The EME began preying on weaker Chicano inmates in the mid-1960's which some felt was against the "Chicano Pinto Power" and inmate protection thing they started out as. Most of the problems date back to the California prison system and arose from conflicts between inmates affiliated with La EME (many who were from East L.A.) and EME dropouts and inmates who were originally from Northern California. The catalyst and big event it all started over was a fight over a pair of shoes with the L.A. guys treating the Northern guys like "Farmers" and a bunch of "Busters" and disrespecting them. To this day, Nortenos call Southerners "SURats".
Robert "Babo" Sosa was elected "Nuestro General" in the 1970’s, but he was not the original founder of the "Nuestra Familia Mexicana", "Familia Cinco", or "Blooming Flower". Sosa's followers revamped the "Structure" of the "Organization", revised the "NF Constitution", and created "14 Rules". There was a RICO trial against Sosa and his Captains, including "Death Row" Joe Gonzales, and he was impeached. Later, his successors under "Black Bob" Vasquez and "Brown Bob" Viramontes reformatted the NF again and wrote the "XIV Bonds" at Folsom Prison and created the "Nuestra Raza". While the Fresno Regiment of the NF was big and the NF tried to control and tax drug dealers there during the 1970's, Fresno was not the first, nor the largest. By the early 1980's, much of the F-14 had already jumped off as the Fresno Bulldogs which is why NF call them "Bullfrogs".
After the Nuestra Familia came to power in the late 60’s, Norteno inmates used the letter "N" to symbolize their allegiance to the North, since "N" is the 14th letter (XIV) of the alphabet. The NF chose red since La EME had adopted the color blue and SUR 13. Years ago, before the Crips and the Bloods, the state prison system gave out either blue or red bandanas. The Nortenos took the red ones and "stole" the color and symbols of the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez who was big in Delano at the time. (California has named a state holiday after this great man and union organizer). Their official symbol is a sombrero with a machete. The EME uses a dagger and a Black Hand.
One must be careful! There has been a lot of misinformation about these groups, sometimes even the info put out by the gangsters themselves, and sometimes they just do not know the true history of their origins. In March of 1997, a Nuestra Raza member was killed execution-style near Castroville. His hands were arranged to show the 1-4 so everybody would know that it was serious business! The orders were believed to come down from the Pen because he refused orders to kill his brother who was an NR drop out. He also refused to do a hit on a gang worker in Salinas who was criticizing the NF/Norteno Movement. They are pulling bigger and bigger jobs such as when a NF Capt. from Lodi, CA (indicted on a RICO statute) was schooling the younger Norteno guys how to do "cowboy operation robberies" and "function". NF and Nortenos are big into drug dealing and have their own "NF banks" and communications systems even in the most secure prisons.
The NF has been the subject of several RICO trials but it has not fallen off the map. As it has so many times before, it has reformatted and has spread to other states; it remains a Security Threat Group. There have been many defectors, or drop-outs, in the NF over the years from the rank of General down to Soldier. In 2001, another RICO indictment was handed down against twenty-one members of the NF after "Operation Black Widow". All eventually pled guilty and the leaders were incarcerated in the Federal ADX at Florence, CO. The catalyst for the case were several previously unconnected homicides in Sonoma County in Northern California, after the NF ordered execution of longtime NF Captain "Mikeo" Castillo who was not "taking care of business", and the murder of former NF General "Brown Bob" Viramontes.
An NF is an NF until death as their oath states:
If I lead, follow me. If I hesitate, push me. If they (EME/SUR) kill me, avenge me. If I am a traitor, kill me!
GPS also teaches about Black gangs, Asian gangs, White Supremacists, and other Security Threat Groups. We have taught gang classes to many groups, including police, corrections, probation and parole officers, juvenile workers, schools, Job Corps, church groups, etc. if you are interested in our services. We look forward to hearing from you! Take care out there!
Gabe Morales
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Author/Trainer/Gang Specialist
Owner-Gang Prevention Services
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DISCLAIMER: This website and book are my own and in no way, shape, or form do they represent the views of any department, agency, or employer, past, present, or future. Webpage Last Updated March 1, 2006