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National Gang Intelligence Center |
Approximately 5,297 gangs with nearly 111,000 members are criminally active in the Southwest Region, according to 2008 NDTS data and local law enforcement reporting. (See Figure 11.) Also according to NDTS data, the percentage of state and local law enforcement agencies in the Southwest Region that report gang activity in their jurisdictions increased from 52 percent in 2004 to 63 percent in 2008. According to interviews with local law enforcement officers, gangs are responsible for as much as 60 percent of crime in some communities in the Southwest Region. The most significant gangs operating in the region are Barrio Azteca, Latin Kings, Mexikanemi, Tango Blast, and Texas Syndicate. (See Appendices B and C.)
Figure 11. Southwest Region gang membership by county.
Gang-related trends:
- Gangs are increasingly conducting cross-border criminal activities such as the trafficking of illegal aliens and drugs from Mexico into the United States.
- Many gangs have established sets in Mexico and maintain associations with local DTOs and Mexican DTO representatives.
- A number of gangs in the Southwest Region are smuggling firearms from the United States into Mexico as payment for drugs or to sell for a significant profit.
Predictive NGIC/NDIC intelligence:
- Prison and street gangs in the Southwest Region will continue to develop and strengthen their ties to Mexican DTOs. Mexican DTOs may allow gangs to assume a larger role in wholesale drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border and in wholesale distribution within the Southwest Region. Doing so would reduce the risks that Mexican DTOs face from U.S. law enforcement.
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