Mexican Mafia operate with contraband phones

One of the men said he’d told an underling “everything, contingencies — I told him, look, this is the way you do it. You do this, you block this, you hit this, you go this way.” “Saturday, they, they – that’s when they were supposed to go to the car show, right?” he continued. “To the car show. That’s when they were going to go. Now if they don’t make it to the car show this Saturday, homeboy from [inaudible] takes the driver’s seat.” “I understand,” said another. “He’s going to, going to end up driving the car. He’s going to end up driving him to the car show.” The four men were members of the Mexican Mafia, held in prisons throughout California. They had dialed in using contraband cellphones, one of which had been secretly tapped. They spoke in a code they thought only they understood. The “car show,” was code for a killing. The person “driving him to the car show” was the killer.

Emiliano 'Tonito' Lopez, a member of the Mexican Mafia who had fallen out of favour, was stabbed to death at Calipatria state prison. About two-thirds of the Mexican Mafia’s 140 members are held in California prisons, which are rife with cellphones. Mexican Mafia members aren't shy about discussing their business ... "Jerry said a pound of methamphetamine could be bought in Tijuana for $1,100, plus “about $800 to cross it,” and sold in California for $2,100. A kilo of black tar heroin, valued at $26,000 in California, cost half of that in Mexico, he added."

Robert Hinojos was convicted of murder in 2016.