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America's Most Dangerous Gang
POLICE magazine ^ | Shelly Feuer Domash

Posted on 06/11/2005 8:54:12 AM PDT by Calpernia

America's Most Dangerous Gang

Spreading from El Salvador to L.A. and across the United States, Mara Salvatrucha 13 is increasingly well organized and deadly.

Within one hour, two people were found murdered miles apart in suburban Nassau County, N.Y. After an intensive investigation, police officials learned the murders were the work of the violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha 13. It also soon became apparent the gang was sending a bold message to its members and associates. That message: “If you are not loyal, you are dead.”

But there was another message in the brutal slayings for the people of Long Island. And that message was that gang violence had moved into the upper middle class enclaves of the Island, into the kinds of communities where the locals assume that crime is somebody else’s problem.

Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) is unfortunately becoming everybody’s problem. This plague that came to Long Island from El Salvador by way of the streets of Los Angeles follows the same migratory patterns as the Salvadoran immigrant community that it preys upon, fanning out across the United States from ethnic enclaves in California.

Coming Together

Until recently, MS-13 wasn’t that big a player in East Coast gang culture. The reason for its weak position in the East Coast crime world was obvious: It wasn’t very well organized. MS-13 was comprised of a group of cliques that operated independently of each other.

No more. Law enforcement officials now report that gang members from across the country have come together to unite affiliated groups up and down the East Coast. The leadership for these cliques is now coming from as far away as California and even from El Salvador.

Robert Hart, senior agent in charge with the FBI, says that when individual groups of MS-13 unite, the results can be devastating. “The cliques, instead of operating independently of each other, are beginning to come together,” Hart explains. “The difference is by doing that, obviously you have a much tighter organization, much stronger structures and, instead of having various cliques doing whatever they want, wherever they want, there is one individual who is the leader and is able to control the payment of dues and the criminal acts they engage in. The result is very, very similar to what you would see in what we refer to as traditional organized criminal families.”

Finding Sanctuary

Los Angeles and New York law enforcement and even politicians are aware of the impact of MS-13 on their streets and on their crime statistics. So they’ve taken action. The results are usually not stellar, but at least these cities have recognized that MS-13 is a problem. Unfortunately, the leadership of MS-13 is not stupid. Once the heat comes down hard in L.A. and New York, they head for new turf, choosing Midwestern and Southern and suburban cities where gangs “are not an issue” and local officials and authorities are in denial.

And once MS-13 takes hold in a community, it grows fast. The gang reportedly has some 300 members in suburban Long Island. A few years back it didn’t have any.

Once MS-13 shows up on the radar, some local officials and authorities will take action. In Nassau County, for example, a joint gang task force headed by the FBI and comprised of local police departments, has arrested 16 leaders of MS-13. They were charged with two murders, assault, conspiracy, and firearms violations.

Such investigations aren’t easy because MS-13 has a pretty strident zero-tolerance policy toward anyone who informs the cops of their activities.

Court papers reveal that one of the Nassau County defendants was captured in a secretly recorded telephone conversation detailing how he killed a male victim because he had provided law enforcement officials with information and that he had “put one in his chest and three in the head.” In another recorded conversation, a second defendant said he killed a young female because, in part, she had also provided information to law enforcement.

Fighting Back

The senseless violence of MS-13 has shocked the local citizens of Nassau County, so the Nassau County Executive appointed a “gang czar” to deal with the increasing gang problem.

A seasoned, dedicated officer, the new “czar,” in reality, will find it difficult to accomplish what he has been mandated to do. His department, like many across the nation, is at its lowest staffing levels in recent history, and he has been given no additional personnel or resources to combat the problem. The public was placated by the appointment, but while politicians put Band-Aids on deep cuts, the problem continues to escalate on Long Island.

And Long Island is not alone. Nationally, police departments are dealing with the surge in violence emanating from MS-13 members.

In Charlotte, N.C., 53 gang members were arrested as part of Operation Fed Up, which targeted MS-13 members. Officials in the medium-sized Southern city say MS-13 has been involved in at least 11 murders in the Charlotte area since 2000. And with a membership estimated at 200, MS-13 is by far Charlotte’s largest gang.

Some 400 miles north of Charlotte, the northern Virginia and southern Maryland communities around Washington, D.C., have become MS-13 turf. Local authorities estimate that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 MS-13 members in the metropolitan area.

And where MS-13 goes, violence follows. In July 2003, an 18-year-old federal witness was stabbed to death; last May, a 16-year-old boy had his hands almost completely chopped off with a machete; and a week later a 17-year-old was shot and murdered. All three crimes were tied to MS-13 members.

The rapid increase in MS-13 activity along the corridor between Charlotte and D.C. is simply explained by Det. Tim Jolly, a gang specialist with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The area has the nation’s second highest population of Salvadoran immigrants.

Gang of Chameleons

One of the more unusual aspects of MS-13 when compared to other street gangs is that it is extremely flexible in its activity. While some gangs are only into drugs, MS-13 will do any crime at any time.

Sgt. George Norris, supervisor of the gang unit in the Prince George’s County (Md.) Police Department, says MS-13 doesn’t sling drugs in his jurisdiction. “We see mostly citizen robberies, auto theft, shootings and cuttings, and homicides,” he says, adding that drug sales by MS-13 may be just a matter of time.

Violent and Vicious

When MS-13 moves into a new community it tends to announce its presence with violence. The same can be true when a new leader takes over the local cliques.

Norris says gang members from other areas had once been able to join the new gang by simply being “jumped in.” But now that new leaders have moved into Prince George’s County and consolidated the cliques, the gang’s local culture has become more violent and vicious.

“According to one of our informers, things have changed,” says Norris. “Now in order to get your letters or clique [symbols] tattooed on you, you have to also put in some violent act to show your commitment.”

Cop Killers

And MS-13 violence is not restricted to civilians, rival gang members, and clique traitors; the gang will go after cops. Threats against police officers, known to gang members as “green light” notices, have increased so much in the past few years that the Virginia Gang Association has warned officers in Virginia and states to the north and south to be wary of MS-13 members.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Jolly says he is aware of the threats against police officers in his community and in Virginia. Prince George’s County’s Norris says he’s heard them, too. “If you do something to them, their natural response is, ‘OK, I’m going to kill you,’” he says. “Or at least they talk like they will.”

Norris dismisses some of MS-13’s threats, but that doesn’t mean that officers should take all MS-13 threats lightly. The gang is extremely violent and it has attacked and will continue to attack anyone who gets in its way. That includes law enforcement officers.

Roots of Evil

Named for La Mara, a street in San Salvador, and the Salvatrucha guerillas who fought in El Salvador’s bloody civil war, Mara Salvatrucha 13 was organized in Los Angeles in the late ’80s. At first, the gang’s primary purpose was to defend Salvadoran immigrants from being preyed upon by other L.A. street gangs.

But like any other street gang that was created to defend a particular ethnic group, MS-13 was quickly perverted until its primary purpose was preying upon the Salvadoran community. It also violently defends its turf against any other gang that might seek to slice away a piece of its action.

Gang members sometimes wear blue and white, colors taken from the national flag of El Salvador. They can also sport numerous body and even face tattoos. However, some members are much less visible and therefore much more dangerous.

Recent reports indicate that MS-13 has expanded from California to Alaska, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Washington, D.C., and Florida. The gang has also been exported back to Central America.

Back Home

It’s estimated that there are 36,000 MS-13 members in Honduras alone. In Honduras, according to a March 2004 report prepared by the Washington, D.C.-based, right-wing think tank the Maldon Institute, MS-13 has, with increasing frequency, resorted to leaving a dismembered corpse, complete with a decapitated head, as a calling card. Recently, according to the report, such a grisly message was left with a note for the Honduran president.

The note is supposed to have stated the gang’s displeasure with an August 2003 law that made it illegal to be a part of a gang. Under Honduran law gang leaders can be sentenced to prison for up to 12 years and rank-and-file members from six to nine years, just for being in the gang. A gang member can be arrested for simply having a tattoo.

El Salvador has also launched a crackdown on MS-13. A police offensive called “Operation Strong-arm” has resulted in the arrest of more than 4,000 gang members.

For MS-13, these are small losses. The gang is nothing if not mobile. When it feels heat in the U.S., it moves to another state. When it feels heat in El Salvador and Honduras, it sets up operations in Mexico.

The Maldon Institute report indicates that MS-13 “appears to be in control of much of the Mexican border and, in addition to its smuggling and contraband rackets, the gang collects money from illegal immigrants that it helps [move] across the border into the United States.”

The ultra-conservative Maldon Institute is known for doomsday predictions when it comes to the U.S.-Mexico border. But there can be no denial that MS-13 is very active in smuggling people, drugs, and guns across the border. And independent reports indicate that many illegal immigrants have been assaulted, robbed, and even raped by MS-13 members.

Mexico is now taking steps to fight back against MS-13. In December, Mexican authorities arrested 224 gang members in response to what they called a threat to national security. Among the arrests were members of MS-13 who were charged with trafficking in drugs and firearms across Mexico and Central America.

Illusion of Cooperation

While some of the Central American countries appear to be cracking down on MS-13, serious problems still exist. And they are being missed by politically correct reporters who want to tout U.S.-Latin American cooperation.

For example, on Long Island, the media was quick to cover an agreement between El Salvador and Suffolk County to share information on MS-13. What the local reporters didn’t cover was a much more serious issue. If these gang members commit serious offenses, they can return home, and there is no extradition agreement. And, of course, they are doing so in increasing numbers.

“I would say that between Honduras and El Salvador, there are seven or eight people we are seeking to take into custody,” says Lt. Dennis Farrell, head homicide investigator for the Nassau County Police Department. “Proportionally, if you take that across the country, the numbers are astronomical, the number of people who have probably fled to these two countries.”

Farrell says that two gang members who his detectives are looking to arrest for two separate murders are now living in the same town in El Salvador. He calls the situation extremely frustrating. “You undertake a very in-depth and comprehensive investigation, pursue all possible leads, build a case, essentially conduct a successful investigation, only to have it thwarted by the fact that after having identified the killer or killers, you are unable, under the present international agreements, to return them to Nassau County to face murder charges.

“Even more than that frustration, how about the injustice and sense of desperation on the part of families who have lost loved ones? Where is the measure of justice? There is really no justice for those families, and absent some reworked or new initiative between our state department and those sovereign states, I don’t see any change in this condition in the foreseeable future,” Farrell adds.

In addition to extradition treaties, many gang investigators believe stricter and more uniform laws are needed here in this country. According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Jolly, one of the reasons MS-13 has migrated to the East Coast is the strict anti-gang laws on the West Coast. He also believes that, with the stricter gang laws in Central America, many MS-13 members may be coming back to the United States illegally.

Long Arms

With the number of MS-13 members growing nationwide (some cliques now even accept non-Hispanic members), and the violence escalating, the future for law enforcement appears grim.

“They adapt to what the police do,” says Prince George’s County’s Norris. “They will change the way they operate, depending on the way things are enforced by the police. If there is no enforcement, they will wear their colors and bandanas because in the communities they are in it is common knowledge and the people fear them, so it is a form of intimidation.

“Once the police recognize and confront them, they will change and wear different colors from the blue and white, no bandana on their head, maybe now in their pocket, and instead of the number 13 they will wear 67 or 76 because it equals 13. They adapt so it is a continually evolving thing.”

While the nation focuses on terrorism, the issue of gang violence has taken a lower priority. But to many, the violent acts of MS-13 members are more of an everyday threat that is being overlooked.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Virginia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 18thstreetgang; 2006; 2006elections; aliens; autry; borderpatrol; borders; bushdoctrine; cafta; closetheborder; congress; dhs; elsalvador; ftaa; gangs; ice; illegalaliens; illegals; immigrantlist; immigration; invasion; m13; marasalvatrucha13; ms13; sombranegra; southamerica; terrorism; terrorists
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To: Calpernia

Time to lock down the border.


61 posted on 06/11/2005 12:24:25 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: DumpsterDiver

bttt


62 posted on 06/11/2005 12:44:44 PM PDT by DumpsterDiver
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To: Calpernia

This gang's training is a direct result of the support of El Salvador rebels during the Iran-Contra affair. They received weapons and military training.

What makes this gang most dangerous is their military-type planning. One of their specialties is home invasion or a "raid" in military circles. They are well-rehearsed and quite surgical in their execution. These guys will come into your home and purposely kill you. Long forgotten is the idea of the "sneaky burglar" with these people. With you dead, they have the time to take all they want.

It's no wonder they are rapidly expanding. Regular gangs just can't match the organization and lethality of this band of mercenaries.

Would you care to guess where their training came from? Good old Uncle Sam and the Iran-Contra scandal.

Keep your gun within reach and a guard at the door LOL.


63 posted on 06/11/2005 12:46:59 PM PDT by veeceeque (Proudly fighting for the greatest nation on Earth! God Bless the USA.)
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To: Calpernia

I wasn't really referring to mosques as much as I was to known cells. Don't forget, Lackwanna 6 is from NY too. WTC'93 was planned from Jersey City.

I just believe that with all the Mosque's scattered around the United States, that and with all the illegals coming across the borders, what better place to find shelter then in a Mosque.


64 posted on 06/11/2005 1:08:11 PM PDT by SheLion (Trying to make a life in the BLUE state of Maine!)
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To: tet68
Time to lock down the border.

Too late, IMHO.

65 posted on 06/11/2005 1:11:21 PM PDT by SheLion (Trying to make a life in the BLUE state of Maine!)
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To: SheLion; Smartass; All

Smartass posted this on another thread.

This is interesting!!!

· We’ve got an important question for you! Does your town, county or state have a “sanctuary policy?” When it comes to illegal immigration, a sanctuary policy refers to public laws or regulations that prohibit police officers from asking immigration questions of persons in connection with an investigation. In the case of other public employees and officials, these same sanctuary regulations forbid them from inquiring about a person’s immigration status when the illegal immigrants seek public services or benefits (i.e., taxpayer funded health care, housing, education, financial assistance, drivers’ licenses, etc.). You can just imagine the terrible fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer money; or the threat to public safety posed by these outrageous regulations. Many jurisdictions across the country have enacted sanctuary policies: Los Angeles, San Jose, Houston, Miami, Denver, San Francisco, Portland, ME – the list goes on and on. Does your town have a sanctuary policy? Take a minute to tell us about the situation where you live. Send a brief e-mail to: info@judicialwatch.org with the word “Sanctuary” in the subject line. We want to know what’s happening in your community!


66 posted on 06/11/2005 1:13:47 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: veeceeque

Hello VeeCee and welcome to FR.

Thank you for the added info about the Iran Contra.


67 posted on 06/11/2005 1:16:00 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Calpernia
From Magic City Morning Star

Opinion
It's Against Federal Law to be a Sanctuary State for Illegal Aliens
By Frosty Wooldridge
Feb 14, 2004, 20:50

Maine is one signature away from becoming the first Illegal Alien Sanctuary State in America. Immigration lawyers supporting illegal aliens are pushing Governor Baldacci to sign an executive order that will stop state agencies from questioning a person's immigration status. 

More distressing is the fact that all major newspapers in Maine are owned by the same family. That family favors illegal immigration. Therefore, this executive order is being shoved down citizens' throats while they sleep. A spokeswoman said, "They are working so fast and quietly to leave this a 'done deed' before word of the sell-out can hit the national headlines."

Maine's growing illegal alien population is represented by El Centro Latino, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Asian American Heritage and other groups working to ensure illegal aliens continue unimpeded in that state. 

Even more unsettling is the title of the order: AN ORDER REGARDING INQUIRIES INTO IMMIGRATION STATUS. It reads, "I, John E. Baldacci, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby order that no State agencies question any person about his or her immigration status and engage in any activities for the purpose of ascertaining the immigration status of any person."

Much like Special Order 40, created in Los Angeles in 1979 by Daryl Gates to stop officers from ascertaining immigration status from people they caught for crimes, Maine will be the first state to give protection to illegal aliens. 

It counters federal immigration laws, USC 8, 1325, sections 274, 276, 277 and other statutes. It is a federal crime to "aid, abet, assist, encourage or induce an illegal alien to remain in the United States." This is what the governor and representatives of Maine will force down citizens' throats like a 'fait accompli' or 'done before you knew what hit you."

This is an example of the loss of the rule-of-law. It's further example of 'Third World Momentum' overwhelming the United States. Illegal immigration advocacy groups grow in power with each new victory. It's abhorrent that Americans must fight for their own country inside their own country. The dangers to the nation increase everywhere in America if Maine fails to identify, detain and deport illegal aliens. If Maine passes this order, we're all at risk. It means Tom Ridge's Homeland Security is a vacant farce not only on the Mexican border but also on the Maine border. 

Al-Qaida waited patiently for eight years from the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 to the second one on 9/11/01. You must understand that religion's eternal patience. "Allah akbar" to them means, "God is great." When you hear those words, kiss the ground because a bomb is about to go off. They also know their patience will bring about a 'lull' in our vigilance. For every opening you give them - such as more ways to embed themselves in America via the sanctuary being proposed in Maine - the more you give them the power to carry out their Jihad. As we rest, they plan. As our leaders pretend to protect us, they smile. As our government sallies forth in battle across the planet, members of Jihad grow in strength within our country. They are patient and they give no quarter.

However, there's another Jihad advancing into America. It's an insidious invasion of refugees from around the world that comes from an endless line from the lack of family planning. The source grows by 80 million people annually. It can't stop itself because it stems from illiteracy. It's advancing on our country without mercy and without end. I've seen it and my heart goes out to them. It's rampant in Africa. It's sickeningly awful in South America. It's horrible in the Middle East. Mexico is in its clutches. It's streaming into Europe. It's beyond emotional comprehension in Bangladesh and India. China's 1.3 billion is beyond understanding. It enslaves them in never ending disease, poverty, hopelessness and misery.

Worse, it won't get better; it will worsen. It's headed into America. Day by day, week by week, immigrant by immigrant! The governor of Maine has no clue as to what he's bringing upon his state. He possesses good intentions but Maine will be swamped by this invasion with an added five million people within 50 years. He doesn't understand 20 years from now how much damage he will have wrought on his fellow Maniacs - and assuredly in time, the rest of the United States. 

This country is in more trouble than it realizes. The more we stand by with good intentions, the more they will come. The more we allow, the more they will grow. The more we encourage, the more they will stream across our borders - until, one day, we will become what they have fled. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great nations rise and fall, and that, "An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide."

Frosty Wooldridge is a teacher and author who has bicycled 100,000 miles on six continents to see overpopulation up close and ugly. Next book due out in June: "Incursion Into America: Immigration's Unarmed Invasion - Deadly Consequences."

frosty@juno.com
http://frostywooldridge.com/

Related Article:

Does This Make You Feel Secure?



© Copyright 2003 by Magic City Morning Star

68 posted on 06/11/2005 1:46:58 PM PDT by SheLion (Trying to make a life in the BLUE state of Maine!)
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To: Calpernia
I think the biggest cost is ILLEGAL ALIENS.

1. They don't pay their bills (as well as some Americans).
2. Health care providers have to charge legitimate patients more to absorb the costs.
3. So, insurance companies raise their premiums.
4. Government subsidizes public hospitals with increasingly higher taxes, yet they are still insolvent.

Also there are other factors... The insurance agents (as well as medical malpractice lawyers, pharmaceutical reps, and doctors) need a new Mercedes every year, so they don't cover dental either (which is essential to good health, not to mention part of the human anatomy).

69 posted on 06/11/2005 1:48:12 PM PDT by SheLion (Trying to make a life in the BLUE state of Maine!)
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To: SheLion

bump!


70 posted on 06/11/2005 1:48:17 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: SheLion

Did need to differentiat the medical.

The doctors with private practices lose money. The STATE run and County run hospitals gain from the illegals.

This is to force socialized medicine.


71 posted on 06/11/2005 1:50:24 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Calpernia
This is to force socialized medicine.

Don't we just the government "forcing" something upon us?! heh!

72 posted on 06/11/2005 1:54:26 PM PDT by SheLion (Trying to make a life in the BLUE state of Maine!)
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To: Founding Father

Sad it is. If it really is for votes, then that is the epitome of selfishness, to permit crime and violence on Americans just for personal and political gain, and is grounds for impeachment. He'd better do something about it.


73 posted on 06/11/2005 2:03:50 PM PDT by ampat
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To: SheLion

OMG!

Was that signed into law?


74 posted on 06/11/2005 2:04:45 PM PDT by Age of Reason
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To: Bullish
"IMO, the most dangerous gang in America are the democrats. politicians."

I am becoming convinced that any difference between them is just about indistinguishable.

75 posted on 06/11/2005 2:06:46 PM PDT by Czar (StillFedUptotheTeeth@Washington)
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To: Calpernia

I beg to differ: The most dangerous gang in America is Congress!


76 posted on 06/11/2005 2:19:11 PM PDT by shellshocked (They're undocumented Border Patrol agents, not vigilantes.)
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To: Calpernia

I just got in the mail today a charter school flyer. Their #1, repeat #1, goal is a Spanish language program.


77 posted on 06/11/2005 2:20:07 PM PDT by shellshocked (They're undocumented Border Patrol agents, not vigilantes.)
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To: Calpernia
I am ready to defend my Republic, property and my families well being.


78 posted on 06/11/2005 2:25:03 PM PDT by Pro-Bush (Can't afford Medical care? Thank an illegal alien.)
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To: AK2KX; All

and then you will see the FBI "infiltrate" not the criminal groups but the "vigilante" groups.


79 posted on 06/11/2005 2:28:05 PM PDT by olde north church (Opposed to spilling the blood of tyrants? I hope to bathe in it!)
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To: Age of Reason
Was that signed into law?

You know what?  I never heard anymore on this.  That's quite funny as I keep up with the news in Maine.  Now you have me curious.  And it was dated February 2004.

80 posted on 06/11/2005 2:28:24 PM PDT by SheLion (Trying to make a life in the BLUE state of Maine!)
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