Under orders from the Mexican Mafia, Florencia 13 gang members allegedly patrolled their neighborhood to "cleanse" it by assaulting and killing members of rival black gangs.
At the same time, the Latino gang also allegedly sold large quantities of drugs, and in some cases, guns, to blacks, including Crips gang members.
This complex and contradictory picture of underworld life in which race, drugs and gangs collide emerges from four federal indictments announced last month against Florencia 13. It also highlights a basic principle of the street: Money trumps all.
"Gang boundaries fade when the color green comes into play," said Assistant U.S. Atty. Peter Hernandez, who is prosecuting what is believed to be the largest federal case ever against a Southern California gang.
In all, 102 people -- mostly members of Florencia 13, based in Huntington Park and the Florence-Firestone neighborhood -- are charged with illegal drug and weapons sales as well as conspiracy and racketeering.
Also among those indicted, prosecutors said, are 13 black men believed to be Crips who are alleged to have regularly bought large quantities of drugs from Florencia dealers.
The case illustrates the influence of the Mexican Mafia prison gang -- also known as Eme, the letter M in Spanish -- on Latino street gangs and race relations in some of the Southern California neighborhoods they terrorize.
Although most Eme members have been locked away in maximum security in Pelican Bay State Prison for decades, they remain feared and admired by many Latino gangs. They order younger gang members to do their bidding or face reprisals if they go to prison, authorities said. The edicts include murder, extortion, taxing drug dealers and warring with blacks, violence that has often spilled over gang lines and taken the lives of innocent victims.
The federal indictments also display the limits of Eme influence. Orders allegedly issued by an Eme member in prison were at times trumped by the greed of drug dealers and the personal relationships they have with customers, according to authorities and court documents.
Many of the Latino and black gang members indicted had grown up together in the Florence-Firestone area.
"They'd played sports with them and went to school" together, said John Torres, head of the Los Angeles office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, whose agents led the investigation. "They'd ignore the Eme orders because of the relationships."
