Ñetas
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| Ñetas Association | |
| In | Oso Blanco Prison |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Carlos Torres Irriarte |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Territory | Puerto Rico East Coast United States. |
| Ethnicity | Puerto rican |
The Ñetas Association (Spanish language Asociación Ñetas, or simply Ñetas) is the name of an organization or gang of convicts in Puerto Rican prisons.
The Ñetas, ("new birth"), began around 1979 in the Oso Blanco Prison, located in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico[citation needed]. They formed as a mutual protection group, ostensibly to defend themselves against another prison gang called "G'27" ("group 27"), or the "Insects"[citation needed].
The organization was started by Carlos Torres Irriarte, who went by the name La Sombra, ("the shadow")[citation needed]. He professed to believing that the rights of inmates were being violated by prison officials. On March 30, 1981, Irriarte was shot in the chest, most likely by the "Insects"[citation needed].
The Ñeta are said to yell the word "Ñeta" three times on special occasions, including the birth of a child, and every 30th day of the month to honor the passing of Irriarte[citation needed].
Some reports claim Neta originated In 1980, while others claim it was founded earlier, perhaps in the 1970s sometime[citation needed]. It was originally founded in Oso Blanco Prison, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, then also known as "Asociacion Pro-Derecho Al Confinando." It then spread to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut[citation needed].
Carlos Torres, who had allegedly lived in poverty and gotten in trouble since he was a young boy had intentions of forming the gang since 1974, and eventually succeeded while an inmate at Oso Blanco prison in 1980[citation needed]. However, Torres never was able to witness the rise of the gang that would within a few years become the largest prison gang in Puerto Rico, and he died in prison in 1981[citation needed]. Fellow alleged member John Rodriguez said that Torres created Neta to further the rights of prisoners and "extended his efforts to help his fellow inmates understand the fight for Puerto Rican independence and other abuses that were committed against our communities" (11 February 2003, EFE News Service)[citation needed].
The gang split into two factions in 1995, one following the original ideals of founder Carlos Torres and the other going independent. Recently, however, efforts by members to reunite the estranged factions has begun to increase[citation needed].
According to the EFE News Service, the gang attempts to promote the rights of prisoners and "help fellow inmates understand the fight for Puerto Rican independence and other abuses that were committed against our communities" (11 February 2003 EFE News Service). Much of the work by faithful members involves teaching Hispanic culture and education, some of which includes experiences from inside prison, and many members claim they are strictly part of an inmate-rights group. Like most culturally-based street and prison gangs, Ñetas have reportedly become the voice of marginalized, Latino youth, and actively recruits teenagers from streets across the country. However, members insist it be called an "organization" rather than a gang. Perhaps many of their activities do fit into this category, but the stigma generated by a handful of aggressors sheds the gang of any legal credibility[citation needed].
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Pamela Chen, quoted in the New York Post in 2001, "The Neta women's role [in prison], traditionally, was to take care of the inmates, collect funds and do public service." According to ... the Neta's "Code" does not include killing, unlike the codes of many other major prison and street gangs.
According to the New Jersey Department of Corrections, the Ñetas lack a hierarchy, and thus remain a loosely connected group of individually run gangs (26 April 2005 The Daily Journal).
