Ms-13 Thesis

MS-13: Born in Fire

Introduction

There are not many gangs on this planet more violent than Mara Salvatrucha, otherwise known as MS-13. The Central American street gang has taken advantage of the recent wave of hyper-globalization to proliferate their illicit activities and globalize their image as ruthless killers willing to do whatever necessary to ensure survival. Efforts to halt their efforts have been modest at best.

To be sure, MS-13 poses a serious transnational threat to the immediate western hemisphere and secondary threat to regions where they have expanded. The United States should explore the possibility of doubling its efforts to aid the countries combatting MS-13 as well as alleviating the conditions which allow MS-13 to thrive.

Early on, MS-13 was a loosely organized collection of smaller gangs that focused on extorting local businessmen and small-scale drug trafficking operations. Unfortunately for law enforcement, MS-13’s operations have expanded past extortion, homicide and drug trafficking. Sonja Wolf finds that,

MS-13 engages in robbery, auto theft, rapes, kidnappings, and the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation,” and that, “Over time, gang members have been increasingly implicated in robberies, the illegal possession or carrying of firearms, drug sales, rapes, and especially extortions and homicides. Gang youth have moved from levying minor taxes in their territories to running extensive extortion rackets. Shopkeepers, sex workers, students and teachers, taxi and bus companies must all comply with the requests, though the transport sector is most heavily affected. To enforce extortion demands, gang members have killed hundreds of drivers in recent years and have burned dozens of

Each clique has four organizational divisions, designed to create a de facto division of labor. From the top, down these divisions are: Jefes Nactionales, Ranfleros, Palabreros, and neighborhood-level street gang members. Gang members are often recruited on the streets and promised a better life filled with opportunity in an expansive family. Suffice it to say, MS-13 recruiters will often target adolescents from the slums into their ranks. Street-level gang members are also recruited in prison. The El Salvadoran government’s recent “Mano Duro” policies created a massive overcrowding of prisons where established MS-13 members recruit the few adolescents not yet involved in gang activity. To become a full-fledged member of MS-13, recruits must show their allegiance to the gang by getting tattoos all over their bodies. Additionally, male members are beaten for thirteen seconds and female members must engage in sexual intercourse with every male member of that particular