The Latin Kings were founded in Chicago in the 1940s.
They're notorious in New York City.
And they're just getting started in Philadelphia, authorities say.
But cops here say they're on top of the problem.
"We've hurt them real bad," said Officer Robert Clark, an expert on the Latin Kings who works out of the department's organized crime unit. "That's why they haven't gotten to the level they are in New York or Chicago."
FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION, PUBLISHED DECEMBER 1, 1999, FOLLOWS: A story yesterday incorrectly attributed remarks about a 16-year-old girl being forced into prostitution by her mother to Officer Robert Clark of the organized crime unit. Clark did not make the remarks. The information was obtained from other sources.
Currently, between one and 200 men and women belong to the local gang, which specializes in drug trafficking, but dabbles in a lot of illegal activity, Clark said.
The gang is recruiting heavily in the public schools.
"You name it, they do it," Clark said. "If you're intruding on something they want, they're a danger to you."
The Latin Kings recruited Victor Lopez, who has been held in the kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl whose mother allegedly forced her into prostitution, and his crew in September 1998, Clark said.
Hit by indictments in New York and Chicago, the gang looked to expand to other cities. They also operate in Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Jersey and Camden, Clark said.
"They looked at Philly as virgin territory, where the cops don't know who they are so it's an area they can slip into," he said.
The faction here reports to the New York Latin Kings headed by Antonio Fernandez, alias King Tone, who is currently serving 12 to 15 years in federal prison on drug charges.
The group branched out from Chicago to New York in 1986. That branch was founded by Luis Felipe, also known as King Blood, who is in jail for murder.
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