18th Street Gang Graffiti |
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| Founded | 1960's[1][2] |
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| Years active | 1960's – present |
| Territory | Mostly in Los Angeles California, the western and southern areas of the United States, Mexico, and Central America |
| Ethnicity | Multiethnic |
| Membership | 65,000[3] |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, assault, arson, robbery, kidnapping, pandering, extortion, arms trafficking, human trafficking, theft, murder, racketeering, illegal immigration, illegal gambling, identity document forgery and fraud |
| Allies | Mexican Mafia, Hoover Criminals |
| Rivals | Bloods, Crips, Surenos, MS-13, Playboys gang |
18th Street gang, also known as M-18 or Mara-18, was originally part of Clanton 14 but wanted to make a separate clique called Clanton 18th Street and allow immigrants the opportunity to join. This proposal was rejected by the Clanton 14 which lead to the formation of the 18th Street gang. The two gangs have been bitter rivals ever since.[4] The 18th Street gang grew by expanding its membership to other nationalities and races, and it was among the first multiracial, multiethnic gangs in Los Angeles. It's considered to be the largest transnational criminal street gang in Los Angeles, California. It is estimated that there are thousands of members in Los Angeles County alone. Gang membership is estimated to be somewhere near 65,000 and they are active in 37 states.[5][6] There are approximately 200 separate individual autonomous gangs operating under the same name within separate barrios in the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, South Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, Pico Union, Inglewood, Cudahy, and Orange County, according to the latest figures from the NDIC. Their wide-ranging activities and elevated status have even caught the eye of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who recently initiated wide-scale raids against known and suspected gang members, netting hundreds of arrests across the country.
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The majority of 18th Street cliques operating throughout Southern California are the result of Los Angeles members migrating to other areas and establishing their own cliques. Members originally from Los Angeles tend to be more respected than those in other areas. Eighteenth Street has become the largest and fastest-growing gang in Oregon. Its members have tried to assert control over the state prison narcotics trade and are blamed for one of Salem’s worst gang slayings: A 15-year-old 18th Streeter, who wanted out, was gunned down by his homeboys.
In El Salvador, church leaders have been working to broker a truce between 18th Street and its rivals. Authorities from Honduras, meanwhile, recently visited Los Angeles seeking advice from law enforcement on the gang. 18th Street cliques have been identified in 32 states and the District of Columbia in the United States, as well as foreign countries such as Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Canada. Some cliques are: 54th Tiny Locos, Hollywood Gangsters, Tiny Diablos, Pico Gangsters, Bellflower, 106th Block, Grand View, Hoover, MacArthur Park, Smile Drive, Shatto Park, South Central, Rancho Park, Cudahy, Baby Locas (A Females Clique),Malditos in Orange Countyand the Fallen Angels.
18th Street gang members are required to abide by a strict set of rules. Failure to obey the word of a gang leader, or to show proper respect to a fellow gang member, may result in an 18-second beating, or even execution for more serious offenses.[7] According to the FBI, some factions of the 18th Street gang have developed a high level of sophistication and organization. The 18th Street gang is of Chicano origin and was formed by Mexican-American youth who were not accepted in the existing American gangs.
18th Street gang members often identify themselves with the number 18 on their jerseys and clothing. 18th Street will use the symbols XV3, XVIII, 666, 99,(9+9=18), and 3-dots in their graffiti and tattoos. 18th Street colors are black, blue, and gray. Blue is to represent Sureños, the gangs from the oldest barrios in Southern California, and black is to represent the original color for the gang. The 18th Street gang is occasionally referred to as the "Children's Army" because of its recruitment of elementary and middle-school aged youth.[8] In El Salvador it is common for members of the gang, to be tattooed on the face with a large "18". In many cases the tattoo covers the entire face.
"We recognize them as one of the most violent street gangs and one of the most prolific in the United States,” says Special agent George Rodriguez, who until his retirement this month oversaw investigations for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Cars are stolen and homes are burglarized by the gang routinely. On average, someone in Los Angeles County is assaulted or robbed by 18th Streeters every day. The gang has left a bloody trail of more than 250 homicides in the city of Los Angeles in the last 10 years — a pace three times that of many of the city’s most active gangs.
18th Street is a well established gang that is involved in all areas of street-crime. Some members have even become involved in producing fraudulent Immigration and Customs Enforcement identification cards and food stamps. Several 18th Street gang members have reached a higher level of sophistication and organization in their illicit activities than other gangs. While their main source of income is street-level distribution of cocaine and marijuana, they also have been linked to murders, murder-for-hire, assaults, arson, copyright infringement, drug trafficking, extortion, human trafficking, illegal immigration, kidnapping, vandalism, drug smuggling, people smuggling, prostitution, robbery, and weapons trafficking, as well as other crimes.[9] 18th Street Gang has also been implicated in the high-profile kidnapping and murder of the 16-year-old brother of internationally renowned Honduran soccer player Wilson Palacios.[10]
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| Notable accused officers | Victims | Coverup and investigation | Gang involvement | Other elements |
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