“BEST-Barrio Eighteenth Street, Mara Salvatrucha & Other Sureno Gangs Across America”, by Andy Eways and Gabe Morales. This book will describe the problems of Sureno gang migration from Southern California, all across America, and beyond U.S. borders. The book goes into detail about the origins and expansion of 18th Street and Mara Salvatrucha to American communities large and small as well as to Central America. Also covered is Florencia 13, the Avenues, White Fence, Logan, and many other Sureno gangs, as well as rival Nortenos. It explains how to read Gang Graffiti and how to help eradicate it. Will show how to decipher drawings and gang tattoos. It includes “The Fight Against Gangs”, what strategies seem to work and which don’t. It is meant for Gang Cops, Patrol, Corrections, Youth Workers, and the General Public.

Book is expected to be released by August, 2012. Price will be $25 which includes shipping, handling, and taxes. Please contact Mr. Morales for pre-orders or questions.

• "By 1970, an emerging NF member was Robert "Babo" Sosa from Santa Barbara who also ran drugs from Tijuana via the San Diego NF Regiment. As stated earlier, prison gangs assert control via drugs and other scams, and that is how they get power. Sosa saw that buying directly from Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations made him a main middle man getting it in to CDC prisoners and out to the street as shown in this chart. His brother, Julio "Bugsy" Sosa, assisted and was killed in the late 1970s. Joe "Death Row" Gonzales from Oxnard-Colonia Chiques, who later went into the Witness Protection Program, was actually considered the #2 man after Sosa. One reason Sosa was (later)  chosen General was he had a parole date and NF wanted to move dope to the streets."
• "During September, 14-16, 1968, there were a series of incidents at San Quentin Prison over a pair of dress shoes that led to what is referred today as "The Shoe War". "Pie Face" Ortega told the following story on videotape after he debriefed with the Gang Task Force in the mid-1970s. 5 An inmate named Hector "Mad Dog" Padilla from San Jose, CA, in Northern California fought with Robert "Robot" Salas from Hazard in Southern California. Salas was Ortega's crime partner. While the fight was serious and quickly involved others, neither one was killed. From that point forward, another prison gang known as "Nuestra Familia Mexicana" came about consisting of former Mexican Mafia and many Northern California inmates who fought with La EME. Major rioting followed with several inmates killed and wounded. In fact, the first public record of the Mexican Mafia was by San Quentin Warden, Louis "Red" Nelson, in an article in 1968 who said, "We have put an end to this group, that they call themselves, the Mexican Mafia."  
• "There have been several books that talk about the problem, but they are often biased. Sasha Abramsky in his 2002 book "Hard Time Blues; How Politics Built a Prison Nation" covered an offender Billy Ochoa's life of crime from the late 1960s until he was given 326 years in 1996 for a couple thousand dollars of welfare fraud on a Three Strikes law. He notes that it costs over $20,000 dollars a year to incarcerate someone like Ochoa, but does not take into account he probably committed crimes and damage at least twice that amount while he was out on the street. It still costs society one way or another. Much of the time Ochoa spent at New Folsom Prison where the Author also worked, but saw a different picture than the very liberal Abramsky did, but does agree with Abramsky that more can be done to increase safety and security inside our nation's prisons and jails.  
• "Most correctional facilities in larger states and cities have policies prohibiting the formation of prison gangs or security threat groups; however, many gangs continue to operate within jails and prisons. Many members in jail are facing life and may "program" to appear to be a model citizen wrongly arrested and accused. When convicted their behavior often goes into "get ready for prison mode". Others are already serving life with the possibility of parole or even housed on Death Row for various crimes, thus they have no incentive to leave a gang or to integrate with the general prison population. They have nothing to lose!"

• Any Jail or Prison Gang Investigator working today should read this book! Morales was a
  working C/O at Folsom Prison and helped open up New Folsom (today known as CA State Prison-Sacramento County). He was schooled by guys like Joe Gonzales early on, and later learned from Veterans like "Paco" Marcell, Tony "The Real Pacman from the movie Colors" Moreno, "Big Joe" Sparks, (former Chicago PD Gang Unit) ,and the first CA Gang Task Force Coordinator Robert "Moco" Morrill, and other Greats. He never made the (Folsom) gang squad because he pissed off some of the brass, but Morales has pictures and documents in this book that many gang investigators have never seen. It is like reading a gang debrief of Joe Morgan! He questions some of the official versions of gang history put out over the years and is proudly "politically incorrect" when it comes to the "Big Green Machine". He shows how the cancer spread and clearly shows how many of these prison gang members study the "Art of War"" better than we do...Read it!!! - Former CDC Gang Investigator

• Gabe Morales has recently released one of the best overall prison gang books currently on the market. I have this one in hand already. I recently attended the International Latino Gang Investigators Association (ILGIA) Conference in San Antonio. Very good book for back ground information on gangs across the nation. Has the full history of all major gangs and photos of all the key players of the past and present. I don't think the overview gives you an idea of how well the book is put together. Could replace the current (BOP) gang manual used by many. Again just for awareness of another great resource! - Anonymous Federal BOP Investigator