Posted on 02/23/2005 7:11:35 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - A reputed gang leader suspected of masterminding a bus massacre in Honduras that killed 28 people was arrested this month in Texas, U.S. and Honduran officials said Wednesday.
Authorities described the man, Ever Anibal Rivera Paz, known as "El Culiche" - The Tapeworm - as the leader of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang in Honduras.
The violent Central American gang has members in the United States, and U.S. officials are concerned that they might help sneak al-Qaida terrorists into the country.
Rivera Paz was arrested Feb. 10 by the Texas highway patrol about 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border. He was turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol for processing.
Rivera Paz, who uses the alias Franklin Jairo Rivera-Hernandez, remains in federal custody, the Homeland Security Department said in a statement Wednesday.
In Tegucigalpa, Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez described Paz Rivera as the Mara Salvatrucha leader.
"He has an extensive criminal record in the United States and Honduras, and he was arrested more than six times in the 1990s," Alvarez said.
Alvarez said Rivera Paz, 26, had been under arrest on charges of masterminding the massacre of bus passengers in San Pedro Sula, about 125 miles north of the Honduras capital, Tegucigalpa, last Dec. 23. He escaped from a prison near the capital on Jan. 23, Alvarez said.
The bus was filled with workers returning home and Christmas shoppers when armed gunmen cut it off and fired on it and inside the bus. Six children died in the attack.
The gunmen claimed in a message left on the bus' windshield that they were part of a previously unknown revolutionary group opposed to the death penalty. Executions were stopped in the 1950s.
A reward of $10,000 was being offered for the capture of Rivera Paz and fellow gang leader Alvaro "El Snoopy" Acosta, 27, who escaped with Rivera.
"They are dangerous Mara members, capable of committing any kind of cold-blooded crime," Alvarez said.
Rivera Paz gave a false name, but his tattoos suggested he was an MS-13 gang member. Checks of Homeland Security databases turned up some national alerts, including one from U.S. Border Patrol agents in Honduras who had warned Rivera Paz might be trying to enter the country, Border Patrol spokesman Salvador Zamora said.
The arrest comes as law enforcement officials from the United States and Central America are meeting in San Salvador to discuss ways to keep the gang from extending its influence.
James Loy, deputy Homeland Security secretary told Congress last week there was growing intelligence suggesting al-Qaida was considering entering the United States across the Mexican border, although he had nothing conclusive. He said that in addition to al-Qaida, "we are seeing the emergence of other threatening groups and gangs like MS-13 that will also be destabilizing influences."
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Associated Press writers Freddy Cuevas in Tegucigalpa and Lynn Brezosky in Harlingen, Texas, contributed to this report.
People like this are free to come into the U.S. through our southern border pretty much whenever they want.
I wouldn't be afraid of someone called 'The Jackal', but I would be very scared of someone called 'The Tapeworm'!
It's pretty bad when your country is where criminals from Honduras flee to escape prosecution.
Here is more on the M-13 gang.
The Mara Salvatrucha originated in the United States in 1987 in Los Angeles. Founders of the gang were previously members of La Mara gang in El Salvador. Many of its members fled to the U.S. during the El Salvador civil war in the 1980s. The majority of Salvadorians immigrated to Southern California and Washington, D.C.
Initially the gang was involved in small activities such as graffiti and only extended membership to Salvadorians. Now their interests have escalated and membership is open to anyone between the ages of 11 and 40. Today members are predominately Spanish with ties to Central America. M-13 has members in every state except Hawaii.
http://www.thesentinel.com/298502158199476.php
THe Sentinel is Maryland/Washington DC area. The above came from an article titled "Gang violence erupts at Shady Grove Metro stop", a 19 yr old was shot by a gang member.
I was recently in Honduras and while the country is poor the people have huge souls. I was very disturbed by this crime.
More border security.
But in the halls in Washington, all you hear is your echo because no one , other that a handfull of Republicans, are listing.
Shame, shame, shame!
Texas , We need to control our border, ping to you!
bump for read
It doesn't really say why this gang did something so horrible. Obviously, the thing about the death penalty (which stopped in the 50's) couldn't have been the reason. Maybe it was just plain viciousness.
New inscription on Statue of Liberty should read:
Bring us your tired, your poor, your terrorists and thugs yearning to due us harm.
"It doesn't really say why this gang did something so horrible. Obviously, the thing about the death penalty (which stopped in the 50's) couldn't have been the reason. Maybe it was just plain viciousness."
Andy Warhol's 15 minutes? They are in the news, a lot of people are scared, and we are talking about them even here at FR.
Another catch on the Texas Border, Ping.
Good read, Norm. They had the Border Patrol guy on our local TV (KSAT-12) tonight and the article is true to how the events unfolded.
Again, Thanks.
BTTT...thanks for the thread, Norm.
Thank you ElephantinTexas for the ping.
Interesting article.
New FR Poll!
Which of the following is the best way to solve the illegal immigration problem?
Seal and militarize the borders
46.6%
Beef up and enforce existing law
38.4%
Some form of guest worker program
9.1%
Other
3.6%
Undecided/Pass
2.2%
A Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a PoliceMag.com article: "AMERICA'S MOST DANGEROUS GANG Spreading from El Salvador to L.A. and across the United States, Mara Salvatucha 13 is increasingly well organized and deadly" by Shelly Feuer Domash (February 20, 2005) (Read More...)
You're most welcome, Ya starting to dry out down there yet?
ON THE NET...
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Rivera+Paz%22&hl=en&lr=&filter=0
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Ever+Anibal%22&btnG=Google+Search
ON THE NET...
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Alvaro+%22El+Snoopy%22+Acosta%22&hl=en&lr=&filter=0
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22El+Snoopy%22&hl=en&lr=&filter=0
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