He Made $300K/Yr Off Jail Snacks, Ran Mexican Mafia Drug Tax & OD'd On Heroin: Lalo Martinez

Eulalio “Lalo” Martinez was a made member of the Mexican Mafia who built a tightly controlled criminal economy inside the Los Angeles County Jail. His commissary operation generated nearly $300,000 in a single year and that did not include the money tied to narcotics. From his cell, Lalo collected a cut from the snacks, coffee, hygiene products, and other basic items purchased by Latino inmates. What began as a communal fund known as the “kitty” became a mandatory commissary tax enforced through violence. His network tracked purchases, collected merchandise, resold jail goods, and moved the proceeds through inmate trust accounts and post office boxes controlled by associates outside. The larger operation centered on heroin. Under a rule investigators called Dirty Thirds, anyone bringing narcotics into areas controlled by the Mexican Mafia had to surrender one-third of the product. Other suppliers were forced to wait until La Eme had sold its share, giving Lalo’s organization control over supply, timing, and prices inside the jail. Lalo’s story was also tied to the 1998 murder of Donald Schubert in Rosemead, California. Prosecutors alleged that Lalo ordered the killing from a Pelican Bay isolation cell as revenge connected to his brother’s death. After completing a fourteen-year robbery sentence, Lalo was only hours away from release when detectives served him with a murder warrant. He was transferred directly to the Los Angeles County Jail, where he expanded the commissary and narcotics system that would define his second career. Investigators eventually intercepted his calls, recorded conversations inside the jail, and placed informants near him. Before the cases against him were completed, Lalo Martinez was found unresponsive in his cell in 2013. The cause of death was a heroin overdose. The man who controlled and taxed the jail’s heroin market ultimately died from the same drug he could never stop using. This documentary examines the rise, power, addiction, and downfall of Lalo Martinez and the Mexican Mafia jail economy that continued operating long after his death. This video is based on court records, law-enforcement recordings, published reporting, witness testimony, and official case information. Some allegations are presented according to prosecutors, investigators, and individuals involved in the cases. Subscribe for more documented stories about the Mexican Mafia, prison gangs, organized crime, and the people who operated inside that world. Where are you watching from? Let us know in the comments. #MexicanMafia #LaloMartinez #PrisonGangs