Posted on 08/18/2005 9:45:42 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - Law enforcement officials from five countries said Wednesday they are struggling to deal with the street gang called MS-13 that is plaguing communities from the United States to Central America.
A meeting at FBI headquarters launched an unprecedented effort to make inroads against what officials called "a culture of violence."
"We're trying to build networks of communication for sharing historical and current data on MS-13 members," said Deborah Strebel Pierce, deputy assistant director for the FBI criminal investigative division.
Shorthand for Mara Salvatrucha, which loosely translates to guerrilla gang, MS-13 is a Latin American gang founded in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador. Members also come from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
Never before has there been such an international law enforcement effort targeting a street gang, which in the case of MS-13 has mushroomed into the size of a small army.
El Salvador is trying to dismantle an MS-13 structure that numbers in the thousands, Douglas Omar Garcia Funes of that country's national police force told reporters during the daylong meeting.
U.S. authorities estimate MS-13 has some 10,000 members in more than 30 states.
Three members of the Los Angeles crew moved to the Washington area in 1993 to recruit, and by this past spring there were some 1,500 members in the area, an FBI official recently told Congress.
The FBI is coordinating a law enforcement investigative effort that other agencies and countries are carrying out. Pierce said a rapid flow of information among all the participants in the law enforcement campaign is a key to reining in the gang.
Police believe the stabbings of six teenagers last week in the Washington suburbs were the work of MS-13.
The gang has carried out beheadings and grenade attacks in Central America and hacked enemies with machetes in cities along the East Coast in the United States.
U.S. law enforcement officials take part in the MS-13 National Gang Task Force meeting with law enforcement counterparts from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico at FBI headquarters, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005, in Washington.(AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Homeland Security should get involved, not just with this gang but with gangs in general. They need to be declared as terrorists and dealt with accordingly.
Because I want criminals punished, that makes me a racist. Let's get that out there right away.
Although no Republican expected it to come to this, I firmly believe people like Teddy Kennedy knew that the ultimate manifestation of the policy behind Boland would be MS13 which endangers the life and safety of every honest American.
When we mop of this band of thugs, let's make sure their political sponsors in Congress get jailed along with them.
that usually means that the first thing they will want is
for honest american non gang member tax payers to turn in their firearms
bttt
A discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a DALLAS MORNING NEWS article via KANSAS CITY STAR: "FBI BULLETIN OUTLINES POSSIBLE TERRORIST PLOT AT TEXAS BORDER" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The plot, according to uncorroborated information provided by an FBI informant, involves a man, described as an Arab who goes by the nickname "El Espanol," and Ernesto Zatarin Beliz, also known as El Traca, a reputed Mexican drug trafficker and member of the Zetas, the feared enforcers of the notorious Gulf cartel.") (July 17, 2005) (Read More...)
WorldNetDaily.com: Washington - "MEXICAN DRUG COMMANDOS EXPAND OPS IN 6 US STATES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The ultra-violent, U.S.-trained elite, Mexican paramilitary commandos known as the "Zetas," responsible for hundreds of murders along the border this year, have expanded their enforcement efforts on behalf of a drug cartel by setting up trafficking routes in six U.S. states. A U.S. Justice Department memo says the U.S.-trained units have recently moved operations into Houston, San Antonio and the states of California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. They have been operating in Dallas for at least two years, according to the feds.") (June 21, 2005) (Read More...)
A Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding an AP article published in wvgazette.com - THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE: "VICIOUS MS-13 STREET GANG BRINGING ITS BLOOD LUST TO W. VA" (August 14, 2005) (Read More...)
Note: The following post is an exact quote:
===
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1466963/posts
MS-13 in Your Backyard(George Putnam Opines)
NewsMax.com ^ | Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 | George Putnam
Posted on 08/19/2005 4:17:19 PM PDT by kellynla
It is this reporter's opinion that while the nation focuses on terrorism, we have all but overlooked the issue of gang violence. Over the past fifty years in Los Angeles we have covered many of the homegrown gangs: the White Fence gang, Boyle Heights gang, the Bloods and the Crips, and others.
These were child's play compared with America's most dangerous gang: the Mara Salvatrucha 13 street gang (MS-13).
The gang was organized in Los Angeles in the late '80s and was named for La Mara, a street in San Salvador. Its primary purpose was to defend Salvadoran immigrants from being preyed upon by other L.A. street gangs. Gang members sometimes wear blue and white – colors taken from the flag of El Salvador. They also sport numerous body and facial tattoos.
MS-13 has expanded from California to Alaska, Oregon, Utah, Texas, Nevada, Oklahoma ... from New York to Los Angeles and Alaska to Florida. MS-13 has also been exported back to Central America. It is estimated there are 36,000 MS-13 members in Honduras alone.
They are vicious, they are violent, they murder, rob, rape and behead their victims.
MS-13 appears to be in control of much of the Mexican border. To sustain themselves financially, they smuggle people, drugs and guns across borders. They collect money from illegals. Where MS-13 goes, violence goes. They stop at nothing.
MS-13 is becoming everyone's problem. It is a plague that has come to Long Island from El Salvador by way of the streets of Los Angeles.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
RICO should be initiated!
sw
Yes.
You'll probably have to scroll back several pages on this thread for some links I posted regarding gangs or put whatever gang you want to know more info about in a search engine in quotes and see what pops up.
Here are some examples of the tattoos that some MS13 members sport. You'll notice the MS
I can't even crack a joke about this. Thanks.
sw
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=3361334
http://abclocal.go.com/images/wtvd200.fuentes081805.jpg
Police Arrest Suspected MS-13 Member
Eyewitness News
(08/18/05 - SAMPSON COUNTY) -
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Erik Rubio Fuentes was captured Monday near Newton Grove. Fuentes and an accomplice were allegedly caught in the act of breaking and entering into a house. Deputies chased the men and eventually captured Fuentes in a cornfield. The second suspect escaped.
Investigators believe Fuentes and other gang members may be responsible for a rash of breaking and entering in Sampson and Wayne counties.
Meanwhile, an international effort is underway to get the MS-13 gang off the streets."
Thanks csvset for the photos.
I've also seen some of the more built big guys
with Mara Savatrucha tatted on, too.
Slimeballs one and all.
A snip worth a warning.
" Since its inception, MS has expanded beyond its "hubs" of Los Angeles and Northern Virginia, though its numbers in these cities continue to grow at alarming rates.
Nationwide, however, MS has expanded into Oregon, Alaska, Arkansas, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia and Florida. They also are spreading in Canada and Mexico.
Some reports place MS "cliques"[sub-units of gang members] in 49 states – with Hawaii escaping the infestation to date."
Robert Walker's, "Gangs OR Us" has an expose that goes into great detail about this gang. It was shocking to read how they use the internet to communicate and brag about themselves.
Bump.
sw
I'm familiar with gangs.
It's too bad when one brings up gangs/crimes, illegals/border crime; the evil pc crowd comes out to shout: "DISCRIMINATION." Very sad.
Political correctness is a culture killer.
Political correctness IS a killer.
http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=104&sid=557906
"19 Charged for Gang Violence in Maryland"
Updated: Thursday, Aug. 25, 2005 - 3:57 PM
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) -
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The indictments released Thursday say the men committed shootings, kidnappings and other gang-related crimes from April 2003 through June of this year. Six people were slain and gang members allegedly attempted to kill five others.
Montgomery County police arrested 12 people this month after MS-13-related attacks in which six teens were stabbed at a high school and shopping mall. Prince George's County police are investigating possible MS-13 links to recent stabbings as well.
The federal indictment, which a grand jury handed up Tuesday, accuses the 19 men of violating federal racketeering law. It does not charge them with individual crimes such as homicide or assault.
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, originated in Los Angeles among Central American immigrants. An estimated 10,000 MS-13 members are in the United States, many in the Washington suburbs, which have a large population of Central American immigrants."
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=zetas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=ms13
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=gangs
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