The Spanish Cobras is a primarily, but not exclusively,

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

gang started by Puerto Rican teenagers in Chicago during the late 1950s. The Insane Spanish Cobra Nation are members of the Folks alliance and considered the second-largest Latino Folk gang on the north and west side, with the Maniac Latin Disciples being the first. The Spanish Cobras landed in the Humboldt Park neighborhood at Maplewood/Campbell & Potomac sometime during the 1960’s. In the early 1970’s a young teen named Richard “King Cobra” Medina fought to become leader of the gang as they took over the intersection of Evergreen & Washtenaw. King Cobra, or KC, started a Young Cobras faction who attacked other gangs’ turf and soon claimed Artesian & Potomac “A-Town”, and Mozart & Cortland “Sin City”. The Spanish Cobras were introduced to the world when they stabbed a Latin King during the 1977 Puerto Rican Parade. That was the catalyst for the Humboldt Park Riots. The Kings retaliated later that day, and as the two gangs fought publicly, Chicago Police shot into the crowd killing two innocent bystanders, causing the community to riot. The Insane Spanish Cobras made headlines again in Spring 1979 during their bloody war with the Insane Unknowns. This resulted in over 10 homicides and a public response from Mayor Jane Byrne. Before his murder at 20 years old in a drive-by, KC expanded the Spanish Cobras into many sections and made them large around the Division & Maplewood area. They branched into West Humboldt Park at Ridgeway & Thomas, and took over the hoods of LeMoyne & Springfield and Springfield & Hirsch which branched into Avers & Hirsch “Westown Cobras”. In the 1980s, according to criminologist John Haggerdon's book ''Insane the Chicago Way'', "What began to take shape was the daring plan of gang leaders incarcerated in Statesville—Fernando "Prince Fernie" Zayas from the Maniac Latin Disciples, Anibal "Tuffy C" Santiago from the Insane Spanish Cobras, and David Ayala from the Two Sixers—to create a local Latino Mafia" Spanish Cobra sets aggressively opened across the Northwest side around Kilbourn & Fullerton Avenue “The Killing Fields”, the notorious Fullerton & Tripp and along Central Park Ave in Logan Square. Monticello & Cortland "Murder City" branched into Lawndale & Cortland. In the sumner of 1990, the Francis & Stave YLO Cobras attacked the Simon City Royals at Kosciusko Park in a series of fist fights and shootouts, taking over “Koz Park” and opening Schubert & Avers. The Spanish Cobras and Latin Disciples were strong allies throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but began deadly turf wars over drug territory around 1993. By 1996, the war made the Chicago Tribune. That same year, in retaliation for the murder of a high ranking member, West-Town Cobras shot up a Latin King wedding resulting in casualties. The shooting was caught on videotape then broadcast on local news stations. This increased the pressure on law enforcement to go after the gang. After a nine month undercover narcotics investigation, in January 1998 the Chicago Police Department arrested 31 Spanish Cobras in "Operation: Mongoose", including some gang leaders. This resulted in the closure of a Cobra section. As head of the Insane Familia, the Spanish Cobras took the alliance of Insane Deuces, Insane Dragons, Orchestra Albany and others to war against the Maniacs and Almighty Folks. In the early 2000’s the Lawndale & Cortland Cobras violently removed the MLD’s from North Ave & Lawndale. Today, the Chicago neighborhoods with the strongest active Insane and YLO Spanish Cobra presence are: Humboldt Park, Hermosa,

Logan Square Logan Square may refer to: * Logan Square, Chicago, a neighborhood on the north side of the city * Logan Circle (Philadelphia) or Logan Square, a park in Philadelphia **Logan Square, Philadelphia Logan Square is a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Bou ...

, Belmont-Cragin, Albany Park and Kelvyn Park. They are also found in the suburbs of Waukegan, Bensenville and Cicero, with a small presence in the McKinley Park area on the south side (34th & Western). Known to operate in other parts of Illinois, as well as

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

and Kenosha in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. They are quite large in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. Law enforcement has also reported Spanish Cobras in Ohio, Connecticut and South Florida.

References

https://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/insane-way-john-hagedorn-latino-gangs-sgd/Content?oid=20511448 https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-08-29-9608290299-story.html

References

Further reading