Ballas

> Wears color purple. Thought to denote respect on the streets. Or is it Roman? Origins shrouded in mystery. Heavily involved in cocaine trade. Thought to be developing ties with Mexican gangs (drugs) and Russian Mafia (weapons). Lawless, mindless. Attempts to infiltrate have mainly failed. Thought to be uncontrollable.
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> GTA San Andreas Official Website.

The **Ballas** are a gang featured in *Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas*. They appear as the secondary main group of antagonists in *Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas*, serving as the primary threat and becoming the main enemies of the game.

## History

The Ballas have been around since the 1970s. Specific information regarding where or how they formed is unknown. However, it is likely that the Ballas evolved either from Glen Park or Jefferson since Idlewood and possibly Willowfield were controlled by the Families prior to 1987 and since East Los Santos was split between the Families and the Vagos prior to 1992.

The Ballas have a long-running, intense and bloody rivalry with the Families. The start date of the rivalry is unknown, but was in full swing by 1987.

Prior to 1992, the Ballas used to control the area of Temple - which is under control of the Temple Drive Families in 1992. This is evidenced by the fact that the game references a fourth Ballas set known as the "Temple Drive Ballas". Graffiti referring to the Temple Drive Ballas can also be found in Temple. However, the Temple Drive Ballas become active again after the Families are weakened and took back their former territory of Temple from the Temple Drive Families.

## Description

The Ballas are an African-American street gang based in Los Santos. Most of their territory can be found in the poorer/run-down neighborhoods to the far east of the city. They are involved in gangbanging, gang warfare, street violence, prostitution, gang-related homicide, murder, drug trafficking/manufacturing (especially the crack cocaine trade), gun-running/arms trafficking, vandalism, and degeneracy. They are easily identifiable by wearing purple clothing as their gang color.

They are the Families' sworn enemy. They are enemies with all sets of the Families and the rivalry has been going on for several years as part of the Ballas-Grove Street War. The Ballas are also enemies with the two Los Santos Mexican/Latino gangs - the Los Santos Vagos and the Varrios Los Aztecas, though the rivalry is not as intense as it is with the Families. It is unknown why their feud with the Mexican gangs exist, though it is likely that the Aztecas and Ballas (especially the Front Yard Ballas) developed a rivalry due to the close proximity of their territories (Willowfield/Idlewood and El Corona/Unity Station).

On the streets, they are either unarmed or carry a Micro SMG submachine gun or a 9mm pistol. They are often seen smoking marijuana and drinking malt liquor. They will also often flash Balla gang hand signs while talking and hanging around in groups. Ballas will often get into violent confrontations upon spotting a Families, Azteca, or Vagos gang member. Hanging around or driving through their territory can be dangerous and they will often aim at the car's tires and pop them.

## Sets

There are four sets of Ballas:

* The Front Yard Ballas (FYB) Territory located in Idlewood and a part of East Los Santos
* The Rollin' Heights Ballas (RHB) Territory located in Jefferson, a part of East Los Santos, and a part of Willowfield
* The Kilo Tray Ballas (KTB) Territory located in most of Willowfield and in Glen Park
* The Temple Drive Ballas (TDB) (largely defunct/inactive, controlling only Verona Beach

Each set is differentiated into different territories and neighorhoods. Apart from this, they are all the same and are all represented under the "Ballas" banner, all wear purple attire, are all enemies of all Families sets, and are all heavily involved in the drugs trade. All sets are also strongly allied - unlike the Families sets at that beginning of 1992.

The Front Yard Ballas are the largest and most active set. The Front Yard Ballas are also Los Santos' most notorious drug dealers, the primary enemy of the Grove Families. The FYB are also the primary source of spreading drugs into Grove Street territory from their crack houses in Idlewood.

The Ballas employ a drug/hit strategy to wipe out their main enemy - the Family sets (especially the Grove Street set). This strategy involves the Front Yard Ballas supplying their territory with large amounts of drugs (mainly crack cocaine) to weaken them, while the other sets perform hit and run tactics such as drive-by shootings.

The Ballas primarily make money by selling drugs (especially crack cocaine) - which they primarily get from the Loco Syndicate. They then use this money to acquire various weapons; primarily from the Russian Mafia. Any remaining drug supply is then sold to other dealers who have no gang affiliation in the Grove territory in an attempt to weaken them (as it would be too dangerous for a Balla to sell in enemy territory).

## Members and Associates

### Members

* Kane: High-ranking OG of the Front Yard Ballas set. (deceased)
* Little Weasel: Former member of the Grove Street Families before joining the Kilo Tray Ballas in Glen Park. Drug dealer. (deceased)

## Gallery

A few Ballas members in front of the County General Hospital in Los Santos.Ballas members in a gang war.Aggressive BallasAggressive Ballas 2 (Idlewood)A Ballas member with AK-47Juxtaposed street sign depicting Grove Street to the east (major Grove hood) and Idlewood to the west (major Balla hood)Ballas drive-by artwork
### Gang tags

The graffiti used for the Front Yard set of the Ballas.The graffiti used for the Kilo Tray set of the Ballas.The graffiti used for the Rollin Heights set of the Ballas.The graffiti used for the Temple Drive set of the Ballas.

## Trivia

**This article or section needs to be cleaned up to meet the standards of the Wiki.**

* Their rivalry with GSF is based on the rivalry of Los Angeles gangs the Bloods and Crips. Violence hit a peak in Los Angeles in the early-nineties due in part to the crack cocaine epidemic.
* The Ballas gang member with the purple shirt, the black beanie and black glasses resembles the car jackers that killed Kane's cousin in "Menace II Society".
* The Ballas and Grove Street Families are based on Heart of Midlothian F.C. (who are actually maroon) and Hibernian F.C. (who are green) respectively. Hearts and Hibs are both soccer teams based in Edinburgh, Scotland who have a great rivalry. Edinburgh is also the location of Rockstar North, which is why they chose these two teams.

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