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i a a -Priso — WON D ‘a z ate ~ By RICK RODRIG a Californian Staff Wee * First of two parts La Nuestra Familia, a prison- spa toe Bane, is exten g its owe; t eSalinas Valley. the streets to eaths of seven the past eight mon in the Salinas area are believed to be Nuestra Familia (NF) hits. The slayings have Teportediy come in an effort by NF to purge * members” and eliminate” eak formants, all aimed at establishing a racketeering base - Sal in Narcotics and prostitution. The growth of gang influenced crime in the Salinas Valley matches a statewide pattern which sees NF attempting to gain control in San Jose, Fresno, Stockton and other Central and are keenly aware of rumors of rowing gang involvement in the Salinas area. But for the mest part, the rumors are un- corroborated by hard facts. __ Monterey County Asst. Dist. Atty. Dean Flippo acknowledges that “there is possible gang activity in our area — in the Salinas-county area — and the information that we are receiving, again uncorroborated, is that the gangs are involved in various crimes. I don’t think we've received any information - thal there's a war going on between rival gangs in the Salinas area." Letters received by the Californian express growing fear on the streets. One woman wrote, “Geererts rampant in the streets and barrios of Salinas and I fear amiss exte into {Mount Clipping in Space Below) - eee ane “Normern California areas. of a war outside pri walls" between Nuestra Familie (“our family’) and the @rch- rival Mexican Mafia, also known as the Eme — the Sppnish ‘spelling of the letter “m’ not appear to account fi the Safina area violence. e Mexican urban nea Aafia is basically Pe] reported! centrating efforts to ‘ratfic - Rarcotics and organize gan erime in Bur ong ce nme 1976 murder inas area, the Feb, 29 oe ine of 17-year-old Donald Lee Ramirez was Eme-linked, Dav Joseph Perez, a a7-year oly pare! Seed to ee eet the maurd ir, lieutenant. 2 Mexican Ma Area law enforcement officials if left unchecked, this organized violence may overcome wll to the point where we may have to pay these gangsters for protection to live here." Street talk has it that NF is ” seeking to contro] the Valley's heroin traffic, a “potentially lucrative propesition. “With the Salinas Valley being on the main road from San Francisco ‘to L.A., there’s a tremendous amount of narcotics that comes through and we get an awful lot of information about an awful Jot of people being in- volved. Some say people from the gangs, but I don't think we can estimate at all,"’ aboul how many alleged gang rs are in volved, Flippo says. Information has reached law enforcement that Nuestra ngang nds power. |___ Valley, ate page, name of newspaper, city and stcte.} 1 salinas . Californian Date; 3/23/77 Edition: Sfternoon Authors Rick Rodri sue Editor: -arry A, Xor- tite: Frison Gans 2: voveor into Vat toy craracter: or C.zsstficason: Submitting Dtfitce: __ Beirs cnveatigated