The Barrio Azteca is a prison gang that is based in the United States of America; specifically in Texas. The prison gang was established in the year 1986. History has it that the Barrio Azteca prison gang was formed by five incarcerated Hispanic Street gang members (Valdez 376). They formed the gang as a way to protect themselves from other rival gang members whose propensity to harass them was very high.
The reason why most gangs are formed is to protect the members from other gangs; such was the case with the Barrio Azteca (Valdez 376). In as much as the Barrio Azteca is a prison gang that is based in Texas, it is also deemed to be a transnational gang since they influence a great deal of illegal activities on an international basis. Their activities are also influenced internationally (Valdez 376).
Perhaps the reason why the Barrio Azteca prison gang is considered to be a United States based group is due to the fact that they are found in many states within the country. These states include West Virginia, Arkansas, Virginia, Alabama, Texas, California, Tennessee, Colorado, South Carolina, Kansas, Florida, Hawaii, and Georgia (Valdez 376). This gang is known to carry out crimes like theft of motor vehicles, breakages, and minor robberies. In addition to that, many of these gang members have been incarcerated due to human trafficking, homicide, and arson all over the United States of America (Valdez 378). What specifically makes the Barrio Azteca a United States based gang is the fact that most of their criminal acts are carried out within the United States.
It is worth mentioning that the Barrio Azteca is also deemed to be an international i.e. transnational gang. This is because some of their members are known to reside within Mexico. The members of Barrio Azteca prison gang are known to smuggle drugs such as bhang, cocaine, and heroine within the United States of America; these drugs are sourced from Mexico and passed across the border illegally. The bhang, cocaine, and marijuana trafficked by gang members is courtesy of the Mexican cartels who are usually in charge of doling out supplies to middle men. The Carillo-Fuentes drug trafficking organization based in Mexico has been known to be the main cartel that supplies its drugs with the help of the Barrio Azteca (Valdez 377). The members of the Barrio Azteca play a huge role when it comes to bringing hard drugs into the United States; this is because they have direct links with major suppliers via famous border routes like El Paso- Juarez corridor (Valdez 377).
The reason why the Barrio Azteca prison gang members are deemed to be both a transnational gang and a United States based prison gang is because they command a wide presence in the states alone and in countries outside the U.S.; more so Mexico. The above mentioned classification made the gang members to stand out in relation to the trafficking of drugs. With such direct links they have been known to have, members of the gang have been able to successfully participate in drug dealing minus any disruptions; they have also been lucky to have a myriad suppliers of drugs. What's more, the gang has also managed to make alliances with other gangs that have common interests as their gang (Valdez 377-378).
Works Cited
Delgado, Manuel Ruben. The Last Chicano: A Mexican American Experience. AuthorHouse, 2009.
Maitra, Dev Rup. "An Exploratory Study of Prison Gangs in Contemporary Society." Global Perspectives on Youth Gang Behavior, Violence, and Weapons Use (2016): 215.
Shirk, David A. "A Tale of Two Mexican Border Cities: The Rise and Decline of Drug Violence in Juárez and Tijuana." Journal of Borderlands Studies 29.4 (2014): 481-502.
Tapia, Mike. "San Antonio’s Barrio Gangs: Size, Scope, and Other Characteristics." Deviant Behavior 36.9 (2015): 691-704.
Territory, U. S. "Mexican Mafia."
Valdez, Al, and Rene Enriquez. Urban Street Terrorism: The Mexican Mafia and the Sureños. Police and Fire Publishing, 2011.
Yoo, Christopher S. "Constitutionality of Enjoining Criminal Street Gangs As Public Nuisances." Nw. UL Rev. 89 (1994): 212.
