Ñetas
| Founded by | Carlos Torres Irriarte |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Territory | Puerto Rico, East Coast of the United States, Florida, Spain |
| Ethnicity | Mainly Puerto Rican |
| Membership (est.) |
150,000 (Puerto Rico alone), 100,000 United States 50,000 (In other parts of the world) |
| Criminal activities | murder, assault, robbery, rape, extortion, drug trafficking |
| Allies | People Nation, Latin Kings Los Macheteros |
| Rivals | Los Solidos Grupo 27 |
150,000 (Puerto Rico alone), 100,000 United States
The Association Ñeta (Spanish language Asociación Ñeta, or simply Ñeta) is the name of a gang that began in the Puerto Rico prison system and spread to the United States. Although Puerto Rico has lots of small street gangs claiming its poorer neighborhoods, Ñetas is by far the largest and most dominant, controlling the illegal drug trade on the island. The gang claims about 150,000 members in Puerto Rico, 100,000 in the United States and nearly 10,000 in other parts of the world.
The Ñeta Association was founded by Carlos Torres Irriarte, also known as "La Sombra" ("The Shadow"). It began in the late 1970s when several pro-independence political prisoners were incarcerated in the Maximum Security Prison called Oso Blanco located in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. They formed as a mutual protection group in the late 70's, ostensibly to improve living conditions and defend inmates from abuses committed by guards and other prisoners, as well as to fight the prison gang "G'27" ("Group 27"), or the "Insects" ("Insectos"). The G27s called the ñetas "Worms" ("Gusanos").
In the early 1980s, the Ñetas became the most dominant gang in the Oso Blanco prison after fighting both opposing gangs and crooked correctional officers. The majority of the inmates were fascinated by Irriarte's way of thinking and did all they could do for the Association.
But the leader of the G27's—along with the help of paid-off authorities—plotted Irriarte's murder hoping to destabilize the Ñetas. They were to ambush him when he left the watchful eyes of his followers on his routine walk to and from the prison chapel. On the afternoon of March 30, 1981, Irriarte, who was accompanied by an officer who was in on the plot, was attacked on his return from the chapel, which was located just west of the Recreational Yard. He was stabbed in the chest, stomach and back and then shot in the abdomen by a .38 caliber pistol. He was pronounced dead sometime after sunset.
During the investigation of the murder of Irriarte, the correctional authorities found that he was probably betrayed by his Lieutenants. His Lieutenants wanted to get into the business of drug trafficking in the prisons, but Irriarte opposed this. After the burial of their leader, the Ñetas exploded into an all-out rampage and took over several wings of the prison compound. Rumor has it that the majority of the Ñetas were drug addicts and in the drug trafficking business, so almost every riot would end with an assault on the prison's pharmacy where they took all types of narcotic medications.
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Wikipedia