From Hells Angels to Medellín Cartel: 10 Notorious Gangs That Terrorized Streets and Troubled Authorities

Gangs: Institutions of Crimes

Gangs play a huge role in making a criminal establishment thrive in any area. "A criminal street gang is defined as an ongoing association of five or more persons that has as one of its primary purposes the commission of criminal offenses," the U.S. Department of Justice says. The gangs could be associated with a particular crime or could be involved in multiple ones. The groups attract individuals with a variety of promises and turn them into anti-social elements. The gangs create a sense of brotherhood and loyalty within each other, making it harder for law enforcement to crack them down. Here are ten of the most notorious gangs in the world that became a menace for authorities with their vicious actions.

1. Hells Angels

Ralph "Sonny" Barger, the president of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, defines the gang as "a bunch of fun-loving guys who just ride motorcycles," U.S. Office of Justice Programs reported. As per authorities the group is involved in much more than just fun camaraderie, and has been associated with murder; the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine; the distribution of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana; the purchase and sale of firearms; and other criminal activities. Several undercover operations have been undertaken over the years by authorities to understand the mechanism of this gang. Operation Black Biscuit in the early 2000s focused on the chapter headed by Barger. The results of the operation helped officials charge 16 high-ranking Hells Angels with murder, murder for hire, violation of the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) laws, and drug trafficking.

2. Gangster Disciples

Gangster Disciples was established by Larry Hoover in the 1970s, NGCRC reported. Hoover became a major player in the crime scene by increasing his influence in groups like "The Family" and the "Supreme Gangsters" in Chicago. This influence helped him put together Gangster Disciples. In 1978, when Hoover was behind bars, for a murder conviction he had enough power to allegedly manufacture an entire prison riot. Correction officers were killed in the riot, but no one dared to come forward and give a statement against Hoover or the gang. Throughout the '80s Hoover operated the gang from a minimum security prison, communicating with his members through visitors and phones. There were different positions within the gang starting from  "Chairman of the Board" to "Institutional Treasurer." The group worked as a well-oiled machinery. Hoover's federal sentence has made things difficult for the gang but they continue to remain active. 

3. The Purple Gang

Purple Gang terrorized Detroit authorities with their actions in the 1920s and 30s, Detroit Historical Society reported. The gang was controlled by the Burnstein brothers – Raymond, Joseph, Isadore, and Abraham. Most of the members were immigrants from Detroit’s Lower East Side. It is alleged that the name Purple Gang was given to the group by street vendors. After being attacked by the delinquents of the group the vendors described them as off-color, from which this name came into being. Initially, the group was just involved in hijacking alcohol smuggled by others across the Canadian border. They slowly elevated their actions, which reached their peak when they instigated the "Cleaners and Dyers War," a dispute between the cleaning industry and its union. In the 1920s, the group controlled all of Detroit’s underworld, including the gambling, liquor, and drug trade. The gang started to break apart in the 1930s when the group itself killed three members for double-crossing. By 1935, the gang had gone into oblivion with at least 18 members dead and others in prison.

4. 18th Street Gang

The 18th Street Gang came into being in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s in the Rampart District, Small Wars Journal reported. The gang formed because the criminal groups prevalent during that time in the area only admitted Mexicans. Youths of non-Mexican and mixed-race backgrounds came together to form this establishment. Since many of the original members lived near or on 18th Street, the group eventually began to be known by that name. The gang's open ethnic enrollment made it easy for the group to spread its influence far and wide in Los Angeles within no time. Almost 200 cliques operating in Southern California, have affiliations with the 18th Street Gang. The group participates in criminal activities like auto theft, carjacking, drive-by shooting, drug sales, arms trafficking, extortion, rape, murder, and murder for hire.

5. Sinaloa Cartel

The Sinaloa cartel is one of the oldest drug trafficking groups operating in Mexico, CNN reported. The group gets its name from the state it was established in the late 1980s. In the early 2010s, the cartel controlled 0% to 60% of Mexico’s drug trade and earned nearly $3 billion annually. The gang was led by El Chapo, who twice escaped from Mexican prisons before being detained by Mexican authorities in Sinaloa in 2016.  At present, he is serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison. The cartel has been blamed for playing a key role in facilitating the drug war that has plagued Mexico for years. After Chapo's imprisonment, the gang has broken into different factions but remains active in the country. 

6. Mungiki Sect

Mungiki Sect is a criminal gang active in Kenya since the 1990s, Reuters reported. The group came into being when unemployed youths from different communities destroyed in tribal clashes came together in their frustration against the authorities. Their actions were targeted against the rich elites who they believed supported the colonial masters in exploiting their countrymen. The gang is involved in murder, extortion, and racketeering, levying protection fees on the urban poor and supplying electricity and water illegally at a monopoly price. The group functions like a mafia and any betrayal is punished by death. Despite authorities arresting and convicting multiple members of the group, it still maintains a stronghold in the country, The Africa Report reported.

7.  Mongols Motorcycle Club

The Mongols Motorcycle Club has been a mainstay in the biker scene since 1969, when the club was founded in Montebello, California, The New York Times reported. In the United States, the group boasts 1,200 members from various states. In the early 2010s, the gang was one of the most powerful biker organizations in the West. The members of the gang have been associated with crimes like murder, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. In 2018, the club was ordered to pay a $500,000 fine by a jury, for causing mayhem in the society by encouraging such crimes. The prosecutors hoped that such a big payout would put the organization out of business. The group filed a petition for a new trial and reversal of the half-million-dollar fine. They claim that the sentencing is unfair because their previous leader, David Santillan covertly cooperated for years with a special agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The initial hearing for the petition is set to happen in 2024.

8. Aryan Brotherhood

Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist gang that was formed within the California state prison system in the late 1960s, FBI reported. The authorities opened a racketeering enterprise investigation into the gang in 1982. At present, the group boasts an estimated 20,000 members inside prisons and on the streets, Southern Poverty Law Center reported. The gang's motto is, "blood in, blood out." Its members are involved in drug trafficking, male prostitution rings, gambling, and extortion inside prison walls, and outside it, they indulge in murder-for-hire, armed robbery, gun running, methamphetamine manufacturing, heroin sales, counterfeiting, and identity theft. Members of the group can be typically identified with their tattoos.

9.  Medellín Cartel

In the late 1970s, Medellín Cartel came into being and changed the dynamics of the cocaine trade in the world forever, HISTORY reported. In 1975, Colombian authorities seized 600 kilos of cocaine from a plane, and in return traffickers associated with the Medellín Cartel killed 40 people during one weekend in what became known as the "MedellínMassacre." The gang catapulted to power in the 1980s when it was run by brothers Jorge Luis, Juan David, and Fabio Ochoa Vasquez; Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder, George Jung, and Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha. At its peak, the organization brought in up to $60 million a day in drug profits. The US Government declared a war on drugs and sent Javier Peña and Steve Murphy to Colombia to capture Escobar, ATI reported. In 1993, one day after his 44th birthday, Escobar was gunned down by the authorities in his hiding place. The fugitive's death severely harmed the operations of the gang, but it still managed to remain active in Colombia.

10. Ndrangheta Mafia

Ndrangheta Mafia was founded in Calabria, the impoverished southern region at the tip of Italy's boot in the 18th century, Forbes reported. The members are involved in crimes like drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, and rigging public contracts. The group catapulted into the spotlight in the 1970s with its kidnapping of high-profile victims, including celebrities such as John Paul Getty III, the scion of the U.S. oil family in 1973, Reuters reported. In 2008, the group's annual turnover was 44 billion euros ($48 billion), about 3% of Italy's gross domestic product at the time. In 2023, 207 members of the gang were convicted on charges of drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and extortion.