Opinion ID: 48990
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Origins of the TMM

Text: 2 The TMM—officially named Mexikanemi (Spanish for free-Mexicans) and often referred to as La Eme (a phonetic reference to Mexikanemi)—was formed in the mid-1980s by Heriberto Huerta, while he was imprisoned in a federal penitentiary. He did so after he obtained permission from the Mexican Mafia of California to establish a similar organization in Texas. According to the TMM constitution, which has remained virtually unchanged since it was drafted in the mid-1980s, the TMM is a criminal organization functioning in whatever aspect or criminal interest for the benefit of advancement of Mexikanemi and willing to traffic in drugs, contract murders, prostitution, major robberies, gambling, arms and anything else [it] can imagine. 3 The TMM originally operated exclusively inside prisons, both federal and state. As TMM members were released or paroled from prison, however, the TMM spread outside prison to cities within Texas, including San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Midland, Odessa, and El Paso. It now has a significant presence in the federal prison system, the Texas state prison system, and throughout the state of Texas.