Some reports claim Neta originated In 1980, while others claim it was founded earlier, perhaps in the 1970s sometime. It was originally founded in Oso Blanco Prison, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, then also known as "Asociacion Pro-Derecho Al Confinando." It then spread to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Carlos Torres, who had allegedly lived in poverty and gotten in trouble since he was a young boy had intentions of forming the gang since 1974, and eventually succeeded while an inmate at Oso Blanco prison in 1980. However, Torres never was able to witness the rise of the gang that would within a few years become the largest prison gang in Puerto Rico, and he died in prison in 1981. Fellow alleged member John Rodriguez said that Torres created Neta to further the rights of prisoners and "extended his efforts to help his fellow inmates understand the fight for Puerto Rican independence and other abuses that were committed against our communities" (11 February 2003, EFE News Service).

The gang split into two factions in 1995, one following the original ideals of founder Carlos Torres and the other going independent. Recently, however, efforts by members to reunite the estranged factions has begun to increase.

According to the EFE News Service, the gang attempts to promote the rights of prisoners and "help fellow inmates understand the fight for Puerto Rican independence and other abuses that were committed against our communities" (11 February 2003 EFE News Service). Much of the work by faithful members involves teaching Hispanic culture and education, some of which includes experiences from inside prison, and many members claim they are strictly part of an inmate-rights group. Like most culturally-based street and prison gangs, Neta has reportedly become the voice of marginalized, Latino youth, and actively recruits teenagers from streets across the country. However, members insist it be called an "organization" rather than a gang. Perhaps many of their activities do fit into this category, but the stigma generated by a handful of aggressors sheds the gang of any legal credibility.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Pamela Chen, quoted in the New York Post in 2001, "The Neta women's role [in prison], traditionally, was to take care of the inmates, collect funds and do public service." According to ... the Neta's "Code" does not include killing, unlike the codes of many other major prison and street gangs.

According to the New Jersey Department of Corrections, the Neta lack a hierarchy, and thus remain a loosely connected group of individually run gangs (26 April 2005 The Daily Journal).

As a prison gang, the Neta have attracted attention at:

• Florida (various prisons)
• Garner Correctional Institution, Newton, Connecticut.
• Norfolk City Jail, VA
• Rockland County jail, NY
• Pennslyvania (various correctional facilities)
• Texas (various prisons)
• West Boylston County Jail, Massachusetts

As a street gang, the Neta operate in:

• Connecticut
  • Bridgeport, Connecticut, where they are allied with the Latin Kings.
  • Hartford, where the gang has suffered serious blows by law enforcement in the last half a decade.
• Massachusetts
  • Boston
  • Springfield, which has an Hispanic community of about 26,000 residents, many of whom have close ties to Puerto Rico.
• North Carolina
  • Durham
• Ontario, Canada
  • Toronto
• Pennsylvania
  • Hazleton
  • Philadelphia
  • Wilkes Barre
• Wisconsin
  • Milwaukee
• New York
  • New York City, where it is considered by the NYPD to be one of the worst gangs in the city.
  • Orange County
  • Rockland County
  • Westchester County
• New Jersey
  • Essex County
  • Hudson County
  • Parsippany County
  • Morris County.
  • Newark
  • Passiac County

Major conflicts have been reported between the Latin Kings and Neta, such as the 2004 fatal stabbing of a Latin King member in the Madrid district of Carabanchel. The Latin Kings website afterwards posted calls for revenge. At the same time, however, the Latin Kings have been reported to be allied with both the NETA and La Familia in county jails in Massachusetts. These three gangs, "in an uneasy alliance," now consensually claim certain key portions of the North End section of Boston, while surrendering primary turf to the Los Solidos in the South End (7 August 1994 The Boston Globe). However, the "uneasy alliance" between the triad has seen sporadic indications of violence and turf conflicts. One picture of the "alliance" might be a relationship of commercial necessity. Members of both primary gangs claim they hold true to their roots. Users have reported that the history of the Latin Kings and the Netas being cousins go back to Rikers Island Prision where both organizations fought against the increasing growth of Bloods and Crips on the East Coast

Conflicts have been reported with The Asian Sworn Brothers, at least in Boston, where stabbings involving the two gangs have reported at local high schools and elsewhere, including the murder of Sworn Brothers member Khedy Leang in 1998.

Trinitarios are another reported rival.