Armenian Power 13 & Westside Armenian Power

The utilisazion of "non-Mexican" Sureños was and still is an innovative approach that has proveneffective catapulting the Mexican Mafia into a transnational organization. The majority of AP-13 gang members hail from Eastern Europe and former Soviet Bloc countries. Some AP-13 gang members have established ties to high level Armenian and Russian crime bosses known as "thieves-in-law" or "Gogh," crating endless opportunity in the future.

The RICO indictment stat, "Armenian Power leadership deals directly with traditional Thieves-in-law and other organized crime figures, (including the Mexican Mafia) both within the United States and abroad." (United States of America vs Mher Darbinyan et.al.No.CR 11-72(A)-DDP)

Since the indictment, the relationship between the EME and the Armenian Power gang has fractured. The incident which led to the split began when one well-respected member within the Armenian community and an influential AP-13 gang member were targeted for taxing by the Mexican Mafia while in the Los Angeles County Jail. Tje AP member refused to pay and ultimately was forced to enter protective custody after the Mexican Mafia placed him on the green light list. Because the individual was so well respected, half of the gang decided to no longer pay taxes to the EME and dropped the "13" from their gang's name. They are now known only as Westside Armenian Power. The other half of the gang that is still considered Sureño is known as AP Trece or AP-13.