This is a list of notable criminally-active street gangs

Gang

A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...

operating or formerly operating in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Asian American

Asian American

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

• Asian Boyz (ABZ)
• Vietnamese Boyz (VBZ)
• Wah Ching
  Wah Ching
  Wah Ching is a Chinese American Triad Society and street gang also known as "Dub C" originating in San Francisco during the early 1960s. At the time, Wah Ching was organized into one enormous gang...
  
  
• Tiny Raskal Gang (TRG)
• Tropang Hudas 13

Hispanic American

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...

These are just some of the Hispanic gangs known around the county, each city within Los Angeles has their own sets depending on what city they are from, for example Lynwood and Compton have their gangs that show allegiance to their city by putting LYNWOOD VARRIO OR "LV" OR COMPTON VARRIO "CV".

• 38th Street gang
  38th street gang
  The 38th Street gang is a Chicano street gang from South Central, Los Angeles. The 38th Street gang is one of the oldest street gangs in Los Angeles.- History :...
  
  
• Westside Playboys 13
• Eastside Playboys 13
• 18 street gang
• White Fence
  White Fence
  White Fence, also known by the acronym WF, is the oldest East Los Angeles gang. They also sometimes use the name Cerco Blanco which is Spanish for White Fence. In East L.A. they were also known as "Pachucos".- History :...
  
  
• Avenues
  The Avenues (gang)
  The Avenues, also known as Avenidas or AVE's, is a Mexican-American street gang. The Avenues, like most Mexican gangs in Los Angeles, are under the direct control of the Mexican Mafia when sent to State, County, or Federal prisons.- History :...
  
  
• Varrio Nuevo Estrada
  Varrio Nuevo Estrada
  Varrio Nuevo Estrada, also known as "VNE" is a Chicano gang founded in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California in the Estrada Courts housing projects. Through time, VNE has expanded to occupy other local cities such as East Los Angeles, Montebello, and Lancaster. VNE is known to be a notorious gang...
  
  
• Latin Kings
• Surenos
  Sureños
  Sureños are a group of Mexican American street gangs with origins in the oldest barrios of Southern California. Although they are based in California, the influence of the Sureños has spread to many parts of the US and other countries as well such as Germany and Japan...
  
  
• MS-13
• Mexican Mafia
  Mexican Mafia
  The Mexican Mafia , also known as La Eme , 13 is a Mexican American criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gangs in the United States.-Foundation:...
  
   (Prison Gang)
• Florencia 13
• Bell Gardens Locos 13
• FrogTown
  Frogtown
  Frogtown is a neighborhood in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Built around University Avenue, the Thomas-Dale neighborhood is colloquially known as Frogtown . Historically, Frogtown was a subsection of the current Thomas-Dale neighborhood...
  
  
• Clanton 14
  Clanton 14
  Clanton 14 St., also known as C14th St, is a Chicano street gang in Los Angeles and is also the oldest Chicano gang and one of the oldest gangs in Los Angeles.- History :...
  
  
• Maravilla
• Big Hazard 13
• Varrio Santa Fe 13
• Mid City Stoners 13
• Norteños
  Norteños
  The Norteños , also Norte, are affiliated with Nuestra Familia , are a coalition of traditionally Latino gangs in Northern California A member of these gangs is a Norteño or Norteña based on Spanish usage...
  
  
• Nuestra Familia
  Nuestra Familia
  Nuestra Familia is a criminal organization of Mexican American prison gangs with origins in Northern California. While members of the Norteños gang are considered to be affiliated with Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteño...
  
  (Prison Gang)

Caucasian American

• Peckerwood
  Peckerwood
  Peckerwood is a slur used through the mid 20th century by southern African Americans and upper class whites used to describe poor rural whites. It is roughly synonymous with "cracker" and "redneck", more prevalent in the southeast, and "White trash", although the last implies a degree of moral...
  
  
• Public Enemy No. 1
  Public Enemy No. 1
  The gang started as "Peni Death Squad ,a punk gang in the 1980s, the name being derived from the anarcho-punk/deathrock band, 'Rudimentary Peni'. Originally, PDS were mainly a loose-knit group of suburban kids, runaways and homeless kids. Other punk gangs, La Mirada punks, Vicious Circle, The HB's,...
  
  
• Sydney Ducks
  Sydney Ducks
  The Sydney Ducks was the name given to a gang of criminal immigrants from Australia in San Francisco, during the mid-19th century. Because many of these criminals came from the well-known British penal colonies in Australia, and were known to commit arson, they were blamed for an 1849 fire that...
  
  
• Aryan Brotherhood
  Aryan Brotherhood
  The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
  
  
• Hells Angels MC
• Mongols MC
• Armenian Power
  Armenian Power
  Armenian Power, also known as AP, is an Armenian criminal organization located in Los Angeles County, California. They are involved in drug trafficking, murder, assault, fraud, identity theft, illegal gambling, kidnapping, racketeering, robbery and extortion...
  
  
• Nazi Low Riders

See also

• List of gangs in the United States
• List of gangs in Los Angeles, California