Thanks mostly to Hollywood, many Wild West outlaws have reached folk hero status. Even today, people know gangs like the Wild Bunch, the Dalton Gang, or Billy the Kid and his Regulators, and their reputations are such that many would tremble at the thought of going back in time and meeting any of them in person.

But history doesn’t treat everyone equally. When some figures are pushed to the front, others are necessarily relegated to the background. These next entries are not well-remembered today, but their exploits formed a fascinating contribution to the lore of the Wild West.

10 The Rio Grande Posse

The Rio Grande Posse, active during the 1870s and 1880s, was also known as the John Kinney Gang after its founder and leader. Kinney, a military man, was discharged from the US Army in 1865 and started his gang, focusing primarily on cattle rustling and robbery. The gang contained members who would go on to become more prominent figures of the Wild West. They included Jesse Evans, who went on to form his own gang, and Charles “Pony Diehl” Ray, who later joined Curly Bill Brocius during his famous fights against the Earp brothers.^[1]

The Kinney Gang’s defining moment came in 1878, when it took part in the Lincoln County War, fighting against Billy the Kid and his Regulators. According to legend, Kinney got part of his ear shot off by Billy during a gunfight. When the feud was over, some of the men stayed with Kinney, while others broke off and joined Evans’s new gang.

The end of the posse came in 1883, when Kinney was arrested for cattle rustling. By the time he was released, everyone else was either dead or in jail. Kinney avoided returning to a life of crime and instead joined the Army again during the Spanish-American War.

9 The Bummers

While most of the West’s infamous groups made a name for themselves through cattle rustling, robberies, and gunfights, the Colorado Territory was plagued by a less ambitious bunch. They were a group of lowlifes, losers, and layabouts known as the Bummers, headed by Eddie “Shooter” Coleman.

They mostly targeted a mining settlement called Auraria, today a part of Denver. The Bummers usually resorted to petty theft and vandalism, taking advantage of the fact that the territory had not been incorporated yet and lacked any official law enforcement. At night, they would get loud, drunk, and rambunctious, firing their guns in the air as a display of intimidation toward the law-abiding citizens of the town.

Eventually, the Bummers went too far. Over the Christmas holiday of 1859, the ne’er-do-wells stole a farmer’s wagon full of birds intended for Christmas dinners, triggering the colorfully named Turkey War.^[2] The townsfolk had finally had enough and gathered a vigilante posse. The two groups clashed. One Bummer was killed during the fight, and a few more were promptly lynched. The rest of the gang got the message—they left town and went their separate ways.

8 The Innocents

The Innocents were either the most vicious, bloodthirsty gang in the history of the Old West or patsies who were used by an equally bloodthirsty group of vigilantes. It all depends on who you ask.

First, the official version: The Innocents were a group of highwaymen active throughout the Montana Territory during the gold rush, preying on travelers carrying gold between cities. They were led by a corrupt sheriff named Henry Plummer and had killed over 100 people before they were stopped by a vigilante group. Most of the Innocents, sheriff included, wound up hanging from trees following brief trials or, in some cases, no trials at all.

That was the official story for over a century, but historians in recent decades began to question if the Innocents were such a prolific gang or, indeed, if they existed at all. There are records of multiple gold robberies and murders during that time, but little evidence connects them together, let alone implicates one single gang. The dozens of alleged victims of the Innocents were cut into pieces and buried, burned, or dumped under ice, but none of them were found. Neither was their stolen treasure.

The official story was believed for so long because it came from a reputable source. Many of the vigilantes became prominent figures of Montana’s early years as a state. This included Thomas Dimsdale, Montana’s first newspaper editor and the author of The Vigilantes of Montana.^[3]

People’s opinions of the Innocents were exemplified perfectly by Sheriff Henry Plummer’s posthumous trial in 1993. The verdict split 6-6, ending in a mistrial.

7 The Jennings Gang

The Jennings Gang was proof that, even in the Wild West, not everyone was cut out for a life of crime. Formed by lawyers-turned-criminals Al (pictured above) and Frank Jennings, the eponymous gang was initially feared because it also included former Wild Bunch member Richard “Little Dick” West. However, the gang’s short-lived criminal career only spanned a few months in 1897.

Active in Oklahoma, they tried to rob a few trains, stores, and a post office, but none of their heists proved financially fruitful. One general store only had $15, and during one train robbery, they blew up an empty safe. Given their criminal incompetence, the gang was soon arrested. Only “Little Dick” managed to escape, and he died in a gunfight a year later.

More interesting was Al Jennings’s career following his five-year stint in jail. After receiving a presidential pardon in 1907, Jennings got into politics and successfully won the Democratic nomination for Oklahoma County attorney in 1912. He ran on a platform of honesty, openly talking about his criminal past.

While Jennings didn’t win, he attracted the attention of Hollywood and launched his fourth career as a silent film actor. His filmography included two dozen acting credits, including a starring role in a 1914 biopic about his life titled Beating Back. Jennings put his newfound popularity to good use and ran for governor Oklahoma. He finished third out of six in the Democratic primaries.^[4]

6 The Red Jack Gang

The Red Jack Gang was active in the early 1880s, targeting stagecoaches along the San Pedro River in Arizona. The leader was “Red Jack” Almer, noted for his ginger hair and pale complexion, which gave him a youthful, almost feminine appearance.

Although the gang pulled off several successful heists, their most memorable haul came on August 10, 1883, when they robbed a Florence-Globe Stagecoach carrying a Wells Fargo strongbox holding a fortune in gold. Prior to the robbery, Almer got on the stagecoach as a passenger to ensure it was transporting valuable loot. Conflicting reports say that he either got off before the robbery or stayed on and somehow signaled his partners. According to one colorful legend, Red Jack also took advantage of his appearance by wearing a dress and disguising himself as a woman to deflect suspicion.^[5]

Whatever the truth might be, the gang made off with thousands of dollars in gold, which was never recovered. However, their exploits also put the law on their trail, and several posses tracked them down one by one. Almer himself was killed in a gunfight by Earp associate Sheriff Bob Paul.

5 The Ketchum Gang

Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum (pictured above) started out his criminal career with his older brother, Sam, in the mid-1890s. The two were rumored to have been behind the 1896 disappearance and presumed murder of Texas senator Albert Fountain and his eight-year-old son, Henry. The brothers were involved in a bloody shootout that same year after robbing a store. The owner, Levi Herzstein, rounded up a small four-man posse and pursued the criminals. A gunfight ensued, in which Levi and a companion were killed, and the other two barely escaped with their lives.^[6]

As the Ketchum Gang grew, they began targeting trains and stagecoaches. By this point, the gang included several prominent outlaws who would go on to join Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, such as Ben “Tall Texan” Kilpatrick and Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan.

In 1899, the gang, led by Sam Ketchum, robbed a train without Tom. Although successful, they were pursued by a posse and engaged in a gunfight where several members were either killed or fatally injured, including Sam.

Shortly thereafter, Black Jack tried to rob a train single-handedly. However, the conductor recognized him and blew off his right arm with a shotgun blast. Afterward, Ketchum was captured and arrested. The violent man met a fittingly violent end. His hanging was botched, and Ketchum was decapitated in front of a shocked audience.

4 The Dodge City Gang

Unlike other entries on this list, the Dodge City Gang had high aspirations and aimed to dominate the political and economic life of a booming Las Vegas, New Mexico, through corruption, intimidation, and violence.

The gang was active for a few months in 1879. It was mostly composed of gunslingers who fought together during Railroad Wars in New Mexico. The leader was Hyman Neill, also known as Hoodoo Brown.^[7] He parlayed his reputation as a gunfighter into a position as justice of the peace with the promise of stamping out corruption. Instead, he installed his fellow gunslingers into positions of law enforcement. Joe Carson, “Mysterious” Dave Mather, and Dave Rudabaugh became chief of police, deputy marshal, and policeman, respectively.

Carson was soon killed in a shoot-out. Despite their successful positions, the gang members couldn’t refrain from the occasional robbery. Eventually, a deputy named John Sherman assembled enough honest men to catch the criminals in the act. Most of them were arrested. Mather was acquitted and went on to build a fearsome reputation as a gunfighter before vanishing from the history books. Although Hoodoo Brown didn’t take part in the robbery, the people knew he was involved, and an angry mob ran him out of town.

3 The Jack Taylor Gang

Active throughout the Arizona Territory and Mexico during the mid-1880s, the Jack Taylor Gang gained a fearsome reputation for being cruel and quick to draw. They once murdered four passengers during a single train robbery and four more train crew members on different occasions.

The beginning of the end for the gang came in 1887, in Mexico, when the eponymous leader was captured by Rurales and sentenced to life in prison.^[8] The rest of the gang returned to Arizona. However, this brought them under the purview of Cochise County sheriff “Texas” John Slaughter, who was tipped off to their presence, swiftly rounded up a posse, and went in pursuit.

There were four members left: Manuel Robles, Fred Federico, Geronimo Miranda, and Nieves Deron. Foolishly, they thought they could hide out with relatives and visited Robles’ brother in Contention City. Slaughter learned of this and stormed the house where Deron and Robles were sleeping, prompting a gunfight. Deron was killed, and Robles, although shot, managed to escape and rendezvous with Miranda and Federico later. The men left Arizona and moved again into Mexican territory.

All three remaining members of the Jack Taylor Gang met their end later that year. Robles and Miranda both died in a shootout with the Mexican Rurales. Federico shot a deputy sheriff and was captured and hanged soon after.

2 The McCanles Gang

The event that took place on July 21, 1861, at Rock Creek Station, Nebraska, became known as the McCanles Massacre. According to certain accounts, three men acted in self-defense against a ruthless gang looking to start trouble. Others, however, contend that the McCanles Gang never really existed and that those same three men committed cold-blooded murder to get out of a debt. Whatever the truth might be, the shootout helped start the legend of Wild Bill Hickok.

David McCanles (pictured above) owned the property that the Rock Street Station was built on and where a then-unknown James Butler Hickok worked as a stock tender. According to the popular story, he was also a ruthless outlaw who terrorized the region with his gang. On that fateful day, McCanles and two of his men, James Woods and James Gordon, came to collect payment from the station manager, Horace Wellman. When the manager didn’t have the full sum, McCanles turned violent and tried to kill him.

Luckily for Wellman, Hickok and another stock tender named Brink were present and jumped to his aid. In the ensuing shootout, McCanles and his two henchmen were gunned down. Hickok was later charged with murder but acquitted.

There’s another version of the story, one told by McCanles’s 12-year-old son Monroe, who was there but wasn’t allowed to testify due to his age.^[9] He claimed his father and his men came unarmed and were gunned down without provocation by Hickok, Wellman, and Brink. Wellman then tried to kill Monroe with a hoe but missed, and the boy managed to make a run for it.

1 The Reynolds Gang

The true nature of the Reynolds Gang is disputed, but few would argue against the fact that they had a fascinating history mostly forgotten today. They were Confederate soldiers who became outlaws, targeting the Colorado Territory. Led by Jim and John Reynolds, they primarily robbed coaches passing through the Kenosha Pass and weren’t above shedding blood from time to time.

Some historians contend that the gang remained loyal to the Confederacy. They were under military orders to disrupt Union supply lines, and the stolen money was to be saved and sent back to the Confederate Army. Whatever the real story, people eventually had enough and formed a posse. They caught up to the gang on July 31, 1864, and a gunfight ensued. One outlaw died, and five others were captured shortly. Only John Reynolds and Jack Stowe managed to escape into New Mexico.^[10]

Afterward came another bit of controversy. The official story said that the prisoners were gunned down during a failed escape attempt. However, an inquiry by Confederate sympathizers revealed that the men were chained to a tree and executed under the orders of Colonel Chivington, the same man who orchestrated the Sand Creek Massacre.

Fast-forward seven years, and John Reynolds was partnered with a man named Al Brown. After being fatally injured during a gunfight, Reynolds allegedly told Brown where he buried the money stolen with his gang. Brown traveled to Mount Logan but was unable to find the loot due to a landslide altering the landscape. Since then, treasure hunters have been eagerly searching the area, hoping to uncover Reynolds’s lost treasure.

The Wild West, or the Old West, refers to the period of western expansion in United States history, roughly from the late 19th century and early 20th century. While most of us today only know it as a fictional aesthetic, the period was full of real violence and lawlessness, especially along the frontier regions. The unique characteristics of that time gave rise to numerous powerful Wild West gangs, some of which were known for their brutality and scale of violence. 

10. Soap Gang

The Soap Gang was a group of conmen led by Jefferson Randolph Smith II, better known as Soapy Smith. It was formed in 1879 in Denver, Colorado, and quickly gained fame for their innovative con jobs. Smith was a skilled con artist specializing in many scams, including the ‘Prize Package Soap Sell’ racket, which involved selling bars of soap to a crowd with a chance to win a valuable prize inside. Of course, he’d always have a member in the crowd to buy the soap at a higher price, convincing others into putting their money into worthless soaps.

The Soap Gang gained fame in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as they traveled from town to town throughout the American West defrauding locals and visitors alike. They were especially active in the towns of Skagway and Juneau, Alaska, during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1899. 

The gang’s downfall came in 1898, when a group of vigilantes known as the Committee of 101 in Skagway, led by a man named Frank Reid, decided to pick bounties against some of the criminals in town, including members of the Soap Gang. Soapy Smith and several members were killed in a shootout at Juneau Wharf.

9. Dalton Gang

The Dalton Gang, also known as the Dalton Brothers, was a group of outlaws that gained fame during the latter part of the 19th century. It was formed in 1890 in Oklahoma by four brothers, Bob, Emmett, Grat, and Bill Dalton, with other members like Bill Doolin and George “Bitter Creek” Newcomb joining some time later. They were feared for their daring train and bank robberies across the American West, and could be called one of the most dangerous gangs of the time.

Their most famous robbery was that of the C.M. Condon & Co. Bank in Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1892. The gang was confronted by lawmen and citizens during the robbery, resulting in a shootout that left several members and civilians dead. It became known as the Coffeyville Raid and further cemented the gang’s reputation as ruthless criminals. Their final heist came in 1894, when they attempted to rob two banks simultaneously in the town of El Reno, Oklahoma. It ended in disaster, with most of the gang members killed or captured. 

8. Archer Gang

The Archer Gang was active in central Indiana and parts of Illinois and Kentucky during the mid 19th century. Formed by brothers Thomas, Mort, John, and Sam, they robbed banks and other businesses in towns throughout large parts of Indiana. They’d also rob stagecoaches, trains, and other travelers on the roads, sometimes even resorting to stealing cattle and horses from unsuspecting residents of small towns.

The members of the Archer gang were mostly farmers and millers who turned to robbery and crime during hard financial times. Many civilians and other regular folk died or disappeared due to their activities, particularly in the Martin County region. Their reign ended in 1886, when three of the Archer brothers were arrested by law enforcement in the town of Shoals. Before they could be tried, however, they were broken out by local vigilantes and lynched nearby.

7. Reynolds Gang

The Reynolds Gang was a short-lived group of criminals and outlaws operating in Colorado during the 1860s. It was named after brothers James and John Reynolds, gaining popular attention in 1864, when local newspapers in and around the South Park region started talking about their early crimes. Most of the members were experienced criminals and ex-Confederate soldiers, executing a number of high-profile robberies and murders in the area until they were brought down. 

Because of their Confederate past, the Reynolds gang was associated with many local stories and legends of lost treasures, despite their relatively short existence. The Reynolds brothers and many of the gang’s members were arrested and eventually shot in the summer of 1864, bringing a quick end to their exploits.

6. Rufus Buck Gang

The Rufus Buck Gang lived in Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. It was formed in 1895 and consisted of Rufus Buck, a Creek Indian, Lewis Davis, Sam Sampson, and brothers Maoma July and Lucky Davis. They were known for robberies, murders and assaults, and were particularly notorious for their level of brutality. 

The Rufus Buck Gang gained attention in July 1895, when they first robbed Fort Smith and violently murdered the marshal in charge. Their list of crimes includes rape and torture, as they terrorized the region for many months. When members of the Rufus Buck gang were finally  captured on August 10, they were almost lynched by the locals. All of them were eventually put on trial and sentenced to death at Fort Smith, Arkansas. 

5. McCarty Gang

The McCarty gang was headed by Tom McCarty, and included his brother Bill McCarty and nephew Fred McCarty. Their first operation was robbing the Wallowa National Bank in Enterprise, Oregon, followed by many other heists and robberies in and around Colorado. 

While the McCarty’s were great at evading law enforcement, they were ultimately downed by a bunch of civilians during a raid in Delta, Colorado in September 1893. While they had partly succeeded, the heist ended in the death of the cashier, resulting in an armed fight between the locals and the gang’s members. Bill and Fred were shot dead in the resulting violence, bringing an abrupt end to the McCarty gang. While Tom managed to escape the law and settle down as a sheepherder in Montana, he was also killed in a gunfight around the turn of the century. 

4. Calton Gang

Also known as The Cowboys, the Caltons were a family of outlaws and cattle rustlers living along the Mexican border during the late 19th century. It was an early form of organized crime in the area, and the gang members mostly included people from the Carlton family living in Tombstone, Arizona. They were infamous for robberies, murders, and other forms of crime in the border regions, and are still remembered as one of the most feared outlaw groups in Arizona’s history.

The gang was involved in a number of crimes, including a high-profile gunfight against rival gang members that resulted in the death of William “Billy” Clanton. The gang’s rivalry with the Earp brothers and their allies led to a series of violent confrontations now known as the Earp-Clanton feud. Even after the gang’s downfall, the Clantons remained an influential ranching group in the region for a long time.

3. Ketchum Gang

The Ketchum gang was named after its leader, Black Jack Thomas Ketchum, along with his brother, Sam, and other members like Will Carver, Elza Lay, and Ben Kilpatrick, who was also associated with Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch. Active during the late 1890s, they were known for robberies of all kinds in small towns in the New Mexico region.

One of their most famous robberies happened in Folsom, New Mexico, when members Sam Ketchum, Will Carver, and Elzy Lay decided to carry out a heist without Black Jack Ketchum. While they managed to rob about $50,000, the group was pursued by a posse led by Sheriff Edward Farr. Sam Ketchum was seriously wounded in the ensuing shootout, though the other members were able to escape to a nearby hideout. Some of them were later arrested, or went on to work with other gangs in the region. Black Jack Ketchum was arrested on August 16, 1899 during an attempted robbery, and was eventually hanged in Union County, New Mexico. 

2. Daly Gang

The Daly Gang was a group of thugs operating out of a saloon in Aurora, Nevada between 1862 and 1864. Founded by “Three-Fingered Jack” McDowell and John Daly, they quickly gained a reputation for beatings and murder in and around the Aurora region. Apart from the regular stagecoach and bank robberies, they also targetted the goldfields springing up between Aurora and Carson City during the gold rush period.

It was one of the most powerful gangs in the region’s history, though their terror ultimately came to an end when they murdered a man named William R. Johnson in a gruesome manner. As a result, the citizens of nearby towns formed a local civilian committee and attacked McDowell’s saloon on February 5, 1864. After the fight, all of the gang’s members were arrested and hanged outside the Armory Hall in Aurora. 

1. Mason Henry Gang

The Mason Henry gang operated in the San Joaquin Valley in Santa Cruz County, California during the mid-1860s. Named after its leaders, John Mason and Jim Henry, the gang posed as Confederate partisan rangers, but were, in reality, a band of ruthless criminals who committed robberies, thefts, and murders throughout the southern part of the valley.

The Mason Henry gang was involved in several high-profile robberies, including the theft of a large amount of gold from a stagecoach. They also murdered several people, and despite their efforts to portray themselves as Confederate soldiers, the gang’s actions quickly earned them a reputation as ruthless outlaws among local civilians.

Their downfall came in September 1865, when a posse led by the local sheriff pursued and engaged them in a shootout near Panoche Pass. Several members were killed in the ensuing battle, including Henry and Showalter, bringing an end to the famous-yet-short-lived Mason Henry gang.

From prison gangs to extortion rackets to neo Nazis, the United States is home to a variety of criminal groups and organizations. While we don’t hear about them as often as we should, they remain an active threat for the security apparatus of the country, with membership numbers comparable to some large, multinational corporations. 

10. Jewish Defense League

The Jewish Defense League is recognized as a far-right terrorist group by the FBI. Formed in 1968 by Rabbi Meir Kahane, one of the stated aims of the organization was protection from anti-Semitism worldwide. It was primarily founded on the principles of Jewish nationalism, territorialism, and the use of force to defend Jews against their enemies. The JDL has since been accused of numerous terrorist attacks, including bombings, assassinations, and extortion.

The group is primarily active in the US and Israel, where it has been responsible for a number of violent incidents over the years. It first gained prominence in the 1970s, when JDL members carried out a number of high-profile attacks against Arab targets in the United States and Europe. They were also known for their staunch opposition to the USSR, as Jews across the Soviet Union were barred from emigrating to Israel. Despite its small size, the JDL was able to gain a large following in the Israeli-American Jewish community due to its aggressive tactics.

9. MS-13

MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, is an international criminal organization that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally formed as a protection racket for Salvadoran refugees in the city, the group gradually evolved into a violent criminal organization involved in activities like drug and human trafficking. Today, the group operates in several countries, including the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.

MS-13 got popular attention in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it was responsible for a string of murders and assaults across the country. The gang is infamous for its brutal tactics, like their preference for machetes and other melee weapons to fight their rivals. Despite its notoriety, however, MS-13 remains a relatively-small gang, with an estimated 6,000 – 10,000 members in the US. In central American countries, however, the gang’s membership may be as high as 60,000.

8. Vice Lords

Vice Lords Nation originated in Chicago, Illinois, in 1958 as a community organization aimed at helping local African Americans overcome poverty and discrimination. Over time, however, the group grew into one of the largest criminal organizations in the United States, with a chapter in almost every city and town across the country. The group is known to be involved in various criminal activities, including drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, and murder. 

The gang mainly operates in the Midwest and southern regions of the United States, and has an estimated total membership of anywhere between 30,000 – 35,000 regular and associate members. The US government has designated the group as a criminal organization, though despite several high-profile arrests over the years, it remains a large and influential gang, particularly in Chicago. 

7. Barrio Azteca

With an estimated 3,000 members across the United States and around 5,000 in the Juarez region in Mexico, Barrio Azteca – also known as Los Aztecas – began as a prison gang in the El Paso prison system in Texas. It was formed in 1986, and has since expanded its presence to other states like Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico. While it’s not a particularly large gang, they’ve set themselves apart by the sheer intensity of their violence, which often spills over to either side of the border. 

By the 2000s, Barrio Azteca had aligned itself with Mexico’s Juarez Cartel in their brutal fight against the Sinaloa Cartel. Many of the gang’s members have been killed or arrested in the years since – including its leader Eduardo Ravelo – severely weakening the group’s influence in the region. According to reports by law enforcement agencies, however, Barrio Azteca has regained a lot of its strength in recent years, particularly in the city of Juarez, where it’s still heavily involved in a variety of criminal activities like drug smuggling, money laundering, and extortion.

6. Mongols Motorcycle Club

The Mongols Motorcycle Club is a notorious outlaw motorcycle club founded in Montebello, California, in the 1970s. They have a strong presence in the Pacific and southwestern regions of the United States, with chapters in California, Nevada, Arizona, and other states. The group is predominantly made up of Hispanic members, though it also includes members from other ethnic backgrounds.

The Mongols gained fame in the 1980s and 1990s as a powerful and violent motorcycle club. They’ve been involved in a variety of criminal activities like assault, intimidation, and murder, including a high-profile shootout with members of rival Hells Angels gang in Las Vegas in 2002. 

Despite several attempts by law enforcement agencies to stop them, the Mongols Motorcycle Club remains a potent and influential gang, with many of its members maintaining strong ties with other Hispanic street gangs spread across the Los Angeles area. 

5. Crips And Bloods

Crips and Bloods are two rival gangs based in Los Angeles, California. Their origins are disputed, but some reports from the time suggest that Crips was born as a neighborhood protection gang in 1971, and Bloods was formed in response to the growing power of the Crips. Both the gangs eventually evolved into influential criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and extortion, as well as violent crimes like robbery and murder.

Crips and Bloods have a long-standing rivalry that has resulted in numerous violent clashes over the years. It’s fueled by a complex mix of factors, including territory, reputation, and personal conflicts between various gang members. Both are known for their heavy use of graffiti, hand signs, and colors to identify themselves.

The gangs’ criminal activities have led to a lot of violence and devastation in the communities they operate in, with innocent bystanders often getting caught in the crossfire. Despite various efforts by law enforcement, however, Crips and Bloods remain a major problem in many urban areas of LA.

4. Latin Kings

Latin Kings was formed in Chicago in the 1960s as a predominantly Mexican and Puerto-Rican street gang. They’re known to be involved in multiple criminal activities, like drug trafficking, burglary, homicide, identity theft, and money laundering, as well as high profile assassinations of law enforcement officers in cities across the United States. Currently, Latin Kings operate under two umbrella factions, Motherland and Bloodline, for their Chicago and New York Chapter, respectively. 

The group first got media attention in the 1980s and 90s, when they were associated with several gang-related murders and other crimes across Chicago. With over 160 chapters and 20,000 – 35,000 members around the country, Latin Kings is easily one of the largest gangs in the US, with a strong presence in multiple cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. 

3. Gangster Disciples

Black Gangster Disciple Nation – later renamed to Gangster Disciples – is a prison and street gang formed in Chicago in the 1960s. It was founded by the merger of two gangs led by Larry Hoover and David Barksdale – the Black Disciples and Supreme Gangsters. It’s a predominantly African-American gang involved in activities like drug trafficking, extortion, and murder.

While Gangster Disciples have a significant presence in the Midwest, particularly in Chicago and Detroit, the gang is also known to be active in other parts of the country like the East Coast and the South. It has grown into a large and powerful group in recent years, with an estimated 25,000 – 50,000 members spread across the United States.

2. Aryan Brotherhood

The Aryan Brotherhood started out as a white supremacist prison gang formed in response to race wars against rival black gangs. Over the years, it has grown into one of the most feared criminal organizations in the country, with many of its members openly sporting tattoos of Nazi insignia and other fascist symbols. 

Members of the Aryan Brotherhood primarily operate in prisons, though they’re also quite active on the streets. The group is involved in a wide range of criminal activities like drug trafficking and extortion, and while it’s not as large as other gangs like the Mexican Mafia, the Aryan Brotherhood remains a potent force in the criminal underworld.

While law enforcement agencies have been working to dismantle the Aryan Brotherhood for decades, the group’s highly-structured hierarchy and its members’ fierce loyalty to the organization make it difficult to infiltrate. Still, there have been numerous high-profile arrests of Aryan Brotherhood members in recent years, and many of its leaders have been sentenced to long terms in prison. Despite these efforts, however, the Aryan Brotherhood continues to operate as an influential and fairly-large gang in multiple parts of the country.

1. Mexican Mafia

Also known as La Eme and Los Carnales, Mexican Mafia is one of the largest prison gangs in the United States, with members active in over 13 states. It was founded in 1957 in southern California by former street gang member Luis Flores, and many of its early members were leaders of hispanic gangs active in LA and nearby areas. Since then, it has grown into one of the deadliest and most influential gangs in the country.

As of now, the Mexican Mafia operates both inside and outside the US prison system, and its crime portfolio includes robbery, extortion, assault, murder, and drug trafficking. It’s estimated that the gang has about 350 to 400 members inside US prisons, with tens of thousands of additional foot soldiers on the streets throughout California and beyond.

In the surveillance state era you might think the Golden Age of organized crime is over, but gangs are very much thriving – even some of the old ones. They’ve just adapted. While some still manage to evade the law, others are enabled by governments. And some are so embedded in the fabric of their society, they’re like de facto governments themselves.

Based on their revenue, membership, and/or global distribution, here ten of the most powerful today.

10. CJNG

The killing of Sinaloa Cartel capo Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel in 2010 left a power vacuum in the drug trafficking underworld, with rival factions battling for control of Jalisco. It was out of this frenzy that the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) emerged.

As its name suggests, the CJNG really is a new generation of Mexican drug cartel. For one thing, it’s highly resilient – continuing to expand despite the capture of multiple leaders and bank accounts. For another, it’s even more violent than its ultra-violent forerunners. Right from the beginning, Jalisco saw a spike in murders, missing persons, and mass graves. Victims included not only rival gang members (such as Los Zetas (“the Zs”)), but also police and public officials. Attacks were fierce and sophisticated, using machine guns and grenade launchers and even downing helicopters. To ensure all members are capable of the actions required of them, training for the CJNG involves kidnapping, torturing, murdering, and eating people – and new members may be as young as 12. At the same time, though, the CJNG reaches out to ordinary citizens with its PR campaigns.

Active throughout Mexico, the CJNG now has an international network including contacts in South and Central America, the US and Canada, Australia, Southeast Asia, and China.

9. Wo Shing Wo

The Wo Shing Wo has been steadily expanding since the 1990s when police started paying more attention. The gang has spread throughout Hong Kong as well as around the world with a significant presence in San Francisco.

It is, of course, a triad – a Chinese gang named for the unity of heaven, man, and earth. While the Wo Shing Wo is known mainly for its involvement in illegal gambling, triad activities also include: drug trafficking; protection rackets and extortion; wildlife smuggling; fraud and counterfeiting; loansharking; cyberscams; and money laundering. Not all their activities are illegal, however. Triads are also involved in legitimate businesses (nightclubs, casinos, bars, etc.) and even the production and distribution of movies. Triads simply exist to fill a gap in the market – or provide services the government doesn’t.

Today, Wo Shing Wo has over 20,000 members.

8. Black Axe

“Nigerian prince” scams may seem comically naive, but they’re only the tip of the iceberg. They’re part of an expanding global empire of crime, in which members share “formats” or blueprints for ways to rob people online. 

The most powerful of the cybercrime gangs originating from Nigeria is Black Axe – a cult-like organization involved in human trafficking and brutal murders as well. Members, called Axemen, coordinate online, sharing photos of recent killings and mutilations – usually of rival gang members. Internationally, their activities are thought to generate billions of dollars. In Canada alone in 2017, authorities uncovered a money laundering scheme worth more than $5 billion. And it’s not clear how many others exist; Black Axe is active in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, among other regions, and is thought to have more than 30,000 members. This is thanks to their organization, such as splitting the world into “zones” – each with a local “head” to which “dues” are payable before revenue can be returned to Black Axe’s base in Benin City. In Italy, for example, the gang cooperates with the local mafia.

Now more than four decades old, Black Axe tends to recruit university undergraduates in Nigeria – many of whom, facing one of the world’s highest unemployment rates, are desperate for opportunities and contacts. Initiation (“bamming”) reportedly involves a symbolic death and rebirth — a savage naked whipping with bamboo followed by crawling between the legs of other gang members and emerging to songs and chants. With members in the Nigerian armed forces, academia, religious establishment, law enforcement and politics, Black Axe is extremely difficult to combat at home.

6. Sinaloa Cartel

Famously associated with the drug lord El Chapo, the Sinaloa Cartel is today the largest and most powerful of Mexico’s drug trafficking organizations. According to Fortune in 2014, its annual revenue is estimated to be upwards of $3 billion. But it may be much more, with operations in more than 50 countries. Unlike other cartels, which have branched into other areas, the Sinaloa cartel has remained firmly focused on drugs – especially cocaine, meth, heroin, and cannabis.

Because of its non-hierarchical structure, lacking any single leader or kingpin, the Sinaloa cartel has resisted efforts to destroy it. This is also thought to have facilitated its global expansion, with many local groups operating semi-independently around the world. Members are often bound, however, by blood relation or marriage. In fact, it began as an affiliation of farming families. Another characteristic of the Sinaloa cartel is its preference for non-violent solutions – preferring to bribe but still prepared to kill. This is in stark contrast to its number one rival today, the CJNG.

6. Camorra

Thought to be centuries old (older than Italy, in fact), the Camorra mafia controls the city of Naples. Such is its influence that Neapolitans, who call it “the system”, tend not to testify against it – as if it were the government itself. It might as well be; the gang provides not only work but protection to the people. It also owns much of the city through debt, dominating the lives of many citizens.

Membership includes 100 “autonomous clans” and around 10,000 “immediate associates”, as well as a larger base of dependent clients and friends. Annual revenue from combined operations (including in the Americas and Europe) was estimated in 2014 to be $4.9 billion. 

Contrary to popular belief in the rise of other gangs in Naples, Camorra is still in control of the city. Among its enterprises there are the piazzas or drug bazaars – fortified apartment blocks with dozens of lookouts and a clandestine system for exchanging drugs and money that makes police raids basically pointless.

5. ‘Ndrangheta

Long thought to be non-hierarchical or horizontal in structure, similar to the Sinaloa Cartel, ‘Ndrangheta is now known to have a single central kingpin, or capo crimine (“head crime”). In fact, this is the mafia associated with New York City’s real-life inspiration for The Godfather, Carlo Gambino.

Surrounding the capo is the ‘Ndrangheta’s governing body, the crimine. Below them are the “colonels”: the mastro generale (“general master”), capo societá (“head of the society”), and contabile (“accountant”). Then there are the ‘ndrine or clans – usually families of at least 49 members – in charge of local territories. The ranking system is closely tied to Catholic saints, and initiations are known as “baptisms”.

As of 2014, ‘Ndrangheta’s operations across 30 countries and 60,000 members were thought to generate $66.4 billion a year – or 3.5% of Italy’s GDP. That’s more than the country’s biggest bank UniCredit. And if ‘Ndrangheta were a country itself, it would make more money than Luxembourg.  Activities mainly include drug trafficking and “illegal waste disposal”, but also gambling, extortion, prostitution, gun-running, and counterfeiting.

4. Sun Yee On

Triads in China date back to the 17th century when they worked in secret to restore the Ming dynasty to power. Though unsuccessful in that aim, they continued to operate below the radar and, by the 1960s, triad membership in Hong Kong had grown to an estimated one-sixth of the population. 

Traditionally, triads are honor-based societies – an alternative to corrupt institutions. Sun Yee On, however, is a notable exception to the rule. Formed in the early twentieth century, members are solely interested in self-preservation and wealth. Though its main rival is Wo Shing Wo, for example, and fighting is common, it’s not above teaming up to make money. Similarly, in WWII, it cooperated with the Japanese.

By the 1970s, Sun Yee On had 47,000 members. In the 80s and 90s, it took over Hong Kong’s film industry, and today its influence extends to senior government officials. Its precise annual revenue is unknown but is thought to be hundreds of billions, in part because it controls 12% of the global heroin supply.

3. 14K

The 14K triad is thought to be the largest by far in terms of membership and has been active in Hong Kong since the 1940s. Officially, police attribute its resilience to its pyramid-like structure, its alertness to undercover operations, and the public demand for its services (which include heroin, illegal migration, and gambling).

Unofficially, however, the 14K and other triads are aided by government officials. This is nothing new; in 1984, CCP leader Deng Xiaoping openly expressed his willingness to work with organized crime – praising their patriotism and honor. In fact, triads have provided protection for CCP officials overseas. In return, the government ignores some of their more questionable activities, like the smuggling of drugs, wildlife, and people through the Golden Triangle “special economic zone” (SEZ).

As recently as 2020, former 14K leader Wan Kuok-koi (aka “Broken Tooth”) acted as a dignitary himself, meeting with the president of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea to discuss plans for a new SEZ as part of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ trade network.

2. Solntsevskaya Bratva

The Solntsevskaya Bratva (or “Solntsevo fraternity”) rose from the ashes of the Soviet Union to become the most powerful of the Russian mafias. Although it controls banks and businesses in Russia, it’s virtually invisible on the streets – so much so that some think it doesn’t exist.

Part of this is down to discretion. The leadership is thought to comprise twelve individuals who meet secretly in different locations around the world. But it’s also because its activities are kept in check by the Kremlin, while at the same time enabled by the Russian elite, or “kleptocrats”. Similar to the triads in China, Russian gangsters have been embedded in the political establishment ever since Stalin first employed them to rob banks and raise funds for revolution. In the 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia’s subsequent entry to the capitalist free market was a “feeding frenzy” for gangs. Ultimately, they helped shape the new status quo. Nowadays, there’s no clear line between crime and state. The trafficking of drugs and humans is almost seamlessly combined with legitimate business enterprises.

1. Yamaguchi-gumi

For many years, police have sought to destroy the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza – “one of the most feared crime syndicates in Japan”. From its fortress-like headquarters, it runs the world’s largest and wealthiest gang or, as some would put it, “Japan’s second largest private equity group”. Members are known to gather insider trading information, as well information to blackmail powerful politicians and executives, through a network of hospitality workers. Other activities include drugs trafficking, fraud, theft, and violent crimes.

However, they also run legitimate businesses and humanitarian groups. For a criminal gang, they actually have a very public image in Japan – from office buildings and business cards to fan magazines and “comic books about their exploits”. This is a far cry from its origins as a loose labor union of dock workers in early twentieth century Kobe. This yakuza also bucks many of the usual stereotypes, with younger members tending away from tattoos, chopping off their pinkies, and so on to avoid identification as gang members. Gang warfare involving shootouts has also become much less common. The penalties for firearm possession are just too severe to make sense to the new generation of yakuza.

Nevertheless, Yamaguchi-gumi operations extend throughout Asia and into the United States. Domestically, the gang also plans to expand into Tokyo – historically not their territory. Despite the more punishing laws in Japan and internal splits, it remains dominant both at home and abroad.