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Mara Salvatrucha
Mara Salvatrucha gang member with gang's name tattooed on his back
Founding locationLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active1980s–present
TerritoryNorth and Central America
EthnicityMostly Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans
Membership70,000[1]
Criminal activitiesDrug trafficking, robbery, Larceny, contract killing, human trafficking, extortion, illegal immigration, murder, money laundering, witness tampering, prostitution, racketeering, battery, kidnapping, people smuggling, and arms trafficking
AlliesSureños, Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, La Familia Michoacana, Mexican Mafia, Los Zetas[2]
Rivals18th Street gang, Juarez Cartel, Los Negros, Sombra Negra, Tijuana Cartel, Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, The Rascals, Bloods, Crips, Hoover Criminals,[3] Latin Kings[4]

MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha; also known as simply MS or Mara) is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, US in the 1980s. The gang later spread to many parts of the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America, and is active in urban and suburban areas. Most members are ethnically of Central American origin (principally El Salvador).

In the U.S., the MS-13 has an especially heavy presence in Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area in California; the Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas of Fairfax County, Virginia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and Prince George's County, Maryland; Queens, New York; Long Island, New York; Newark, New Jersey, Plainfield, New Jersey; Jersey City, New Jersey; Elizabeth, New Jersey; the Boston, Massachusetts area; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Houston, Texas. There is also a presence of MS-13 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Members of MS are characterised by tattoos covering the body and also often the face, and by the use of their own sign language. They are notorious for their use of violence and a subcultural moral code that predominantly consists of merciless revenge and cruel retributions. This cruelty of the distinguished members of the "Maras" or "Mareros" earned them a path to be recruited by the Sinaloa Cartel battling against Los Zetas in an ongoing drug warin Mexico.[5][6][7] Their wide-ranging activities have drawn the attention of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who have initiated wide-scale raids against known and suspected gang members, arresting hundreds across the country.[citation needed]

Etymology

There is some dispute about the etymology of the name. Some sources state the gang is named for La Mara, a street gang in San Salvador, and the Salvatrucha guerrillas who fought in the Salvadoran Civil War.[8] Additionally, the word mara means gang in Caliche slang [es] and is taken from marabunta, the name of a fierce type of ant. "Salvatrucha" may be a combination of the words Salvadoran and trucha, a Caliche word for being alert. The term, "Salvatruchas" has been explained as a reference to Salvadorian peasants trained to become guerrilla fighters, referred to as "Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front."[9]

MS-13 presence – light-red indicates territories with a lighter presence, dark-red indicates territories with a stronger presence

History

The Mara Salvatrucha gang originated in Los Angeles, set up in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants in the city's Pico-Union neighborhood who immigrated to the United States after the Central American civil wars of the 1980s.[10]

Originally the gang's main purpose was to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other, more established gangs of Los Angeles, who were predominantly composed of Mexicans and African-Americans.[11]

Many Mara Salvatrucha gang members from the Los Angeles area have been deported after being arrested.[12] For example Jose Abrego, a high-ranking member, was deported four times.[13] As a result of these deportations, members of MS-13 have recruited more members in their home countries. The Los Angeles Times contends that deportation policies have contributed to the size and influence of the gang both in the United States and in Central America.[12] According to the 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment, "The gang is estimated to have 30,000 to 50,000 members and associate members worldwide, 8,000 to 10,000 of whom reside in the United States.[14]

Since the first decade of the twenty-first century the gang has expanded into the Washington, D.C. area, in particular the areas of Langley Park and Takoma Park, Maryland.[15]

In 2004 the US FBI started the MS-13 National Gang Task Force. The FBI also began teaming with law enforcement in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico.[16]

In 2005 the office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started Operation Community Shield. By 2011 this operation had made over 20,000 arrests, including more than 3,000 arrests of alleged MS-13 members.[17]

Illegal immigration and human smuggling

According to The Washington Times, MS-13 "is thought to have established a major smuggling center" in [Mexico.[18] There were reports by the Minuteman Project that MS members were ordered to Arizona to target U.S. Border Patrol agents and Minuteman Project volunteers.[19]

In 2005 Honduran Security Minister Oscar Álvarez and the President of El Salvador raised alarm by claiming that Muslim terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda was meeting with Mara Salvatrucha and other Central American gangs to help them infiltrate the United States. FBI agents said that the U.S. intelligence community and governments of several Central American countries found that there was no basis to believe that MS-13 was connected to Al-Qaeda or other Islamic radicals, although Álvarez did visit Central America to discuss the issue.[20]

Robert Morales, a prosecutor for Guatemala, indicated to The Globe and Mail that some Central American gang members seek refugee status in Canada. Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police integrated gang task force, John Robin, said in an interview that "I think [gang members] have a feeling that police here won't treat them in the harsh manner they get down there."[21] Robin noted that Canadian authorities "want to avoid ending up like the U.S., which is dealing with the problem of Central American gangsters on a much bigger scale".[21]

The gang is violent to migrants on the southern border of Mexico.[22]

Publicized crimes

On July 13, 2003, Brenda Paz, a 17-year-old former MS-13 member turned informant was found stabbed to death on the banks of the Shenandoah River in Virginia. She was killed for informing the FBI about Mara Salvatrucha's criminal activities; two of her former friends were later convicted of the murder.[23]

In 2004 the FBI created the MS-13 National Gang Task Force.[24] In 2005 the FBI helped create a National Gang Information Center (NGIC), and outlined a National Gang Strategy for Congress.[25]

On December 23, 2004, the Friday before Christmas, one of the most widely publicized MS-13 crimes in Central America occurred in Chamelecón, Honduras when an intercity bus was intercepted and sprayed with automatic gunfire from assault rifles,[26] killing 28 and wounding 14 civilian passengers, most of whom were women and children.[27] MS-13 organized the massacre as a protest against the Honduran government for proposing a restoration of the death penalty in Honduras. Six gunmen raked the bus with gunfire. As passengers screamed and ducked, another gunman climbed aboard and methodically executed passengers.[28] In February 2007 Juan Carlos Miranda Bueso and Darwin Alexis Ramírez were found guilty of several crimes including murder and attempted murder. Ebert Anibal Rivera was arrested over the attack after fleeing to Texas.[29] Juan Bautista Jimenez, accused of masterminding the massacre, was killed in prison; according to the authorities, fellow MS-13 inmates hanged him.[30] There was insufficient evidence to convict Óscar Fernando Mendoza and Wilson Geovany Gómez.[29]

An MS-13 suspect bearing gang tattoos is handcuffed.

On May 13, 2006, Ernesto "Smokey" Miranda, a former high-ranking soldier and one of the founders of Mara Salvatrucha, was murdered at his home in El Salvador a few hours after declining to attend a party for a gang member who had just been released from prison. He had begun studying law and working to keep children out of gangs.[31]

On June 6, 2006,[32] a teenage MS-13 gang member named Gabriel Granillo was stabbed to death at Ervan Chew Park, in the Neartown district in Houston, Texas.[33] Chris Vogel of the Houston Press wrote that the trial of the girl, Ashley Paige Benton,[34] who stabbed Granillo gave attention to MS-13.[35]

In 2007 Julio Chavez, a Long Island MS-13 member, allegedly murdered a man because he was wearing a red sweatshirt and mistaken for a member of the Bloods gang.[36]

On June 4, 2008, in Toronto, Ontario, police executed 22 search warrants, made 17 arrests and laid 63 charges following a five-month investigation.[citation needed]

On June 22, 2008, in San Francisco, California, a 21-year-old MS-13 gang member, Edwin Ramos, shot and killed a father, Anthony Bologna, 48, and his two sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, after their car briefly blocked Ramos from completing a left turn down a narrow street as they were returning home from a family barbecue.[37]

On November 26, 2008, Jonathan Retana was convicted of the murder of Miguel Angel Deras, which the authorities linked to an MS-13 initiation.[38]

Gang graffiti

In 2008 the MS-13 task force coordinated a series of arrests and crackdowns in the U.S. and Central America that involved more than 6,000 police officers in five countries. Seventy-three suspects were arrested in the U.S.; in all, more than 650 were taken into custody.[citation needed]

In February 2009 authorities in Colorado and California arrested 20 members of MS-13 and seized 10 pounds of methamphetamine, 2.3 kilograms (5 pounds) of cocaine, a small amount of heroin, 12 firearms, and $3,300 in cash.[39]

In June 2009 Edwin Ortiz, Jose Gomez Amaya and Alexander Aguilar, MS-13 gang members from Long Island who had mistaken bystanders for rival gang members, shot two innocent civilians. Edgar Villalobos, a laborer, was killed.[40]

On November 4, 2009, El Salvadoran leaders of the MS-13 gang allegedly put out a contract on the federal agent responsible for a crackdown on its New York factions, the Daily News learned. The plot to assassinate the unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was revealed in an arrest warrant for reputed gang member Walter (Duke) Torres. Torres tipped authorities to the plan after he and four MS-13 members were stopped by NYPD detectives for hassling passersby on Northern Blvd. in Queens, New York. He told police he had information to pass on; he was debriefed on October 22 at Rikers Island, where he was being held on a warrant issued in Virginia, according to court papers. Torres said "the order for the murder came from gang leadership in El Salvador", ICE agent Sean Sweeney wrote in an affidavit for a new warrant charging Torres with conspiracy. Torres, who belonged to an MS-13 "clique" in Virginia, said he was put in charge, and traveled to New York in August "for the specific purpose of participating in the planning and execution of the murder plot", Sweeney wrote. Gang members were trying to obtain a high-powered rifle to penetrate the agent's bulletproof vest. Another MS-13 informant told authorities the agent was marked for death because the gang was "exceedingly angry" at him for arresting many members in the past three years, the affidavit states. The murder was supposed to be carried out by the Flushing clique, according to the informant. Federal prosecutors have indicted numerous MS-13 gang members on racketeering, extortion, prostitution, kidnapping, illegal immigration, money laundering, murder, people smuggling, arms trafficking, human trafficking and drug trafficking charges; the targeted special agent was the lead federal investigator on many of the federal cases.[41]

Sinaloa Cartel hierarchy in early 2008

In 2010 Rene Mejia allegedly murdered a Long Island 2-year-old baby and his mother.[36]

In August 2011 six San Francisco MS-13 members were convicted of racketeering and conspiracy, including three murders, in what was the city's largest-scope gang trial in many years. Another 18 defendants reported to have ties to the gang pleaded guilty before trial.[42]

In 2011 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in New Haven, Connecticut was vandalized several times with the "MS-13 tag" and "kill whites" in orange spray paint.[43]

In February 2012 a Federal judge convicted three MS-13 gang members of murder. Danilo Velasquez, the former leader of the San Francisco branch of MS-13, was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 10 years, and is incarcerated at USP Hazelton.[44]

Child prostitution

In 2011 Alonso "Casper" Bruno Cornejo Ormeno, an associate of MS-13 from Fairfax, Virginia was sentenced to 292 months in prison for child prostitution. Ormeno recruited juvenile females into a prostitution ring by locating runaway children.[45]

Rances Ulices Amaya, a leader of MS-13, of Springfield, Virginia was convicted in February 2012 for trafficking girls as young as 14 into a prostitution ring. He was sentenced in June 2012 to 50 years in prison for child prostitution. The girls were lured from middle schools, high schools, and public shelters. Once acquired by Amaya, they were required to have sex with as many as ten men per day.[46]

In September 2012 Yimmy Anthony Pineda Penado, also known as “Critico” and “Spike”, of Maryland was a former "clique leader" of MS-13. Penado became the eleventh MS-13 gang member to be convicted of child prostitution since 2011.[47]

Charlotte, North Carolina cases

In the first decade of the twentyfirst century US authorities investigated MS-13 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Eventually the work led to charges against 26 MS-13 members, including 7 trial convictions in January 2010, 18 guilty pleas, and 11 multi-year prison sentences.[48]

This included the alleged first federal death-penalty conviction for an MS-13 member, Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umaña, aka "Wizard" (age 25).[48]

In 2005, in Los Angeles, according to a jury in a later sentencing phase, Umaña murdered Jose Herrera and Gustavo Porras on July 27, and participated in and aided and abetted the killing of Andy Abarca on September 28. He later came to Charlotte, North Carolina, according to witnesses, as a veteran member of MS-13, to reorganize the Charlotte cell of the gang.[48]

According to witnesses at his trial on December 8, 2007, while in the Las Jarochitas, a family-run restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina, Umaña shot Ruben Garcia Salinas fatally in the chest and Manuel Garcia Salinas in the head. Witnesses testified that the shootings took place after the Garcia Salinas brothers had “disrespected” Umaña’s gang signs by calling them “fake”. Firing three more shots in the restaurant, according to trial testimony, Umaña injured another person with his gunfire. Trial testimony and evidence showed that Umaña later fled back to Charlotte with MS-13 assistance. Umaña was arrested five days later in possession of the murder weapon. Additional evidence and testimony from the trial revealed that while Umaña was incarcerated while awaiting trial he coordinated attempts to kill witnesses and informants.[48]

Umaña was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 23, 2008. During trial, he attempted to bring a knife with him to the courtroom, which was discovered by U.S. Marshals before he was transported to the courthouse. Thousands of hours were spent on the case over several years. International work was also involved.[48]

The case was investigated by the Charlotte Safe Streets Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Chief Criminal Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina, and Trial Attorney Sam Nazzaro from the Criminal Division’s Gang Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Don Gast and Adam Morris of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina were also members of the government's trial team.[48]

Charges included:[48]

  • Murder in aid of the racketeering enterprise known as MS-13, two counts
  • Murder resulting from the use of a gun in a violent crime, two counts
  • Conspiracy to participate in racketeering
  • Witness tampering or intimidation, two counts
  • Possession of a firearm by an illegal alien
  • Extortion

On April 19, 2010, the jury convicted Umaña of all charges, and additionally found him responsible for the 2005 murders during the sentencing phase. On April 28 a 12-person federal jury in Charlotte voted unanimously to impose the death penalty. On July 27, 2010, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr., of Charlotte, NC, formally imposed the federal death penalty sentence. Also commenting on the decision in the government press release were Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina, Owen D Harris, Special Agent in charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI, and Rodney Monreo, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief.[48]

The case was automatically appealed under Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.[48]

Gang markings and hand signs

An MS gang sign and tattoos.

Many Mara Salvatrucha members cover themselves in tattoos. Common markings include "MS", "Salvatrucha", the "Devil Horns", the name of their clique, and other symbols.[49] A December 2007 CNN internet news article stated that the gang was moving away from face tattoos so as to be able to commit crimes without being noticed.[50][dead link‍]

Members of Mara Salvatrucha, like members of most modern American gangs, utilize a system of hand signs for purposes of identification and communication. One of the most commonly displayed is the "devil's head" which forms an 'M' when displayed upside down. This hand sign is similar to the same symbol commonly seen displayed by heavy metal musicians and their fans. Founders of Mara Salvatrucha borrowed the hand sign after attending concerts of heavy metal bands.[51]

Sanctions

In October 2012 the US Treasury Department announced a freeze on American-owned assets controlled by the organization and listed MS-13 as a Transnational Criminal Organization.[52]

In film

  • Principal characters of the feature movie Sin Nombre (2009) are members of MS in Chiapas, Mexico and many of the traditions and practices of MS are depicted accurately (killings, tattoos, initiation, exploitation of migrants, etc.).
  • Violence by MS-13 against immigrants at Guatemala-Mexican border is pictured in the feature movie La vida precoz y breve de Sabina Rivas (2012).
  • National Geographic created a documentary in 2005 titled World's Most Dangerous Gang,[53][54] portraying MS-13.
  • In the debut season of The History Channel's television series Gangland released two full episodes covering MS-13:
  1. 2007 season 1 episode 2, titled "You Rat,You Die" – Former gang member turned informant Brenda Paz had been supplying the authorities with first-hand accounts of MS-13's operations, later she was found dead.[55]
  2. 2008 season 1 episode 13, titled "Root of All Evil" – Reports on the drugs and prostitution rackets run by MS-13.[56][57]

See also

References

  1. ^ "MS13 Profile". www.insightcrime.org. Insight Crime. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Zetas and MS-13 Join Forces in Guatemala". Fox News Latino. Fox News Network. Associated Press. 7 April 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  3. ^ Marzulli, John (2011-03-04). "MS-13 gang member yelled 'the beast has eaten!' after murder of man he mistook for a Blood: witness - New York Daily News". Articles.nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  4. ^ Kessler, Robert (16 July 2009). "MS-13 gang member's murder trial gets under way". Newsday. Newsday. Suffolk Long Island. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  5. ^ Farje, Javier (24 March 2010). "Mexico: can the war on drugs be won?". lab.org.uk. Latin American Bureau. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  6. ^ Johnson, Kevin (2006-05-17). "Always on guard in Nuevo Laredo". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  7. ^ "The OAS identifies two violent gangs in Leon". Translate.google.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  8. ^ Domash, Shelly Feuer. "America's Most Dangerous Gang". apfn.org.
  9. ^ "MS-13: Gangs infiltrating the suburbs of Washington, DC". dcspotlight.com. DC Spotlight Newspaper. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  10. ^ Del Barco, Mandalit (17 March 2005). "The International Reach of the Mara Salvatrucha". Npr.org.
  11. ^ Sheridan, Mary Beth (June 27, 2004). "In N.Va. Gang, A Brutal Sense Of Belonging". Washingtonpost.com.
  12. ^ a b Lopez, Robert J.; Rich Connell; Chris Kraul (October 30, 2004). "Gang Uses Deportation to its Advantage to Flourish in the U.S." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  13. ^ ksbw.com (2010-06-08). "Second High-Ranking MS-13 Gang Member Arrested In Santa Cruz". Monterey Hearst Television Inc. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  14. ^ "National Gang Threat Assessment". fbi.gov. National Gang Intelligence Center. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  15. ^ Gangs in Maryland Archived February 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "How We're Ganging Up On MS-13". FBI.gov. 13 July 2005.
  17. ^ James, Gilbert (March 1, 2011). "5 in Somerton arrested in national gang sweep". Yumasun.com. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
  18. ^ "Al Qaeda seeks tie to local gangs". Washington Times. The Washington Times, LLC. September 28, 2004.
  19. ^ "Gang will target Minuteman vigil on Mexico border". Washtimes.com. March 28, 2005.
  20. ^ Harman, Danna. "U.S. steps up battle against Salvadoran gang MS." USA Today. February 23, 2005.
  21. ^ a b Mason, Gary (7 January 2008). "Canada is a haven to gangsters on the run". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  22. ^ Feldman, Megan (26 July 2007). "El Tren de la Muerte (the Death Train)". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 27 July 2007.
  23. ^ Frieden, Terry. "Two convicted, two acquitted in suburban Virginia street gang trial". CNN. March 17, 2005.
  24. ^ "MS-13 National Gang Task Force". FBI. U.S. government. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  25. ^ "NGIC". FBI.gov. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  26. ^ Crean, Ellen. "Gunmen Kill 28 On Honduran Bus". CBS News. Associated Press. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  27. ^ "Gang linked to Honduras massacre." BBC. December 24, 2004.
  28. ^ Kraul, Chris; Lopez, Robert J.; Connell, Rich (May 22, 2005). "MS-13 blamed for massacre on bus". The Seattle Times.
  29. ^ a b "Honduras massacre 'leader' held." BBC. February 24, 2005.
  30. ^ "Countries at the Crossroads 2007". freedomhouse.org.
  31. ^ del Barco, Mandalit. "Gang Leader Shot to Death on Road to Reform." NPR News. May 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  32. ^ Rogers, Brian. "3 years after gang killing, teen wants to 'move on'" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. September 17, 2009.
  33. ^ Hollandsworth, Skip. "Girl, Interrupted" (Archive). Texas Monthly. May 2008. See article at Highbeam Business.
  34. ^ Lezon, Dale (14 August 2006). "Houston gang killing suspect to be freed on bond". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  35. ^ Vogel, Chris (15 August 2007). "Gang Lite?". Houston Press. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  36. ^ a b Marzulli, John (March 4, 2011). "Murderer yelled 'the beast has eaten!'". NY Daily News. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  37. ^ Van Derbeken, Jaxon (27 June 2008). "Widow pleads for death penalty". SFGate. Hearst Communications, Inc. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  38. ^ Coolidge, Sharon (26 November 2008). "Man, 18, gets life in prison for murder". The Cincinnati Enquirer. GateHouse Media, Inc. The Columbia Dispatch. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  39. ^ "20 alleged Hispanic gang members indicted in Colorado - CNN.com". CNN. February 24, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  40. ^ Strickler, Andrew (July 26, 2009). "Suffolk victims linked by gang violence". Newsday. Newsday. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  41. ^ Marzulli, John (2009-11-04). "MS-13 gang leaders puts out hit on ICE agent assigned to crackdown". Daily News. NYDailyNews.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  42. ^ Egelko, Bob (August 31, 2011). "MS-13 gang members convicted by S.F. jury". San Francisco Chronicle. SFGate.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  43. ^ VietNam. "New Haven Ct Vietnam Veterans Memorial Hit Again Ms-13 Gang". Wn.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  44. ^ "Life Sentence For Gang Member In '09 Daly City BART Slaying".
  45. ^ "MS-13 Associate Sentenced to 292 Months for Sex Trafficking Teenage Runaway Girls". FBI. U.S. government. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  46. ^ "MS-13 Leader Gets 50 Years For Trafficking". NBC4 Washington. Associated Press. NBCUniversal Media, LLC. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  47. ^ "MS-13 Leader Pleads Guilty in Juvenile Prostitution Case". FairfaxNews. 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  48. ^ a b c d e f g h i MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to Death After Conviction on Racketeering Charges Related to Double Murders Archived September 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  49. ^ Werner, Zach. "FBI Targets MS Street Gang." NewsHour Extra. October 5, 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  50. ^ "Tattooed faces a dead giveaway: Gangs go for new look". Cnn.com. December 16, 2007.[dead link‍]
  51. ^ National Geographic. "Gang Uses Deportation to its Advantage to Flourish in the U.S." National Geographic. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  52. ^ Howard LaFranchi. "MS-13 gang labeled transnational criminal group, a first for US street gang". CSMonitor.com. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  53. ^ "World's Most Dangerous Gang". National Geographic Channel. NGHT Inc. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  54. ^ "MS13: World's most Dangerous Gang - Watch Free Documentary Online". Topdocumentaryfilms.com. 2010-08-18. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  55. ^ "Gangland (1x02) You Rat,You Die - Video Dailymotion". Dailymotion. History Channel. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  56. ^ "Gangland (1x13) Root of All Evil - Video Dailymotion". Dailymotion. History Channel. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  57. ^ "Gangland Season 1 Episode 13 - Root of All Evil". www.putlocker.ae. Retrieved 22 May 2016.

Further reading

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