Maravilla

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Maravilla (Spanish: for "Marvel") are a group of Hispanic street gangs in the United States, which originated in the unincorporated areas of East Los Angeles, California. The largest known Maravilla gangs are the Hoyo Maravilla and Marianna Maravilla.^[1] Maravilla can be traced back to the early 1940s; which date back to the pachucos and zoot suits. Research still goes on as to the exact date or birth of the gangs, which may date back further than the 1930s. The Maravilla gangs that formed in East Los Angeles developed the most notorious reputation for their ruthless violence. As the number of street gangs grew, so did the tendency of these gangs to claim turf, and to settle their problems with action. Honor and respect among them came first, perceived and actual insults against a gang members were not to be tolerated, so intense rivalries formed among gangs. The Maravilla gangs today are as diverse and dissimilar as the ideologies and belief systems which influence and motivate them. However, in the prison system they are one united under the Maravilla flag.

During the 1990s, Maravilla gangs broke away from Sureños. The geographical dividing line between Sureños and Maravilla is in East Los Angeles. During 1993, the Mexican Mafia had a meeting to unite all the Southern California gangs under the Sureño flag, but said gangs were to be taxed (percentages of drug profits were compulsorily handed over to the Sureño leadership.)

Maravilla is regarded as one of the first gangs to refuse to pay taxes to the Sureños (declaring themselves tax-free) and the first to disaffiliate with the Sureños. The Mexican Mafia then gave them the "Greenlight", meaning that any Sureño must expeditiously attack them.

As of 2007, some Maravilla members will go on the mainline in the jail system. As opposed to before being incarcerated in their own modules, according to some sources, Maravilla no longer has the "Greenlight", although Sureños who live in areas surrounding Maravilla cliques still see them as enemies^{[citation needed]} and vice versa.

Maravillas are also found in suburban and rural areas of New Mexico, Texas and Nevada, as well as reported sets in Washington DC, Washington State, Arizona, Florida, and Mexico.

1 List of Maravilla Gangs
2 Mislabled Maravilla Gangs
3 Enemies
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 References

[edit] List of Maravilla Gangs

Marianna Maravilla (MMV)
El Hoyo Maravilla (HM, HMV)
Ford Maravilla (FMV)
Fraser Maravilla (FRMV)
Gage Maravilla (GMV,GBS)
High Times (Stoners) Maravilla (HTSMV,HTSMVP)
High Times (Stoners) Maravilla "M3" (HTSM3, HTSMV, HTSMVP) - Only active in Northern Washington
Juarez Maravilla (JM, JMV)
Kern Maravilla (KMV)
Lomita Maravilla (LMC)(LMVP)
Lopez Maravilla (LMV)
Lote Maravilla (LMR)
Maravilla Projects (MVP, MVPJS)
Maravilla Rifa (MVR)
Moeriya Maravilla (MYAMV)
Pomeroy Maravilla (PMV)
Rascals Maravilla (RX3MV),(RX3MVP)
Rock Maravilla (RMV)
Arizona Maravilla (AMV, AM,)

[edit] Mislabled Maravilla Gangs

Geraghty Loma Maravilla (GLM; not to be confused with the Greenlight Mafia) - no longer Maravilla, Geraghty Loma is a Sur gang that kicked out of maravilla for betrayal to them.
Kern Maravilla (KMV) - although they died out in East Los Angeles there are reported sets in Washington.
Maravilla Project Boys (MPBoys), (sometimes mislabeled by law enforcement as the Project Boys (of the) Maravilla (Projects Gang)) were a crew in the mid 1970s through the 1980s that resided within the Maravilla Housing Project proper. Though to the authorities they may have appeared to be a gang, they were mainly a social group with emphasis on playing sports against other neighborhood teams.

[edit] Enemies

Surenos

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The Los Angeles County Metro Rail Authority is naming the one of the Gold Line stations in that area of East Los Angeles "Maravilla". ^[2]
"13" seen in graffiti or in a tattoo signifies direct affiliation with Mexican Mafia/Sureños, as the 13th letter of the alphabet is M.
Local law enforcement labels everyone from Maravilla "Maravillains".
El Hoyo Maravilla is one of the oldest Maravilla Gangs dating back to the 40's. The Stoner click came up in the late 70's. They were known as Hoyo Mara Stoners (HMS) or the Hole Stoners when stoner gang were growing in Los Angeles, the High Times Stoners (HTS) was among these stoner gangs just like Mara Salvatrucha Stoners (MSS). According to them there are still members from their original stoners clicks
Lomita Maravilla (LMC) is the very first Maravilla gang started in the summer of 1939.
Ford Maravilla(FMV) original area was on Brooklyn Ave. which is now Caesar Chaves Avenue and Ford Boulevard which is now part of the 710 freeway.