Latin Kings hit Florida in 1990s, now state's largest gang

Former state prosecutor Anne Wedge-McMillen talks about the Latin Kings gang and the challenges they represent to law enforcement and prosecutors.
By Henry Pierson Curtis,
Orlando Sentinel
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An order went out across Florida last month: Find and kill William "King Will" Tosado.

A leader of the Latin Kings in Osceola County decided the follower turned informant must die, according to court records.

The gang quickly tracked down Tosado about 200 miles south in Miami. He moved there for protection after agreeing to testify in a racketeering case against the Latin Kings.

Law enforcement said nothing publicly about the failed hit on Tosado's life after charging Latin Kings leader Joey "King Hush" Hernandez with ordering his murder from inside the Osceola County Jail.

And almost nothing was released to the public about the underlying Latin Kings crime spree a year earlier when Hernandez and fellow gang members, including Tosado, ransacked more than 40 vacation homes near Walt Disney World, according to arrest reports.

Former Attorney General Bill McCollum talks about Florida's gang problem
Former Attorney General Bill McCollum talks about Florida's gang problem
The silence is part of a national strategy by law enforcement officials to not publicize gang activity.

But state Department of Corrections records show the Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation -- one of the oldest and most violent gangs in the U.S. -- is now the largest gang in Florida. With nearly 1,000 Latin Kings currently in the state's prison system, its members are charged with murders, attempted murders, dealing drugs, robberies and running prostitutes.

"There's a lot more gang activity going on in the Central Florida area than we have acknowledged," said retired Judge Hubert L. Grimes, Bethune-Cookman University's Center of Law and Social Justice. "These are very strong numbers and parents need to be educated … Our parents are the key."

Roots in Chicago, New York

The Latin Kings' origins date back to the post-World War II era known as "The Great Migration" from Puerto Rico. The migrants arrived in Chicago where ethnic gangs had controlled neighborhoods since the late 19th century.


In the late 1960s, the gang started becoming more organized -- giving themselves a name, developing their own manifesto and forming a structured leadership system.

The federal Department of Justice now classifies the Latin Kings as a criminal organization with nearly 35,000 members in more than 30 states.

Members wear black-and-gold colors, share a salute with fists over their hearts meaning "I DIE FOR YOU," and frequently sport tattoos of their national emblem, a five-point crown.

No longer considered predominantly Puerto Rican, the Latin Kings are increasingly diverse with members from Mexico, South America, the Middle East, south Asia and Spain, according to gang reports.

The members pay dues, study the manifesto and follow superiors' orders or face fines and beatings. And members who try to leave or disrespect leaders are often killed or beaten by their fellow Latin Kings.

Exploring the Latin Kings gang of Central Florida
Jeff Weiner and Hank P. Curtis explore the Latin Kings and Queens gang of Central Florida.
Unlike other states, the Latin Kings in Florida do not report to the national leadership in Chicago.

"Florida is not controlled by New York, Connecticut or Chicago," said Agent Robert Hernandez, a gang specialist with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "They're not as disciplined as they used to be as far as structure, but they're better than some other groups."

Largest gang in Florida

The Latin Kings began spreading into Central Florida by the mid-1990s.

"The LKs first hit Florida about the same time gangs exploded in America," said George W. Knox, director of the National Crime Gang Research Center. "The Latin Kings are known for the accentuation effect. They go to extreme lengths to draw more attention with pure brutality."

cComments
@imgramps "Give PR its independence" You mean like we gave Cuba it's independence? That sure worked out well. Face it, folks. With two notable exceptions, whether it's the Caribbean or the Middle East, our record at nation building is pretty sad.
COMMON SENSE IS NOT SO COMMON
AT 2:40 PM NOVEMBER 29, 2014
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According the state Department of Corrections, the Latin Kings now have 1,000 members in the Florida prison system -- hundreds more than the next largest gangs, the Bloods with about 700 and Gangster Disciples with about 600.

The Latin Kings are believed to have about 900 more members outside prison including 500 in Central Florida, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

In 2013, the state Department of Corrections reported that 8,289 of the state's 100,884 inmates were identified as gang members.

Osceola County has 85 gangs with 1,189 gang members. Those statistics are similar to Orange County which reports 72 gangs with about 1,200 members.

Former State Attorney General Bill McCollum, who made raising public awareness about gangs a priority a decade ago, says it's time for police to start talking about gang activity in the community.

Latin Kings symbols
The five-pointed crown is the most common Latin Kings symbol.
"If you've got a particularly bad gang that's not just the local guys playing football in the backyard, your community needs to know about it," McCollum said. "Meaning right there in the street, in the community, in the schools … where these gangs are recruiting kids from and primarily that's where they operate."

Gang units grow

As the gang population continues to grow in Central Florida, so do the units tasked with keeping tabs on them.

Osceola's decision in January to double its gang unit followed a gang population spike. It tripled from 20 gangs with about 400 members in 2010 to 85 gangs with 1,189 members this year.

"I think we're seeing more because we're tracking it more," Sheriff Bob Hansell said. "We are more involved than we ever have been. We may be seeing things we missed in the past."

The Orange County Sheriff's Office runs the largest gang unit in Central Florida.



Running the 12-member unit costs about $560,000 a year in salaries alone. The unit's duties include investigating all gang-related crimes except murder and sexual battery, identifying new gang members and targeting any gang that threatens victims or witnesses willing to testify in court, according to Lt. Carlos Espinosa.

"In Orange County, we stay on top of our gang activity," said Espinosa, the unit commander. "We don't ignore it."

The gang unit currently monitors 1,200 documented members of 72 street gangs, including 143 members and associates of the Latin Kings.

That figure is a stark contrast from previous statistics. Between 2005 and 2006, Orange County reported having 2,400 gang members including 232 Latin Kings.

But the drop in number of reported gang members does not mean gang activity is lessening. Espinosa follows the policy of not identifying the crimes gangs commit.

Espinosa said it encourages an upward spiral of lawlessness when other gangs try to outdo each other for credibility. There actually may be twice as many gang members and associates than the number that are documented, according to Espinosa.

The criteria for documenting gang members and associates includes identifying factors, such as gang tattoos, use of gang hand signs, wearing gang paraphernalia such as the Latin Kings' gold-and-black colors or being identified by an informant.


"We feel that having a dedicated group of people," Espinosa said, "doing nothing but gang investigations helps us ... to proactively respond to calls and help dismantle and attack gangs as they pop up."

there a shit load of them where I live mustly all came from the Bronx. stay down there pb. I remember that hbo or dateline with king lou was it he got 15 years and is probably out. that guy had some diffinit power guy had a chuch with like 200 crazy Ricans wereing black and gold screaming out amor de ray or something. I was saying that old king blood is in supermax he was sending out hits all over the place. its fucking cold outside god bless the internet. think the gambinos tried to have john alite klled by the kings down in florida. one guy at my local watering holeis from the bx he did like 20 yrs he got the crown on his face guys in his 50tys.

were I live thers probably 30 40 on the street. then in boston 50 springfield probably has the largest 50+ there in every little town in mass. Lowell lawrewnce Fitchburg Brockton the boston surbuburs lynn revere fucking chealse. theres probably 1000 in this state and this is a white people state. if they were organized they give the mafia around here a run for the money but not to be racist they can infultrait white busness unions and that crap.

These guys are a public nuisance and a danger but couldnt find a dime in a fuckin bank vault.
I remember a news show followed a latin king leader. He was eating at a mcdonalds and wearing bagging pants like a typical 18 year old from the hood. One problem, this guy was in his late 30's. Lol

You can have them, pmac .

Most of those gangs don't have the brains and discipline to move beyond slinging dimebags on the street corners.

They have no ambitions to be the best

The whole thing started on Beach Street in Humboldt Park here in Chicago. Crazy.

The whole thing started on Beach Street in Humboldt Park here in Chicago. Crazy.

@ Scorsese , The LKs are one of the smallest of major gangs in Mississippi and mostly white down here. Still quite organized though.

@HuronSocialAthletic, Matter of fact I read that their a good portion of LKs on the west side (I think) of Humboldt Park that's black.

Also the NYC have some Italians within their membership but i forgot which borough. They have many other rackets going for them along with drug trafficking and have a presence and other countries , Puerto Rico, Spain, and Italy to name of few.

The Ñeta Association is from what I've read far more powerful than the Latin Kings in Puerto Rico and play a much larger role in the higher end of the drug trafficking food chain.

I always got the impression that while some selected groups within street gangs (Gangster Disciples, Bloods, Crips, Trinitarios, Ñetas, MS-13, Surenos, Nortenos, Asian gangs,...) in several cases evolved into organized criminal enterprises, the Latin Kings have evolved little beyond petty crime and retail-level drug selling. I could be mistaken of course, but that's the impression I got from reading and comparing reports.

The Latin kings have been around forever. There into everything including legit businesses. They were into telephone cards when that first started.

They actually had the balls to go into 18 ave and kill a connected guy. This was a long time ago apx 30 yrs ago. I think they even walked away from that unharmed.

There were the guys that jumped by youngest son. I posted about that they broke his arm with a baseball bat and stabbed him multiple times with screw drivers.

What saved him was a heavy coat it was winter time and his Juijitsu skill.

They were after the guy he was talking to and not him. When the car pulled up full if them his Friend ran away and left him.

His friend bothered a sister of a Latin king. Thing is the family mother and daughter knew my son. Later his family did not even Apologize for hurting my son.

But I think now if they could have apologize to him they would have.if I remember right they got a visit from a UPS guy. You have to watch out for those delivery men.

I think a few posters have a stubborn misconception that's all street gangs are just petite groups which is really mistaken. It depends on the group themselves and how if there's a solid leadership (formal or de facto) manages the enterprise. Some posters haven't updated their knowledge to realized that certain gangs have evolved just like any crime group over time and diversified over 50 years now.

Their relationship with other OC groups is varied based on location , ethnicity, and activity. Interactions with LCN is very small and only in certain places. If a made guy was kill for business by a gang is no different from the other crime groups doing the same.

I wonder how many gang members go into witness protection. Is it possible that they do and it just doesn't get the same media attention as when mob guys rat?

For some reason I think pmac sounds like Boomhauer out of King of the Hill in real life.

Every post is like a stream of consciousness.

Pmac's a good kid. But he makes all of his posts from his phone and his fingers can't keep up with his mind .

Drug dealing, that's it...They have no brains for any sophisticated crime !!

@pizzaboy,

There's a similar program that gang members go into and of course a few head into the federal program as well. There's no telling how many though.

@ DiLeronzo,

Your already wrong along with anybody else on that note.

Thanks, BF. I guess it just doesn't get the same coverage because the mob is romanticized and embraced by the media, whereas gangs are made out to be the big bad wolf .

I watched a documentary about king tone.. who was their "inca" or whatever the fuck its called... he was the boss of all latin kings.. he lived in ny somewhere... anyways he ran the whole gang and in the doc he ran out of gas cause he spent his last $ buying food at wendys and didn't have enough $ for gas to get home... I couldn't fucking believe it.. how can the leader of a gang that has that many members in ny alone not have enough cash to buy a burger at wendys and have enough to put 5$ in gas to get home..i thought this spoke volumes about the organization... I figured since he was a head of a criminal organization that money would be flowing in hand over fist for him.. I mean if you have 10,000 drug dealers under you how can you not? I don't get it but thought it was really funny.. talk about broke boys.

Taco Bell doesn't have a dollar menu?

latin kings are organized......they bring all the dope in

King tone was only the leader of the new york chapter, new your take thier orders from the Latin kings in chicago there for the the boss in chicago the the guy in charge of Latin kings everywhere, it's a popular opinion that king tone got kicked out of the Latin kings for bringing to much attention to the gang, the freaking guy video recorded everything...lol

latin kings in chicago have extensive drug trafficking ties with cartels and also other parts of the country. They also have extortion and counterfeit document rackets.

New york goes under the bloodline latin kings started by luis felipe. He seemed to be more concerned about the notoriety and was much more into the gang punishing enemies and being as brutal as possible, though there was drug dealing and dues being paid.

King tone was convicted of distributing heroin so he may have been exaggerating his poverty a little, also bear in mind that he was on parole i believe at the time and also the whole political agenda he had going on within the kings where he was trying to take them in a more positive direction i think was somewhat sincere to a point where he couldn't necessarily be living the life of a high rolling dealer in front of them.

One latin king tribe in ny was busted recently for a whole bunch of mailings and an attempted scalping of rival tribes that had disrespected them.

So is king tone still the inca of new york?