The Mara Salvatrucha Gang

Chapter Four is entitled, “[The] Scope and Nature of the Current Gang Problem.” It focuses on recent trends in number of gangs, gang members and gang-related crimes in each city. In Inglewood, almost all the neighborhoods were claimed by at least one gang, with gang-unit officers agreeing that the city was facing a major gang problem. In Albuquerque, gangs were involved in drug trafficking and property offenses, with 7 out of 8 gang-unit officers believing the city had a major gang problem. In Las Vegas, migration from other cities was thought to be the primary cause of an increase in gang members. 50% of crime in Las Vegas is attributed to gangs, with most officers believing they had a moderate to major gang problem. In Phoenix, the gang problem is described as wave-like, with 70% of gang-unit officers thinking the city had a major gang problem. These statistics were backed up through interviews with officers and city records.

The Latin Kings, originally known as The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, is one of the largest and organized Hispanic street gangs in the U.S. This gang was said to have been started during the 1920’s under a different name in Chicago, Illinois but we officially discovered in the 1960’s. Their main desire was to protect their neighborhood while maintaining to preserve the identity of their culture. They had five points of respect which were, “Respect your brothers ny your crown and your nation. Mark by truth. Your word is your crown your crown is your nation, a king must live by this word. The condition of being united into a single whole, one for all, all for one. The knowing of lessons

Born in LA in the 1980’s, expanding to parts of Canada, Spain, England, and Germany becoming bigger and dangerous day by day. La Mara can now be found in Washington D.C, Oregon, Alaska, Arkansas, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida just alone in the United States. In Central America they can be found in El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala and several other Latin countries. MS-13 is considered to be one of the most dangerous and organized in the world (altereddimensions.net).There are two ways to get into the gang. For males one is to get jumped in, which means the new recruit is surround by numerous members and beaten for at least 13 seconds. The other way is by killing either an enemy gang member or just a simple killing. For females there is a third option which is to get having sexual intercourse with several MS members or as they call it gang banged. MS-13 has many similar criminal characteristics as other gang such as: smuggling drugs, people, and weapons. The biggest difference with MS-13 is the willingness to use brutality in all their activities (keysaferschools.com).

The Mexican Mafia started in late 1957. Gangs that participate in the Mexican Mafia (EME) politics and put to work for the gang on and off the street are given a "red light". They are not to be assaulted. Gang members who do not kick back drug profits to the gang or do not take care of business are given a "green light" and their names

The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, or more commonly referred to as The Latin Kings, are the one of the most organized and largest Hispanic street gangs, originating in Chicago, Illinois in the 1940s as a “means to protect themselves, their neighborhoods, and their families” (Gangland). They consist of mostly Spanish-speaking or Hispanic members and have territory nationwide, specifically in predominately Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago, New York, and other cities as well as worldwide such as in Latin America and Spain.

Most of the members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang are primarily Salvadorans. This gang was founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Due to the immigration issue and the fear that the people have of the MS-13 in the United States, Trump administration is planning to get rid of the temporary protected status (TPS) to improve the situation. The TPS gives the opportunity to around 200,000 Salvadorans to live and work in the United States. The fact that Trump is planning to revoke the TPS concerns many people because they fear that the United States will end up with unintended consequences like back in the 1980s.

The most famous prison gangs is the Nuestra Familia, Mexican Mafia, Aryan Brotherhood, Nazi Low-riders and Black Guerrilla Family. The Mexican Mafia has been operating in US prison since 1957. This gang was made up when 13 members from other Hispanic gangs that joined together inside a youth correctional facility. Today they are considered one of the most powerful gangs in the Californian prison system with about 400 official members and 990 associates who do the criminal work with hopes of becoming a member one day. The first official murder outside prison from this gang was of one of its own members for stealing the keeping the drug dealing takes and not distributing the profits throughout the gang. The Mexican Mafia is involved in the drug smuggling industry and there operation does not stop at the prison

In addition to gaining and keeping control is through fear and chaos. a recent uncovered discovery is how gangs also interfere with  local governments trying to gain power. The survey shows that it has not gone unnoticed by Salvadorans, who tend to blame their government for not getting the peace and order to the people. The  Police Chief Howard Cotto of El salvador has known gangs are continuing efforts to interfere with local politics ahead of the country's upcoming elections that is happening in March of next year.  Cotto explained that gangs offer help secure votes for a running candidates to help bring down levels of insecurity  in exchange for benefits such as weapons, protection, and providing jobs for the gangs for leverage.

smuggling drugs to the United States, human trafficking, and child prostitution. This gang rules parts of El Salvador where law enforcement has

The Mexican Mafia, or “La Eme”, as they refer to themselves, is one of the most powerful and influential organized crime gangs in the United States. The organization has risen through the decades of mass gang wars and violence to become the power it is today. Their control is limitless and they have ventured far beyond the expectations of what was thought that gangs were capable of. They have infiltrated governments and manipulated politics. They have taken over neighborhoods and attempted to ethnically cleanse them. Innocent people have become caught up in the affairs of La Eme throughout its history and many have faced violence and death at their hands. This paper is a continual of the case analysis of the Mexican Mafia and will attempt to provide explanations for some of the crimes committed by this organization. Researching gangs and organized crime is important because of their large influence and control over many aspects of daily life. The significance of attempting to provide causations of their crimes can better provide the criminal justice system a clearer understanding of problems that lead to gang members committing crimes on behalf of the organization. A clearer understanding of problems can help the system to provide solutions to combat situations that inhibit crimes.

In 1979, a civil war broke out in El Salvador between government soldiers and civilians. The war lasted for more than a decade and left blood as well as approximately 700,000 refugees. These refugees also included former military combatants. In the 1980’s vast amounts of the refugees migrated to Los Angeles (LA), which is the home of 1,000+ gangs. The refugees were not welcomed to LA and became ostracized in the Hispanic community as it had been controlled by Mexican street gangs (Eighteenth Street gang). This caused some of the refugees to form a group of their own. The new gang became known as the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners (MS Stoners). The gang begins as a group who was all about smoking week and having a good time. Over time, they started to grow and aggressively sell drugs. In doing this they, imposed on the Mexican gang’s territory. In the summer of 1990, a fight broke out between the two gangs and a member of the MS Stoners was shot. This started a war between the two groups. The war escalated and became so violent that innocent people were getting hurt. The Mexican mafia saw how bad the war was for business, so they intervened to put an end to the bloodshed. The Mexican mafia divided up the territory between the two gangs. Shortly after this meeting the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners dropped Stoners from their name and added the number thirteen to show respect to the Mexican mafia. With the support of the Mexican mafia and Eighteenth Street, Mara Salvatrucha Thirteen

The biggest problem with these gangs is what they are causing and the effects that they give off. They are scaring people away by their appearance, people are hearing on the news that these gangs are spreading and how they are hotwiring cars, and stealing purses. Within the first two months of 2016, there has been a record of 1,399 murders just caused by gangs. There is also an average of 24 murders per day, within just this country. The most dangerous gangs in El Salvador are spreading all over the world which is why this is a global issue. The two gangs that are being researched were created around 1960 to 1980. These gangs were first founded in the “barrios” of Los Angeles and were spread all the way to South and Central America. Barrios are neighborhoods or streets in spanish speaking countries. This is where most South American gangs were created. These gangs are made up of South American

Street gangs in this country can probably be traced back to the first wave of Europeans who migrated to the colonies for a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the first gangs were formed as a means of self protection, with the thinking that there is simply strength in numbers. The missions of gangs in today’s society have grown and emerged to include many violent criminal avenues, including drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, and extortion but the original thinking that there is strength in numbers remains true. Criminology experts believe that the number of teens involved in gangs or gang activity may be as high as 1 in every 5 people in most urban areas. Those number jump to 1 in every 3 people in

Since then, suddenly all who were rebel soldiers and or government officials were left unemployed with no chance of opportunity. This quickly led to the formation of various gangs and extreme crime rates, due to the easy access of leftover weapons. The most prominent gangs to come out of Central America is La Mara Salvatrucha. This is also accompanied by multiple U.S gangs as MS13 and MS18, Both being formed in Los Angeles by Salvadorans migrants who fled during the civil wars in the 1980’s and various Mexican

It is commonly abbreviated as MS, and MS-13, "Mara" refers to the Spanish word for "gang", and Salvatrucha for Salvadoran army ant. The MS-13 is one of the most dangerous gangs in the Western Hemisphere. The 18 street gang also known as Calle 18, Barrio 18, or Mara-18 in Central America, is a multi-ethnic transnational criminal organization that started as a street gang in the Rampart area of Los Angeles, California. Both gangs have killed thousands of people since their creation in 1960s and 1980s and also have links with some of the biggest drug cartels in Mexico, such as Los Zetas and