Who is Swifty Blue? All about rapper as he gets subjected to alleged Mexican mafia murder conspiracy

Nelson Abrego, known by his rapper name, Swifty Blue, is a Los Angeles rapper who is known for hip-hop with heavy Latin influence. Blue is signed with Grimey Records and O.T.R. Records. Abrego has a complicated relationship with the Mexican mafia, and often raps about criminal activities.

As per an article published by the LA Times in April 2024, Abrego is a child of Salvadoran immigrants. His father worked as a carpenter and his mother as a housekeeper.

On June 18, Los Angeles County Prosecutors charged 19 people with conspiring to murder Swifty Blue, who had earlier allegedly angered a member of the Mexican Mafia, a prison-based syndicate of Latino gang members.

As per a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, and obtained by the LA Times, Mexican Mafia member Manuel "Snuffy" Quintero was accused of organising Swifty's murder. Manuel issued an order in 2022 to kill Swifty Blue and was arrested on June 18. He is yet to enter a plea, and it is not clear if he has a lawyer.

Quintero is known for serving prison time for assault, manufacturing methamphetamine, and false imprisonment, as per court records. As per the complaint, prosecutors claimed a conspiracy that has been played out by Manuel and his gang members over TikTok messages and recorded jail calls. The prosecutors drew in prisoners from Kern County, jail inmates in downtown Los Angeles, and gang members in Paramount, where both Quintero and Abrego hail from.

In 2022 New Year's Eve, Giuseppe "Clever" Levya, an alleged subordinate of Quintero, told an informant that he had notified gang members in Paramount, Compton, and downtown LA about an order he had to attack Abrego "on sight." Levya had earlier been taken into custody in an unrelated federal case with charges of selling drugs and guns.

More about Swifty Blue's association with the Mexican mafia

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Swifty Blue or Nelson Abrego was born to Salvadoran immigrant parents in Los Angeles. At the age of 15, he followed his older brother into the Eastside Paramount gang, which he proudly flaunts a tattoo of. In the 10th grade, Blue was suspended from Paramount High School for smoking marijuana, which he referred to as "gang-banging."

He went on to release his first album, Grimey Gang, in 2019. As per the LA Times article dated April 2024, a Mexican Mafia member in a recorded jail call in 2022, noted that another unnamed member of the organization was demanding money from Swifty Blue for "disrespecting" him. When asked about Latin artists' affiliation to gangs subserviant to the Mexican Mafia, Blue said that its "hard for you to be an independent Southern (California) rapper" since artists have to deal with "gang politics" including "rules and regulations" artists are supposed to follow from "the jail to the streets."

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