Five gang members arrested in S. Texas [Salvadoran MS-13 & MS-18]

By Associated Press ^ | January 26, 2006

[SwinneySwitch]

All were identified as Salvadoran with criminal histories

McALLEN - Five members of the violent Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha have been arrested in South Texas during the past four days, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday.

All were identified as Salvadoran with criminal histories that included weapons violations, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Border Patrol spokesman Roy Cervantes said one of the five was arrested just north of Corpus Christi when the officials stopped truck with he and 10 other illegal immigrants. His tattoos identified him as a member of the gang.

The arrests occurred near the border cities of Brownsville and Rio Grande City and farther north in Combes and Riviera. They were traveling with groups of other illegal immigrants and identified first through gang tattoos and then through fingerprint matches on a national crime database.

They brought the total number of gang arrests in the sector to 35 since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year.

Of those, 21 were identified as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and 14 were identified as MS-18, a clique of the gang.

All are being detained and are undergoing deportation proceedings.

MS-13 originated in Los Angeles among immigrants from El Salvador. It later spread throughout the U.S. and to Central America.

Cervantes said agents were now being trained to recognize gang markings and search a fingerprinting database for criminal backgrounds.

He said it was common to find members mixed in with other migrants.

"They are known to attempt to blend in," he said.

Staff writer Mari Saugier contributed to this report.

[gubamyster]

ping

[blackie]

Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!

Support our Minutemen Patriots!

Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!

[teawithmisswilliams]

And we have graffitti on the corner and nightly kids roaming around outside (noise, garbage), which has never, NEVER, occured in this neighborhood before

Just keep repeating, "Diversity is our strength...diversity is our strength...diversity is our strength..."

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

President Bush has been great on most things except for our border.
He has been great on the war on terrorists.
But on the border he is a gross failure.
He acted fast and correct on the 3,000+ people murdered at the world trade center.
He ignores the many rapes, murders and robberies which might be larger than the murders and money loss at the world trade center.

[who knows what evil?]

There 100's more already here, spread out all over the US.

Heck; there's hundreds of them on the North Shore of Boston, alone.

[Brad’s Gramma]

BTTT

[Brad’s Gramma]

like they're sending a message: this is ours now.

That's EXACTLY what this means.