Who is Swifty Blue and why is he in jail? Real name and more explored as Mexican mafia member gets charged in 2022 conspiracy to kill rap artist

Rapper Swifty Blue was reportedly the target of a 2022 murder plot. On June 18, 2025, prosecutors charged 19 individuals at the Los Angeles County Superior Court for the alleged conspiracy to kill Blue, including Manuel “Snuffy” Quintero, who has been identified as a member of the Mexican mafia.

Swifty Blue, whose real name is Nelson Abrego, is a Los Angeles-based rap artist. He was in jail in November 2023 for a single felony count of gun possession.

Before that, Abrego reportedly angered members of the Mexican mafia after being involved in a feud with Latino gang members in his hometown in Paramount, California. However, the details of the beef are unknown.

Snuffy, 49, who is a member of the Paramount Varrio gang, allegedly put a hit out on Swifty in 2022, who was later stabbed in jail while he was serving time. On Wednesday, Quintero was arrested but has yet to enter a plea, according to the LA Times.

He has previously served time for assault, false imprisonment, and manufacturing methamphetamine.

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All you need to know about Swifty Blue

According to Famous Birthdays, Swifty Blue is a California hip-hop artist who is known for songs such as Rosary, Ganas, Kap G, 2 Gs, The Hardest Ease, and the albums Grimey Gangs (2019), Foot on They Necks, and No More Loses.

He collaborated with artists, including Kodak Black, for his track Swap for a Swap, and the number Stretch Them Dolla$ featured Taliban Glizzy. Other notable works of Swifty Blue are Grimer Park with Moneysign $uede and Peysoh, and P Funk with the duo alongside Rucci.

Nelson Abrego also has a self-titled YouTube channel with 111K subscribers, which features his songs, music videos, vlogs, and more. The videos have amassed a total of 55 million views alongside multi-million streams on Spotify.

He is behind a clothing brand named Shaka Wear and his own record label, Grimey Records. The son of Salvadoran immigrants, Blue is also signed to O.T.R. Records.

In April 2024, he interviewed with the LA Times. At the time, his tattoos and teeth grills stood out. Before that, in November 2023, Swifty Blue was beaten and stabbed at the Los Angeles County Jail, where he was serving time for firearm possession.

At the time, investigators suspected the Mexican mafia was seemingly involved in the attack, which Nelson Abrego survived. The LA Times reported that an alleged extortion attempt surrounding Blue was also rumored.

During his interview, Blue refused to discuss his alleged issues with gangs or the Mexican mafia and steer clear of “jailhouse politics.”

“I’m not trying to throw rocks. I’m just trying to do my thing, my entrepreneurship,” he stated.

Swifty also denied having any link to organized crime groups and asked the interviewer to focus on his music, calling Nipsey Hussle and Mozzy his idols.

According to Swifty Blue, his rap resonated with people in his community as “everybody wants to be a gangster.”

“Whether you’re a lawyer, police, or a kid going to school, everybody wants to be big, bad, and tough… Hear some gangster tales, some stories, and some real-life situations. Some real street stuff – not no Hollywood,” he stated back then, adding his music reflected what it was like to be a “real-life gangster.”

In the same LA Times article, it was also mentioned that Abrego had a complicated past. For instance, at 15, he reportedly followed his older sibling into the Eastside Paramount gang.

Later, when he was in the 10th standard, he was seemingly rusticated from school for allegedly smoking marijuana and being involved in what he called "gang-banging."

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More about the alleged murder conspiracy of Swifty Blue

Legal documents reviewed by the LA Times revealed that Swifty Blue’s alleged murder plot was carried out over TikTok text chains and recorded prison calls between inmates of Kern County Jail in downtown LA and the Paramount Varrio gang members based in southeast LA County.

According to the court papers, on New Year’s Eve in 2022, an associate of Quintero named Giuseppe “Clever” Leyva seemingly shared with an informant that gang members in Paramount, Compton, and downtown L.A. were instructed to attack Swifty Blue “on sight.”

When the informant asked for more, including if and why “Snuffs is mad,” Leyva reportedly replied, “F**k him,” about Blue. While nothing happened around this time, eight months later, Leyva seemingly wrote in a TikTok message that Swifty’s “career is done,” and even though he tried to “guide him,” he “didn’t listen.”

Subsequently, several cryptic text and call exchanges took place between gang members inside and outside prison, where Nelson Abrego was held in late 2023.

Some of the individuals allegedly involved in the conspiracy include Onesimo “Vamps” Gonzalez (already in custody), his mother, Dominga Gonzalez (arrested on Wednesday), Jonathan “Dreamer” Quevedo, and Jacob “Eagle” David.

On the day of the attack, Adrian “Slick” Bueno, Andrew “Largo” Shinaia, and Jude “Crazy” Valle reportedly entered Swifty Blue’s prison cell, as Michael “Weasel” Ortiz guarded the CCTVs.

Together, they beat the rapper and “sliced” him, prosecutors said on Wednesday. By March 2024, Swifty was discharged from jail; however, the conspiracy continued. Leyva and a man named Joshua “Demon” Euan seemingly corresponded via TikTok.

Last year, there was a break-in at Abrego’s family home in downtown LA, which, according to prosecutors, was carried out by Demon. Joshua Euan is currently a fugitive.

Edited by Prem Deshpande