The state of Texas gangs: Highlights from the 2015 Texas Gang Threat Assessment

By John Boyd
Published 5:38 pm, Monday, August 31, 2015
Bulletpoints: The State of Texas Gangs

The Department of Public Safety has released its 2015 Texas Gang Threat Assessment report. These are the most important take-aways, which help explain much of the organized gang activity in Texas.


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Waco may have been the Cossacks coming out party. The motorcycle gang has roots going back to the 1960s, but only debuted on the DPS's Texas Gang Threat Assessment in 2015 after a deadly clash with the Bandidos Motorcycle Club in Waco on May 17 that left nine people dead.


Among Tier 1 gangs, Tango Blast is still the No. 1 gang in Texas, with an estimated 15,000 members statewide. Texas Mexican Mafia comes in a distant second with 4,700 members, followed by the Texas Syndicate (3,400 members), Latin Kings (2,100 members) and MS-13 (800 members).
The Tango blast clique is growing quickly in prisons in part because of loose restrictions compared to other gang affiliations. According to DPS, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice does not consider Tango Blast a "security threat group (STG)," so jailed members are housed in general population, rather than being segregated. The improved treatment leads to increased in-jail recruitment, according to the DPS.
Tango Blast has grown by finally spreading from the 'Four Horsemen' cities – Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin – to West and South Texas. The cliques in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas now rival the original four cliques in membership.
There may be no slowing down the growth of Tango Blast. Because the gang does not require "blood-in, blood-out" membership, new members are more easily recruited. And due to a lack or hierarchy and by-laws, sub-cliques are more easily established and grown. Members of other gangs also are increasingly joining Tango Blast in prison if a void of their own gang is present.Texas gangs are leveraging strong ties with Mexican cartels to smuggle people into Texas illegally. The relationships between gangs and cartels are constant, but show no particular loyalties or allegiances. Tango Blast, Texas Syndicate, Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples and MS-13 all were identified as active in human smuggling operations in 2014.
The feuds between gangs are dying as more gangs look to collaborate for profit. Members of law enforcement also are increasingly seeing gang members with memberships in multiple organizations, presenting a challenge in investigating gang hierarchies.MS-13 is being fed by new members crossing into Texas illegally. The number of encounters between MS-13 members and border law enforcement has grown each year since 2011.

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A newly released report shows an evolving gang landscape in Texas highlighted by fewer feuds and more synergy, leading to more influence, more cash and more crime.

The Department of Public Safety's annual Texas Gang Threat Assessment again lists Tango Blast as the state's most predominant gang, boasting 15,000 members statewide. The gang's growth from prison protection group to major player in gang activity on both sides of the bars was assisted by a loose organizational structure that allowed new cliques to more easily form as well as members of other gangs to more easily join.

Now, seemingly other Texas gangs are taking a cue from Tango Blast, feuding less and working together more for mutual profit.

One of the primary benefactors of the gangs laissez-faire approach are the Mexican cartels, who are finding new partnerships for smuggling drugs, guns and especially humans across the border and into Texas. Many of those smuggled into Texas are being funneled directly into gangs to increase membership.

Despite the high-profile May clash between Bandidos and Cossacks at a Twin Peaks in Waco, the top Tier 1 Threat level gangs in the DPS report are exclusively traditionally Latino prison and street gangs. However, after more than 50 years in existence, the Cossacks finally made their first appearance in the Texas Gang Threat Assessment.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...he-6476753.php