Editing Gang (section)

===Training===
Training and expertise in various forms of illicit activities, including combat, exist variously throughout different gangs. Specific members of American mafia groups, like police infiltrators, double agents, and sometimes also enforcers and hitmen, have had backgrounds in law enforcement or the military.<ref name="Training1">{{cite web|url=https://howtofightwrite.com/qa-mafia-training/|title=Q&A Mafia Training|website=How To Fight Write|author=Schwarz, Michael}} November 1, 2017</ref> Sicilian mafia and Calabrian Mafia in [[Southern Italy]] became notorious for creating "schools" in the countryside to train children as young as eleven in weapons and illegal activities.<ref name="Training2">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/aug/16/philipwillan|title=Mafia sets up crime academy to train child assassins|website=[[The Guardian]]|author=Willan, Philip|date=16 August 1999 }} August 16, 1999</ref> Giovanni Tinebra, the chief public prosecutor of [[Caltanissetta]], once stated, "Instead of going to school, many boys go into the countryside where there are people who teach them to shoot and turn them into killing machines."<ref name="Training2"/>

Some drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico have established themselves as [[Paramilitary|paramilitaries]]. The earliest and most famous example was the time when the Medellin Cartel hired Israeli soldier [[Yair Klein]] to train militiamen and assassins.<ref>BBC, "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6968143.stm Colombia Seeks Israeli terrorist]", BBC Online 29 August 2007</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Israeli Reserve Colonel Convicted of Illegal Sale of Arms, Know-how.|newspaper=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=3 December 1990|author=Hugh Orgel}}</ref> Los Zetas became infamous for being founded by US-trained [[Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales|Mexican commandos]].<ref>Grayson, George W. (2012). ''The Executioner's Men: Los Zetas, Rogue Soldiers, Criminal Entrepreneurs, and the Shadow State They Created'' (1st ed.), page 46, Transaction Publishers.{{ISBN|9781412846172}}</ref> Together with [[Kaibil]]es from [[Guatemala]], they set up camps to train future [[Contract killing|sicarios]] and soldatos.<ref name=Cook10 >{{Cite book| contribution=Mexico's Drug Cartels| title=CRS Report for Congress| editor-first=Colleen W.| editor-last=Cook| publisher=Congressional Research Service| page=10| date=16 October 2007| contribution-url=http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34215.pdf| access-date=9 August 2009}}</ref> Other Mexican cartels who trained their members include the [[Jalisco New Generation Cartel|Jalisco Cartel]], who trained their members for three months in ambushes, codes of silence and discipline, inside camps.<ref name="Training3">{{cite web|url=https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/training-grounds-mexico-jalisco-cartel/|title=The School of Terror: Inside a Jalisco Cartel Training Camp in Mexico|website=[[InSight Crime]]|author=Mencho, El|date=13 June 2019 }} June 13, 2019</ref>

In the case of street gangs, most do not train their members in shooting and combat.<ref name="Training4">{{cite web|url=https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2013/10/29/why-gang-members-cant-shoot-straight/ideas/nexus/|title=WHY GANG MEMBERS CAN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT|website=Zocal Public Square|author=Leap, Jorga|date=29 October 2013 }} October 29, 2013</ref> Although a few would train their youths how to shoot using empty cans and bottles as targets (with some cases using underground [[shooting range]]s<ref name="Training5">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-find-secret-underground-lair-shooting-range-gang/story?id=60954603|title=Police find secret underground lair, shooting range at gang hideout in California|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|author=Osborne, Mark}} February 9, 2019</ref>), most gangsters have no formal instructions in firearms usage and safety.<ref name="Training4"/> The late 90s and early 2000s saw many gang members in the US being sent by judges to the military to "set them on the right path", which only led to these street gangs gaining military training and experience.<ref name="Training1"/> Many street gangs, most notably African-American gangs like the Folk Nation and Bloods, continue to have a presence in the [[United States Armed Forces|US Military]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stripes.com/07/feb07/gangs/ncis_gangs.pdf |title= Gang-Related Activity in the US Armed Forces Increasing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805025050/http://stripes.com/07/feb07/gangs/ncis_gangs.pdf|archive-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Training5b">{{cite web|url=https://www.thebalancecareers.com/gang-activity-in-the-u-s-military-3354199#toc-why-the-army-disagrees|title=Gang Activity in the U.S. Military|website=The Balance Careers|author=Powers, Rod}} June 08, 2018</ref>