Buddah Bandits

[Sanjuro]

From time to time I hear about a local downtown los angeles gang from the 1960 called Buddah Bandits - my late uncle apparently belonged to this outfit back in the day, and occasionally I hear about other members who have passed on in the Japanese American community of Boyle Heights and old school Little Tokyo.

Does anyone have any information they can share on this outfit?

Thanks!

[judastaugamma]

i've heard of buddha crips like from the 60's/70's in LA. they were japanese too.

maybe same gang. there wasn't that many japanese gangs as there was other asian nationalities.

[Silencioso]

imagesW3RCPMCK.jpg (18.13 KiB) Viewed 9180 times

Here's a gang map from the early to mid 1960's.

It looks like Buddha Bandits were in the Crenshaw District.

The Ministers were also Japanese.

[Silencioso]

I don't know who did this map or when they did it. I found it online a while back. It's all black gangs except for the two Japanese gangs and Dog Town, which is strange since there were already a lot of Chicano gangs in South LA and Compton in the 60's and there were a few white gangs in Compton and Hawthorne during that same era.

[VictoriousHTZ]

I saw a news article mentioning Harlem crip if my mind serves me right with Buddha crip. I think they functioned together. That map seems to show territory? I would like to know about Asians claiming turf back in the day.

Silencio, two Japanese gangs? So that oriental gang must be the second. But what about the Hun's?

[Silencioso]

the two Japanese gangs on the map are Buddha Bandits and Ministers. The Orientals and Huns were both black Watts gangs.

[VictoriousHTZ]

Did the Orientals and Huns evolve into any gangs? Who claims their turf now?

[PinoyBoy1]

They part of ABZ or completely different area?

[VictoriousHTZ]

Different era. Abz came about another decade later. Welcome to the board pinoyboy. I see ur from the islands. When did u arrive? Maybe u can enlighten us on what goes down where ya from?

[Sanjuro]

Thanks for the feedback. From what my Uncle told me the Buddah Bandits would hang out in the parking lot behind the old Merit Savings Bank which has since been demolished in Little Tokyo. I don't know if they were Crip affiliates, however I do know that there was a large contingent of Japanese Americans in the Crenshaw area back in the day (still a lot in that community) in addition to in the Boyle Heights/ELA area near downtown, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if this set was part of what is reflected on the map.