The Mexican Mafia / by Tony Rafael

What originally began as a territorial street gang in the heart of Los Angeles in the fifties took only a few short years to become one of the largest, most heavily involved prison gangs in the world. The Mexican Mafia, as it's called, has been directly or indirectly responsible for thousands of homicides, literally hundreds every year in California alone; most of which have been authorized by long-term prison inmates and well-organized groups of incarcerated individuals. Operating largely outside the realm of public knowledge and too often projecting its influence beyond the scope of police authorities and corrections officials, the Mexican Mafia is centrally integrated within virtually all existing hispanic street gangs in California, controlling all aspects of drug trafficking and narcotics distribution through a vast network of street pushers and drug dealers.

Over time, the syndicate has evolved from a central entity to a multinational conglomerate, expanding its geographic domain and proliferating its operations beyond drug sales, extortion and murder and into illegal arms dealing, political strong-arming and police corruption. Underground journalist and long-time guerilla reporter Tony Rafael exposes the ins and outs of one of America's most notorious criminal enterprises, erasing all preconceived public notions about the street gang infrastructure and involvement (ex. prison mafia heads often orchestrate anti-drug, anti-gang campaigns within the same neighborhoods they infiltrate the most murders, drug deals and gang activity). In an age when awareness about the criminal element in our society couldn't be more prevalent, this in-depth case study provides a broadly revealing, eye-opening analysis of organized crime in the modern era. (364.1 RAFAEL)