Sureños, The future face of Arizona Prison Gangs

Prison gangs, like street gangs have existed inside the correctional facilities since the 1960’s. They erupted in the 80’s and control most of the prisons in the millennium today. Thriving well in an overcrowded under-staffed prison environment, they are secretly building alliances with other street/prison gangs to make their presence stronger and their deeds more powerful and violent.

There are many prison experts that will tell you these prison gangs are isolated from the streets when in fact they are very well connected with those that carry an umbrella that covers many different gangs under one system of control. They are so powerful, it is believed 90 per cent of violence is gang related. The most notorious of such umbrella groups is the gang affiliate known as the Sureño-related gangs, an umbrella term that describes loosely affiliated members who trace their origins to Southern California. 

How do the Sureños impact the new face of Arizona prisons when their primary geographical location is Southern California you ask? These Sureños are closely related to the prisoners’ families in Arizona as well as many prisoners incarcerated by the Bureau of Prisons that is a national federal prison system that spans every state in the union and offers recruitment opportunities from every walks of life for a Hispanic group or individual to join them. 

Primarily thought of being a part of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, they have expanded exponentially to include other smaller street groups to bring their membership to a strength sufficient to protect themselves from any other gang almost anywhere in the country and whether the conflict is inside or outside prisons.

Today they are actively seeking membership of the New Mexican Mafia in Arizona prisons to expand their business plan related to drugs, prostitution, gang warfare, contraband and extortions and other unlawful businesses in Arizona as it is primed for gang opportunities due to its proximity to the border. 

Their natural enemies are the Nuestra Familia and other northern California gangs reaching all the way north to Washington State. Both gangs originated in different California prisons and both have a standing “green light” to kill each other on sight. 

The main goal for the Sureños is to recruit and build a power base inside Arizona prisons as well as prisons in Colorado and Texas as part of the Southwest region prison systems.  

The threat today is the fact that these Sureños have a Mexico-based criminal presence in drug trafficking and outdoor marijuana grow activity. The report states that the Sinaloa cartel — thought to be the most powerful of Mexican cartels — is particularly active in Southern California, where it coordinates with Sureño street gangs as  allies.

Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/07/19/3160134/gangs-history-of-gang-activity.html#storylink=cpy