The Eighteen St. Gang

In every school you have you’re ordinary cliques, the “geeks”, “class clowns”, “jocks” ect.  Also in life you have got your gangs. For example the “18th Street gang.”

Also know as the “Eighteen St.” it is Los Angeles Hispanic street gang. The 18th street gang is one of the biggest street gangs in the country estimated to have 20,000 members in only Los Angeles. The 18th Street was established in the Rampart area Of Los Angeles in the late 60s. The Eighteen St gang grew out of an older gang known as the “Clanton 14”. Now the Eighteen St gang is known as one of the most dangerous gangs in the country whom are getting more and more members. According to the Department of Justice an estimated 60% of the members are illegal immigrants.

They are known for producing fraudulent Immigration and Naturalization identification cards, occurrences of murder, murder-for-hire, drug dealing, extortion, vandalism, drug smuggling, weapons trafficking and the list goes on. However the reason for their popularity and success also has to do with their close relationship with the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. The 18th Street members can be identified by their tattoos, which is usually the number 18 either in roman numerals (XVIII, XVE) or 666 and 99. Also they are recognized by their theme song “I’m eighteen with a bullet.”

This gang is active throughout Canada, Peru, Mexico and ofcours the United States however most of the gangs activity is occurring in L.A. It is divided in five parts; North, South, West, East and South Central Los Angeles. The Eighteenth St. also has its rivals known as the Mara Salvatrucha, Florencia 13 and 38th Street Gang.

The Eighteen St. Gang is continuing to grow throughout the years and is spreading through all North America. Is there solution?