The Best Episodes of Gangland

A look at the white supremacist street gang based in Southern California, USA known as Public Enemy #1. The California Department of Justice in 2004 described it as “one of the most powerful and fastest-growing gangs inside and outside prison”.

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In 2003, the body of a pregnant, teenaged informant was found along the banks of the bucolic Shenandoah River. She'd been repeatedly stabbed - her head nearly severed. Brenda Paz had been supplying the authorities with first-hand accounts of MS-13's operations. Paz had been one of 3,000 MS-13 members in the Washington, DC area. The increasingly violent and fast-growing gang operates from the sleepy, middle-class suburbs ringing the city.

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Gangs have been in existence for as long as there have been humans. Daryl Gates, former Los Angeles Chief of Police suggests that there is something about human nature that draws many toward gangs-- the need for respect, security and acceptance. It makes little difference whether the country is totalitarian or democratic, whether the time is feudal or current.

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The Texas Syndicate. They are the most feared Tejano gang in the Lone Star State, yet few have heard of them. The Syndicate is managed like an elite business, with a reach that extends from behind prison walls to the far corners of Texas. They will break any law to generate revenue but the gang's bread and butter is drug trafficking for the Mexican cartels. Now Gangland unearths how the Texas Syndicate rose to power, and the destruction the left behind to get there.

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Florencia 13 (Sureños) of Los Angeles With an estimated 2500 members and powerful criminal connections, Florencia-13 or F-13 is L.A.'s largest and deadliest Hispanic gang. The gang is one of the oldest in L.A.'s notorious South-Central neighborhood. When rivals threaten to move in on their lucrative drug trade, they use any means necessary to protect their empire.

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Just east of LA are the wide open roads of San Bernardino County that are ruled by one gang - The Vagos. With more than 500 members, the Vagos are one of the largest and most deadly motorcycle gangs in the country. Their name, which means "traveling gypsy" in Spanish, strikes fear into the hearts of rivals.

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With a street army of over 1,000 strong, the Tri-City Bombers rule south Texas with an iron fist. The Bombers are known to smuggle drugs and weapons along the Texas/Mexico border to fund their illicit operations. The Hispanic gang defends this lucrative drug territory to the death.

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Logan Heights is the most notorious Hispanic street gang in San Diego. With over 400 soldiers, the gang outnumbers all of their enemies combined. Logan Heights makes its money selling marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines on the streets of the city. The gang has a storied history as the hit squad for one of the most feared drug organizations in the world, The Tijuana Cartel.

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The Tiny Rascal Gangsters, also known as the Tiny Rascal Gang or Tiny Rascals, was created in California during the middle 1980's. It was formed by Cambodian youth gang members and is presently considered the largest Asian Street gang in the United States.

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SUR-13 is one of the largest and deadliest Hispanic street gangs in Atlanta. They have been linked to crimes ranging from narcotics sales to cold-blooded murder. Originally hailing from Los Angeles, SUR-13 has spread across the United States, taking with them their lust for violence. Their mission is simple but deadly - eliminate all comers.

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American Gangster is the story of Frank Lucas and Leroy "Nicky" Barnes - their rise from street punks to the top of New York's 1970's high-flying drug market. The two men were considered the drug czars of Harlem at the height of the drug-fueled decade. Lucas and his gang "The Country Boys" claim to have smuggled heroin from Asia in the caskets of fallen American soldiers. Barnes, the leader of a cartel of African-American drug dealers called "The Council," made the cover of New York Times Magazine. The headline read "Mr. Untouchable." President Carter was so incensed, he personally ordered the Attorney General to go after him. The story is a violent, action-filled chronicle of Harlem and its kingpins.

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Nuestra Familia. As the predominant Hispanic gang in Northern California, Nuestra Familia, or NF is primarily a prison gang. Compared to other prison gangs, NF's numbers on the inside are relatively small, yet they distinguish themselves through discipline and fear. They have adopted the battle cry "blood in, blood out," and made their rules official, scribing a 50-page constitution laying out their bylaws. Among them, "an automatic death sentence will be put on family member that turns traitor, coward or deserter. " NF also have tens of thousands of loyal followers on the streets known as Nortenos or Northerners. The main rival of NF has always been the Mexican Mafia, with their followers being the Surenos or Southerners.

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Gangland takes a look at the Drugs and Prostitution rackets run by MS-13.

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Mongols MC was created in 1970 by a group of disaffected, Hispanic Vietnam veterans. Almost 40 years later, the Mongols have gone from being party-hearty outlaws to hell-bent gangsters: many that came directly from some of Southern California's most violent street gangs - creating a conflict of allegiance with the powerful Mexican Mafia.

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Through the 1980's, Chicago's most powerful street gang expanded at an unprecedented rate, with its membership eventually numbering some 30,000. When the city of Chicago wasn't enough territory, the gang spread to other cities throughout the Midwest, like Milwaukee. The GDs quickly gained control of smaller towns using the tried and true methods of fear, intimidation and violence. When the crack-cocaine epidemic hit, the Gangster Disciples were ready to take full advantage. The GD organization operated much like a Fortune 500 company, raking in profits estimated at one hundred-million dollars a year. In 1995, however, everything changed. A federal indictment took down 40 leaders of the Gangster Disciples, including the Chairman of the Board, Larry Hoover. After that, it was every man for himself. Through the eyes of Gangster Disciples we watch the rise and fall of a drug empire as greed and violence wash over an army of Gangsters.

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Cloaked in secrecy and bound by their Hmong ancestry, Menace of Destruction is one of America’s most notorious and violent street gangs. The gang has turned the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul into a battleground.

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Dead Man Incorporated," or "DMI" is an ultra-violent prison gang that has become the biggest threat in the Maryland State penal system. In just ten years, the gang has grown to include more than 14,000 members and can now be found across the country. DMI enforces strict rules and maintains an air of secrecy.

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The East Coast Crips are on a mission to prove they're tougher than their West Coast counterparts by terrorizing the streets of NYC. Crips on the East Coast employ brutal, in-your-face violence, decimating anyone who stands in their way. Their unique brand of violence includes slashing the faces of their victims, leaving them permanently disfigured.

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Gang: New Mexican Mafia of Phoenix In the "Valley of the Sun," the ruthless Arizona New eMe own the streets. Formed in the 1980's as a prison gang, they've spread across the state and they're turning a big profit from drug sales. The New eMe take pride in their Mexican heritage, showing their allegiance with tattoos that signify their Aztec roots. Those who dare oppose New eMe are left in pools of their own blood.

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Gang: Black Mafia Family of Atlanta, GA In Atlanta, the Black Mafia Family, or BMF, controls the street flow of cocaine. The gang throws its cash around the hottest nightclubs in the city. The gang's charismatic leader, Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory, plays the dual role of a tough, street-minded gangster as well as a music promoter. The Feds have been after BMF for years, but the gang has always managed to stay one step ahead.

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During the late 1990's, the New York Metropolitan area was plagued by the random violence of a new breed of street gang: The United Blood Nation. Created in 1993 by Rikers Island inmate, Omar Portee, the UBN emulated the Bloods street gang on the West Coast, but was more randomly violent. Portee formed the UBN in an effort to unite the African-American prisoners against Hispanic gangs like the Latin Kings. Better known as "OG Mack," Portee led the UBN from behind prison walls, and eventually on the streets of New York. By the mid 1990's, like an epidemic, the Bloods had taken over the tri-state area, which had historically belonged to the Latin Kings. By the year 2000, the Bloods were the most violent gang on the East Coast- and OG-Mack became known as the Godfather of the East Coast Bloods.

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Chicago's second-largest Latin gang, The Maniac Latin Disciples rule the northwest side of Chicago. Since their beginning in the early 1960's, the MLD's have grown so big, that in 2005, the US Attorney for Illinois, Patrick Fitzgerald, testified before Congress that the Disciples should be considered a "super gang." The gang has had to rely on strong leadership to control the thousands of foot soldiers on the streets. Revenge and betrayal are characteristics of the MLD's and the streets are battlefields for rival Hispanic gangs. Gangland takes you inside the twisted world of the MLD's.

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Throughout the early 1990's, a war waged behind the scenes between the two largest motorcycle gangs in America - the Outlaws and the Hells Angels. The Outlaws traditionally made the Midwest their stronghold but now the Angels were pushing into their territory and courting another regional club, the Hell's Henchmen, to join them. The Outlaws responded viscously and decisively. By the time the war ended bikers from all three clubs had been murdered and the third largest car bomb in US history had exploded on a crowded Chicago street during rush hour. Federal and local law enforcement began vigorously pursuing the Outlaws culminating in successful prosecutions that exposed the violent world of these notorious 1%er's. Within a decade, two international presidents would be serving life sentences and Outlaws members could be found on both the FBI and ATF's most wanted sites. For a while, it seemed the Outlaws Motorcycle Club would fade from relevance but recent arrests this year - and continuing investigations - show that they are still functioning and once again expanding their influence through blood and violence around the world.

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"Crip or Die" exposes one of the most infamous and brutal street gangs- The Crips. The gang started as a rag-tag group of youth on LA's Eastside and quickly grew into a terrorizing force in South Central. Today, the Crips are the largest black gang in LA with over 10,000 members. Gang members give an inside look at the lifestyle called Crippin' where it is survive or die--kill or be killed.

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History explores that world of La Gran Familia (LGF), a violent crime syndicate of five Hispanic gangs that terrorized the streets of metro Atlanta. Through interviews with gang members, law enforcement officials, and a confidential informant, this episode reveals the life, history, and current state of Atlanta's most notorious gang, LGF.

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