On Los Angeles streets, tents aren’t just signs of homelessness anymore — they’re staking turf. From RV rows choking Compton Boulevard to Skid Row’s packed tent maze to once-quiet pockets of the Westside, encampments have morphed into open-air drug markets. This isn’t chaos — it’s control. Gangs blend into the unhoused population, hiding in plain sight, running street commerce behind tarps and inside RVs while City Hall looks the other way. Nowhere is it clearer than Compton Boulevard, where more than 100 RVs sit bumper-to-bumper, windows blacked out. Outreach workers and residents say many are controlled by street crews tied to long-established Compton gangs — used to stash drugs, cook meth and sell straight onto the street. People living inside those RVs don’t just park there. They pay rent.