*** Membership in street gangs is surging in communities across the country: "gangs have become so 'entrenched' in some of the nation's largest cities that gang-related crime is largely immune from forces that have been driving down overall crime."
*** Street gangs like Facebook: "monitoring the social media activity of known and suspected gang members has become a key component of tracking gang activity."
*** Illinois legislators finally enact a racketeering statute in order to target street gangs:
Like the federal statute it was modeled after, the state legislation is rooted in the idea of the gang being a criminal enterprise and making it a crime to engage in a pattern of misconduct. The Illinois bill identifies dozens of illegal acts, from drugs and sex trafficking to weapons offenses and murder.
*** A leader with the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims set of the Bloods street gang gets 30 years for his role in murder of teenage boy mistaken for rival in Newark, NJ.
*** Feds charge suspected Latin Kings members with drug trafficking in New Bedford, MA:
In 2006, a similar investigation led to the prosecution of 37 Latin Kings members and associates, "significantly disrupting the gang for several years." In 2010, officials began to see an increase in violence and street-level drug sales in areas of New Bedford known to be occupied by the Latin Kings.
*** Mexican Mafia member pleads guilty to racketeering involving extortion of street tax from drug dealer in San Diego, CA.
*** A soldier in the Forming Kaos pleads guilty to drug trafficking in Costa Mesa, CA: the FK is "an international operation engaged in narcotics trafficking, murder, extortion and assault," and tied to the Mexican Mafia.
