Are these the world’s most terrifying criminal gangs?
Whilst the notorious Bloods and Crips are known for their turf wars and running battles on US streets, other gangs are more secretive, but just as terrifying
THEY'RE often glamorised in gritty TV shows and videogames but, in reality, the world's most terrifying criminal gangs are no laughing matter.
Whilst the notorious Bloods and Crips are known for their turf wars and running battles on US streets, other gangs are more secretive, but just as terrifying.
Los Angeles has proven to be a global gang hotspot, where many of the toughest organisations are known to terrorise locals with abductions, killings and beatings.
And, sure enough, some of the world's deadliest gangs are well known for operating on LA's streets, whilst others are run behind the walls of high-security prisons overseas.
Chosen based on their brutal cultures, chilling crimes and sinister grip on society, here are some of the world's most terrifying criminal organisations.
Los Zetas
Mexican criminal syndicate Los Zetas (Spanish for 'The Z's') is the country's most advanced and vicious gang, making money by trafficking guns, drugs and sex slaves across international borders.
Founded in the 1990s by rogue Mexican army commanders, Los Zetas terrorise other gangs by capturing and beheading anyone who crosses them.
Currently in the process of changing their name to Cartel del Norte (Cartel of the North), members have staged prison breaks and are said to take delight in torturing and indiscriminately slaughtering their rivals.
Aryan Brotherhood
A white supremacist prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood has around 10,000 members in and out of jail, and is said to be responsible for almost a third of prison murders.
Covered in Nazi symbols, members once killed solely to "cleanse" prisons of ethnic minorities, but the gang is now run as a crime syndicate.
For the right price, members can be hired to carry out assassinations in and out of prison, where gang members have been known to stage breakouts and butcher any guards, or inmates, in their way.
Crips
Known for wearing blue gang insignia, members of the Crips are famously locked in a never-ending war with the Bloods, often leaving civilians caught in the bloody crossfire.
Founded in LA, the Crips are one of America's most violent street gangs, with 30,000 to 35,000 members currently active across the States.
Responsible for drug dealing and murders across the country, the vicious war with the Bloods resulted in the abductions and executions of rival gang members - with open war breaking out in contested parts of America's cities.
Bloods
Long-time enemies of the Crips, the Bloods were founded as a rival gang in LA, before branching out across the country.
Wearing red to distinguish themselves, Bloods recruit school-aged children in poorer areas, with the aim of turning young members into soldiers to fight for control of America's streets.
Making money through murder, drug dealing and prostitution, chapters, or "sets", of Bloods are led by their most ruthless member, until he is killed off by a challenger or by a rival gangster.
MS-13
Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) is a Central American gang which was started in LA, but has since spread over the continent - where savage murders await any rival organisations who cross its members.
Known primarily for their skills in human trafficking, the organisation has been accused of smuggling terrorists across borders and trading slaves across the continent.
The gang has also been known to massacre innocent civilians in protest to government crackdowns on their activities - which include rounding up lost children to sell into slavery.
Numbers Gang
A chilling South African prison gang, the Numbers Gang is believed to control almost every prison in the country, where members brutalise and rape any inmates (or fellow members) who cross them.
Rituals and strict rules govern the gang's day-to-day operations, with members divided into different numbered groups based on their role within the organisation.
New members are tasked with murdering a prison guard, or gouging out his eye, before they are accepted into the gang, which is feared by inmates and jailers alike.
18th Street gang
Founded in LA, this deadly organisation has spread all over the world, making most of its money by peddling drugs and breaking into homes and cars.
One of America's most vicious gangs, the 18th Street Gang has been linked to human trafficking, murder, kidnapping and international arms dealing.
To earn the respect of other members, new recruits must survive a brutal 18-second beating by other members, who will pile in on newcomers in an attempt to savage them as much as possible before the time is up.
