K&A Gang
The K&A Gang, currently known as the Northeast Philly Irish Mob, is a predominantly Irish American criminal network based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The K&A Gang was started following World War II and controlled the city's Irish-American criminal underworld for much of the late 20th century. The group was mainly a burglary ring for much of its early history, but shifted into loansharking, illegal gambling, racketeering, and ultimately drug trafficking in its later existence. The name K&A is derived from Kensington and Allegheny, the road intersection where the gang originally formed.
| Founding location | Kensington, Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1950s - present |
| Territory | Various neighborhoods in Northeast Philadelphia Kensington Fishtown Port Richmond Philadelphia Badlands |
| Ethnicity | Irish American |
| Membership (est.) | around 50-60 members |
| Criminal activities | Burglary, loan sharking, illegal gambling, drug trafficking, gun-running, racketeering, extortion, robbery, murder |
| Allies | Scarfo crime family Philadelphia Greek Mob Genovese crime family Provisional IRA (allegedly) |
| Rivals | Various local street gangs Kielbassa Posse Russian organized crime |
Domestically, the network is known to have ties to various criminal organizations in its surrounding area. They are known to have amicable ties to the La Cosa Nostra, namely the Scarfo crime family, but also the South Jersey faction of the New York City-based Genovese crime family, the local Greek mob, local Jewish-American gangsters, and various independent drug and hijacking gangs of various European ethnicities in the Greater Philadelphia area. They are also said to have ties to the Irish Republican Army and the larger Irish republican movement.