Gangs threat: 'Extreme' By Jon Echtenkamp 12/09/2003
Northern Virginians can expect a rising tide of violent crimes committed by street gangs that have established "a major hub" in this area, as more gang members – possibly numbering in the thousands – may flock here from Central America, according to a recently issued FBI report. The report specifically focuses on the rise of the most notorious of the gangs known to operate in this area, Mara Salvatrucha 13, or MS-13. The gang, with roots in El Salvador and Los Angeles, established a foothold in this region in the early 1990s and has been responsible for untold violent crimes over the years. The FBI estimates that some 3,000 MS-13 members and 30 MS-13 cliques are operating in the Washington, D.C., area, primarily in the prosperous Northern Virginia suburbs. "The greater Washington, D.C., area, and specifically northern Virginia, is now a major hub of MS-13 gang activity," the report says. "Violent crime associated with continued expansion of MS-13 is most predictable." The report serves as a wake-up call, even as federal, state and local law enforcement officials are implementing a broad array of programs to combat the rapid growth of gangs here. In language that is all the more startling because it comes from the FBI, the report notes that MS-13 groups "pose a serious threat in the United States and abroad due to their propensity for extreme random acts of violence and involvement in myriad criminal activities." Those crimes include shootings, rape, armed robberies, theft, car theft, drug dealing, and assaults with bats, knives, machetes or other weapons, the report says.
"Dear Mr. Ridge, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Rove: Does your "amnesty" include these thousands of illegal aliens who are no more than domestic terror paramilitaries now, operating in your neighbors' backyards and streets and schoolyards in suburban Washington D.C.?"