Founded
1979[1]
Carlos Torres Irriarte[2]
Río Piedras State Penitentiary, Puerto Rico[3]
1979–present
13,000[4]
History[edit]
The Asociación Ñeta (Ñeta Association) was founded in 1979 by Carlos Torres Irriarte, also known as "La Sombra" ("The Shadow"), when several pro-independence political prisoners were incarcerated in the maximum security Oso Blanco prison located in Rio Piedras.[9] They formed as a mutual protection group, ostensibly to improve living conditions and defend inmates from abuses committed by guards and other prisoners, as well as to fight the prison gang Grupo 27 ("Group 27"), or the "Insectos" ("Insects"). The G27s called the Ñetas "Gusanos" ("Worms"). The Ñetas became the most dominant gang in the Oso Blanco prison by the early 1980s but their conflict with the G27s continued. On March 30, 1981, Ñetas leader Carlos Torres Irriarte was shot and stabbed to death by the G27s—along with the help of paid-off authorities—as he returned to his cell from the prison chapel. During the investigation of the murder of Irriarte, the correctional authorities found that he was likely betrayed by his lieutenants. His lieutenants wanted to get into the business of drug-trafficking in the prisons, which Irriarte had opposed. After the death of their founder, the Ñetas rioted, taking over several wings of the prison compound and the prison's pharmacy, where they stole narcotic medications. To avenge the murder of Irriarte, Ñeta members stabbed to death and dismembered the G27s leader "Manota" after breaking into his cell. By the middle of 1984, the Ñetas' numbers had multiplied excessively and the gang had taken over seven major prison facilities across the island. The gang threatened the prison administration into improving the living conditions within the facilities. They denounce and punish sexual offenders, pedophiles and abusers, and exile them to solitary confinement where they are not allowed to interact with the rest of the prison population. It became such a force that the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation physically segregated Ñetas and their rivals in separate buildings or facilities within the prisons.[2]
Organization and ideology[edit]
The Ñeta Association has an established hierarchical structure; each chapter's hierarchical leadership structure includes a president, vice president, treasurer, disciplinarian, and a coordinator responsible for organizing monthly meetings.[2] The entire gang chapter participates in an election process in order to determine who will hold these six leadership positions. Prospective Ñetas members are required to serve a probationary period before being formally "blessed in" to membership at a meeting of the chapters held on March 30 of each year.[10] Ñetas refer to each other as "hermanitos" and "hermanitas" (brothers and sisters). The gang has a membership of approximately 13,000, with 7,000 members in Puerto Rico and 5,000 in the United States. Ñeta chapters in Puerto Rico exist exclusively inside prisons. In the U.S., chapters exist both inside and outside prisons in 36 cities in nine states, primarily in the northeastern region.[4] The states in which the Ñetas are most active include Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.[11]
Robert Walker of the website GangsOrUs.com has said of the Ñetas, "they use the facade of a cultural organization and see themselves as oppressed people who are unwilling to be governed by the United States." The Ñetas gang identifies with the Boricua Popular Army and their revolutionary philosophy in seeking independence for Puerto Rico.[7] The gang's colors are red, white and blue, the national colors of Puerto Rico.[3]