The Mexican Mafia

This book is not as action packed as some books on the subject of gangs and gangsters. The reason I liked the book is that it is more informative than other books. It tells what is going on behind the scenes of the mafia, the separate gangs, the police and city hall. I gives you the big picture.

I really like the book, i was not expecting to read about the trails but overall it was a good book. I read the book in a week and i would read it again.

The Mexican Mafia by Tony Rafael is another in a series of books on the EME that will satifsy those interested in the subject. It is what it is: an account of a major trial (The Avenues Trial) that covers a lineup of new characters which many of us are unfamiliar with. Ramon "Mundo" Mendoza's CD "Mexican Mafia: From Altar Boy to Hitman" stands alone as a historical firsthand account of the EME's history complete with graphic details and photos. Rene "Boxer" Enriquez is currently collaborating with a writer and his book (due to be released by November-2007, according to informed sources) picks up where Mundo's ends. Getting it from the "horse's mouth" is unique and I look forward to firsthand accounts. But, with that said, there's room for good books such as Tony Rafael's who conducted years of research and strove for accuracy. Then you have the "joke" presented by Robert "Moco" Morrill's "The Mexican Mafia - The Story" who intentionally misleads readers into believing that the sky is red. He uses what he calls "Mocomatics" to support his assertions and displays a photograph in which he not only represents it to be Rudy "Cheyenne" Cadena's EME funeral, but places an arrow on an individual who he hints is "Moco" himself walking away from the EME "carnales" at this same funeral. Since then, several reliable sources have come forward to identify this photo as one taken in 1976 at the EME funeral of one Jesse "Chuy" Fraijo (from Norwalk) who died of a heroin overdose. Furthermore, using this "Mocomatics" reasoning, he should have known that half of these carnales were still in CDC when Cheyenne's funeral took place. Compared to this Fairy Tale, Mr. Rafael's attempt is a breath of fresh air for those who seek truth and accuracy. "Champ" Amador

I am impelled to begin my review of Tony's book with a brief response to Rob Thomas (the 1st of Mr. Rafael's reviewers- see below): Mr. Thomas complains that the 'worst' part of Rafael's work is its 'right wing slant'. Perhaps Thomas would have been happier with a decidedly 'liberal' slant on the book, in which Rafael blamed the gang epidemic (and the pervasive influence of the 'M') on Bush and Cheney.....or the absence of affirmative action programs?? Perhaps instead of holding parents (and individuals) responsible for their own bad choices, Tony should have elected to blame the government (or better yet, the 'white man') for the success of gangsterism?? That way, he would have almost certainly been guaranteed a lectureship at UCLA! Mr. Thomas further laments Rafael's book cover, declaring it to have 'Mexican Immigration Xenophobia' written all over it. This is laughable! Here Thomas again betrays his own (obviously) liberal worldview. (Perhaps Mr. Rafael should have used a Swedish flag on the cover, in order to avoid the ever-present possibility of offending the PC thought police?) By the way, Mr. Thomas, since the book's cover also portays the image of a 9mm Baretta (an Italian-made firearm), does it follow that Rafael's intention was to disparage the Italians too? You're right, Mr. Thomas. The 'M' IS an American-born organization (particularly a California-born organization). But I haven't heard of any 'Emeros' lately waving the American flag or quoting the Federalist Papers. Have you? Call me crazy, but the charter members of 'M' named themselves 'La Mafia Mexicana' (their designation, not ours). Many of them sport tattoes which read 'Cien por ciento Mexicano' or 'Orgulloso Mexicano', etc. Moreover, along with most rank-and-file Surenos, many 'Emeros' portray themselves as Aztec warriors, who are carrying on their Mexican heritage. Perhaps simply stating the obvious ought to be avoided in the interest of not sounding 'Xenophobic' to those who interpret EVERYTHING through the politically-correct (and always RACE-CONSCIOUS) lenses of a liberal political ideology?? Anyway, onward toward my actual review of Tony's book... The book was enjoyable and educational, and it provides the reader with a fair understanding of the relationship between the 'M' and street gangs in California. I applaud the way in which Tony takes his readers into the courtroom, and into the seldom-seen world of police (and DA) investigations. Although (as mentioned) much of the material is meticulously-detailed and, in some cases, repetitious (after all, the book covers not one, but several different, although related, criminal trials), it was certainly not a major detraction from the overall enjoyment of the book. One interesting fact from the book that I was previously unaware of: Following the 'American Me' executions, Edward James Olmos was taxed $50k by the 'M', in order to get himself out of the hat. (As Mr. Rafael suggests, it's too bad

I'm not sure what Publishers Weekly wanted from Tony Rafael's debut book, The Mexican Mafia. It seems they don't know either. If they're looking for an academic work, a courtroom drama, or a "just the facts, m'am" retelling, they won't find it here. This book isn't an in-depth biography of District Attorney Anthony Manzella, either. Instead, this is a guided tour of the sticky, tangled, messy, dangerous webs of the Mexican Mafia--La Eme--a prison-born, and prison-based group of top-level gang members who set policy and practice for many Hispanic Southern California gangsters on the street. In this part of the spider web are the multiple murder and conspiracy trials of eight gangsters from the Avenues sets in Highland Park, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles. Rafael uses theses trials as the setting for examining how the intertwining of law enforcement policy, politics, street gangs, the justice system, public perception and the mainstream media in Southern California have all played a part in the establishment and rise of La Eme. By picking apart the events of these trials, giving us the back stories, the histories, and the voices of the players, both big and small, Rafael guides us to the center of the web, where many of the Carnales, the "brothers," who make up La Eme's power brokers, sit in their cells in prisons across California and the United States. It's the flow of gangsters and these Emeros' orders, money and drugs, rules and penalties for behavior and misbehavior, from Pelican Bay, the SuperMax in Florence, CO, and the Los Angeles County jails to the streets of California and back to prison that has maintained the secrecy, power and control of the Mexican Mafia over the street level gangs that spread all over Southern California. It's this flow of orders that rests at the heart of these trials--that these murders and many other crimes are committed on the street level by Eme-controlled gang members, on the orders of these Carnales. This book doesn't tie things up in a neat and tidy bow. It can't, because it's just a small glimpse of a much larger, ongoing problem. It isn't a quick and easy read either, but it is riveting, even compelling, in how raw, far-reaching, and unchecked the Eme's activities are. Rafael pulls no "politically correct" punches in looking at how political power plays, racial hatred, public funding of gang intervention programs, failures of law enforcement and more, have all helped to hide and inadvertently support this organization. Some parts of the book are largely repetitive, going over the same testimony of a handful of people over the course of several trials, and it may take some re-reading to follow the back stories and histories involved, and keep track of the many people and their associates, but this is a book well-worth reading. Like watching a spider consuming the fly it catches, it made me a little nauseous, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.