Seventeen Texas Syndicate gang members living across Central Texas were arrested after federal authorities uncovered a methamphetamine and heroin trafficking operation, according to a news. Roberto Saviano, The Italian writer, a good expert of Neapolitan Camorra and the Italian mafia in general, spoke of the Albanian mafia as a no longer foreign mafia to Italy and stressed that the Albanians and Italians have a "brotherly" relationship between each other. Concerning "loyalty", "honor" and family (blood relations and marriage being very important) most of the Albanian networks seem to be "old-fashioned". What is 'Bloody Sunday'? How attacks against Black marchers in Selma Additionally, it is also crucial to highlight why Sandoval became a prison guard in the first place. Sandoval as a Mexican American new boot, at the ripe age of twenty-one, during the most violent period of Texas prison history succumbed and became a duck as employment for Mexican Americans was not taken for granted. Bloody Sunday: What happened on Sunday 30 January 1972? - BBC News It was on this day and in the following . Zef Mustafa : Albanian Mafia kingpin based out of New York. New employment opportunities were too good to pass up for Sandoval and broadly speaking, for Mexican Americans. His experiences, however, exposed other problems for Mexican Americans. Bloody Sunday anniversary: Harris walks across Edmund Pettus Bridge in High ranking Texas Syndicate member Ricardo "Serrucho" Ortiz is given the death penalty for his involvement in the crime. They are led to believe they must join a prison gang for protection and in the process of believing this, they eventually secure longer terms of incarceration. Over thirty people lost their lives in a notorious welter of political violence, that made headlines across Ireland and across the world. Osmani Brothers : According to the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) the Osmani brothers as the "most important figures of organized crime in Hamburg and other cities in Germany" Adriatik Coli : Leader of one of the most powerful "15 families" known as " Banda e Lul Berishs" based in Durrs , Albania . The Texas Syndicate was established at Folsom State Prison in California in 1978 in direct response to the other California prison gangs, notably the Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia, which were attempting to prey on native Texas inmates. It was established in the 1960's at Folsom Prison in California in direct response to the other California prison gangs (notably the Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia), which were attempting to prey on native Texas inmates. Conclusion This case began in the early 1970s through the efforts of an inmate writ-writer named David Resendez Ruz and ultimately exposed the unconstitutionality of the Texas prison system. The Texas Syndicate, more than La Eme or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners, such as the "Border Brothers", while La Eme and the NF tend to be more composed of US-born/raised Hispanics. We found that "Eulinda" was a cover-up for some other business, said high criminal counselor from Dsseldorf Rainer Bruckert. Texas Syndicate Tattoos: Simmons published in Prison Legal News October, 2004, page 39. On Monday [June 24], at eight in the morning, Sandoval reported for duty at the Ellis I training academy in Huntsville (Draper, 1991) where he eventually secured employment with the TDC as a prison guard after completing several weeks of mandatory training. Employment opportunities were not plentiful in South Texas, and so the next day, a Sunday [June 23], the newlyweds threw their possessions into a suitcase and a grocery bag, and drove Sandovals Datsun to Conroe (Draper, 1991). Ultimately, as the histories of prison continue to expand, the inclusion of Mexican Americans as an integral population to its history is necessary; we grow to contest the views of Mexican Americans as a criminalized population, discern an increased incarcerated population, and also recognize them becoming institutional operatives of the prison system itself. (TDCJ Security Threat Group Archives), In mid 2002, the Texas Syndicate declares war on the Tango Blast prison gang. The pursuit of ethnic solidarity was also encapsulated within Luis Sandovals experiences, but as a prison guard and as a witness to these violent acts. This moment was set during the height of prison gang violence that struck the TDCJ during the mid-1980s. May 2, 2011. Fintan O'Toole: Bloody Sunday, the 10-minute massacre that lasted Each side wanted to completely control all the Italian gangs in New York City and across the United States. In this case, exploring the Mexican American experience within the development of the Texas prison system has broad implications. A lawsuit against the Texas prison system and Sandoval was underway by Arredondos family. Soon after he began his work as a correctional officer, Sandoval witnessed his first homicide at the Ellis I Unit. Hernandez was eventually sentenced to 25 years for the murder of Joe Arredondo (Fair, 1991). The Boston College Irish Studies program will mark the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday"a tragic milestone in the decades-long Northern Irish conflict, "The Troubles"with a symposium on February 18 and 19 that will examine the events of the fatal day and its legacy. Building tenders were also selected from the inmate population pool who were deemed more aggressive and violent to ensure strict control through violence and fear. 50 Years On, Bloody Sunday's Wounds Are Still Felt - The New York Times. Nine things to know about the Texas Syndicate gang In his testimony, Ortiz alleged that while in his cell with Hernandez, he was told about Sandovals role of leaving his post and leaving the door unlocked (Fair, 1991). The Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee marks the 56th anniversary of Bloody Sunday . Bloody Sunday: What happened on Sunday 30 January 1972? In 1993, the Barrio Azteca brutally beat and murder a Texas Syndicate member in the El Paso county jail causing the Texas Syndicate to alliance it's self with the Mexikanemi. PHOTO: Crowd of petitioners, led by Father Gapon, near Narva Gate, St. Petersburg. Southern Albanian groups also have good relationships with Sicilys Cosa Nostra "The Albanian criminals were special from the beginning," said Francesca Marcelli, an organized-crime investigator for the Italian government. Bloody Sunday is a dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972. [1] The Albanian mafia in Brussels has monopoly over activities such as "narcotics and arms deals" according to Belgian sources. Sandoval contends that the door was kept unlocked and that he was framed because officials at the prison feared they would be held liable in Arredondos death (News Briefs, 1991). Garcia was not a member of the Texas Syndicate. For Sandoval, this was the lighting of an inmates cigarette, a task perceived in the outside world as nonthreatening, but inside the walls of a prison, a very dangerous act. The group planned to march to the state capitol in Montgomery, 54 miles away, to protest of the February 26 murder of Jimmy Lee . Filed under: Gang Policies , Crime/Demographics , Criminal Prosecution . Krasniqi Brothers : Bruno Krasniqi and Saimir Krasniqi; leaders of an international crime organization engaged in murder, kidnapping, narcotics trafficking and other illegal activities in Albania and the U.S. Myfit (Mike) Dika : Former drug kingpin of the Balkan Criminal Enterprises; an international criminal organization which spanned from Canada , the United States , to Europe . Other factors that were possible motivators were being part of an economically disadvantaged social group, the reality of low wage work as a prison guard, or merely feeling trapped because of the fear of reprisal by prison gang members. This topic also continues to lack historical focus within mass incarceration and prison studies. Asian street gangs. Fifty-two. Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence plus eight years for Travis County convictions of attempted capital murder and illegal possession of a firearm, was the second-in-command of the Texas Syndicate prison gang. In South Texas, Sandoval primarily interacted with Mexican American friends from the barrios and the housing projects of Kingsville, TX. They are said to be present in every big city in Britain as well as many smaller ones including Telford and Lancaster , after having fought off rival criminals in turf wars. These prison gang related homicides from the war between the Texas Syndicate and the Texas Mexican Mafia were not only happening in the Ellis I unit, it stretched beyond and consumed the entirety of Texas prison units. Bloody Sunday: Hundreds risked everything in Selma 56 years ago - CNN From the time that Sandoval began as a new boot in the summer of 1985 until late 1986, he began to be enveloped into a slippery process of criminal activity that began with something as commonplace as the lighting of an inmates cigarette. But the circumstances surrounding the murder also exposed internal issues of the prison system which the trial brought to light. A Guard in Gangland. Texas Monthly Press, August 1991. Links to Calabrias Mafia, the "Ndrangheta", exist in Northern Italy. Bloody Sunday victims remembered on 50th anniversary - BBC News This occurred amidst the war between the two prominent Mexican American prison gangs that forced the state to act. In Liberty City the Albanian mob holds a stronghold in the Little Bay section of Bohan. The Little Italy in lower Manhattan was under the control of Ignazio "Lupo the Wolf" Saietta, before a gang war reputed the two sides decided on joining forcing. Steve Fischer [Sandovals attorney], however, contends that Sandoval had not unlocked the door and that officials there knew that guards frequently left the door unlocked (Fair, 1991). Bloody Sunday - Where to Watch and Stream - TV Guide Sandoval had lit the cigarette for newly befriended Armando Garcia (name changed) and another inmate named Vicente. The process had begun for Sandoval. Blacks. November 13, 1987. Texas Syndicate Gang Members Busted - Again. Their exit does not exist and the prison gang has now also gained a member that will remain in their proximity for the duration of their sentence, equivalent to their life. T hirteen people were shot dead on Bloody Sunday and ensured any hope of peace was over. He crossed into Mexico into Cuidad Juarez and allegedly stayed with an uncle there. A false sense of belief existed for an inmate who joined with his racial or ethnic group and that protection occurred through their ethnic solidarity. 14764 03/20/1991 278TH Judicial District Court, Scholarships and Resources for Hispanic and Latino Students. While both were considered Mexican Americans, state identity was also an important restriction along with ethnic identity. As a street gang, heavy activity has been reported in Austin, Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, the Rio Grande Valley and the Dallas Fort Worth area. A myriad of factors may have explained why Sandoval took on the tasks by the Texas Syndicate. Vincent continued operating from Brooklyn and Ciro continued expanding his operations in East Harlem and The Bronx. Later in the game, Albanian gangs appear working as muscle for other organizations, such as the Cosa Nostra or the Bratva . * Overlapping "TS", or an "S" superimposed over a "T", * longhorn steer horns, or any figure with horns, Criminal activities: Texas' biggest gang threats This study is also meant to highlight not only Mexican American prison gangs but the overall Mexican American experience for inmates and guards within the confines of the world of prisons. Both the Texas Syndicate and Mexikanemi team up against the Barrio Azteca. A week later, a well-known event called Bloody Sunday occurred on September 8, 1985. By 1997 the immigration had come under the control of Albanian and Italian criminal groups, tightening relationships between them The Albanians are targeting affluent central and northern areas like Lombardy , Piedmont , and Tuscany . Both prison gangs were identified as Mexican American prison gangs, yet developed at odds with each other, even while representing and emphasizing their Texas state identity. These actions were either through bribery, profit, blackmail, and even threats of violence to the guards or their families. But Sandoval, Mexican American prison gangs, and the larger story of the Mexican American experience within the context of prisons illustrate themes of criminalization, hegemony, and self-determination, topics wholeheartedly important to Mexican American history. Albanian "banks" in Germany are a special story. In Del Rio, a federal judge sentenced 29 Uvalde/Hondo-area Texas Syndicate (TS) members over the past two weeks to federal prison, including four defendants to life imprisonment, for various racketeering and drug trafficking offenses committed in Uvalde, San Antonio and the surrounding areas announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Bloody Sunday - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica United States "On the streets where the Italian Mob once ruled, a new syndicate was taking over, run by tough, ambitious Albanian immigrants, who still clump to a code of silence." Stamps are also a form of currency within prisons. Then, through negotiations or in armed showdowns, the Albanians struck out on their own, daring to battle the Lucchese and Gambino families for territory in Queens, the Bronx and Westchester County, prosecutors say." Texas Syndicate Tattoos: He was digging himself deeper into their clutches and soon found himself processing a money order of two hundred and fifty dollars and was paid a percentage of that. Unbeknownst to Sandoval, he was entering as a prison guard during a transitional period from 1979-1986 for the TDC dubbed a Broken System, as many court cases had upended the autonomous power of the prison administration during this period. This allowed the Sicilian to maintain dominance and control over New York City and the remaining Camorra gangs joined forces with Sicilian gangs. The tension between Tejanos and Californios also illustrated the restrictive and complicated parameters of membership for prison gangs. Loaded on March 15, 2003 by C.C. When boss Vito Genovese was imprisoned in the late 1950s, various influential members began running the crime family through a ruling panel/committee . However, there was another way in which prison gangs pursued and successfully maintained their power. Prosecutors announced they were pursuing criminal charges against two British soldiers who took part in the Bloody Sunday. In July 2007, Texas Syndicate members murder Marcelino "Mars" Rodriguez Torres in Mc Allen, Texas after the gang suspects Rodriguez is a police informant. The larger pool of applicants paved the way for many new minority employees such as Mexican Americans to join the staff of the Texas prison system. The next leaders of the Morello family were brothers Vincenzo and Ciro Terranova. (Gang Intelligence 101), In 2001, Texas Syndicate members murder ex member Hector Camacho in the Rio Grande Valley for his efforts in starting an offshoot TS chapter called Tejano Syndicato Originales (Sierra v. State, No. Alfred Shkurti (also known as Aldo Bare): The boss of one of the most notorious criminal syndicates in Albania known as the Banda e Lushnjs (The Lushnja Gang). This was the blood in and blood out membership oath which stipulated that membership was predicated on members either assaulting or murdering someone which was tasked by the prison gang to get in. We haven't found a single catalogue or brochure for travelling at the agency, computers were not operating, nor has the printer been ever used. Sunday Bloody Sunday: The Story behind U2's most political song A long, metal objecta homemade knife, or shankprotruded from his jugular. Sandoval also highlighted the racial issues that Mexican American prison staff faced. "On the 27th of July 1999 police in Durres (Albania), with Italian assistance arrested one of the godfathers of the "Sacra Corona Unita", Puglias Italian Mafia. Gonzales was a Texas Mexican Mafia member and was allegedly killed by members of the Texas Syndicate (Buentello, 1986). 8,126 Hispanic members operate across Texas, including specific reportings in the Coffield Unit, about 60 miles southwest of Tyler, and at the Allred prison unit outside of Wichita Falls. The murder came as a result of the Gulf Cartel hiring the Texas Syndicate to kidnap Serrano from his home in Texas and take him to cartel members in Mexico. He took over the crew sometime between 1932 and 1936, Terranova was being "put on the shelf" (meaning forced into retirement) by the new Luciano-Genovese-Costello regime of the Luciano crime family. Fields such as criminal justice, sociology, and criminology have provided vast research into prison gangs, and more specifically Mexican American prison gangs. Inmates used this perceived racial brotherhood to manipulate Sandoval for the gains of the prison gangs illegal activity by initiating the common process in prisons called downing the duck (Bedard, 2013). *Alfredo Aguilar is a doctoral candidate in the department of history at Texas Tech University, References "What we have here might be considered a sixth crime family," after the five Mafia organizations Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese said Fred Snelling, head of the FBI's criminal division in New York. March 7, 1965, would become known as "Bloody Sunday," a day when more than 600 people marching for civil rights were attacked by state troopers. Prior to the creation of this new prosecutorial arm of the Texas prison system, individual prison units handled internal criminal or objectionable acts and handed out punishment that they perceived fitting for the crime outside the confines of courtrooms. Enver Sekiraqa : Leading person of organized crime in Kosovo, aka the boss of the bosses, who is on the Interpols wanted list for several crimes. On Jan. 30, 1972, in the Northern Ireland town of Derry, a peaceful march involving 15,000 civil-rights marchers turned violent when British troops fired on the protesters. 8k-usnle Texas Syndicate Five months earlier, in August 1971 and against a backdrop of escalating violence and increased bombings in Northern Ireland, a new law was introduced giving the authorities the power to imprison . These incidents were also discussed with the journalist Robert Draper. This process was an exploitative tactic that many prisoners faced and continue to face in prisons. Immediately after the trial, the community responded. After this incident Sandoval soon realized it was the inmates who ran the prison, not the guards, and surely not the state of Texas. Bloody Sunday (2002) - IMDb Bloody Sunday | Nicholas II The prosecution of Sandoval occurred through a new development in the Texas prison system. Sandovals exposure to this initial shocking experience was predicated on his need for quick employment. Regardless of what skeptics may argue, they engage in various illicit criminal activities such as the drug trade, prostitution, robbery, and extortion within the walls of Texas prison units (Fair, 1988). This story illustrates the harsh reality of prison gang violence, but also the non-violent ways prison gangs influenced guards. MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Thirteen people were shot dead and at least 15 others injured when members of the Army's Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside - a predominantly Catholic part. Lastly, he had finally gotten to the point where they tasked him with muling drugs into the prison and participating in package drop-offs that likely contained illegal drugs to be brought into the prison units. (Associated Press), On Jan 29, 2009, high ranking Texas Syndicate member Ricardo Ortiz is executed by the state of Texas for his role in a 1997 murder. Coppola was also supervising the illegal number racket that was once controlled by Dutch Schultz before his murder. It however, only played a brief part of the court proceedings of Sandovals murder trial. The Texas Syndicate 's . Texas prison . In " We Own the Night "; A final drug transaction is made with the Albanian Mafia. Bloody Sunday - Selma To Montgomery National - National Park Service These positions were, however, opening in Texas due to the loss of the veteran prison guards. Texas Syndicate Agim Gashi : Leader of an Albanian Mafia clan based out of Italy. State identity also occurred as a form of othering by the California prison gangs which did not extend membership to non-Californios. The assailant was nowhere in sight (Draper, 1991). This problematic worldview clouded his outlook as a prison guard. There are a lot of ways they can get you in trouble (McKay, 1991). The Texas Syndicate or Syndicato Tejano was the first prison gang to heavily impact the prison system in Texas. The process of this type of coercive manipulation was a unique type of influence pursued by prison gangs in the prison system and highlights the nuance and complexity behind prison gang activity. His neck had been slashed; his head was all but severed. This was especially insightful because it was written with the viewpoint of a prison guard. Morales explains, he gets a life sentence and he ends up doing thirty-five, forty years, or whatever before he even comes up for parole. Albanian gangsters were also involved in the largest cash robbery in British crime history, the 53 million (about US$92.5 million at the time of the robbery) Securitas heist in 2006. Four Uvalde Texas Syndicate Members Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison