MS13-in-the-Americas-InSight-Crime-English-3.pdf
The Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) is one of the world’s largest and arguably most
violent street gangs. After relatively humble beginnings in Los Angeles in the 1980s,
it has spread to more than a half-dozen countries and become a central focus of
law enforcement in two hemispheres. In spite of these efforts, the MS13 remains a
persistent threat and shows signs of expanding its criminal portfolio. This report
attempts to explain what makes the MS13 such a difficult problem for authorities
to tackle. It focuses on assisting law enforcement’s understanding of the gang’s
criminal activities, but it includes deep discussion on the social and political issues
around the MS13. Below are our major findings.
The MS13 is a largely urban phenomenon that has cells operating in
two continents. The MS13 has between 50,000 and 70,000 members who
are concentrated in mostly urban areas in Central America or locations outside
the region where there is a large Central American diaspora. In Honduras and
Guatemala, the gang is still largely urban. In El Salvador, however, the gang has
steadily spread into more rural areas. Expansion beyond urban areas has also
happened in places in the United States, most notably in Long Island and North
Carolina, and increasingly California. The gang has appeared as well in Europe,
specifically in urban areas of Spain and Italy. The size of the gang in these settings
varies greatly and fluctuates, mostly in accordance with law enforcement efforts
and migration patterns unrelated to the gang.
The MS13 is a social organization first, and a criminal organization
second. The MS13 is a complex phenomenon. The gang is not about generating
revenue as much as it is about creating a collective identity that is constructed and
reinforced by shared, often criminal experiences, especially acts of violence and
expressions of social control. The MS13 draws on a mythic notion of community a team concept, and an ideology based on its bloody fight with its chief rival,
the Barrio 18 (18th Street) gang, to sustain a huge, loosely organized social and
criminal organization.
The MS13 is a diffuse organization of sub-parts, with no single leader
or leadership structure that directs the entire gang. The MS13 has two
poles of power: in Los Angeles, where it was founded, and in El Salvador, its
spiritual birthplace where many of its historic leaders reside. But the gang has no
single leader or leadership council. Instead it is a federation with layers of leaders
who interact, obey and react to each other at different moments depending on
circumstances. In general terms, most decisions are made by the individual cell,
or what is known as the “clica,” the Spanish term for clique. The highest-ranking
members in some geographic areas make up a leadership council, but not all
areas have a leadership council. In Los Angeles, the MS13 is subservient to the
prison gang known as the Mexican Mafia. In El Salvador, the gang is also run
from prison by its own leadership council. Along the East Coast of the United
States, the gang has no council, although it is takes much of its directives from
Salvadoran-based gang leaders. Because these leaders are mostly in jail, it is
exceedingly difficult for them to impose total control over the rank-and-file.
MS 13 & Their Muslim Brotherhood…
Terrorizing American Citizens for DECADES.
Ushered in, by the DEMOCRATS and RINOS.
Sniff, sniff, SMELL THE TREASON???