Public Enemy No. 1 (gang)
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Public Enemy No. 1 or PEN1 is a white supremacist gang based in Southern California whose members have been convicted of crimes including illegal production of methamphetamines, firearms trafficking, identity theft, murder, and dog fighting.
The formation of the group was greatly influenced by the white power skinhead scene in Long Beach, California during the 1980s. However, by the 1990s, PEN1’s base of operations had been relocated to Orange County where they began recruiting suburban adolescents. By the 2000s, the gang’s influence has spread throughout California and Arizona, with some members in Idaho and Nevada. They are affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood and the Ku Klux Klan. Their allies are the Nazi Lowriders. Their main rivals are the Bloods, the Crips, the Los Angeles crime family, and Mara Salvatrucha.
Identity theft
PEN1 seems to specialize in identity theft, not a crime usually associated with gangs, although most of the income from this is allegedly used to finance methamphetamine operations. Originally their methods were raiding mailboxes and trash cans for personal information, but the gang later used contacts inside of banks, mortgage companies and state motor vehicle departments in order to gain access to credit profiles. This has led to law enforcement officials requesting that their personal information be removed so that it can't be used by gang members to identify home addresses of police officers.
Hostility towards law enforcement
In 2007, police forces in Orange County arrested 67 alleged PEN1 members after learning of an extensive "hit list" that included five police officers and a gang prosecutor. Those arrested in the raid were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, possession of illegal weapons and identity theft.
See also
- Aryan Brotherhood
- Nazi Lowriders
- Neo-Nazi groups of the United States
- Street gang
- White power
- White power skinhead
- White supremacy