The appointment takes place under the Christmas tree in the Plaza de España in Madrid.
There, among the tumult typical of those dates, hidden among the pedestrians who browse the stalls of the market, a revenge is chewed.
At the head of the meeting is Tatam, lieutenant of Eric Velastegui, alias King Wolverine, founder in Spain and historical leader of the Latin King in prison since 2003. Tatam has decided that action must be taken against the leaders of the opposing faction of the same gang , who does not accept his leadership or that of Velastegui.
A fratricidal war that increases with the upcoming release of the second from prison and his intention to retake full control of the organization, now divided into two camps.
On one side, those who are faithful to him, known as Los Torcidos, and on the other, his rivals, who call themselves true Latin Kings.
A few meters away and hidden in the crowd, they are being watched by investigators from the Civil Guard Information Group who have been following them for months and who have tapped their telephone conversations.
Through their investigations they have verified that Los Torcidos are organized into three groups or chapters: Vallecas, Doce de Octubre and Galapagar.
This last municipality is symbolic for the Latin Kings because it was there that King Wolverine founded the Spanish cell of the band in 2000.
Wolverine, Eric Velastegui, 45, entered prison in 2003 accused of rape at the Casa de Campo in Madrid.
However, the two decades in prison have not diluted his leadership and his intention to regain control was clear, according to the conclusions reached by the Civil Guard,
King Wolverine is in favor of a meeting with the head of the opposing faction, King Pablo, to unify both sides.
However, his second, Tatam, the one from the Christmas tree meeting, does not believe in negotiation and opts for a more aggressive strategy: overthrow the leaders by force and absorb their followers.
All this is clear from the information collected by the agents of the Benemérita.
This desire for revenge against the leaders of the other side increases when Luna, King Wolverine's sentimental partner, assures at the beginning of December that she has been attacked by the Latin Queens of the enemy faction.
Lieutenant Tatam makes it clear that action must be taken.
Luna replies that you have to put yourself above her rivals at any cost.
"We are going to kill each other with the edge, lead or fist, as you want",
Tatam tells another of the leaders of Los Torcidos.
In that meeting in Plaza de España they even plan the escape mode after the attack: first with rental scooters using a false identity and then in Uber.
The researchers also prove that Luna occupies a prominent role in the organization, is not a mere sidekick for her partner and that she participates in decision-making.
She, a resident of the province of Barcelona, is one of the detainees in Operation Twisted, named after the way King Wolverine's followers are called.
In a raid on a bar in Madrid on Christmas Day, the agents intercept a ring binder belonging to the woman in which one can read what they call the literature of the Latin Kings, the steps one must follow to ascend in the ranks. band ladder.
In that notebook it reads: "A queen serves, helps and organizes."
The Civil Guard has identified at least four other women who had founded their own group in Madrid within Los Torcidos, and called themselves "the Amazons".
Los Torcidos attack everything: against the enemy gangs, the rival faction within the organization and also against the members who express their desire to leave the gang.
Regarding one of the latter, Tatam assures: "That
man
they are going to give him four, he will not be able to get out of bed ”.
The lieutenant even goes so far as to plan to ally himself with the Dominican Don't Play, a group with which they have a non-aggression pact, to jointly attack two of the leaders of the enemy side who reside in Zaragoza.
But there are more unforgivable sins for gang members.
One of them is sentenced for not showing up for a meeting in a bar in the El Carmen neighborhood, another for making gestures on social networks without being a full member of the gang, a third for accusing an officer of staying with money from the sale of drugs.
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sentimental revenge
The sentimental is also mixed.
Tatam has his eyes on the ex-boyfriend of his current partner, S., whom he accuses of having gone to the Civil Guard to denounce the persecution he suffers.
The police reports include several occasions in which S. has escaped ending very badly.
"We are going to kill you, you are a toad (a snitch)," Tatam released at the last parties in Torrelodones, where she had gone looking for him.
Such is his desire for violence that they even make a mistake when attacking in Galapagar in 2021 some kids whom they mistakenly confuse with Trinitarios, their quintessential enemy gang.
A few days later, the streets and nearby containers dawn full of graffiti with five-pointed crowns and the initials "LK (Latin King)."
The fighting of the warring factions intensifies as King Wolverine sees his freedom approaching.
In June 2022 he begins to have prison permits and, although he is prohibited from leaving Galicia on them, he travels to Madrid on occasion to strengthen his leadership.
In Galapagar, the group has at least 26 gang members.
Eric Velastegui orders the heads of the Latin Kings in Valencia, Murcia and Barcelona to "report", that is, to recognize his mandate.
For all this, the Civil Guard interprets that the structure of this organized gang has remained "stable" throughout this time and continues to depend on a strong hierarchy.
Wolverine has also coordinated from his cell the reception of large amounts of cocaine so that his acolytes in Madrid distribute it and thus finance the band.
Tatam is excited about his boss's return to the streets and even plans to buy "a torta" (a cake) with a crown on top "and two lions on the sides" for one of Wolverine's leave in late November.
The organic meetings follow one another: in a hamburger restaurant near Atocha, in some fields in Villaverde, in the Comillas park, in the Casa de Campo... The rearmament is evidenced in other follow-ups.
Another of the leaders within the Galapagar group tours the parks and sits with his partner on the benches to talk to minors.
Investigators suspect that he was in charge of recruiting new members.
In one of the visits that Tatam and another leader make to Galicia, in one of Wolverine's permits they are seen taking a bucolic walk on the beach,
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