Prison Gang Power Takes a Hit in Watsonville

on Tuesday morning didn’t get a lot of attention.

It's not that the story didn't have drama. The 35-year-old convicted meth dealer had gone AWOL from his parole agent. Gang investigators launched a surveillance operation that culminated in a car chase. The investigators pursued his red Cadillac for two miles through the north part of town before they managed to arrest Martinez and the driver, a 19-year-old Watsonville woman. But the news focused on the loaded, stolen .357-caliber revolver found in the Caddy.

What was glossed over was who Martinez is. 

“He’s the highest-ranking gang member in Watsonville, for sure, (and) possibly on the whole Central Coast right now,” Watsonville police detective Morgan Chappell said. “He’s a validated Nuestra Familia (NF) prison gang member, which is essentially organized crime.”

Martinez isn't the gang kingpin, but he was a big deal on the streets. Of the hundreds of NF members in the state prison system, only five to 10 of Martinez’s stature are free at any given time, according to Chappell, a former prison guard and now a court-certified gang expert.

Watsonville has long been a stronghold for Norteños, the street-level gang with ties to Nuestra Familia. A smaller, but active, contingent of Sureños also claims various neighborhoods in the city.

So, for the most part, gang crime in town typically is red on blue, Norteño versus Sureño: stabbings, fights, muggings and shootings.

“A lot of the kids who are committing those types of street-level crimes and arbitrary violence, they’re acting in their own interest,” Chappell said. “They’re maybe looking up to an older brother, an older homie in their neighborhood and they’re trying to emulate his behavior.”

That has little to do with Nuestra Familia, which is headquartered in the Secure Housing Unit, or SHU, at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City.

“The NF is much more interested in selling drugs and making money than they are in attacking Sureños, really,” Chappell said.

Nuestra Familia has always had a presence in Watsonville. This is how it works. Nuestra Familia members all are Norteños. While that doesn’t mean every wannabe teenager is Nuestra Familia, the street gangs follow direction from the prison gang.

The Mexican-American prison gang dates back to the 1960s. Its name is Spanish for "Our Family." Like the street-level Norteños, they claim red and identify with the number 14, or XIV, because "N" is the 14th letter in the alphabet.

Generally, Norteños can graduate to the Nuestra Familia within the state prison system. When they do, it's a lifetime commitment.

“It’s a blood-in, blood-out oath,” Chappell said. “There’s no getting out of the gang.”

When and why Martinez made the move to NF—considered a crime syndicate by some in law enforcement—isn’t clear. But he’s a big deal, according to police.

“It’s like somebody from a high school baseball teams making it to big leagues,” Chappell said.

Martinez has prior arrests for drug dealing, police records showed. Chappell said he personally arrested Martinez and another man in 2008 on suspicion of selling methamphetamine. At that time, Martinez had only been out of prison a couple of weeks. This time around, he was free a couple months before he was re-arrested Tuesday.

Martinez’s prior arrest for drug sales may do some to explain his rank in the gang: Nuestra Familia is a for-profit operation, according to law enforcement. Mostly, they sell meth. 

“They tax all Norteños that are selling drugs also, so it could be any drugs: marijuana, cocaine, heroin,” Chappell said.

What, if any, directives Martinez had for gang members in Watsonvillea and on the Central Coast, remains unclear.

“[Martinez’s] role is a little bit ambiguous in Watsonville because, for Albert, he hasn’t been able to stay out of custody long enough in order to establish a true leadership role on the streets," Chappell said, adding: “It’s a small victory for us to send him back to prison."