The Latin Counts is a Latino street

gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

based in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois with a significant branch in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan. It is a member of the

People Nation The People Nation is an American alliance of street gangs generally associated with the Chicago area. They are rivals of the Folk Nation alliance of gangs. Formation In 1978, Mickey Cogwell and Jeff Fort (now Black P. Stones), Vice Lords and ...

alliance.

History

The gang was founded in 1955 by

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

youth who had just arrived to the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. The original gang members were all related to one another. They named their gang the Texans in homage to the state they originally lived in. The name was changed two years later to Sons of Mexico City to better reflect their ethnic heritage. The name was changed again in 1959 to Latin Counts, inspired by the Polish Counts gang that operated in the nearby

Back of the Yards The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

community. During the 1960s, the Counts came into conflict with other gangs in the Pilsen area such as the

Latin Kings The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN, ALKN, or LKN, also known as simply Latin Kings) is a gang active primarily in the United States. The gang was founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago, Illinois, in 1954. The Latin Kings are one of t ...

, the Satan Disciples and Ambrose. In 1970, a faction broke off from the gang to be named the Bishops, who retained good relations with the Counts due to their sharing of the same bloodlines. Their alliance, known as the Bishop Count Nation, would falter in the 1990s. In 1978, the Counts were invited to join the

, a gang alliance formed in the Pontiac Correctional Center. This enabled the Counts to enter a truce with the allied Latin Kings, but street-level conflict continued between the two gangs until the 1980s. Starting in 1980, the Counts began to expand their operations to the

South Chicago South Chicago, formerly known as Ainsworth, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. This chevron-shaped community is one of Chicago's 16 lakefront neighborhoods near the southern rim of Lake Michigan 10 miles south of downtow ...

and South Deering neighborhoods,"Latin Counts"
''Chicago Gang History''. Retrieved April 30, 2025. and in the mid-1980s they expanded to

Cicero, Illinois Cicero is a town in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the population was 85,268, making it the 11th-most populous municipality in Illinois. The town is named after Marcus Tullius Cicero, a R ...

and Southwest Detroit.Norman, Kay (November 7, 2024
"The Five Most Dangerous Gangs in Michigan and Their Growing Influence on Crime and Violence"
'' KPYN''. Retrieved April 30, 2025. In 1991, a full-scale shooting war erupted with the Latin Kings over turf in Cicero that pitted all Counts and Kings against each other nationwide.

Insignia

The Latin Counts' symbol consists of a depiction of

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

, a knight's helmet, and a sword with five slashes above it. The helmet was inspired by the image on the Knight brand matchbox. Their colors are black and red.

Territory

The Latin Counts gang operates in the

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities ...

, including the Pilsen, McKinley Park, Marquette Park, Ashburn,

, South Deering,

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

, Bridgeview, and Chicago Heights communities. Its territory has expanded to include Southwest Detroit, Michigan, and the suburbs of

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

and Ecorse.Hutchinson, Derick (June 2, 2017
"Lengthy Sentences Given to Members of Latin Counts, Vice Lords Detroit Street Gangs"
''clickondetroit.com''. Retrieved September 29, 2019. The gang's presence has been detected in other Michigan cities including Pontiac,

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

Activities

The Latin Counts' main criminal activity involves drug activity and racketeering.Cross, Lauren (March 4, 2019
"Man Tied to Sweeping Latin Counts Racketeering and Drug Case is Going to Prison"
''nwi.com''. Retrieved September 29, 2019. Gang members have also been involved in selling stolen weapons, assaults and murders.

Leadership

Isidro Garza led the gang while incarcerated in the

Michigan Department of Corrections The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) oversees prisons and the parole and probation population in the state of Michigan, United States. It has 31 prison facilities, and a Special Alternative Incarceration program, together composing appr ...

, where he was already serving 25-50 years for a 1993 gang-related homicide. He was sentenced in federal court to an additional ten years in prison.Ainsworth, Amber (April 10, 2018
"Final Detroit's Latin Counts Street Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy"
''clickondetroit.com''. Retrieved September 29, 2019. In June 2017, gang leader Victor Vasquez was sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating the

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was e ...

. Benjamin Beightol, the gang's Minister of Information who disseminated Garza's instructions to lower ranking gang members, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges on January 29, 2018, and faced ten years in prison.

References

{{authority control Organizations established in 1955 1955 establishments in Illinois People Nation Hispanic-American gangs Latino street gangs Mexican-American culture in Chicago Gangs in Chicago Gangs in Detroit