Kanto Women Delinquent Alliance
Japan has a rich and vibrant gang culture that goes back half a century or more. We all know about the famous Yakuza, but what happens when you mix them with the much-fetishized Japanese schoolgirl uniform? You get sukeban, a delinquent subculture of glue-sniffing girl gangs, the most famous of which was the Kanto Women Delinquent Alliance. This horde of 20,000 young women rampaged across Tokyo in the 1970s, brawling with other gangs, shoplifting and committing other petty crimes. Their preferred weapons were chains and straight razors. (Photo Credit: Listverse)
The Check It
Washington D.C. is the nation's capitol, but it's also a hotbed of street violence, with multiple gangs vying for superiority. One of the most unusual in Chocolate City is The Check It, the only criminal organization in America made up exclusively of LGBTQ people. Founded in the rough-and-tumble Trinidad neighborhood, the group came together to protect each other from violence, but their tactics aren't all defensive. Local police have booked the gang on numerous occasions. They're currently trying to go straight and release a clothing line. (Photo Credit: Youtube)
The Molasses Gang
Let's head back in time to the 1870s, when the streets of New York were wild with organized and disorganized crime. One of the most ridiculous criminal groups plying their trade in the Big Apple was the Molasses Gang, who got their name from a particularly ballsy style of robbery. They would head into a grocery store and ask the proprietor to fill a hat with molasses to settle a bet. When the hat was full of the sticky goop, the gangsters would jam it down on the shopkeeper's head and then steal everything that wasn't nailed down while he struggled to remove it. It was ridiculous, but it worked. (Photo Credit: Marshall via Flickr CC)
The Pregnant Shoplifting Gang
China is a rough place, with people doing everything they can to survive. Unsurprisingly, there are a number of powerful criminal groups. And then there's the gang of 46 women who got busted in Quianjiang in 2011. The loosely-organized collective of female shoplifters had one thing in common: they were all pregnant. Police officers in China will not take a woman into custody if she is with child or lactating, so they took advantage of this loophole in the law to rob local businesses blind for several years. Police eventually decided that this needed to end and rounded them all up at once. (Photo Credit: Augie Schwer via Flickr CC)
Juggalo Killers
Before our comments section fills up with angry Insane Clown Posse fans, no, we don't believe that every Juggalo is a gang member. But the FBI has estimated that approximately 10% to 15% of Juggalos are also criminals, and many have assembled themselves into gangs. One of the most notorious is the Juggalo Killers, operating out of Utah. In 2010, the Killers made themselves known to local law enforcement by attacking a non-gang affiliated Juggalette and carving the letters "JK" in her chest as a warning that they wanted to be the only ICP-related group in the area. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Pink Gang
Many street gangs don't get together in the pursuit of material wealth. Some form to take the law into their own hands and handle things that local police won't touch. Case in point, the "Gulabi Gang" (also known as the "Pink Gang") of northern India. This group is made up of older women who have been victims of domestic violence, which India has a large problem with. Dressed in pink saris, they respond to reports of abusive husbands by invading their homes and beating the men with bamboo poles. They've also fought against arranged child marriages, extortionate politicians and other scumbags. The gang members are facing multiple charges of rioting and obstruction of justice. (Photo Credit: Gulabi Gang)
Twelve O'Clock Boyz
Biker gangs are in the news right now after the massacre at Waco, but not all of them consist of grizzled white guys on Harleys. Meet the Twelve O'Clock Boyz, Baltimore's wild-riding dirt bike gang who exist in a bizarre neutral zone. Here's the thing: dirt bikes are illegal to ride on the streets in Charm City, but police are also prohibited from engaging in pursuit of bike riders. So the Boyz have what is essentially free reign over city streets, provided they don't wipe out. What do they do with that freedom? Mostly wheelie competitions - 12 O'Clock refers to the vertical position of a bike in a perfect wheelie. (Photo Credit: 12 O'clock Boys)
Kabukimono
Let's head back to 16th century Japan for a gang that's one of the strangest in history. During the end of the Muromachi era, groups of samurai who had nothing to do during peacetime started to organize into gangs called "kabukimono," which translates loosely as "the crazy ones." They would dress in flamboyant clothing, including women's kimonos, and style their long hair in a variety of bizarre fashions. Their criminal activities were brawling with rival gangs in the streets, stealing food and money from villagers and holding all-night dance parties. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Notorious Nipple Gang
Travelers from around the world flock to Thailand for their notoriously lax prostitution laws, but where there's vice, there are gangs looking to capitalize on it. In 2012, reports started to circulate of an organized group of hookers that were employing a devious method to rob their johns. Dubbed the "Notorious Nipple Gang," these ladies of the night were using Rohypnol to knock out customers and draining their wallets. How did they get the drug into their customers? Well, aside from putting it in a drink, they would also smear it on their nipples and get the johns to suck on them. (Photo Credit: Hannes.a.schwetz via Flickr CC)
The Wonderlanders
When you think "hotbed of gang activity," Disneyland isn't really the first place that comes to mind. And, let's be honest here, the gangs of Disneyland aren't really going to be fighting the Crips for crack corners at any time in the near future. But on your next visit to the Magic Kingdom, keep your eye out for roving groups of people dressed in identical outfits - typically denim or leather vests with patches on the back. The Wonderlanders are just one of many "social clubs" that bring Sons of Anarchy to Fantasyland. Although they're mostly well-behaved, some parkgoers complain that gang members jump lines, smoke weed and generally ruin the fun for the rest of the guests. (Photo Credit: The main street mouse)