Introduction
In 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) labeled the Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13- because M is the 13 letter of the alphabet- as America's most dangerous cliqu (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019) e. MS-13 was operational in at least 45 states and had roughly 6,000 to 10,000 gang associates nationally (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019). In 2011, there were approximately 60,000 MS-13 associates stationed in various countries across the world (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019). The MS-13 has local chapters worldwide, including the U.S., Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). The MS-13 gang and its associate members engage in crimes such as human and narcotics trafficking, obstruction of justice, extortion, and murder (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). Over the years, MS-13 has been recognized for committing particularly violent crimes, which have generated attention from the general public, policymakers, and law enforcement (Lineberger, 2011). As a result, law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and El Salvador joined forces to bring the gang to justice after acknowledging the transitional threat presented by MS-13 (Lineberger, 2011). Drawing on critical concepts in gang research, this paper seeks to sharpen the understanding of MS-13's history, structure, and criminal activities.
In 2017, President Trump traveled to Brentwood, Long Island, as the area had experienced an upsurge in violence linked to the MS-13 – four adolescents had been violently slain in Brentwood (Woody, 2017). President Trump posits that the gang is known for its violence, and it is responsible for thousands of deaths annually, many of which are committed against its members (Woody, 2017). The gang's brutality is exhibited by leaving hacked and mutilated bodies in public parks, ditches, and rivers (Stolpe, 2014). The MS-13's resilience is owed to its formidable social bonds created and reinforced through acts of violence against their members and rival gangs (Stolpe, 2014). Thus, the MS-13 is as vicious to its own gang members as it is towards its rivals, the general public, and any person who is perceived to cross the clique (Woody, 2017).
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The History and Evolution of MS-13
The MS-13 had its origins in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s when in excess of a million immigrants fled El Salvador to the U.S. to evade the unending civil war in their nation between government forces and the insurgent group FMLB (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) that claimed to represent Salvadorians in the bottom economic and social tiers (Congressional Research Service, 2018). Exemplified by their illegal status in the U.S., most of the Salvadorian immigrants remained in abject poverty and persistent fear of arrest and expatriation. In addition to being alienated, Salvadorians found themselves ingrained in war (Osuna, 2020). The already established African American and Mexican turf-conscious gangs preyed on weaker cultural newcomers (Congressional Research Service, 2018). To protect themselves from homegrown gangs in Los Angeles, Salvadorian immigrants established the notorious Mara Salvatrucha. The founding organs of the MS-13 were ex-members of the FMLN – hence they were highly skilled revolutionary fighters with highly established weaponry and organizational skills (Osuna, 2020). Armed with guns, machetes, and guerilla warfare training, MS-13 became one of the most vicious gangs in Los Angeles (Congressional Research Service, 2018).
MS-13's mission is "Mata," "Viola," "Controla," which translates to "Kill," Rape," and "Control (Osuna, 2020)." Throughout the 1990s, MS-13 grew to be one of the most dreaded, violent, and prominent cliques in Los Angeles (Osuna, 2020). In the 1990s, the Pico-Union district was regarded as a "gang hotspot" in Los Angeles. MS-13 and the 18 th Street gang were rival gangs controlling most of the Pico-Union's drug smuggling market (Congressional Research Service, 2018). Territorial rivalry ensued between MS-13 and the 18 th Street gang over control of the drug trafficking market, resulting in new violence levels. The battles between the two gangs reinforced MS-13's reputation for blatant violence, as battles between the two gangs claimed gang members' lives and innocent bystanders alike (Congressional Research Service, 2018). The flagrant use of machetes to murder and dismember enemies quickly became the trademark of MS-13, inducing the group's historical association with guerilla warfare tactics (Osuna, 2020).
In the United States, MS-13 was amongst the fastest-growing groups throughout the 1990s and their reach extended outside the U.S. borders. In response to gangs growing threat, local law enforcement in Los Angeles and the INS (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) consolidate their endeavors to arrest and extradite gang affiliates who had illegitimately entered the U.S (Congressional Research Service, 2018). The INS established the VGTF (Violent Gang Task Force) that embattled MS-13 and other gangs to investigate, arrest, and to deport those who were living in the U.S both legally and illegally but had committed aggravated felonies. Regardless Of the efforts of America to deport members of the MS-13 to El Salvador, gang members had no criminal records (Congressional Research Service, 2018). Thus, they were released from police confinement, where they prospered in the wake of the civil war. Upon their release from prison, gang members recruited former soldiers and children to join the ranks of the MS-13 (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). As a consequence of the war, corruption in the El Salvadoran government enabled unemployed soldiers to access firearms, which transformed the country into fertile ground for gangs (Congressional Research Service, 2018).
Having grown up in America, many of the MS-13 deportees were not eloquent in Spanish or attached to their local communities. Therefore, as a strategy for survival, deportees established themselves as Los Angeles gangsters (Osuna, 2020). With their newfound independence, the MS-13 members broadened the gang in El Salvador (Congressional Research Service, 2018). Young Salvadoran adolescents who romanticized the gangs' way of life and desensitized to violence were easy recruits for the deported members (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). The MS-13 members adopted the Los Angeles gang structure in El Salvador and established various dispersed gangs that covered different communities throughout the nation. These gangs earned a living through drug trafficking, often acting as liaisons for Colombian drug associations, among other criminal endeavors (Congressional Research Service, 2018). Between 1994 and 1998, the government of El Salvador reported an average of 6,470 murders annually, 71 percent of which were credited to gangs (Adams & Pizarro, 2019).
The deportation of MS-13 gang members from America to El Salvador provided the gang with an efficient means for global expansion (Osuna, 2020). This was because Central American governments lacked the technical knowledge of dealing with an influx of criminal gangs, nor were they adequately warned by United States authorities (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). Also, the central American governments were poor and ineffective in the Western Hemisphere, which allowed the gangs to become more powerful, organized, and violent. While MS-13 perpetrated violent crimes in the prisons of El Salvador, most of the factions returned to the U.S. and proliferated across major towns (Congressional Research Service, 2018). The deportation strategy by the INS and the FBI was only temporary and work for a few months in keeping gang members off the streets. An NGTA (National Gang Threat Assessment) report acknowledged that MS-13 was the largest Hispanic street gang in the U.S. in 2009 (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). The deportations and weak law enforcement efforts in El Salvador and America resulted in transforming the MS-13 into a transnational violent crime group. Group members were able to order assassinations in America from their confinement in El Salvador (Osuna, 2020). This is facilitated by the presence of 60,000 members of MS-13 globally and 10,000 who reside in the United States (Congressional Research Service, 2018).
Organizational Structure
The MS-13 structure is divided into the Central American Circle (Guatemala and El Salvador), Senor circle (Los Angeles and the American west coast), and the Junior circle (Washington metropolitan area and the Americas east coast (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019). Each sphere in the organization structure is divided into factions, and the organization within the factions is dynamic and changes with time (Lineberger, 2011). In the U.S., MS-13 is not governed by bay command structure; however, more senior factions in Los Angeles possess more power to spearhead coalitions and rivalries than other factions (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). However, the El Salvador faction structure is more centralized and hierarchical (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019). In the early 2000s, MS-13 in El Salvador redefined their organization structure because most of its leadership was incarcerated, and the organization had grown (Lineberger, 2011). As a result, the lack of control in the streets and prison created vulnerabilities for the gang (Lineberger, 2011). These internal rules established a group of factions called "programs (Adams & Pizarro, 2019)." The factions operated under the guidance and control of a program coordinator referred to as a "runner" or "corredor (Lineberger, 2011)." These leaders were chosen based on longevity, commitment, personality, and history. These programs were also tied to territories similar to factions (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019).
Powerful factions in MS-13 established themselves as programs and grouped other factions below them. Therefore the faction leaders became the heads of their factions and the corredor of a program simultaneously (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019). In places like El Salvador and Los Angles, programs are answerable to the ruling council (Lineberger, 2011). The ruling council is known by different names in different countries where MS-13 operates (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). In Los Angeles, it is referred to as a "mesa" or "table," while in El Salvador, it is referred to as the "ranfla" and its leaders as the "ranfleros." In El Salvador, the ranfla instituted "lineas" or "lines (Lineberger, 2011)." These lines consist of committees between two and three members who govern particular elements of gang actions in El Salvador (Adams & Pizarro, 2019). The "555" or the "Principle Line" creates rules and is the final decision maker on internal or high-level assassinations (Correa-Cabrera & López-Santana, 2019). The "Report Line" has been tasked with providing faction and program reports to the "Principle Line (Lineberger, 2011)." The "Investigation Line" conducts investigations into violation of gang rules or unsanctioned activitie (Adams & Pizarro, 2019) s. The "Legal Assistance Line" has been tasked with collecting funds for lawyers and civil society groups working on expanding MS-13's agenda (Adams & Pizarro, 2019).
Infiltration of MS-13
To infiltrate MS-13, various security agencies in the United States have to collaborate in order for the operation to be successful – the FBI and ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Often than not, MS-13 use illegal immigration as a means for recruitment. To be undercover as an FBI informant, I must be transferred into the United States by FBI and ICE agents as an undocumented immigrant; if not, the operation will not be successful. The involvement of the FBI and Ice agents is critical to the whole operation because as a joint task force, they have to convince the Justice and Homeland Security department the risk I am taking is worth the potential reward of taking down the most notorious criminal organization in the world (Congressional Research Service, 2018). In addition, the FBI has to guarantee my family and relatives' safety for fear of retaliation from MS-13.
After inter-agency discussions between the FBI and the Justice and Homeland Security department, I would pose as an undocumented immigrant in Chelsea, Massachusetts. As an undocumented immigrant, I am in urgent need of fake papers that would help me in getting a Massachusetts ID. This can be achieved by checking into a bar full of Salvadorians and seek help on how to get acclimatized in the United States. To know how MS-13 operates and the initiation process, I must get a low-rent motel or an apartment in gang-riddled parts of Massachusetts and reconnect with some of the recruits and MS-13 members I had previously interacted with within ICE detention (Congressional Research Service, 2018).
According to the FBI, most MS-13 gang members cannot afford vehicles. Therefore, the perfect cover for this mission would be for me to pose as a taxi driver, and the FBI could wire the car and listen in to conversations as the Salvadorians love to talk. To establish a relationship with the gang, I could hire gang members to provide help as I move drugs and other items as instructed. This will provide an opportunity for the gang members to talk about their operations and management structure that the FBI can listen in and capitalize on to make arrests. The FBI can help acquire a used car – fitted with tint windows, hidden cameras over the driver's seat, and a kill switch so that the car could be turned off remotely in case of danger (Congressional Research Service, 2018). To get an invitation to MS-13, I will drive around Chelsea and request anyone with an MS-13 tattoo that I needed help run several activities in the area, hoping to get an invitation and be initiated into the gang.
The MS-13 is a difficult organization to infiltrate, but I believe the above strategy will work. MS-13 gang members are unemployed, and they need some form of income-generating activity. With the FBI's help, I can be supplied with cocaine to sell to FBI agents posing as buyers based on the current market price. I believe that within two weeks, I will get a visit from MS-13 and be initiated as a gang member. After gaining their trust in a couple of months, I will have full access to MS-13 members and their leaders. From a security perspective, this strategy would work. Although I would not be taking the entire organization in El Salvador down, I would be ending the MS-13's Massachusetts operations with the FBI's help.
References
Adams, J. J., & Pizarro, J. M. (2009). MS-13: A gang profile. Journal of Gang Research , 16 (4), 1–14.
Correa-Cabrera, G., & López-Santana, M. (2019). The Myths of Central American Undocumented Immigration and Ms-13 in the United States. California Western International Law Journal , 50 (1), 119–138.
Congressional Research Service. (2018). MS-13 in the United States and Federal Law Enforcement Efforts . Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Lineberger, K. P. (2011). The United States-El Salvador Extradition Treaty: a dated obstacle in the transnational war against Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law , 1 , 187.
Osuna, S. (2020). Transnational moral panic: neoliberalism and the spectre of MS-13. Race & Class , 61 (4), 3–28.
Stolpe, K. E. (2014). MS-13 and domestic juvenile sex trafficking: causes, correlates, and solutions. Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law , 2 , 341.
Woody, C. (2017). T rump says he's going to 'destroy' MS-13 — here's how the gang got its sinister name . Retrieved 2 December 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/where-does-ms-13-mara-salvatrucha-name-come-from?IR=T
