Latin Homeboys

The story of the this organization goes all the way back to the early 1990s on the streets of Aurora.  In the early 90s a group of white youths moved from the south side of Chicago that were members of the South Side Heads Inc that operated in Gage Park, Brighton Park, Mckinley Park and Ashburn neighborhoods.  The Heads were a strong organization in 1970s and earlier 1980s but by the later 1980s their members were moving to the suburbs from Gage Park and Brighton Park while the Mckinley Park and Ashburn chapter joined the cause of the Insane Popes.

In the early 1990s the Heads tried to establish activity and territory in Aurora and may have even adopted the name “Bassheads” for the Aurora chapter but being a mostly white group and not being affiliated with the Folk Nation or People Nation alliances didn’t work out very well.  The Heads hung out with Latin Kings and this made them a target of the Insane Deuces, Gangster Disciples, Maniac Latin Disciples and Ambrose.  The Heads just didn’t have the structure of city support to function and had to call it quits in 1994 especially after one of their members was killed by an Insane Deuce that supposedly made the news.

Some of the Heads joined the Latin Kings in 1994 but Jose “Virgin Boy” Virgen of the Heads decided to start his own gang.  He was accompanied by Carlos, the Jacques brothers, Tuty, Lorenzo, Chuey. Alex and Milton along with others.  This new organization would be named the “East Side Homeboys.”  This name has nothing to do with the Sureno affiliated group from Texas.

The East Side Homeboys struggled for independence in Aurora and kept ties with Vice Lords and Latin Kings.  The East Side Homeboys even tried to claim they were a part of the People Nation alliance but they were not officially part of the alliance which made the Latin Kings and Vice Lords not officially responsible for helping them.

The East Side Homeboys needed assistance from the People alliance because rivals were gunning for them badly especially the Insane Deuces.  The Deuces outnumbered and outgunned the East Side Homeboys and once again the Deuces were allegedly back in the news for killing a East Side Homeboy.  The incident happened at the intersection of High Street and Pierce Street when Insane Deuces chased after East Side Homeboys with guns.  The East Side Homeboys ran into a relative’s house to escape causing the family to step outside in curiosity to see why the boys were being chased, this is when Deuces opened fire and shot a East Side Homeboy dead in front of his family.

By 1995, the East Side Homeboys were feeling the pressure on the streets as Folks were out to wipe them out while People affiliated gangs weren’t giving them much protection.  Jose Virgen had to make a difficult decision on what to do with the Homeboys.  The Latin Kings were breathing down the Homeboy’s necks to flip to Latin Kings but Jose Virgen had a different idea, he decided to work out a deal with the Latin Kings were the Homeboys would still have their own identity yet be somewhat governed by the Latin Kings.  Virgen came up with the name “Latin Homeboys” which honored the Latin Kings by using the “Latin” first name.  The deal was accepted by the Kings and the notorious Latin Homeboys of Aurora was born.  This new deal granted the Latin Homeboys official acceptance into the Nation of the Peoples alliance which legitimized this organization.

After this nation was set up the Latin Homeboys became very popular to youths in Aurora as this was a way to join a gang and be allies with the powerful organizations like Vice Lords and Latin Kings without having to join those groups.  In 1996, the Latin Homeboys were at their peak of power as they became highly recognized by the community and law enforcement.

The Latin Homeboys often became violent and were even responsible for shootings in the area.  One such incident occurred on November 10, 1996.  According to the court documents in the case of People vs. Downs and People vs. Diaz members of Ambrose gunned down six year old Nico Contreras by mistake after they tried to avenge a November 3 shooting incident where the Latin Homeboys shot at Ambrose.  According to court documents Robert Davila was a former member of the Latin Homeboys that recently flipped from Latin Homeboy to Ambrose back in 1996.  Davila left the Homeboys because he didn’t get along with Jose Virgen anymore.  The Latin Homeboys were angry with Davila for slipping and once night he was driving him and became pursued by the truck of Jose Virgen, however, Virgen was not in the truck but instead apparently lent the truck out.  Davila thought he lost the truck and pulled into his mother’s driveway but became surprised when the truck pulled up behind him and blocked his car in as Lorenzo Rios and Daniel Garcia stepped out with guns drawn.  Davila started backing his car into the truck angering the two Latin Homeboys that began shooting at Davila.  Davila was not hurt but his car had bullet holes.  Neighbors called the police but Davila refused to cooperate and wouldn’t name his shooters because of Ambrose codes that said he had to avenge this himself.  On November 10, 1996 some of the Ambrose gang members claimed Latin Homeboy gang member Robert Saltijeral was involved in the shooting even though Davila said otherwise, regardless, Robert Saltijeral was supposed to be a target and since Davila was a former Latin Homeboy he knew where Saltijeral lived.  On November 10th Ambrose gang members stalked out the home they thought Saltijeral lived and fired into the bedroom they knew he slept in.  Sadly, Saltijeral had moved out and six year old Nico Contreras now occupied that bedroom.  Contreras was killed by the gun fire and the case went unsolved until 2006 when an informant told police about the murder.

In 1997, the Latin Homeboys had their biggest rivalries with the Insane Deuces which led to the shooting death of Andy Jacques who was one of the founders of the gang.  Shortly after an attempted assassination of the gang’s founder Jose Virgen as he was shot 4-6 times in his legs in his SUV.  Virgen would survive the attack but fled the area and left the gang life.

Between 1998 and 1999 the Latin Kings put more pressure on Latin Homeboys to flip to Kings because the Homeboys were still a large force in Aurora.  Finally one day in 98 or 99 the Latin Kings allegedly invited the Homeboys out to a corn field to celebrate the release of high up Latin Kings.  When they got to a certain spot in the field the Latin Kings allegedly pulled guns on the Homeboys and tried to force them to flip to Latin Kings or die.  Some members became convinced and flipped to Latin Kings but other Latin Homeboys would not go for it and remained in the gang carrying on into the 21st century.  One such member that wouldn’t be flipped was Saul Tejada who was an original member.

Tejada became heavily linked into the cocaine distribution game by the year 2000 and got the Latin Homeboys linked up with Latin Kings into a major cocaine operation.  According to court documents in the case of United States vs. Alviar, Latin Kings, Latin Homeboys and former Latin Homeboys that flipped to Latin Kings were all tied into this major operation of moving ounces and kilos of cocaine since the year 2000 and using a telephone to make business deals.  In 2003, law enforcement began operation “Operation Amor de Ley” and began investigating the operation.  At the head of the operation was Saul Tejada according to court documents who was a Latin Homeboy during the distribution making this organization major players in this conspiracy.  At some point Tejada flipped to a Latin King to ease transactions even more within the network.  In 2005 the drug ring was raided and several Latin King, Latin Homeboy and former Latin Homeboys that flipped to Latin Kings were all arrested and convictions were handed down, this brought about the final extinction of the Latin Homeboys in 2005.