Florencia 13


The Florencia 13 or Florence Street Gang, is an American criminal street gang based in Los Angeles, California, composed mainly of Hispanic-Americans. The gang is named after the Florence area of Los Angeles County, controlled by the Mexican Mafia. They are involved in drug smuggling, murder, assault and robbery.

History

The FBI began targeting Florencia 13 gang members for their roles in racially motivated attacks on African-Americans. Court testimony and the judges ruling found that F13 members had targeted African-Americans based purely on race.
At certain times, Florencia 13 leaders ordered killings of the East Coast Crip gang, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

Operation Joker’s Wild

Operation Joker's Wild investigate the gang's drug trafficking, extortion of street criminals, and racially based murders of African Americans in the area. The operation involved the Los Angeles High- Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Los Angeles Police Department, the IRS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
In 2007, 102 members of Florencia 13 were listed in indictments, under the operation, leading to the biggest gang raid in American history at the time, with 96 of the 102 members taken into custody. The indictments included charges of drug trafficking, attempted murder, murder and extortion. As of 2009, 94 of the 102 had been convicted or plead guilty, 3 had pending trials, 2 had died and 5 were fugitives from justice. The trial further found that the gang was controlled by the Mexican Mafia prison gang.