Triad, FSU and 6 other criminal groups created with good intentions

Who would have thought that some of the now world-famous criminal groups were originally created with good intentions. For example, the Chinese Triad was created with the aim of overthrowing the ruling dynasty and ending imperial rule. And the American FSU was designed to put an end to racism and neo-Nazism that prevailed in Boston in the 80s.

What other organizations were formed to fight injustice, but eventually lost their moral foundations, read in our material.

Tong is a secret criminal organization formed from among Chinese immigrants living in the United States or Canada, less often in Australia and the United Kingdom. Initially, people united in order to protect themselves from racism and crime. They helped compatriots find work, housing, learn the language, settle in a new place. But over time, members of the community themselves began to engage in illegal activities: selling opium, gambling, running brothels and even working as hired killers.

Tong was not a single organization. In different countries and even districts of the same city, it was possible to meet representatives of its different factions. And very often they competed with each other. A prolonged war for power led to the fact that over time the organization completely collapsed. Some Tong factions still exist, but today they avoid crime and stick to their original mission.

The Puerto Rican organization NETA was formed in the 70s among prison inmates. A group of criminals held in the Oso Blanco prison of the highest category joined forces to confront other prison gangs, as well as to protect prisoners from abuse by guards.

By the mid-80s, the number of YETA had increased markedly. As a result, the members of the association managed to "capture" seven large prisons throughout the island. United, the prisoners threatened the administration and put forward their demands. One of them concerned the placement of pedophiles and rapists in solitary cells so that they could not communicate with other prisoners. But over time, following their ideology, the members of the YETA themselves became bandits: they traded drugs, retaliated, intimidated and killed. And they did it with extreme cruelty.

Friends Stand United is an anti-fascist, anti-drug and anti-racist group that appeared in the United States in the late 1980s. Rock musician Nathan Elgin James invited his friends to fight crime and injustice together. Over time, dozens of people who adhere to the same principles joined them. But very often, in their desire to resist the lawlessness of the FSU, they themselves violated it.

The group soon gained a reputation for being dangerous and aggressive. As a result, they themselves turned into those with whom they once fought. The members of the FSU have dozens of crimes: murder, robbery, threats to life, blackmail, etc. Now most of the "fighters for justice" are in prison, including the head of the FSU, Nathan Elgin James, who was arrested for attempting to extort five thousand dollars from a member of the rock band Mest.

Initially, the triad appeared with the aim of overthrowing the Manchu emperor from the Qing Dynasty. The first groups originated on the island of Taiwan — it was here that the supporters of the Chinese Ming dynasty, who had ruled before, were forced to flee from mainland China by the defeated Manchus.

Over time, the number of triads grew, and their field of activity expanded. They were engaged in the production and marketing of goods, facilitating the immigration of Chinese to Europe and America, and in peacetime mainly worked as mutual aid fraternities. However, almost all triads were linked to crime— drug trafficking, prostitution, robberies, gambling, and even human trafficking.

The Latin Kings gang was formed in the USA by a small group of Latin Americans who want to protect themselves from racism and attacks on compatriots. As a rule, young people from poor families who came to the United States from Puerto Rico and Mexico became members of the organization. Since childhood, they have been deprived of care, attention and any social benefits, but the "Latin American kings" promised to give them all this.

As a result, the number of the group grew every day. Over time, the "Kings" began to accept into their ranks not only Latinos, but also African Americans and even whites who opposed racism. Naturally, in order to continue financing their activities, the "Kings" needed more money. Then they started selling drugs and stealing.

Now Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 is considered one of the most violent and fastest growing criminal gangs in Central and North America. But once it arose in order to protect immigrants from El Salvador from attacks by representatives of other street gangs. Every year the number of immigrants grew, and at the same time the number of MS-13 members also increased. As a result, the gang acquired "branches" in different cities and became so influential that the authorities began to expel MS-13 members to their homeland.

In El Salvador, MS-13 members had to face local "street laws". To gain power, the organization started a brutal war. Mara Salvatrucha managed to take control of entire urban areas and prisons, but dozens of people died during the struggle and the same number ended up behind bars. Over the following years, MS-13 members have repeatedly appeared in cases of murder, kidnapping, robbery and racketeering. Now the group operates mainly in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

The mafia was formed in Sicily in the second half of the 19th century during a period of lawlessness and weakness of the official authorities. For a long time, the inhabitants of the island were under the control of foreign invaders, suffered repression, exploitation and rude treatment.

As a result, this led to the fact that groups of people began to form among the local population who tried to resist the cruel strangers. They robbed the rich and shared money with the poor, gave out "loans", helped the needy and administered their own justice. And although they had some moral principles and even "commandments" that every mafioso had to adhere to, it was not without crime.