Mexican Mafia members charged in conspiracy to kill Los Angeles rapper
Los Angeles rapper Swifty Blue was allegedly the target of Manuel ‘Snuffy’ Quintero, a high-profile member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Los Angeles County prosecutors have charged 19 people with conspiring to kill Blue, whose real name is Nelson Abrego.
Quintero has been accused of issuing an order to murder Blue in 2022 after angering a member of the gang. The 49-year-old was arrested on June 18th and hasn’t yet entered a plea.
A complaint filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court claims that Giuseppe ‘Clever’ Leyva told an informant he’d notified gang members in Paramount, Compton and downtown LA that they had been ordered to attack Blue.
The alleged conspiracy involved Kern County prisoners, inmates in downtown Los Angeles and gang members in Paramount, using both TikTok messages and jail calls.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Leyva is currently in jail for selling drugs and guns in Imperial County, pleading guilty to trafficking methamphetamine in March.
Quintero has previously been behind bars for assault, manufacturing methamphetamine and false imprisonment.
In a statement, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office said, “The defendants engaged in a criminal conspiracy to murder an individual by acting as rogue judges, juries and executioners.
“Today’s successful operation resulting in state charges is just the latest blow to the Mexican Mafia hierarchy that operates within the prison system and which threatens jail workers, fellow inmates and spills over into the streets of our communities.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J Hochman added, “We will not tolerate organised crime using our jails and prisons as a haven for violence. When individuals on the outside conspire with those inside to carry out attacks, they threaten the safety and integrity of our correctional system.
“That criminal activity may scale over prison walls, but I will make it my mission to ensure it ends at the front door, with an arrest.”
Swifty Blue has over 139,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. His biggest song, ‘P Funk‘, has over six million streams, while ‘Grimey Park’, ‘Rosary’ and ‘Move Fast’ also have over three million plays.
The rapper has over 10,000 followers on Instagram. His last project, Me Against the World, was released in July 2024.