Editing Mexican Mafia (section)

[[File:Mexican Mafia.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A member with Mafia tattoos on the abdomen|link=Special:FilePath/Mexican_Mafia.jpg]] 
The '''Mexican Mafia '''is a highly organized and ruthless [[organized crime]] organization. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia did not originate in Mexico and is entirely a U.S. criminal prison organization. Sureños, including [[MS- 13|MS-13]] and [[Florencia 13]], use the number 13 to show allegiance to the Mexican Mafia. (M is the 13th letter of the alphabet.) Law enforcement officials report that La eMe is the most powerful gang within the California prison system. Government officials state that there are currently 155–300 official members of the Mexican Mafia with around 990 associates who assist La eMe in carrying out its illegal activities in the hopes of becoming full members. Sureño street gangs and the Mexican Mafia are almost ethnically homogenous, that is, they consist almost entirely of Hispanic members. When Sureños enter correctional facilities, they are required to put aside their rivalries and obey the Mexican Mafia or suffer possible lethal consequences. The organization also uses members of [[38th Street Gang]] and other Sureño gangs to carry out their orders. Most infamously, in the mid to late 2000's and early 2010's, they ordered these gangs to ethnically cleanse black neighborhoods of Los Angeles in order to expand their territory.