No part of this web page may be copied, duplicated, transmitted or otherwise reproduced in any form nor for any purpose without the express permission of the author, Rob Gallardo

Graffiti in public facilities, churches and cemeteries is a felony charge in most states. Graffiti in any place without permission is vandalism, and a disrespect to the community.
Operation No Gangs does not condone or encourage any type of unauthorized aerosol or other permanent marking device gang markings. Defacement of property is often a felony offense.

Photos by Rob Gallardo, Operation No Gangs
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Florencia Street Homeboys, Huntington Park

Mariana Maravilla, East Los Angeles


Florencia Street, Los Angeles, CA; El Paso, TX


18 Street, 18th Street - Los Angeles


Avalon Gangsta Crips

Playboys PBS, South Central LA

Homeboys, Juarez, Chihuahua/El Paso, TX

Lost Souls Gang, Socorro, TX (not connected with Lost Souls Bike Club)

Tokers, Los Angeles

Surenos, Sur 13, Southside - El Paso, TX


915 - area code for El Paso, TX (used by regional gangsters to show affinity for city/connection to)


Varrio Tularosa St,, El Paso South Park Killers Varrio Pachuco Loco, El Paso Central Side

Norte 18(Norteno set), El Paso X-14, El Paso

Norte 15/Teners, Anthony, NM



The examples in above prior two rows exhibit the writing styles typical of tagging crews - rounder, bubble-like and other stylized fonts/letters, as well as emblematic cartoon drawings. To a tagger, visibility and location of their writing or "piece" is most important.

Gang writing, placazos, in the Hispanic gang world, are used to mark territory, indicate encroachments to rival territory, display who is who, convey messages of harm or intimidation to others, and also to convey pride in membership. Operation No Gangs photographs El Paso and Los Angeles gang graffiti to determine what is taking place in specific gang-ridden areas and to gauge the pulse of gang movement and activity on city streets.

All photos by Rob Gallardo, Operation No Gangs No part of this web page may be copied, duplicated, transmitted or otherwise reproduced in any form nor for any purpose without the express permission of the author, Rob Gallardo Operation No Gangs considers aerosol writing or tagging as vandalism in all its form when taggers mark up private or public walls or objects without the permission of the owner. Graffiti (gang placazos): aerosol or marking material writing of a gang name, gang acronym, gang symbology, declared message, and/or gang member name(s) deliberately placed on a wall, trash dumpster, street curb, mailbox, street asphalt, billboard, street sign or other highly visible object/location. Gang-related graffiti has been termed "the newspaper of the streets", as graffiti messages often convey territorial delineation or control, encroachment into a neighborhood, affiliation with other gangs, the names of gang members in a given group, and intentions to war with or harm gang groups or individuals. The marking out with an "x" or simple line through the name of a graffiti-ed gang or gang member name by a rival (a "crossing out") is common in territorial bickering. Graffiti may also be used to honor a dead fellow gang member, typically with the words "Rest in Peace" or the abbreviation R.I.P." Not all gangs use graffiti, as some of the highly-structured gangs explicitly prohibit vandalism or proscribe the casual use of the gang name for reasons related to sacredness. By contrast many older street gangs take pride in the elaborate lettering used in placazo writing in Gothic or Old English script. In the State of Texas graffiti done on a public building, cemetary or school is treated as a felony. The charge carries up to a two-year sentence and a maximum fine of $10,000. The cost of graffiti goes far beyond dollars. Neighborhoods that are plagued with graffiti also suffer from a lack of pride and continued deterioration, blight. Markings done on buildings, dumpsters, sidewalks, trees, restrooms and other places where the public is sure to see the markings is vandalism when done without permission from the property owner. Why do gangs do or use graffiti? Tagging and aerosol writing, for many avid writers, is, indeed, a form of addiction. Incarceration and probation fees do little to deter future writing by the perpetrators, as taggers/writers are often motivated by the need to show off, a need to impress rivals and colleagues and an obligation to "put in work" for their fellow crew members or gang homies. The number "13" is often attached to a gang name to signify that a gang has ties to Southern California or is a "sureno"(Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas) gang (to be distinguished from rival Norteno gangs." In the California state prison system in the 1950's a group calling itself the "Mexican Mafia" ("La Eme") emerged as a consortium for Southern California gang members. "M" being the 13th letter of the alphabet, the group began to be identified exclusively with the number "13". Several youth gangs in the El Paso and Southern New Mexico area have attached the "13" "Sureno" designation to their group name without official recognition from Sureno leadership. A group calling itself Nuestra Familia ("Our Family") which served to protect the interests of Northern California gangs later emerged in the prison system. Northern California gangs began to incorporate the number "14" as suffixes to their gang names to signify the 14th letter of the alphabet, "N", which denotes a reference to Nuestra Familia. The numbers that appear after the gang name often appear in Roman numeral form or a combination of standard numbers and Roman numerals. In the El Paso area, some gangs in the Northeast part of town now use the number 14 to signify their northern relationship. The use of the miniscule or capital letter "x" is used as a "Roman numeral" in some cases, as in the three examples below. Gangs on the west side of El Paso often refer to themselves as "Westsiders." Gangs from the west side of town may incorporate the two letters "WS" in their gang taggings, or the word "Westside(rs)." A few gangs in the El Paso suburb of Socorro use the slang name of "Soco" to identify their stomping grounds. The "Almghty Latin Kings" group claims several hundred teen members in El Paso, but this group appears to have little semblance to the ALKQN academies of Chicago and New York. Some members of other gangs in El Paso state that El Paso teens who call themselves ALKN are "false-claimers" or are false-claiming -- claiming to belong to a gang that does not recognize them officially from the top down. They do, however, utilize the colors yellow and black and call Folk Nation their enemy. In 2007, the El Paso Latin King group claims to have befriended the Blood group, as has been evidenced in various El Paso high schools. New Mexico gangs will often incorporate the numbers "505" and "575" into their graffiti or will wear the number on a jersey or T-shirt. 505 is the area code for New Mexico until 2008 when it becomes "575", owing to a designated area code split. When the telephone area code changed to "575" in the southern part of the state, many a tattoed gangster was left hanging with a numeration which no longer pertained to his gang affiliation. El Paso gang members often use the numbers "915" in the same fashion, as the telephone area code for the El Paso, Texas area is "915." Gangsters from other parts of the United States use their three-digit area code from time to time, as well. El Paso gangsters might choose to use the letters "EPT" -- an abbreviation for El Paso, Texas. Too, they may refer to El Paso as "Chuco", "El Chuco," "Chucotown" or "Chucoztlan." Why are certain letters and numbers important to gangs? In a fairly recent graffiti phenomenon in the El Paso, Texas metro area some youth gangs and tagging crews have begun using numbers as they are positioned on a standard telephone key pad to represent the letters of the abbreviation of their gang name. In the example below, the group below uses "584" to display its gang abbreviation. The number "5" may represent any of the letters on the "5" telephone keypad, such as "J," "K," or "L." The number "8" in the number set may stand for letters "T," "U," or "V." Other groups may attach numbers of traditional significance to their gang graffiti. Los Midnight Lokos group of El Paso uses the number 12 to represent "the midnight hour." Last above example, tagging Crew member employing telephone keypad numbering identification Still, other creative uses of numbering in gang identification occur when a gang uses, as in the case of an El Paso suburban gang, the freeway exit number that serves as an entryway into "its territory." Gangs from Juarez, Mexico use a wholly different numbering system which identifies sectors of that Mexican city bordering El Paso, Texas. The introduction of gangs to El Paso from Juarez, Chicago and Los Angeles have complicated territorial delineations and have intensified relations since late 2003. A large number of older Juarense gang members have relocated to El Paso, Phoenix and Dallas and have imported their numbering system into the gang name mix. In El Paso two emergent Juarez gangs, Bad Boys 28 and Harpis 20, have been prominent in the new numeration influence. Instead of using the actual city name of "Ciudad Juarez" the graffiti writer may choose to use the slang name of "Juaritos." Other gangs incorporate the name of the street on which they operate either in written or numerical form (i.e. First Street, which in Spanish is translated "Primera" or "1a". The 19th Street gang made its appearance in El Paso in the late 1990s, although the city has no 19th Street within its borders. This gang is one of several which have exported themselves to this region from the Juarez, Chihuahua and Las Vegas, NV areas where there are two ofhter "sets" of the group. For many Hispanic youth street gangs, tagging crews, rebel crews and party crews the smoking of marijuana encompasses a great part of the culture. Some gangs devote taggings to the praise of marijuana with the use of numbers, such as "4:20" (the numbers in this pattern are usually separated by a colon after the (4.") which has become known as "pot smokeout." In fact, on April 20 of every year, and on any day of the year at 4:20 p.m., the smoking of marijuana is smoked as a tradition. Some youth gangs in the El Paso area have gone so far as to include the name of marijuana, in on form or another, in their actual gang name. Original Bud Smokers, OBS is one of those groups; along with the group Smoking Weed Konstantly, SWK; and the krew, Bud Smokers Only, BSO, or BSOK. Hispanic/Latino youth gangs and tagging crews in the El Paso area and in much of the Southwestern United States often employ three-word or two-word names for their organizations. Consequently they will use three-letter designations in their graffiti markings: KAC, CBS, FTW, STK, RDV, for example. The letter "V" is often used in gang names to abbreviate the term "barrio" ('neighborhood) which has been expressed in the vulgar and grammatically incorrect term "varrio". In street language the term for neighborhood is commonly mispronounced with a "v" instead of a "b". (i.e. VGS, Varrio Glenwood Street; VMA, Varrio Marmolejo Apartments); VSJ, Varrio San Juan. The letter "B" for "Barrio" is also used in the same way (i.e. BN, Barrio Nuevo; or Barrio Mesa St.) . The letter "L" often is used as the last letter in a gang acronym (i.e. MCL, Moon City Lokos) to abbreviate the term "lokos"or "locos" ("crazy ones"). A gang member who is "down" for his group is often said to be "loco/loko", or "so down he will do anything 'crazy' (zealously, or "in full spirit") for his hood." Some gangs use the letter "L" to signify the word "Latino." The letter "M" has commonly been used by gangs in El Paso for the last five to ten years to signify the term "Mexican". (i.e. MPK, Mexican Posse Kings/Killers; MCK, Mexican Crazy Killers). Puro Mexicano In 2007, an El Paso gang group incorporated the term "Wetback" into its name. In Laredo, Texas, a gang group refers to itself as with the the words "Mojado ("wetback") Power." Some gangs and tagging crews use the letter "K" in their gang acronyms to signify the word "Kings" or "Killers", which is part of their name (i.e. AK, Alvarez Kings; OFAK, Out For Action Kings, Mexican Crazy Killers). In tagging vocabulary, the word "kings" signifies "lettering or artistic experts". Tagging gangs, and some neighborhood gangs, also use the letter "K" to indicate the term "Crew" or "Krew." Some gangs refuse to use certain letters owing to issues of rivalry. Crips, for example, will not use the letters "b" or "p" or will mark these letters with a cross-out notation to signify their distaste for these letters. Control of territory and perceived power of a gang is important to Hispanic territorial or neighborhood gangs, and to gangs that deal in illegal trade. Consequently, some gangs will use the Spanish-language words "controla,' meaning "controls;" or the Spanish slang word "rifa," which loosely means "is the best." "the 'baddest' ," or "can't be matched/touched." To show disrespect for a specific gang or to designate rivalry or "beef, " Hispanic youth gangs will "cross out" or "mark out" the taggings of other gangs with a slash mark or a letter "x." They may also write the numbers "187" over a specific gang tagging or gang name in a tagging to indiciate that they intend death for that specific group or person. "187" is the number of California Penal Code representing "homicide." While El Paso and Los Angeles Hispanic youth gangs traditionally have used Block or Gothic/Old English lettering for their graffiti or placazo markings, many gangs now utilize newer tagging crew styles in their markings. Several national and local gangs use crowns, stars or pitchforks in their identification in print and in graffiti. The number of points on the crown or star will indicate specific identification. Latin King groups, and others, use 5-point stars and use the number "5" in other forms of identification. Still, other Hispanic youth gangs draw identifying emblems and designs in order to identify their group. This group, whose name starts with the word "Moon," uses a star and moon crescent to identify itself, in addition to uses the letters which abbreviate its name as an acronym, or name first-letter abbreviation. Gang graffiti is often referred to as "the newspaper of the streets," and, from time to time, gang taggers will list the names of their homies, or associates, in order to tell the neighbhorhood who helps to form their group, and/or, to indicate the relative size of their association or "set." Too, some tagging crews post graffiti markings less resembling tagging crew creations and looking more like territorial gang markings. While tagging crew members often resent being referred to as gang members, they are considered so because of there membership characteristics - 3 or more individuals with a common identity engaging in illegal activity (in this case, the defacing of private and public property). The members of tagging crews often refer to themselves as "aerosl artists,' or "writers," and not "taggers." Too, there is a movement initiated by many aerosol artists to ask for permission to place their writings and artwork on walls, buildings and in other private and public locations. Some groups hold art "shows" open to the public, in order to display their talent and work. Many of these shows are organized by older artists who have matured and gained the respect of their peers. It is common for tagging groups to show their work on personal websites and blogs and to post their work on websites and forums which highlight graffiti work all over the world. Many aerosol artists carry with them a "black book" in which they post examples of their work and have peers sign their names in a section, in honor of their shared craft. Tagging crew markings tend to be stylish and bold. At times taggers will write their singular personal name, or may add an art piece. Taggers are known to practice their "pieces" on paper with great diligence, often, so when it comes time to replicate or create their works on walls with aerosol paint, they can execute the work quickly and effectively. Because much of the work is done without permission on the walls of private citizens and companies, the tagger risks getting caught if he/she performs the work slowly or is not on guard. Because taggers may operate on their own at times, they may refer to themselves as "oners." When they operate together they may refer to themselves as a "Crew" or "Krew." When they operate as a team they often include the names of other members. Since 2005 a number of tagging crews have joined together in their tagging efforts. Tagging crews in the El Paso area go by a single name, but may use the various first letters of their full name to come up with other variations. Some of these tagging crews have even branched out in to rap groups which brag about their tagging exploits and diss, or put down, other competing tagging groups or individuals. Sadly, these combined groups cause great defacing and vandalism of public and private property in the most visible of ways. Billboards, traffic signs, walls and motor vehicles are most typically the objects used in the display of graffiti and other aerosol markings by these groups. When these groups take on the task of marking such objects in a blitz effort they often refer to the effort as "bombing" and their going out together as "mobbing." Both the words "mob" and "bomb" are commonly used in the names of some of these tagging groups in the El Paso area. Interestingly, too, some of the members who comprise these groups are males in their 20s and early 30s. In the El Paso area there are few known female aerosol artists and taggers. Some taggers specialize in the drawing and posting of cartoon figures or emblems, often without any wording in addition. Some taggers from both tagging crews and neighborhood youth gangs prepare their tagging "pieces" in advance on adhesive labels, often taken from the United States Postal Service or businesses. Sometimes dozens or hundreds of replicated graffiti markings and drawings are placed on these labels so that they can be slapped onto traffic signs, walls, telephone poles, the sides of vending machines or windows in the neighborhood. This method of label tagging allows for quick mass distribution of messages and drawings and diminishes the possibilty of getting caught by local citizens or law enforcemement. In addition, the label drawing allows the tagger more time to produce "quality" art or writing work.

(No part of this web page may be copied, duplicated, transmitted or otherwise reproduced in any form nor for any purpose without the express permission of the author, Rob Gallardo)

Copyright 2007, Rob Gallardo



Operation No Gangs is available to present to your school, community agency, church or business regarding Hispanic youth gang culture and how it impacts the community. We can present on various topics including: the signs of possible gang involvement for parents and teachers; what graffiti and gang hand signs mean for social service agencies and law enforcement groups; and, among many other things, how teachers, social workers and community workers can best engage the young Hispanic gangster in activities.

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"For I know the plans I have for you ...plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Operation No Gangs

Gang Prevention Gang Awareness/Education Intervention Advocacy

Gang Life:   a losing proposition

Texas New Mexico