A Universe of Pure Imagination
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Street Gangs of
NEW ORLEANS
Street Gangs of New Orleans
Street Gangs of New Orleans
Street Gangs of New Orleans
Street Gangs of New Orleans
In Louisiana, there's a lot of small street gangs that operate within the state. Each street gang is a gang made up of kids, teenagers and/or young adults not to exceed 50 members; more than 50 members constitutes its own entry under "Gangs".
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The following is a list of key street gangs in the New Orleans region in the MDU (and are not reflective, representative, nor associative of any existing or defunct gangs in the real world in any respective manner)​.
CRESCENT HOOKS
Leader: Andre “Winch” Mercier
Number of Members: 41
Location / Territory: Bywater and Lower Ninth Ward industrial edges; river-access streets, freight warehouses, truck yards, industrial properties, and approaches toward the Industrial Canal
Allies: Levee Dogs
Enemies: Cypress Wake
Weapons of Choice: Compact pistols, heavy flashlights, pry bars, tire irons
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Brief Description
The Crescent Hooks are a freight-oriented New Orleans street gang rooted in the city’s working riverfront and industrial economy. Many members come from families connected to trucking, warehouses, mechanical trades, dock work, freight handling, and industrial labor.
Their criminal operations center on cargo theft, warehouse burglary, stolen commercial merchandise, freight diversion, fencing, and locating vulnerable shipments moving through industrial sections of the city.
They care less about dominating residential blocks than controlling places where valuable goods are loaded, stored, transferred, or temporarily left unattended.
CYPRESS WAKE
Leader: Malik “Wake” Baptiste
Number of Members: 31
Location / Territory: Algiers and West Bank waterfront areas; marinas, boatyards, industrial riverfront property, canal accesses, launch sites, docks, and informal water-transfer points
Allies: Velvet Static on a transactional basis
Enemies: Crescent Hooks; Levee Dogs
Weapons of Choice: Marine shotguns, pistols, heavy knives, boat hooks
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Brief Description
Cypress Wake treats the waterways surrounding New Orleans as streets.
The gang developed among people familiar with boats, marinas, commercial fishing, engines, river navigation, repair yards, docks, and South Louisiana waterways.
Their criminal economy includes marine-equipment theft, stolen boats and outboard engines, fuel theft, waterfront burglary, contraband movement, illicit passenger transportation, dock theft, and fencing valuable boating equipment.
Unlike conventional street gangs, Cypress Wake can move operations rapidly between waterways, launch sites, industrial properties, and isolated waterfront locations.
IRON LACE
Leader: Celeste “Keyhole” Marchand
Number of Members: 22
Location / Territory: Lower Garden District, Garden District, Magazine Street approaches, Uptown historic-property corridors, boutique commercial areas, antique-storage sites, and upscale residential zones
Allies: Velvet Static
Enemies: None formally
Weapons of Choice: Concealed pistols, stun weapons, telescoping batons, knives
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Brief Description
Iron Lace specializes in stealing what New Orleans has accumulated over generations.
Rather than control conventional street turf, Iron Lace maps historic homes, antique businesses, private collections, galleries, boutique hotels, storage facilities, wealthy estates, and high-end rentals.
Their specialty is high-value burglary, jewelry theft, antique trafficking, stolen art, forged provenance documentation, luxury-goods fencing, estate intelligence, and locating valuable objects hidden within historic properties.
Members often maintain a relatively polished appearance because moving through affluent neighborhoods without immediately attracting attention is central to how the gang operates.
Colors: Wrought-iron black, ivory, burgundy, antique gold
LEVEE DOGS
Leader: Terrence “Gate” Broussard
Number of Members: 36
Location / Territory: Gentilly and New Orleans East; drainage corridors, pump-station service areas, levee-access routes, utility yards, industrial lots, maintenance roads, and public-works infrastructure
Allies: Crescent Hooks
Enemies: Cypress Wake
Weapons of Choice: Shotguns, pistols, pipe wrenches, heavy hand tools
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Brief Description
The Levee Dogs exploit something uniquely critical to New Orleans: the enormous infrastructure network required to keep the city functioning.
The gang developed among mechanics, construction workers, storm-recovery crews, utility workers, scrappers, laborers, and neighborhood criminals familiar with drainage canals, pumps, generators, levee roads, maintenance yards, equipment depots, and neglected industrial properties.
Their criminal activities include construction-equipment theft, generator theft, stolen utility materials, illicit salvage, storm-recovery fraud, industrial fencing, contractor theft, and exploitation of abandoned or damaged property following major weather events.
They are especially dangerous after storms, when legitimate recovery work produces confusion, displaced equipment, temporary contractors, and valuable machinery.
VELVET STATIC
Leader Name / Codename: Camille “Lowlight” Dupré
Number of Members: 28
Location / Territory: Marigny, Frenchmen Street outskirts, St. Claude nightlife corridors, club-service streets, rehearsal facilities, event warehouses, and after-hours entertainment locations
Allies: Iron Lace; transactional relationship with Cypress Wake
Enemies: No permanent gang-wide enemy; recurring friction with Crescent Hooks
Weapons of Choice: Compact pistols, collapsible batons, stun weapons, knives
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Brief Description
Velvet Static exists inside the enormous support economy surrounding New Orleans nightlife.
Its members include former or current stagehands, bartenders, venue workers, promoters, security personnel, sound technicians, musicians, DJs, door staff, and people who learned how much cash and valuable equipment circulates through entertainment districts every night.
Their criminal economy includes club protection, stolen audio and lighting equipment, backstage theft, fraudulent event credentials, illegal ticketing, cash skimming, high-value electronics fencing, and control over selected after-hours businesses.
They are not a musicians' gang. Music is simply the ecosystem they exploit.
