Gangs and organized crime have existed for a very long time. In many countries all over the world, gang activity flourishes despite local authorities doing everything they can to combat it. In some countries they even turn a blind eye and allow certain gangs to freely rule the underground of certain major cities because the crime bosses bribe them. This is a common occurrence in many corrupt countries. Over 80% of crime is attributed to gangs, which truly is a scary amount, and what’s even scarier is the fact that these gangs have been around for so long.

From America, to South Africa, to the Far East, every part of the world is plagued with gangs. The one thing gangs have in common is that their methods are extremely violent. Some of these gangs have become notorious due to their extreme and horrifying rituals. Loyalty, respect, and worthiness are key elements to being part of a gang, meaning that potential new members are subjected to various shockingly violent initiation processes in order to prove to the gang that they’re good enough to join. From violent beatings to assassinations, cross-burning, and recruiting minors, here are fifteen of the scariest gang rituals EVER!

15. Finger Removal – The Yakuza

The Yakuza are basically the Japanese mafia.They are the rulers of the Japanese underground. They are a crime organization so infamous that they’ve appeared in various TV shows and movies, for example, Kill Bill. As many people know, East Asians are big on tradition, and the Japanese are big on honor and punishment. Therefore, their most infamous ritual is yubitsume, which consists of cutting off a part of someone’s finger. The purpose of yubitsume is both punishment and atonement.

Anytime a Yakuza member commits an offense within the organization, they have to cut off the tip of their little finger. One offense equals one joint, and everyone always starts with the little finger on the left hand. If that little finger eventually gets completely cut off due to the member committing several offenses, they then move onto the little finger on their right hand. You’d think losing the tip of your pinky is enough to scare someone into not committing offenses, but some people never learn.

14. Eating Children’s Hearts – Knights Templar Cartel

Mexican cartels have been causing a lot of problems south of the border, but while violence is a standard part of gangs, few have as gruesome and truly disgusting rituals as the Knights Templar Cartel. A continuation of the now-defunct criminal organization La Familia Michoacana and infamous for their organ-trafficking ring, the Knights Templar Cartel like to test the loyalty of their recruits with what is probably one of the most gruesome gang initiations ever – the recruits have to eat a child’s heart which has been procured through the cartel’s already mentioned organ-trafficking ring!

They like to kidnap children from schools and put them into refrigerated trucks, probably in order to harvest their organs, which is heinous enough on its own, but forcing new members to eat the children’s hearts truly is a new level of evil.

13. Ritual Beating and R*pe – MS-13

MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha 13, is a gang originally from El Salvador which has spread all across Central and North America. It is believed that their total number of members adds up to 50,000. That’s a lot of members! The chilling part is that all of these members had to endure the same disgustingly violent initiation process.

If a guy wants to join MS, then he has to take a severe beating. Literally. About half a dozen gang members will beat up the recruit and if he survives the beating, he’s in. It’s perfectly normal to be beaten until passing out, and not everyone will survive the beating. Also, age is not an issue here, as there have been initiates as young as 11 who have been severely beaten up by MS-13 members.

MS-13 also accepts women as recruits. But given what the women have to go through, it would be better if they didn’t! Instead of being beaten up by a bunch of members, female recruits are subjected to gang r*pe, which is not only violent, but even more horrible and traumatic than what the guys have to go through.

12. Child Assassinators – Mac Baller Brims

The Mac Baller Brims hail from the Bronx neighborhood of New York and have many ties to the Bloods of New York. However, this gang is far worse than the one they’re associated with. Not only are their methods more violent and even downright lethal, they also like to recruit members at a young age, calling them YGs, which stands for Young Gangstas.

These youngsters are subjected to the popular jump in/beat in method, which involves one young recruit being beaten up by several gang members. The recruit must survive the beating to become part of the gang.

However, the initiation process doesn’t end there. It just gets worse. The young survivors of the beating then have to successfully assassinate someone to prove to the gang that they’re worthy of being a member. This is too much for someone so young, and led to the death of a 14-year old YG who missed his target and got shot by the police.

11. Bombarding Master Handan – Taitung Gangs

Taitung is a county in Taiwan known for its many criminal organizations. With Taiwan being located in East Asia, all Taiwanese people are proud of their cultural heritage, gangs included. This is why in the 70’s Taitung’s gangs decided to adopt an ancient ritual which used to be part of the Taiwanese Lantern Festival. They decided to use this ritual in order to choose their leaders.

The scary ritual, known as ‘’bombarding Master Handan,” originally consisted of participants throwing firecrackers at the God of Wealth Master Handan because he couldn’t stand the cold, and by heating him up they were thought to increase their wealth. This was then tweaked for electing gang leaders by having candidates represent Master Handan. Whoever could survive having multiple firecrackers thrown at them would become the new gang leader.

Authorities banned the ritual in 1984, but it was recently brought back by industry owners to show off that they make enough profit to spend thousands of dollars on firecrackers.

10. Burning Crosses – The Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan, otherwise known as the KKK, is probably one of the most infamous white supremacist gangs in the world. This American gang was founded in the Southern States after the Confederacy was defeated in the Civil War.

They are primarily known for their racist crimes against African-Americans, who they believe they should have remained slaves, but they are also anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, and misogynist. Basically they’re against everyone and anyone who isn’t a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant male, and to this day they want to rid America of all minorities.

Their recruits have to burn a crucifix under the excuse of “lighting”, not destroying the religious symbol. This was used to scare black people living near the burning grounds, and along with their frequent parades, is still used to intimidate the public, especially black people.

9. Double Murder – The Aryan Brotherhood

Up until the sixties, America was a segregated country, meaning there were separate areas and institutions for white people and for non-white (mainly black) people. After the Civil Rights Movement, segregation was made illegal. As a result, everything in America became desegregated, including prisons.

Many white inmates hated the idea of having to serve time alongside black inmates, and as a result, racially-exclusive gangs were formed. One of these gangs is the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist prison gang founded in San Quentin Prison in 1964.

Their criminal activities include but are not limited to male prostitution, drug smuggling, and murder-for-hire. Despite making up a small percentage of the prison population, it is believed that they are responsible for up to 30 % of murders within prisons.

Their initiation process might have something to do with that – recruits have to prove themselves by murdering two people, and the victims aren’t just limited to fellow inmates. They’re also encouraged to kill the guards!

8. Drawing Blood – United Blood Nations

United Blood Nation is New York’s largest and most dangerous prison gang. Founded in 1993 by Deadeye and OG Mack in Riker’s Island Prison, it has well over 500 members. All of them violent and dangerous men, which they’ve managed to prove by successfully completing the bloody initiation process.

Recruits wanting to join this gang have to slash another inmate’s face and draw blood, but only after another gang member yells out “013”. This is seen by the members as a way to prove their loyalty and willingness to carry out any dirty deeds their superiors want. It is believed that at one point the United Blood Nation was responsible for as many as 100 mutilations per month, which is not surprising given the vast number of members they have. They also sometimes operate outside of prisons, where two recruits have to slash a stranger’s face with razors.

7. Drinking Blood – Chinese Triads

It’s not just the Americas that have crime organizations. There are plenty of them in Asia, especially East Asia. One of these gangs is the Chinese Triads who control pretty much the entire Chinese underground, including Hong Kong and Macau.

The Chinese Triads have been around for generations, and in typical Chinese fashion, tradition is a huge part of their modus operandi. This means that their initiation processes have consisted of a large number of elaborate rituals. However, since many of these rituals are time – and space – consuming, not all of them have made it to the present-day initiation process. There is one ritual that they have unfortunately kept, and it is a pretty nasty one. Potential members are required to drink a potion made up of the blood of all the recruits, and whoever fails to drink the whole thing gets killed by the other members.

6. Drive-By Shooting – The Latin Kings

The Latin Kings have a reputation for being one of the most dangerous gangs in the United States, and that reputation is definitely not undeserved. Founded in Chicago in the 1940’s, they have since managed to spread all across America thanks to their ruthless ways. They have stolen military weapons for their own use, worked with known terrorist organizations, and have even punished disobedient members by killing them and eating their remains!

Their main rivals are the Gangster Disciples, who play a huge role in the Latin Kings’ initiation process. The recruits go along with already established Latin Kings members to find Gangster Disciples members. They do this by flashing the Gangster Disciples’ gang sign at them, and if they respond by flashing the same signs, the recruits then have to participate in a drive-by shooting of these identified rivals in order to be accepted into the Latin Kings.

5. Golden & Brown Showers – Hell’s Angels

Motorcycle gangs are well-known across the world. While many of them are essentially harmless with larger-than-life members, anyone who’s watched Sons of Anarchy knows that there are unfortunately some motorcycle gangs that are basically crime organizations. Practically everyone’s first association of motorcycle gangs is Hell’s Angels, an American motorcycle gang that gained an infamous reputation thanks to its members’ frequent run-ins with the law. But while the public knew about their crimes that made front-page news, they didn’t know much about their initiation process. That is, until Hunter S. Thompson decided to expose them.

Anyone wishing to join the Hell’s Angels just has to put on their so-called uniform – jeans and a Hell’s Angels vest – and sit in a chair, with established members standing around them. Well, not really. Not only do the members kick them, they also cover them in urine and feces, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, they’re not allowed to shower or change for a whole day! Yuck!

4. Hazing, R*ping, and Alcohol Poisoning – University Fraternities

Technically speaking, university fraternities are not gangs or criminal organizations, but their activities and initiation processes are often so disgusting and even downright illegal that they could compete with various street gangs.

Consisting mostly of middle-class young people enrolled in prestigious universities, they are considered the future of society, but their activities are truly terrifying.

Anyone wanting to go join a fraternity or sorority has to go through a so-called hazing process which consists of various kinds of humiliation or even torture. Recruits, otherwise known as pledges, are punched in the head or stomach, forced to drink urine or disgusting combinations such as milk and vinegar, and some are even forced to eat a live goldfish! Others are made to drink so much alcohol that they’ve ended up in hospitals with alcohol poisoning. Their parties often get out of hand, with many members r*ping young women.

3. Human Hallway – Junky Funky Kids

The Cape Flats region of Cape Town in South Africa is full of gangs and crime organizations. One of the more notorious gangs are the Junky Funky Kids. Make no mistake, these are not typical kids. In fact, the gang’s illegal and violent activities without a doubt rob them of their childhood.

So why join? Well, the gang preys on vulnerable teenagers desperate to escape their troubled families. These young boys are then subjected to the “beat in” method, meaning that they have to survive being beaten up by several gang members. However, this gang takes it to the new level so that the recruits can prove that they’re capable of helping out a fellow gang member when necessary, which happens a lot since gangs engage in various criminal activities, often crossing paths with each other. To prove themselves, gang members arm themselves with various weapons and form two lines opposite each other, and the recruits have to run in between these two lines and make it out in one piece.

2. Suffer in Silence – The Numbers Gangs

The Numbers Gang is a South African prison gang which started out in Johannesburg in the late 19^th century. Its founder, Nongoloza, separated the gang’s members into three separate branches – the 26s, 27s, and 28s. This is why the gang is known as the Numbers Gang. Each branch was given its own set of violent duties.

Each branch has its own horrific initiation process. For example, the recruits for one branch are asked what would they do if they had one umbrella and it was raining. If their answer is that they would share the umbrella, they must prostitute themselves in the prison. If they answer that they’d step out into the rain, then they have to attack a prison guard and stay silent as the guard punishes them with a severe beating. Another branch’s recruits have to stab a prison guard with knives they’ve made themselves.

1. Witnessing Violence – Roto Gang

The Roto Gang is a South African gang known for breaking into the homes of Randburg’s rich residents and robbing them. What sets them apart from many other South African gangs is their initiation process. It is unique, but somehow manages to be even worse than the typical initiation acts of violence.

Anyone wishing to join this gang doesn’t have to endure a beating, have bodily fluids poured over them, or even do a test run of the gang’s typical activities. Instead of any of that, they have to watch established gang members not only violently murder rivals, but also horrifically mutilate and dismember their bodies. They then remove vital organs and appendages before dumping them on the street. Supposedly recruits are given a passive role to prove if they have the stomach for the gang’s activities because it can sometimes be worse to have to watch a crime being committed and do nothing.