:Zoe Pound
{{short description|Street gang founded in Miami, Florida, US}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox Criminal organization
| name = Zoe Pound
| image =
| caption =
| founded = {{Start date and age|1990}}
| founding location = Miami, Florida, U.S.{{cite web |date=4 February 2010 |title=Twenty-Two Charged Federally in Evansville Drug Trafficking Case |url=http://indianapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/ip020410.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817115452/http://indianapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/ip020410.htm |archive-date=17 August 2010 |access-date=20 February 2011 |website=Federal Bureau of Investigation}}
| years active =
| territory = South Florida,{{cite news |work=Hispanically Speaking News |date=25 February 2011 |url=http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/notitas-de-noticias/details/ice-operation-in-south-florida-net-24-criminal-aliens/5606/ |title=ICE Operation in South Florida Net 24 Criminal Aliens |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302142106/http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/notitas-de-noticias/details/ice-operation-in-south-florida-net-24-criminal-aliens/5606/ |archive-date=2 March 2011 |url-status=usurped }}{{Cite news |date=19 May 2014 |title=Crime Stoppers helps to catch Miami's Little Haiti Zoe Pound member |url=http://www.local10.com/news/crime-stoppers-helps-to-catch-miamis-little-haiti-zoe-pound-member |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428224601/http://www.local10.com/news/crime-stoppers-helps-to-catch-miamis-little-haiti-zoe-pound-member |archive-date=28 April 2017 |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=WPLG}} Chicago,{{Cite web |last=DiDonato |first=Nicole |date=2010-02-04 |title=Officers: Drug ring stretched from Miami to Chicago |url=https://www.14news.com/story/11934191/officers-drug-ring-stretched-from-miami-to-chicago/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726215025/https://www.14news.com/story/11934191/officers-drug-ring-stretched-from-miami-to-chicago/ |archive-date=2024-07-26 |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=WFIE}} New York City,{{Cite magazine |date=November 2009 |title=Gangs of Interest - Zoe Pound |url=https://info.publicintelligence.net/nysicgangreport.pdf |access-date=2025-03-22 |magazine=New York State Intelligence Center Gang Intelligence Newsletter |pages=8-9 |issue=5}} Quebec, and the Bahamas{{Cite web |date=27 September 2018 |title=Bahamas: The Zoe Pound gang, including activities, areas of operation, key members and state response (2013-September 2018) [BHS106154.E] |url=https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2006655.html |access-date=20 April 2024 |website=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |via=ecoi.net}}{{Cite news |last=Smith-Cartwright |first=Tanya |date=15 February 2021 |title=INSIGHT: 'We're living in a cowboy town and there's nothing anyone can do about it' |url=http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/feb/15/insight-were-living-cowboy-town-and-theres-nothing/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215140454/http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/feb/15/insight-were-living-cowboy-town-and-theres-nothing/ |archive-date=15 February 2021 |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=The Tribune |quote=Back in the day there were high school gangs like the “Syndicate” and the “Raiders”. Now there is the Haitian movement Zoe Pound and One Order to name a few.}}
| ethnicity = Haitian
| membership est = c.3000{{citation_needed|date=April 2024}}
| criminal activities = Drug trafficking, robbery, murder, prostitution, and racketeering
| allies = Black Mafia Family, Bloods, and Crips{{Cite news |last=Thibault |first=Eric |date=30 August 2012 |title=Parrains floridiens? |trans-title=Florida sponsors? |url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2012/08/30/parrains-floridiens |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=Le Journal de Montréal |language=fr}}
| rivals = Sapp Boys, MS-13, and Hells Angels
}}
Zoe Pound is a criminal street gang based in Miami, Florida founded by Haitian immigrants in 1990.
Etymology
"Zoe" is an anglicized variant of the word zo, Haitian Creole for "bone", as members were considered "hard to the bone."{{cite book |author1=Daddy, Trick |author-link=Trick Daddy |url=https://archive.org/details/magiccitytrialso0000tric |title=Magic City: Trials of a Native Son |author2=Bailey, Peter |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4391-4852-5 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/magiccitytrialso0000tric/page/169 169] |url-access=registration}} "Pound" acts as an acronym of "Power Of Unified Negroes (in) Divinity".{{Cite episode |title=All Hell Breaks Loose |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqdObNwHyFI&rco=1 |series=Gangland |series-link=Gangland (TV series) |network=History Channel |date=4 December 2008 |season=3 |number=12}}{{Cite news |last=Astre |first=Kerline |date=2000-07-12 |title=Haitian rap group on the rise |url=https://newspapers.uflib.ufl.edu/UF00028321/03093/images/22 |access-date=2024-12-14 |work=The Miami Times |pages=23 |via=Florida Digital Newspaper Library}}
History
Zoe Pound was founded in 1990 in response to growing attacks on Haitian Americans, initially acting as a vigilante self-defense group. In 1995, several prominent members denounced gang violence and split off, forming a rap group of the same name. Throughout the late 1990s, members engaged in piracy, targeting Haitian trawlers throughout the Miami River. Crewmembers who resisted were reportedly often tortured and/or killed.{{Cite news |last=Royse |first=David |date=16 May 1997 |title=The Land Pirates In Miami, Pirates In Pickup Trucks Board Freighters At Boat Yards, Robbing, Torturing And Kidnapping Sailors For Drugs And Money |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/may/16/the-land-pirates-in-miami-pirates-in-pickup/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420053134/https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/may/16/the-land-pirates-in-miami-pirates-in-pickup/ |archive-date=20 April 2024 |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=The Spokesman-Review |agency=Associated Press}}{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Marcy |date=2000-05-16 |title=Tattered Haitian boats taunt U.S. anti-drug agents on Miami River |url=https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2000/05/16/tattered-haitian-boats-taunt-us-anti-drug-agents-on-miami-river/26522692007/ |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=The Lakeland Ledger}}
In 1999, the Miami-Dade Police Department cracked down on the Boogie Boys and John Does, both at-the-time prominent Miami gangs.{{Cite news |last=Champion |first=Marsan |date=1998-12-31 |title=Cops mount crackdown on killer gang warfare |url=https://newspapers.uflib.ufl.edu/UF00028321/03020/images/0 |access-date=2024-12-15 |work=The Miami Times |pages=1 |via=Florida Digital Newspaper Library}}{{Cite news |date=1999-10-30 |title=John Doe gang members convicted of federal drug, firearm charges |url=https://newspapers.uflib.ufl.edu/UF00028362/01972/images/9 |access-date=2024-12-15 |work=The Florida Star |page=A10 |via=Florida Digital Newspaper Library}}{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Catherine |date=2000-03-27 |title=11 convicted in drug gang war |url=https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2000/03/28/11-convicted-in-drug-gang-war/26639742007/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241215044458/https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2000/03/28/11-convicted-in-drug-gang-war/26639742007/ |archive-date=2024-12-15 |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=The Lakeland Ledger}} Zoe Pound took advantage of the power vacuum caused by their sudden decline, expanding across Florida and eventually other states.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} By 2006, their territory had reached Winchester, Virginia.{{Cite news |date=2006-09-15 |title=COCAINE RINGS HIT IN WINCHESTER |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/343397080 |access-date=2024-12-15 |work=Daily Press |page=C5 |id={{ProQuest|343397080}} |via=Proquest |agency=Associated Press}}
In 2009, six Zoe Pound leaders were arrested on racketeering and conspiracy charges in Fort Pierce, Florida after Florida Department of Law Enforcement offices convinced several gang members to give testimony for the prosecution.{{cite web |last=Greenlee |first=Will |date=18 June 2009 |title=Six alleged leaders of Fort Pierce gang facing charges |url=http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jun/18/six-alleged-leaders-of-fort-pierce-gang-facing/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716194638/http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jun/18/six-alleged-leaders-of-fort-pierce-gang-facing/ |archive-date=16 July 2011 |access-date=26 February 2011 |website=TCPalm}}
Three of the perpetrators of the 2018 murder of XXXTentacion were members of ZMF, a faction of Zoe Pound.{{cite news |last1=Aguila |first1=Grethel |last2=Cetoute |first2=Devoun |title='Marked for death.' Man testified against XXXTentacion's murderers. Now he's off to prison |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article274185625.html |access-date=2024-12-04 |work=Miami Herald |date=2023-05-17}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Organized crime groups in America|state=collapsed}}