Zoe Pound is a criminal

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 collective ...

based in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

founded by Haitian immigrants in the mid-1990s.

Etymology

"Zoe'" is the anglicized variant of the word '' zo'',

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

for "bone", as members were known to be "hard to the bone." When conflicts against Haitians arose, the ''pound'' would be sought out to retaliate; thus, the street gang name, "Zoe Pound", was born. "Pound" may also stand for "Power Of (the) Unified Negroes (in) Divinity".

History

Having branched out from Miami in the two decades leading up to 2010, they are known to be involved in drug trafficking and robbery and related violent crimes in support of their drug trafficking activities in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city i ...

. In 2004, six Zoe Pound leaders were arrested on

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 ...

and conspiracy charges in

Fort Pierce, Florida Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...

after

Florida Department of Law Enforcement The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a state-wide investigative law enforcement agency within the state of Florida. The department formally coordinates eight boards, councils, and commissions. FDLE's duties, responsibilities and ...

offices convinced several gang members to give testimony for the prosecution.

References

{{Organized crime groups in America, state=collapsed Gangs in Florida Haitian-American culture in Miami