The prominent gang in the area during the 1980s was called the 28s. Inspired by the 28s, local youths Elijah Kerr, now known as
Jaja Soze, Nathan Cross (Inch), Michael Deans (Birdie), and Simon Maitland (Phat Si) all grew up around Angell Town Estate in Brixton, South London. Together they formed their own gang as a successor to the 28s called the Young 28s, although they had no actual affiliation with the 28s gang. The gang originally focused primarily on business robberies and drug dealing. In 1995, another local youth known as Tanna came up with the name "PDC", meaning "Peel Dem Crew" or "Pil Dem Crew". The PDC continued Brixtons longtime rivalry with neighbouring Peckham by committing robberies in the area, causing conflict with local gang
Peckham Boys. The gang became known for "steaming", the act of rushing into banks, stores, or trains and taking money from the till, passengers, or anything they could grab. The Muslim Boys were named as such not by the gang members, but the police and press alike. Police would encounter youth who would claim to be Muslim in order to gain preferential treatment (although some members had indeed converted to
Islam). The gang themselves later adopted the name. Some members of the Muslim Boys began to present themselves as
Islamists and claim links to
Al Qaeda in order to gain street cred. This group caused a stir in the media for their mix of
gangsterism and religion and were said to engage in forced conversions at gunpoint, Members of PDC that were affiliated with Blacker would dissociate from PDC and form their own gang known as CFR (Certified Riderz or Corelone Family Riderz). Other former members of PDC would form PIF (Paid In Full), and Tanna, who came up with the name "PDC", went and formed the 031 Bloods. led by Jaja and former gang members Najar Kerr (also known as Naja Soze), Byron Cole, Nathan Cross (Inch), Sykes, Errol Cole, Michael Deans (Birdie), and Simon Maitland (Phat Si). In 2007, the
Lambeth Council falsely claimed that PDC was the boroughs largest gang with 2,500 members. PDC Entertainment at the time had 2,500 fans on one of its MySpace pages. In 2009,
Danny Dyer covered the PDC in his documentary series ''
Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men''. ==Music==