Mara Salvatrucha

Mara Salvatrucha Known to some people as the most dangerous and violent gang in the world, Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, has gained, held and showed its power through many forms. Mara Salvatrucha is slang for Salvadoran Army Ants and they are spreading nationally with increasing numbers of members. They gain, hold and show their power through the use of recruitment, extreme brutality, different sorts of operations and their brotherhood. Mara Slavatrucha’s spread throughout the world and their use of recruitment is one way they have gained power. “It’s considered the fastest-growing, most violent and least understood of the nation’s street gangs.” (Camp-Flores 3) Both the article “The Most Dangerous Gang in America” and the documentary World’s

They have spread across 6 different countries and have a count of 50 to 100,000 members worldwide. All of the articles explained that Mara Salvatrucha started off after Salvadoran immigrants fled to Los Angeles because of the civil war in El Salvador. When they arrived, the streets of L.A. were already dominated by Mexican and African-American gangs. The L.A. gangs terrorism of the immigrants caused the formation of MS-13. This led North America to deport all the gang members they could back to their home countries. But that might have not been the best idea. In the documentary World’s Most Dangerous Gang it shows that the deportation led to the expansion of MS-13. MS-13 just grew stronger. The article “The MARAS” explained that the deportation caused the deportees to gain the titles of gang leaders. Their knowledge gained in the L.A. prisons and streets help them recruit people with the same habits. The documentary World’s Most Dangerous Gang explains MS-13’s initiation ritual called “jumping in.” It consists of a 13 second beating from the current members. Their use of

“The Most Dangerous Gang in America” gives two great examples of Mara Salvatruchas use of brutality. “gang members armed with machetes hacked away at a member of the South Side Locos, slicing off some of his fingers.”, “a member of the 18th Street gang was pumped full of .38-caliber bullets.” (Campo-Flores) But MS-13 is not just brutalizing other gangs, innocent people are getting hurt too. In the documentary World’s Most Dangerous Gang it shows this first handily. In Houston, Texas members beat a teenage boy to death with sticks and stone. Another occasion where MS-13 brutalized an innocent victim was in Boston, Massachusetts. A teen MS member attacked motorist with a machete. Another way they show their power is through putting fear into the people that live on their turf. World’s Most Dangerous Gang explains that every block the gang controls earns income for the gang. Everybody gets taxed, every business must pay MS a protection fee. They make the laws for their