According to the
FBI, the Mexican Mafia had arranged for contract killings to be carried out by the
Aryan Brotherhood, a white prison gang. The Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood are mutual enemies of the
Norteños and the
African-American gangs
Black Guerrilla Family and
D.C. Blacks. Even though homosexuals are barred from entry into
La eMe, they are engaged heavily in
homosexual prostitution in the prison system. Between April, when the edict was announced, and September 1992 there were no drive-by shootings in
East Los Angeles, an area that was notorious for violence and drive-bys. On May 13, 1958, while standing trial for Castellanos' murder at the
Hall of Justice, Valenzuela and Acosta managed to stab
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) sergeant Ned Lovretovich with sharpened spoons after Lovretovich had given testimony against the pair. Valenzuela and Acosta were convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Castellanos and sentenced to life in state prison. They also pled guilty to assault with intent to commit murder and injury to a county employee for the stabbing of Lovretovich and were given sentences to run concurrently with their life terms. Sandoval killed Ray Wells because he believed the man had told police of the whereabouts of the car he used in the Belvedere Park murders; Marlene Wells was then killed because she had witnessed the murder of her husband. Sandoval was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder in
Los Angeles County Superior Court and was sentenced to death for the murder of Marlene Wells, and to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of Martinez, Aceves and Ray Wells. On November 6, 2000, Sandoval had his death sentence for the murder of Marlene Wells overturned by the
9th Circuit Court of Appeals but remained imprisoned for life without parole. Two Mexican Mafiosi, the brothers Hector and Ronaldo Ayala, along with a third man, bound and then killed three others — Ernesto "Chacho" Mendez Dominguez, Marco Zamora-Villa, and Jose Luis "Cucuy" Rositas — by shooting them execution-style at the A & Z Auto Repair shop in the
Logan Heights neighborhood of
Southeast San Diego after demanding $10,000 from the men, who were allegedly involved in the heroin trade, on April 26, 1985. A fourth shooting victim, Pedro "Pete" Castillo, survived and identified the Ayala brothers as the killers. Ronaldo Ayala was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, and attempted robbery, on October 12, 1988, and sentenced to be executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison, on February 9, 1989. Hector Ayala, who stood trial separately, was convicted on the same charges, on August 1, 1989 and also sentenced to death, on November 17, 1989. The third defendant, Joseph Moreno, was acquitted of all charges.
1990s On July 16, 1991, Mexican Mafia members Benjamin "Topo" Peters and
Rene "Boxer" Enriquez stabbed another
eMe member, Salvador "Mon" Buenrostro, at the
Los Angeles County Jail. Buenrostro, who survived the attack despite being stabbed 26 times, was targeted because he had sided against
Joe "Pegleg" Morgan in internal gang affairs. One of the arrested members, Benjamin "Topo" Peters (Arizona Maravilla), was allegedly the Mexican Mafia's highest-ranking member at the time, and was engaged in a power struggle with fellow member Ruben "Tupi" Hernandez (
Onterio Varrio Sur –
Ontario, California). On 18 December 2003, a 34-year-old man Daniel Larson who was the owner of D&D Auto Recycling in
Fort Collins disappeared in either
Larimer County or
Weld County,
Colorado. The day prior Larson told his ex-wife that he had to meet with members of the Mexican Mafia over an unpaid debt. On 28 December Larson’s gray
1990 Pontiac 6000 was discovered at a
Park & Ride, evidence of foul play was discovered in the car, most notably blood in the trunk of the car. On 13 January 2004 hunters discovered Larson’s body in a field north of
Kersey near Weld County Roads 388 and 59. In 2006, a 36-count federal indictment was brought against members of the Mexican Mafia. The arrests were made for alleged acts of violence, drug dealing, and extortion against smaller Latino street gangs. According to the federal indictment, Mexican Mafia members exert their influence in both federal and state prison systems through either violence or the threat of violence. Members and associates of the gang remain fiercely loyal to the criminal organization both in and outside of prison, particularly in Southern California cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego. The gang asserts its influence over Chicano gangs throughout Southern California by threatening violence against their members should they ever become incarcerated. Gangs and drug dealers who refuse to pay a protection "tax" to the Mexican Mafia are often murdered or threatened with murder. High-ranking members of the Mexican Mafia who are locked in private cells for 23 hours of each day are still able to communicate with their associates, through methods which range from tapping in code on prison plumbing pipes to smuggled letters. The primary goal of the Mexican Mafia is to control all drug trafficking in all areas that they have been established. Rudy "Crazy" Espudo (Esco Varrio Diablos –
Escondido, California) was in control of the Hispanic gangs in the area and forced drug dealers to pay taxes in tribute to La eMe or face the consequences.
2020s On January 31, 2022, a fight broke out between members of the Mexican Mafia and
MS-13 at
United States Penitentiary, Beaumont, Texas, causing two fatalities and leading to all U.S. federal prisons being placed on lockdown due to fears of retaliatory attacks. A joint investigation by the
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the Westside Wilmas gang in the
Los Angeles Harbor Region commenced in October 2022 and culminated with the arrests of 12 Mexican Mafia members and the seizure of 23 firearms, 57.7 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 23,000 fentanyl pills, 5.2 pounds of powdered fentanyl and 2.2 pounds of cocaine as search warrants were executed in the
South Bay and as far as
Bakersfield, on May 17, 2023. On January 21, 2025, a coordinated operation led by the
San Diego Police Department and other law enforcement agencies resulted in the arrest of 39 individuals associated with the Mexican Mafia during a six-month investigation that uncovered a vast network of criminal activities orchestrated by the Mafia's leadership, even from within prison walls. The arrested individuals faced serious charges, including murder, attempted murder, arson, extortion, and weapons and drug trafficking. The operation also led to the seizure of over three dozen firearms and multiple pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl. The investigation revealed that the Mexican Mafia exerted control over various street gangs, compelling them to pay "taxes" on drug sales and other illicit activities. Business owners were subjected to threats of violence, including vandalism, arson, physical harm, and even murder if they failed to comply with extortion demands. ==In popular culture==