Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos (HPL) is a Mexican American

prison gang A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...

founded by Chino Avitia in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

during the early 1980s. The English translation of the gang's name is "Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen". It operates in all Texas prisons and on the streets in many communities in Texas, particularly in Laredo. HPL is active throughout Mexico with its largest contingent in

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Lar ...

. The gang is structured and is estimated to have 1,000 members. Members maintain close ties to several Mexican drug trafficking organizations and are involved in the trafficking of large quantities of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

and marijuana from Mexico into the United States for distribution.

Criminal activities

The Pistoleros Latinos began to grow in the 1990s after the gang began recruiting members from cities outside of the Rio Grande Valley. The original HPL members from the valley resented the new members being recruited from San Antonio and Houston. A power struggle within the prison gang’s ranks ensued causing the group to splinter into two separate chapters. The original HPL members decided to call themselves the HPL 45s, while the San Antonio and Houston members were known as the 16/12s. The two factions went to war and finally reunited under the name HPL in 1998.

References

External links

* * * http://prisonoffenders.com/hpl.html {{Organized crime groups in the Americas , state=collapsed Organizations established in the 1980s 1980s establishments in Texas Hispanic-American gangs Prison gangs in the United States Gangs in Texas Mexican-American culture in Texas