang rivals, the Texas Syndicate. This was an
important event in the development of these two prison gangs.
In 1985, for example, the Texas Syndicate declared war on the
Mexican Mafia and murdered four of its prison members. The Texas
Department of Corrections responded by immediately placing both
groups of members in separated confinement, with assaultive members
housed in security detention group A and non-assaultive members
in security detention group B. After such administrative segregation
became an accepted means of quelling gang-related prison disturbances,
segregation populations almost doubled in under 2 years. In any
event, the 1993 truce suggested the beginning of a more powerful
prison gang, and a larger challenge for law enforcement.
Leaders
In 1993 FBI agents arrested Heriberto "Herbie" Huerta
in his cell at Leavonworth, where he was just finishing a 22 year sentence
for cocaine possession. Huerta, who is believed to be president
for the prison gang, despite his terminal sentence in a Colorado
prison, was charged that year directing criminal operations from
within his prison cell.
As of 2003, Carlos Rodriguez was the most recent vice president,
but in June he was shot to death by two men with AK-47 assault
rifles while he was idling in his Corvette on San Antonio's West
Side. Before Rodriguez was vice-president Doroteo "Teo"
Torres Rangel, who was assassinated in his West Side garage following
reports that he had fallen "out of favour" with Huerta.
Although now deceased, Jose Vega "Chepo" Hernandez was
a major player in the Mexican Mafia, as well.
Gang general Robert "Beaver" Perez is now on death
row for separate murders, including the botched robbery attempt
in 1997 that left 5 people dead. He was also considered to be
a powerful leader of the organization.
Communication and Symbols
The Mexican Mafia's primary symbol, which members display in
tattooed insignias, is the national symbol of Mexico, an eagle
and a snake, on a flaming circle, lying on crossed knives. In
prison, Mexican Mafia members communicate by conducting meetings
in the prison yard, sending messages out of prison through visitors
or parolees, and using small notes called "kites." Sometimes,
unique alphabets are used, or periods are aligned with letters
and combined to come up with a phrase or sentence, often times
a contract hit identifying someone's name.
Communication within units is usually achieved verbally. Communication
between units is achieved through visitations, prison transportation
and prison bus, and US mail, the latter of which usually employing
hidden codes and secret patterns within letters or words. For
instance, some correspondences will employ a letter-numbering
system, where "a" might equal 5, b=4, c=8, d=2, e=6,
and so on. Numbers interspersed throughout the message will then
be matched with their corresponding letter, until a phrase is
spelled out, such as "hit Major Thompson."