History
The Avenues were not always violent when they started and rarely engaged in illegal activities. They were started by the Flores brothers in the 1940s, but little is known about the brothers. The greatest of their crimes during the 1940s were simple assaults. As time progressed and their numbers increased, they became more violent and started to act more like a criminal street gang and less like a social club. In the late 1960s, when heroin started to flood the streets, they turned for the worse and would be forevermore labeled a criminal street gang. They increasingly took part in the illegal drug trade and these actions have continued to the present day. By the time the 1970s rolled around the Avenues had grown from a neighborhood social club into a highly organized gang whose territory stretched 6 miles. The Avenues also began to clash with neighboring gangs, such as Highland Park 13, Cypress Park Boys, Toonerville, Frog Town Rifa and Thee Rascals, in an attempt to assert their dominance. At first, it was common for rival gang members to fight one another to settle scores, but once cocaine hit the streets, gangs noticed that huge amounts of money can be generated from its distribution and shootings/stabbings became more prevalent. In the 1990s the main drug of choice in the Avenue's hood switched from cocaine to methamphetamine due to the establishment of industrial-sized meth laboratories in central-Mexico as well as the increased scarcity of cocaine after the fall of the Medellin cartel. During this period of time drug-addiction and violent crime became an everyday fact of life in northeast Los Angeles as rival gangs began fighting over drug turf. In the last half of the 1990s northeast Los Angeles had more homicides than any other part of the city with 500 gang-related shootings. The Avenues Gang are well known for their hatred of and hate crimes committed against African-American residents of their neighborhoods. Reflecting their hate-filled attitudes, they tried to keep even non-gang affiliated African-Americans from moving into the Highland Park area.Location
The Avenues are located in Cypress Park, Glassell Park, Highland Park and Eagle Rock. Each of the Avenues cliques claims a gang territory based on where gang members live. The main cliques are 43rd Aves, Avenues 57, Cypress Avenues, Division street and Drew Street, all centered on the streets for which they are named. Their barrio once covered almost 6 square miles. Members of the 43rd Aves were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2006 for hate-crime charges for harassing, attacking and murdering African Americans in Highland Park. Many gang members have relocated toCulture
The Avenues have a long history of involvement with the Mexican Mafia. Gang members are secretive and their code of silence is taken seriously and violations have lethal consequences. Respect and loyalty are considered to be very important. They challenge anyone and enforce the borders of their territory with deadly accuracy. Avenues gang members tattoos are known by a skull with a fedora and a bullet hole in the skull, or the letters LA, AVES, A's and Avenidas. The Avenues are one of LA's most violent gangs. PresidentCriminal activity
The Avenues gained national attention in 1995, when several members opened fire on a car that made a wrong turn into a Cypress Park alley, killing 3-year-old Stephanie Kuhen. Gang members were also accused of the August 2008 killing of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Abel Escalante, 27, who worked at the Men's Central Jail guarding some of the county's most dangerous inmates. Escalante was gunned down outside his parents' Cypress Park home as he prepared to go to work. The Avenues are notorious for their participation in hate crimes against black inhabitants of their neighborhoods. Some have called their actions a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Aside from their participation in hate related crimes, their main source of income is from illegal narcotics and human trafficking. The Avenues, as with most other Sureño sets, are well connected with Mexican drug cartels, specifically theSee also
*References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avenues Organizations established in the 1920s 1920s establishments in California Latino street gangs Sureños Gangs in Los Angeles Mexican-American culture in Los Angeles