Activities
Location
- Have been known to be involved in burglaries, auto thefts, narcotic sales, home-invasion robberies, weapons smuggling, illegal firearm sales, car-jackings, extortion, murder, rape, prostitution, assault, and witness intimidation
- They make money by selling drugs and weapons
- Began in Los Angeles and has since then extended to Canada, throughout Mexico, and into Central American countries such as El Salvador
- Located in the U.S. in places such as Washington DC, Oregon, Alaska, Arkansas, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida
MS-13 (About)
Works Cited
Members
- The gang has an estimated 10,000 members in the U.S. alone
- Has about 70,000 members total
- They form cliques that contain 10 to 500 people each
http://gangs.umd.edu/gangs/MS13.aspx
http://www.insightcrime.org/el-salvador-organized-crime-news/mara-salvatrucha-ms-13-profile
http://altereddimensions.net/2012/ms13-gang
- Originated in Los Angeles, California in the 1980s
- Formed by immigrant Salvadorian youth and people who were being targeted by other gangs in the area
- Quickly became one of the most violent gangs because the founders had experience in guerilla warfare
Initiation
Identification
- Members identify themselves through tattoos, clothing, graffiti, and hand signals
- Members may display the number 13 in Arabic or Roman numerals
- They typically use the colors blue and black to represent themselves
- Use the word sureño, which means Southerner
- In order to be accepted into the gang you must commit some sort of violent crime against someone else (beating, rape, or murder)
- They heavily recruit new members of age 10 and up
- It has been said that an exception to participation is if a person wants to leave the gang to start a family and have children
Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) Gang