18th Street is considered the largest street gang in Los Angeles, California 18th Street is a group of loosely associated sets or cliques, each led by an influential member. Membership is estimated to be 8,000 to 20,000. In California approximately 80 percent of the gang’s members are illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America. The gang is active in 44 cities in 20 states. Its main source of income is street-level distribution of cocaine and marijuana and, to a lesser extent, heroin and methamphetamine. Gang members also commit assault, auto theft, carjacking, drive-by shooting, extortion, homicide, identification fraud, and robbery.

There are approximately 20 separate individual autonomous gangs operating under the same label with separate barrios in the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, South Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, Pico Union, Inglewood, and Cudahy according to the latest figures from the NDIC.

Diesiocho = #18

The 18th Street gang was the first Hispanic gang to break the racial membership barrier. Membership was originally open to Latinos. Although most members tend to be of Latino descent, membership has opened to other backgrounds, including Central American, African American, Middle Eastern, Asian, Caucasian, and Native American. 18th Street have an organized hierarchy. It is unknown who is at the top. On the streets, there are the Shot callers, their Lieutenants, and the foot-soldiers beneath them. Although the gang is well networked throughout the nation, Mexico, and Central America, there is no known central leadership nationally or internationally. Cliques generally function independently, but will join forces when combating rival gangs or law enforcement. The 18 Street gang criminal activities have caught the attention of the FBI.

As with most gangs, 18th Street gang members can be easily identified by their tattoos. A common identifier is the number 18 (Spanish: dieciocho), which is usually represented in the Roman numerals (X8) (XVIII) (XV3) and sometimes they also use 666 or 99 (6+6+6=18 / 9+9=18). Some use the number 5 meaning the fifth letter of the Alphabet. They also tattoo themselves with the word BEST, which stands for Barrio Eighteen Street. Members engage in graffiti to mark their territory.