The Bloods gang was formed in the early 1970s as a protection gang against other more prominent groups in Los Angeles. The Crips gang was domineering and had absorbed other smaller gangs such as the Black Panther Party (Blood Street Gang Intelligence Report, 2008). Therefore, the Blood gang was initiated by street gangs that opposed the Crip gang. The Bloods were involved in extreme violence and brutality in the streets to match the larger gang, the Crips. In the 1980s, the Bloods gang trafficked cracked cocaine and accumulated adequate financial basis to conduct larger recruitments and missions. Though initially an African American gang, the Bloods gang has an estimated membership of 15000 to 20000, including white Americans, Hispanics, and Asians (Blood Street Gang Intelligence Report, 2008). On the other hand, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) is a street gang that began in the 1980s in Los Angeles; currently, it is among the largest gangs worldwide. MS13 operates in America and Europe in Spain and Italy and has a membership of between 50000 and 70000 (CLALS, 2018). The MS13 gang has an identity of violence and social control in urban areas across Central America and Europe. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences between the two gangs' leadership and organizational structure. Also, the paper will investigate how enforcement officials have impacted the two gangs.
Leadership and Organizational Structure
The United Blood Nation (UBN) is managed from New York City and New York prison system and has a definite structure of authority ( WYFF4, 2017 ). Each member of the Bloods gang has a rank and specific responsibilities. The Bloods Street Gang Intelligence Report (2008) notes that the Bloods gang hierarchy takes several structures based on whether the gang affiliates to the east or west coast. The two most common leadership hierarchies used are the Southside Brim and the Nine Trey gangsters (Blood Street Gang Intelligence Report, 2008). The Southside Brim has the Triple O.G., who holds the highest rank, followed by O.G., baby O.G., and OYG; other lower ranks include young gangster and OBG, baby gangster. The heads in the gang are referred to as the Original Gangsters (OGs) or Godfathers. On the contrary, the Nine Trey Gangsters apply the hierarchy that includes the Godfather, the highest-ranking, followed by Big 020 and low 020; other ranks are based on a 5-star rating, with 5-star general holding a higher rank than the 4, 3, 2, and 1-star generals (Blood Street Gang Intelligence Report, 2008). These ranks ensure that there is order in the gang by establishing proper communication paths between the members.
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The Bloods gang has city and national leadership. The leaders in the Bloods gang New York headquarters are known as Up Top, while the top leaders in the country are known as the Council ( WYFF4, 2017 ). The council is made up of O.G.s from large regional gangs. Female members of the Bloods gang are referred to as the First Ladies and are responsible for all communications and record-keeping. Many sets in the Bloods gang operate independently; however, many sets can unite in prisons or joint missions beyond their territories. The Bloods independence allows local gangs to have regional rivals or alliances that are not binding to the whole gang.
Unlike the Bloods gang, MS13 does not have a leadership structure that governs the whole gang. Most of the gang members are in southern California, El Salvador, Massachusetts, and Mexico. MS 13 operates in multi-layered sets called Cliques (Bunker & Sullivan, 2019). Communications in the cliques are done through meetings known as misas (Bunker & Sullivan, 2019). However, the MS13 gang maintains strong ties to the gangs in Los Angeles where it was formed and El Salvador. El Salvador is considered the spiritual center of the MS13 gang since it is a residential place for the gang's historical leaders (CLALS, 2018). Like the Bloods gang hierarchy of leadership, MS13 has regional leaders who communicate and collaborate in joint operations. Bunker and Sullivan (2019) explain that MS13 has a Military setting with two leaders at the level of clique who acts as the commander, also identified with the name Primera palabra, and executive official, who is also identified with the name Segunda palabra. Seasoned veterans control regional gangs while lower ranks are assigned to newer members. However, since most regional council leaders are in jails, it is often difficult to exercise control over all members.
The MS13 gang maintains members’ independence similar to the one in the bloods gang referred to as Clica. Besides, the MS13 gang and the bloods gang employ localized decision-making systems unless in joint missions. However, the Insight Crime report by CLALS identified that the council leaders in El Salvador are initiating a top-down control that will include the U.S. East Coast. Also, the El Salvador MS13 gang is adopting a formal command structure that will be applicable to all members in or out of jails (CLALS, 2018). El Salvador has nearly 250 cliques compared to Los Angeles' 20 and Washington 12. Therefore, the many cliques in El Salvador have given the region more control due to its higher purview and financial ability.
Impact of Law Enforcement Officials on the Bloods and MS13 Gangs
The Blood Street Gang Intelligence Report (2008) found out that members of the Bloods gang attack law enforcers and criminal justice officials fluently as part of their initiation process. The Bloods gang issued the "Red Desert" alert that targets police officers' duty belts which are later sold or kept (Blood Street Gang Intelligence Report, 2008). The gang members use the Ace of hearts to identify where law enforcers live before executing their attacks that often lead to the murder of the officers. Besides, the bloods gang uses low-tech surveillance to monitor law enforcers and their activities. For instance, the bloods gang used scanners to monitor police communication in the Virginia state police in April 2008 (Blood Street Gang Intelligence Report, 2008). Law enforcers have responded to the bloods gang by using their internet website, MySpace, to gather information on the gang’s recruitments, missions, and members’ engagement. According to the intelligence report, the Bloods gang has colluded with other groups, including the Islam terrorist group and Five Percent Nation, in response to the growing intelligence and law enforcement. However, law enforcers have identified the low sophistication of the Bloods gang's attacks and training and hope to counter effectively.
The lack of a formal hierarchical organization has made it difficult for law enforcers to counter the MS13 gang. According to Bunker & Sullivan (2019), decentralization of power in the MS13 gang is often mistaken for lack of sophistication or capacity. However, Bunker and Sullivan argue that MS13 has a different hierarchy based on influence and respect. The Bloods gang and the MS13 gang are also involved in personal and property crimes and sometimes human and drug trafficking. The law enforcement agencies initiated an operation named the Mean Streets to deal with the street gangs. The operation involved about 400 officers from all law enforcement units such as the FBI, Homeland Security, and State police (Bunker & Sullivan, 2019). Besides, The Insight Crime report by CLALS (2018) indicates that the Trump administration and the Justice Department targeted neutralizing the gang. The Justice Department had a series of prosecutions on some members of the MS13 gang linking them to murder cases in long island. Regardless of the Trump's administration's efforts to deport convicted members of criminal gangs from the USA, MS13 has persisted since most of its members are U.S. citizens considering that it started in log Angeles. As the Insight Crime report by CLALS concludes, MS13 has withstood authorities and law enforcement for over four decades without a definite leadership structure and a good cash flow.
In summary, the Bloods gang and the MS13 gang lack a cultured leadership and organizational structure. However, the Bloods gang has a national hierarchy compared to MS13's regional hierarchy. Seasoned gangsters in both gangs hold leadership positions and joint coordinate operations. Nevertheless, the two gangs grant their members freedom to operate independently unless called to a joint plan. Regional leaders in the Bloods gang are accountable to the national O.G., unlike in the MS13 gang, where regional councils are independent. While leaders in the Bloods gang are ranked, regional leaders in the MS13 gang gather their influence from the number of cliques they govern and their region's financial ability. In both Bloods gang and MS13, leaders are primarily passive, and the gangs are arranged in small sets comprising a few members and a local leader. Cliques with many members and financial basis often influence other smaller sets and incorporate them under one leadership. The El Salvador cliques of the MS13 gang have stronger influence compared to the cliques in Washington and Los Angeles and, therefore, have been initiating a top-down leadership structure. The Bloods gang and MS13 gang's decentralized leadership structure has made it complex for law enforcers to counter their plans and attacks. Though the law enforcement units' capacity is higher than the gangs', their distribution across the U.S., Mexico, and Europe has made it difficult for anti-gangs operations.
References
Bunker, R, J., Sullivan, J, P. (2019, January 29). Third generation gangs strategic note no. 13. Small Wars Journal. https://Smallwarsjournal.Com/Jrnl/Art/Third-Generation-Gangs-Strategic-Note-No-13-Mara-Salvatrucha-Ms-13-Command-And-Control-C2
Center for Latin American & Latino Studies (CLALS). (2018). MS13 in the Americas: How the world’s most notorious gang defies logic, resists destruction. https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1043576/download
Virginia Fusion Center/Virginia State Police. (2008). Blood street gang intelligence report [PDF]. https://info.publicintelligence.net/BloodsStreetGangIntelligenceReport.pdf
WYFF4. (2017). Inside largest U.S. gang: Rules, lingo, secrets. https://www.wyff4.com/article/inside-largest-us-gang-rules-lingo-secrets/9873763
