Alonso knows his shit. I've read a lot of his work, too. I remember him saying that with the numbers Surenos have, if they really wanted to declare a "race war" (as the media was calling it), there would have been a bloodbath in LA. At the end of the day, it was just gangs and drugs. Same old story. The spike in violence in the 00's was probably due to a lot of the 80/90s era guys getting out of prison, and not a lot of opportunities available for transition into a productive, law abiding life. A lot of guys just found it too easy to jump back into the game and get the fast money.