The Guardia Civil, within the framework of Operation Torcidos, developed in the provinces of Madrid and Coruña, has arrested 16 members of Latin Kings, for alleged crimes of belonging to a criminal organisation, injuries, threats, robbery with violence and drug trafficking, among others.
The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation is one of the largest Hispanic and Latino street and prison gangs worldwide. The gang was founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago, Illinois in 1954.
This operation originated from the investigations initiated by the Information Group of the Guardia Civil of Madrid in June 2021 within the framework of Operation Confundido, which investigated an attack with bladed weapons in the town of Galapagar ( Madrid), in which three individuals were injured by machetes from alleged members of the Latin King.
Through the investigations, the agents managed to find out that the attacking group was made up of members of the Latin Kings of Galapagar, whose objective was to attack members of the Trinitarios de Collado Villalba gang, all in the field of territorial defence that these groups usually practice.
The Guardia Civil was able to verify the growth of criminal activity carried out by these gangs through violent robberies, threats, injuries and drug trafficking; actions mostly committed in the Madrid municipality of Galapagar and other neighbouring municipalities, in most of the illegal acts by individuals investigated.
At the same time, the agents began to detect in some schools in different Madrid municipalities, thanks to the collaboration of their teaching teams, an important work by the Latin Kings to attract new underage members, as well as settling scores between them.
The work of the Guardia Civil investigators made it possible to obtain numerous relevant data on the criminal activity carried out by the Latin Kings, whose ringleader maintained close and constant organic contact with the absolute leader of the gang, who was in turn its founder in Spain in the early 2000s in Galapagar, and who has currently been serving a prison sentence since 2003 for rape, among other crimes.
The complex work of the agents of the Information Service of the Guardia Civil over the last few months has confirmed that it is a perfectly organised group, with a clear purpose of committing crimes, and strict internal discipline.
This criminal structure bases its modus operandi on the execution of the guidelines dictated hierarchically by the upper part of the organisation, being generally crimes with which they obtain an economic benefit that allows them to finance themselves, including drug trafficking, crimes against property (especially robberies with violence and intimidation) and crimes against people (injuries and threats).
In addition to the criminal actions mentioned, these groups are especially notable for the violence they display in their actions, and for carrying out extremely violent confrontations against other gangs they consider to be their enemies (including other Sections of the same gang), in order to gain with control of the territories in which they settle, causing extremely serious situations for citizen security.
Likewise, most of these groups seek to incorporate minors into their ranks, either occupying a less important hierarchical position, or as applicants who have not yet acquired the status of full members. These minors are induced by the higher-ranking members to leave their social and family circles for the benefit of the gang, and are in charge of committing the illegal activities that serve as a means of financing and to raise the status of power for the gang.
The police device for the exploitation of this operation has had the participation of agents of the Information Service of the Guardia Civil, of the USECIC of Madrid, as well as the collaboration of the Municipal Police of Madrid and Local Police of Galapagar, and Penitentiary Institutions.
The result of the Operation has ended with 16 detainees, one of them a minor, and one investigated. In the searches carried out on 5 homes, large bladed weapons such as a bolomachete, a metallic dagger, precision scales, literature, symbols and clothing typical of this organisation, as well as cash were found.
