The US state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

has seen a rise in the number of

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 ...

s over recent years, in the main focused on the

illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

Development of gangs

Many gangs started appearing in Georgia in the mid 1980s, as a result of the

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

epidemic. In 2003, there were an estimated 78 gangs in the Atlanta area alone. In 2015, Atlanta police announced that they were tracking an estimated 192 gangs. In more recent times, Mexican drug cartels have established Atlanta as a major distribution hub for

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

, and

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

. Drug dealing is the main source of money for gang members, which has led some of the gangs to form untraditional alliances with one another.

Armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, commonly drug robberies, are another way in which gangs capitalize in Atlanta's open air drug market. The

Italian Mafia Organized crime in Italy and its criminal organizations have been prevalent in Italy, especially Southern Italy, for centuries and have affected the social and economic life of many Italian regions since at least the 19th century. There are six ...

has long considered Atlanta and its suburbs to be "open territory"; its local Italian-American population was never old, large, or cohesive enough to field a local

crime family A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activit ...

on its own. Rather, families from other cities, such as New York's

Five Families The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War. Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...

, have over the years embarked on one-off business ventures such as local restaurants, bars, and strip clubs as lucrative investments in their own right, or as

front companies A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

and mechanisms for

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

. There are also a handful of Greek families owning local diners that, over the years, have been reputed as having connections with these larger syndicates. There are also Asian gangs, mainly in the northeastern part of Atlanta, as well as individuals linked with the

Russian Mafia 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 ...

Territories

The well-known gangs are mainly concentrated in the West, Southwest, Southeast, and East Atlanta such as "The Robbing Crew " from Decatur and the "FENNOKES" from College Park with many gangs with turf on the outskirts of the city and have hybrid sets that are found in smaller cities all over Georgia. Some of the gangs are nationwide, such as the

Sureños Sureños (; Spanish: ''Southerners'')‍, Southern United Raza, Sur 13 or Sureños X3 are groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia while in U.S. state and federal correctional facilities. Many Sureño gangs have r ...

Bloods The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includin ...

Gangster Disciples The Gangster Disciples are an African American street and prison gang, which was formed in the South Side of Chicago in the late 1960s, by Larry Hoover, leader of the Supreme Gangsters, and David Barksdale, leader of the Black Disciples. The tw ...

, 61PK, Nortenos,

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

, Latin Kings,

Tiny Rascal Gang TRG, also known as Tiny Raskal Gang or Raskals, is a mainly ethnically Cambodian gang based in Eastside Long Beach, California. In the 1990s we began to see Mexican Mafia "green light" or hit lists with the TRG gang featured at the top. Soon all ...

, and

MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1970s and 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Ange ...

who have sent high ranking shot callers to establish local neighborhood cliques as loyal sets under the same flag.

Media coverage

Downtown Atlanta has had national television coverage about the gang situation. The city was featured on the show '' Gangland'', in the episodes "Death in Dixie", "Street Law", and "Death Before Dishonor". In addition, the city has been featured on ''

Drugs, Inc. ''Drugs, Inc.'' is an American documentary style television series on the National Geographic Channel that explores global narcotics production and trafficking. The series features drug dealers, recreational users, and addicts, as well as profes ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gangs in Georgia