Sureños

The Sureños (Spanish for Southerners ) are a group of Latin American street gangs that originated in the barrios of Southern California.

Emergence and dissemination

Although the Sureños in Southern California are located, they have an impact on many parts of the U.S. and other countries. The roots of the band lie in a dispute at the beginning of the 1950s in prison between the Mexican Mafia (La Eme ) and Nuestra Familia of ( NF). Those who had teamed up with NF, moved to Northern California ( Norteños = northerners ). In addition to the Southern California Sureños appear in more than 20 U.S. states ( mainly in the southwest and in the Central States and rather rare in Central California and Northern California ). The largest amount of Sureños there are in Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County and the Inland Empire region. Norteños appear mostly in the northern parts of California, but also in the southwest and in the Central States. From criminological perspective, they are mainly in the drug trafficking and related offenses involved. As a " border town " between the territories of Sureños and Norteños is considered to Bakersfield.