Rico Granados, Godfather of the Mexican Mafia (1957-1960)
The Mexican Mafia, also called La Eme (Spanish for M, short for "Mafia") is a group of Hispanic organized crime groups that operate in California and Florida in the USA, as well as in Mexico. They were founded in 1957 in the Deuel Vocational Institution in California by 13 Mexicans, and have expanded to control the border regions between Mexico and the USA, and also have a presence in Italy as well as other areas in Europe. There are 300 made men and 990 associates worldwide. They are allies with Sureños, Armenian Power, Mara Salvatrucha, Aryan Brotherhood, New Mexico Syndicate, Marina family, Nazi Lowriders, and 18th Street Gang. They are enemies of the Mongols MC, Nuestra Familia, Norteños, Black Guerilla Family, Arizona's New Mexican Mafia, Black Street Gangs (Crips, Bloods, etc.) Ñetas, Latin Kings, and Korean gangs.
History[]
Mexican Mafia tattoo
The first Mexican gang, the Varrio Viejo Gang, was founded in 1957 by Rodolfo Cadena, a Chicano gangster in Los Angeles. It was made up of 13 prisoners at the Deuel Vocational Institution, who called themselves "La Eme", short for "Mafia" ("Eme" is the Spanish word for the letter M). The first real Mafia organization, however, was the Granados crime family, founded by Rico Granados, who based his organization in Miami, Florida and Havana, Cuba. That organization specialized in pornography, construction, guns, drugs, and whatever Rico could put his hands on; legends said that he buried a body under every house that he built. The Granados were wiped out in 1960, but by this time, many Mexican Mafia families and gangs had formed. They forced the Sureños and Vagos to pay them protection, while they made enemies with Norteños because of their affiliation to the Nuestra Familia gang, which in turn was at war with the Varrio Viejo Gang since the 1960s. The La Eme were later influenced by people such as Montoya Santana, Arturo Guzman Decena, and Martin Madrazo, among others.
Families[]
- Granados crime family
- Varrio Viejo Gang
- Los Zetas
- Madrazo Cartel
- Guzman Cartel
- Beltran-Leyva Cartel
- Guadalajara Cartel
- Tijuana Cartel
- Sinaloa Cartel
- Juarez Cartel
- Marina crime family
- Contreras Cartel
- Gomez Cartel
- Alvarez Cartel
- Onza Cartel
- Topete Cartel
- Encinas Cartel
- La Eme