Introduction
The 18 th Street gang also known as M-18 gang was formed during the 1960s in the Los Angeles neighborhoods. The gang is a multi-ethnic group that predominantly consists of Central America and Mexicans members. M-18 is a transnational criminal organization that began when individuals who were prevented from being members of other native-founded Mexican-American gangs in Los Angeles. According to Wolf (2012), M-18 is one of the largest transnational gangs with over 50, 000 members across 20 states in the United States. As the one of the largest gangs in Los Angeles, California, and a strong transnational Latino criminal gang, the 18 th Street gang has the potential of growing its members and expanding beyond California and causing havoc in the US through its criminal activities.
Background
The name 18 th street gang was inspired by the gang members since most of them resided in the 18 th street in Los Angeles, California. The founders were youths that were rejected from joining the Clanton Gang which consisted of Hispanic people that had acquired their American citizenship. As a result, illegal immigrants from Mexico did not have a chance to be affiliated with the Clanton Gang. The youths that were rejected from joining the Clanton Gang, joined forces and formed their own gang, which mainly targeted and recruited interracial gang members (Wolf, 2012). The gang comprises of small and large gangs that are involved in organized crime across the US and beyond its borders.
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The gang has grown by expanding its membership to interested parties from other ethnic groups and nationalities; thus, has evolved as one of the fast emerging multiracial and multiethnic gangs in the US. Although most of its members are predominantly Mexican and Chicano, M-18 is considered as one of the few gangs that have expanded its membership and broken the racial limitations. Since the gang allows people from any race to join, they have been able to attract thousands of people involved in organized criminal activities. According to Wolf (2012), it is estimated that 60% of the M-18 members are illegal immigrants that reside in the United States. Members are informed of the repercussions of joining the gang which include their death or that of a loved one.
For the last 17 years, M-18 gang has rooted itself in other nations including Mexico and Canada. M-18 is a conventional transnational gang that is criminally active and operates in more than one state or country. Members of transnational gangs in one location commit criminal activities that are well-organized, detailed and directed by the gang leaders. Arnold (2006) asserts that transnational gangs are mobile, quickly adapt to new geographic locations and maintain strong links with their native nations. Therefore, transnational gangs operate in international grounds as their criminal activities surpass national borders. The M-18 gang has invested in their criminal activities which have transcended the borders of Los Angeles and expanded in other states such as Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah among others. The hand has respect for its criminal activities as members form criminal syndicates.
Gang members of M-18 are governed by a set of principles which they are required to strictly abide by. Franco (2010) affirms that gang structures in the US are meant to influence the life of its members. M-18 is a high level gang that has managed to organization and territorial control since its members have preserved some degree of autonomy that enables them to adapt and transform in different circumstances. For the members to thrive in their organized crimes and gain the overall support of gang, they must express their loyalty and obedience to the gang leaders. Failure to observe the rules of the gang may lead to physical attacks or execution in serious cases.
Factions of the M-18 gang have established a high degree of sophistication and organization when conducting their criminal activities. The members often use the number 18 sign on their clothing to distinguish themselves from other gangs. In addition to this, members may have numerical symbols that add up to the number 18 that are tattooed on their bodies. Their colors are blue and black; whereby blue is used to show respect to the Mexican Mafia whereas black is a symbolic representation of the original color of the gang. M-18 structure consist of different levels of leadership and management; with the lowest operational level being the neighborhood cliques to the highest level being cliques that have expanded and operate beyond the neighborhood level and function as franchise (Franco, 2010). The M-18 Street gang was previously referred to as the Children’s Army since it mainly recruited youths in elementary and middle-school, who formed the neighborhood cliques and expanded their gang groups as they grew.
M-18 Street gang is recognized as one of the most rampant and violent street gang in the United States. The gang partakes in violent criminal activities that include burglary, murder, theft and assault. The M-18 Street gang members routinely engage in criminal activities each day as at least one person in Los Angeles reports being assaulted by a member of the gang (Ficklea, 2018). The FBI and law enforcement recognize the M-18 as one of the most active gang in the city of Los Angeles that is not only well-established but also contributes to the different areas of street-crime. Members of M-18 have the highest level of organized crime with sophisticated illicit activities compared to other gangs. Although their primary source of income is generated from the distribution of drugs within the streets, they have been associated with high cases of extortion, prostitution, illegal distribution of weapons, arson, human trafficking and murder. The gang has also been linked to the high-profile kidnapping of prominent people. In the past members of M-18 have been arrested for shooting and murdering police officers while they were on duty.
The local enforcement is expected to address any gang-related criminal activities since they fall under its jurisdiction. However, since gang-related activities have become rampant and spread across the nation, they have captured the interest of the national government. Santamaría (2014) explains that gangs have become a threat to the public policy as homeland security institutions strive to identify solutions to gang-related problems. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Congress instituted legislations that would assist in combating gang-related activities and implement additional penalties for persons that were found guilty under these laws.
The FBI has actively been involved in investigating street crime as organized by gangs. For instance, The Safe Streets and Violent Crimes Initiative (SSVCI) was established in an effort to empower the Special Agent leading each FBI field division to implement long-term strategies that are geared towards reducing crime (Franco, 2010). The M-18 gang members have elevated their criminal activities which has attracted the attention of the FBI. The FBI task force investigating the gang focuses on identifying and examining the main violent street gangs that are affiliated to the M-18 and the criminal activities they are linked to.
The FBI focuses on fighting organized crime by gangs by applying effective strategies that have previously been used to fight gang-related crimes. The efforts of the task force have enabled the U.S attorney for the Central District of California to use its statutes to take legal actions against the gang leaders of M-18 Street Gang (Franco, 2010). The FBI task force concept has expanded its cooperation and communication channels within the law enforcement agencies as a strategy to remain effective and productive whilst avoid duplicating investigations. In an effort to fight off the threats issued by gangs, the FBI developed the Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Forces (SSVGTF), whose primary aim is to align all the efforts of the law enforcement at each level of government and be able to apply the same statutes, investigation approaches and intelligence to prosecute gangs and reduce violent and organized crime.
The FBI task force objective is to investigate, disrupt and get rid of transnational gangs within Central America. Thus, the task force gathers and disseminates intelligence that support U.S-based investigations as well as enable it to collaborate with agencies from other nations to conduct investigations on gangs at the transnational level (Roumie, 2017). Through these strategies, the task forces are able to identify gang members, cliques and groups affiliated to M-18, with their gang and leadership structure. The FBI field officers facilitate intelligence-sharing and effective practices with law enforcement personnel that are working within the national and international investigation levels targeting the M-18 Street gangs.
Conclusion
As the one of the largest gangs in Los Angeles, California, and a strong and transnational Latino criminal gang, the 18 th Street gang has the potential of growing its members and expanding beyond California and causing havoc in the US through its criminal activities. Although the federal government continues to implement policies that will curb the nature of transnational gangs such as the 18 th Street gang, there needs to be additional policy structures that will strengthen the efforts by the FBI and local law enforcement in their fight against gang-related crime. Effective policies must be implemented to ensure that M-18 Street gang does not continue to expand its gang-related activities within the U.S and beyond its borders.
References
Arnold, C. (2006). U.S. ICE, Human Rights violators and Public Safety Office, “Immigration Authorities and Gang Enforcement,” United States Attorneys’ Bulletin , p. 42.
Ficklea, K. (2018). MS-13 in the United States and Federal Law Enforcement Efforts. Congressional Research Service . Retrieved from: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R45292.pdf
Franco, C. (2010). The MS-13 and 18th Street Gangs: Emerging Transnational Gang Threats? Congressional Research Service . Retrieved from: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34233.pdf
Roumie, N. (2017) "Gangs and the Culture of Violence in El Salvador (What role did the US play?)," The Great Lakes Journal of Undergraduate History: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/gljuh/vol5/iss1/3
Santamaría, G. (2014). Space of detention: The making of a transnational gang crisis between Los Angeles and El Salvador . By Elana Zilberg. , Migration Studies , Volume 2, Issue 1, Pages 124–126, https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mns005
Wolf, S. (2012). Mara Salvatrucha: The Most Dangerous Street Gang in the Americas? Latin American Politics and Society, 54 (1), 65-99. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41485342
