Armenian Power 13, also known as AP, the Armenian Mob, or Armenian Mafia is an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

criminal organization Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

and

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

founded and currently based in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

.Krikorian, Michael (August 17, 1997)
Violent Gang Is a Stain on a Proud Ethnic Community Series: The rise of a small street gang, Armenian Power, is causing a tragic cycle of fear and death.
''Los Angeles Times'' They are involved in drug trafficking, murder, assault, fraud, identity theft, illegal gambling, kidnapping,

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

, robbery and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

. They are believed to have around 200 members and hundreds of associates, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. They are also well known for their connections with the Mexican Mafia.

History

Armenian Power is believed to have been co-founded in the early 1990s by Armenian-American gangster Armen “Silent” Petrosyan. When 15-year-old Armen Petrosyan arrived in East Hollywood from Armenia in 1989, he encountered larger, long-established street gangs that often preyed upon the smaller and more recent group of Armenian immigrants. Petrosyan and his friends formed a defensive alliance that grew into the Armenian Power street gang, which, at its peak in the mid-1990s, had about 120 members. According to a 1996 report by the

Office of the California Attorney General The California Department of Justice is a statewide investigative law enforcement agency and legal department of the California executive branch under the elected leadership of the California Attorney General (AG) which carries out complex cri ...

, Armenian Power has strong ties to

Russian organized crime Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gr ...

. In the summer of 1988, two dozen gang members took over the parking lot of a

mini-mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

in East Hollywood and turned it into their headquarters. They intimidated patrons of the mall's restaurants and clothing stores, forcing the shop owners to hire some off-duty

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

officers for security. By mid-1997 the Armenian Power gang was believed to be responsible for a dozen driveby murders.Rodriguez, Luis (2003). ''Hearts and Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times'', p. 38. Seven Stories Press, AP leadership also maintains ties to

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and deals directly with high level Armenian/Russian organized crime figures. Gang activity has never been reported in East Coast, Midwestern, Northern or Southern Armenian-American communities primarily composed of Van (central) Armenians, Syrian-Armenians and Iraqi-Armenians. The unique ethnic composition of the Los Angeles area, which had a strong presence of many different gangs, played a major role in the creation of the Armenian Power gang. Though on the street-level Armenian Power may seem to be merely a loosely organized youth street gang, the street gang component is merely one aspect of the organization, with younger street gang members often serving as the enforcement arm or "soldiers" for a more organized Armenian-American criminal organization consisting of higher-up members. Armenian Power's status as a highly organized crime group rather than simply a street gang became apparent when Armenian-American gangsters were found to be involved in the 2010 Medicaid fraud case and the 2011

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

-led

Operation Power Outage Operation Power Outage was a sting operation targeted at arresting and indicting members of the criminal group Armenian Power operating in the United States. The group is accused of racketeering offenses, bank fraud schemes, kidnappings, and drug tr ...

. According to the official FBI website: "The Southern California crime ring called Armenian Power may look like a traditional street gang—members identify themselves with tattoos and

gang clothing Gang colors include clothing, accessories, or tattoos of a specific color or colors that represent an affiliation to a specific gang or gang branch. History England The first recorded criminal street gangs in England were organized in London in ...

—but the group is really an international organized crime enterprise whose illegal activities allegedly range from

bank fraud Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...

and

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...

to violent

and kidnapping." On November 4, 2019, Armenian Power "shot caller" Mher Darbinyan was sentenced to a 32-year prison term. He faces deportation to

once he is released.

Mexican-Armenian conflict

Armenian Power has had a history of conflict with Sureño gangs, which are controlled by the Mexican Mafia, in the past, but the war is thought to have ended in recent years.Ryan, Harriet (September 19, 2003)
Mark Geragos out of Peterson spotlight.
CNNYablonsky, Lewis (2005). ''Gangs in court''. Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company. . Armen "Silent" Petrosyan, a founder of Armenian Power, was shot to death on May 22, 2000 by Jose Argueta, a member of the Sureño

White Fence White Fence (also known by the acronym WF) is a predominantly Mexican American street gang in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. History White Fence is one of the oldest gangs in Los Angeles. The gang itself claims its histor ...

gang.Krikorkian, Michael (February 2, 2001)
Gang Violence Claimed Man Who Tried to Change; Crime: The conviction of his killer closes the final chapter in the story of a former Armenian Power leader who was slain in inter-ethnic strife
''Los Angeles Times'' In 2000, the murder of a 17-year-old Mexican-American outside of Hoover High School in

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

by Armenian Power members sparked dialogue to find ways to help end the war between the gangs.Rodriguez, Luis (2003). ''Hearts and Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times'', p. 327. Seven Stories Press. . Today the Mexican Mafia

prison gang A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...

collects

protection money A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...

from Armenian Power, which has added the number 13 to its name as a sign of loyalty. The two gangs, and the Sureños, now work together to both control and extort

from criminal activities in the Los Angeles area.

Involvement in the Syrian Civil War

In 2014, two Los Angeles gang members, were videotaped in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al Assad .

Investigations and prosecutions

Operation Power Outage

On February 16, 2011 during

over 900 federal and local law enforcement authorities arrested nearly 100 people allegedly involved in Armenian organized crime in the Los Angeles area. Much of the crime was

white collar White collar may refer to: * White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor ...

in nature, including

crimes such as

credit card skimming Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The ...

.Blankstein, Andrew (February 16, 2011)
Nearly 100 charged, dozens arrested in operation targeting Armenian organized crime.
''Los Angeles Times''Staff report (February 16, 2011)

''New York Times'' The range of crimes included kidnapping, fraud, extortion, identity theft, loansharking, robbery, witness intimidation, drug trafficking, drug charges including marijuana cultivation and bringing narcotics into prison, gun-related offenses, and murder.

In popular culture

* A fictionalized version of the gang, titled "Armenian Might", appeared in multiple seasons of the FX drama series '' The Shield'', which starred Michael Chiklis as Detective

Vic Mackey Victor Samuel Mackey, played by Michael Chiklis, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the FX crime drama series ''The Shield'', which ran for seven seasons. Mackey is portrayed as a corrupt and brutal detective in the Los Angeles Poli ...

. The Armenian Might is a minor antagonist in seasons 1 and 2, the main antagonist of seasons 3 and 6 and the secondary antagonist of season 7. * A fictional Armenian Mob appears in the video game ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

''. Franklin Clinton’s former employer, Simeon Yetarian, is associated with the gang. Many of the younger members of the group dress in the typical Chicano style much like the Armenian Power. * NCIS-Los Angeles mentions the Armenian Mob several times, particularly in Season 2, Episode 11. * A fictionalized Armenian Power appears in Ray Donovan Season 3, particularly in Episode 10 "One Night in Yerevan". * A gang of Armenians is featured in the 2016 crime movie '' Message from the King''. * In chapter 40 of House of Cards a member of the Armenian Power gang has dialogue in a prison scene.

References

External links

Roots of the Armenian Power GangArmenian criminal enterprise dealt serious blow
{{Organized crime groups in America Organizations established in 1989 1989 establishments in California Organized crime groups in the United States by ethnicity Street gangs Gangs in Los Angeles East Hollywood, Los Angeles Armenian-American culture in Los Angeles