The 5 Most Dangerous Gangs In The World

At the moment it seems like a new incident of religiously-driven gang violence is appearing in the newspapers every day. What with the recent Kenyan mall massacre and the Nairobi school shooting, it seems like we have a chain reaction on our hands. With such a high focus on this religious violence, we appear to be forgetting about the gang violence that has been the cause of cold-blooded killings, on a regular basis, for years. These criminal gangs can be described as ‘a group of people who claim a territory and use it to make money through illegal activities‘. These illegal activities have many variants, ranging from murder to money laundering.

With gangs today receiving as much media attention as they do, it appears fitting to outline a few (and I say a few because there are just so many) of the world’s most dangerous gangs. After all, if you know who they are, you know not to cross them.

#5 Bloods vs. Crips

Although the Bloods and the Crips are completely separate gangs, I’ve grouped them together here as the fifth most dangerous because of their rivalry – it is their actions against each other that have made them both so lethal. Both the Bloods and the Crips are street gangs that originated in California in the 1960s, when the Bloods formed in retaliation to the Crips. The Bloods are known for dressing in red (can vary from rust to pink depending on the neighbourhood), and the Crips are known for dressing in blue, but both gangs carry bandanas or handkerchiefs in their respective colours. They generally follow the rule: ‘You kill one of mine, I’ll kill one of yours‘, which has generated a constant flow of murders since the gangs’ formation. With the Crips having 30,000 members and the Bloods having 15,000 (inside and outside of prison), these murders often occur between members of the same gang. Both the Bloods and the Crips are heavily associated with violent murders, threats, robberies and drug trafficking, making them incredibly dangerous in the US.

#4 The Mungiki

The Mungiki is a slum-based gang (of up to 100,000 members), their brutality is famed and has led to them also being known as the Kenyan Mafia. They operate in Nairobi’s second largest slum, Mathare, and have acted against the Kenyan Government since the 1990s. The gang is known for exploiting the urban poor byoffering electricity and water at extortionate rates. They also carried out a number of revenge killings in 2007 in retaliation to people leaking information to the police; their trademark? Beheading. The Mungiki interfered with the most recent Kenyan election by mounting severed heads onto poles and scattering the rest of the body parts in an attempt to scare voters. They are also strong advocates of female genital mutilation and practice this throughout Kenya. Their members can only leave the gang through one medium – death.

#3 The Yakuza

The Yakuza gang accounts for over 50% of Japan’s gangsters, who are each expected to cut all ties with their family on initiation to prove their loyalty. The danger element with this gang, considering they are relatively tame compared to the others discussed here, is their connection with high level politicians and businessmen of Japan’s right-wing nationalists. This gives them the power to operate within Japanese society, where they tend to avoid civilian casualties. Despite their ‘soft’ appearance (they have a business headquarters and move around in expensive cars and tailored suits), the Yakuza are associated with murder and intimidation. One of the most powerful Yakuza godfathers once murdered a rival with a Samurai sword. They are known for their distinctive tattoos and missing fingers, where the amputation is often self-inflicted as an act of penance.

#2 Los Zetas

Los Zetas is an infamous Mexican drug cartel that is known for committing the most violent crimes in Latin America – they have even been held responsible for turning Mexico into a battleground. The recently appointed leader of Los Zetas, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, has been quoted as being ‘extremely brutal, to the point of sadism‘ where his preferred method of killing is burning people alive. The gang recruits ex-military members and is associated with drug smuggling, kidnapping and illegally syphoning oil from pipelines, but also for their habitual mass murders. In August 2010, the military found a mass grave of 72 Los Zetas victims who had been executed for being potential recruits for their rival gang, Gulf Cartel. Another 49 bodies were found decapitated in Monterrey in retaliation to a clash with another rival gang, Sinaloa Cartel.

#1 Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)

Like the Yakuza, MS-13 are famous for their distinctive tattoos and missing fingers. This ruthless gang is often considered the most dangerous gang in the world because of their association with such a large range of illegal activities: burglaries, auto thefts, narcotic sales, home-invasion robberies, weapons smuggling, illegal firearm sales, car-jackings, extortion, murder, rape, prostitution, assault, and witness intimidation. A large number of their targets for assault lie within the US law enforcement, as the gang has 10,000 member in the US alone. They are also big recruiters of children, often seen hanging around schools looking for prospective members – an act which is seen as incredibly threatening. The MS-13 originated in Central America (to protect immigrants from Latin America) and has spread to countries all over the world, but it still maintains a majority of Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran members. The gang is known for its brutal violence against innocents, having once set a bus full of women and children on fire and killing 28 of them. Their sheer brutality and widespread criminality has managed to land the Mara Salvatrucha with the ‘world’s most dangerous gang’ title; a title which I’m sure their godfathers are thrilled with because in the gang world, reputation is everything.

This article was originally published on Urban Times.