Large cities and small towns across the country are now experiencing the early stages of the most violent gang epidemic we have ever seen. The gang perpetuating the death and destruction is known as MS-13. Yes, it is yet another illegal import from Latin America.
According to the FBI's National Gang Task Force Director Robert Clifford, MS-13 is following the same paths as do Mexican illegal workers. Clifford said: "The migrant moves and the gang follows. If you follow the construction trade, that is where a lot of these immigrants go." Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 is based in El Salvador.
A March 2005 nation-wide sting operation which targeted members of the notoriously violent MS-13, nabbed 103 gang members. All 103 were in this country illegally. The arrests were made in Baltimore, New York, Newark, Dallas, Los Angeles, as well as the District of Columbia. The arrests made clear the fact that illegal immigration is no longer simply a regional crisis.
Law enforcement official estimate that there are between 8,000 and 10,000 MS-13 gang members currently inside the United States. The Honduran gang is infamous for machete and grenade attacks. They have also been known to behead their enemies.
There are currently four MS-13 members on trial in an Alexandria, Va. United States District Court for killing a 17-year-old pregnant girl. Apparently, the killing was ordered by a MS-13 leader while in prison. He believed the girl had cooperated with the police.
In the last year, there have been two machete attacks in the Northern Virginia area. An Alexandria teenager lost four fingers during a savage encounter with MS-13 members last May. A Fairfax man was also became a victim of a MS-13 machete attack, this past January.
MS-13 is becoming a well structured 'mafia-type' organization. They have aligned themselves with the Mexican Mafia. The Mexican Mafia has a large presence in the United States and consequently has become a powerful prison gang. The smaller MS-13 pays the Mexican Mafia for protection, while one of their members are incarcerated inside this country.
Last month, Chicago Police Superintendent Philip J. Cline made a chilling observation. Explaining that MS-13 is much more violent than the Italian Mafia ever was, he noted that while the Mafia killed 1,111 people since 1919--street gangs such as MS-13 have killed 1,276 people just since 2000.
Latin American gangs are just another reason to place U.S. troops along the U.S.-Mexican border. If our government does not soon become serious about border enforcement...we can expect our nation's streets to run red with blood.
Not all terrorism emanates from the Middle East, a real and much closer danger is creeping into this country from our 'neighbor to the south.'
The phrase "good fences make good neighbors" has never held more truth!
Le FBI a ouvert un bureau permanent au Salvador pour aider les polices de cinq pays d'Amérique centrale (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua et Salvador) dans leur lutte contre la criminalité grandissante, plus particulièrement les bandes de jeunes inspirées des gangs américains, qui menaceraient la stabilité sociale de ces pays.

L'annonce de l'ouverture de ce bureau a été faite mardi 3 mai 2005 par le président salvadorien, Tony Saca, qui a indiqué qu'il avait été mis en place à la fin du mois d'avril à San Salvador, la capitale salvadorienne, à la suite de discussions bilatérales avec la secrétaire d'État américaine, Condoleezza Rice.

Le problème des gangs de jeunes semble d'autant plus aigu dans la région qu'il est compliqué par une immigration illégale aux États-Unis et que l'on estime que, rien que pour l'année 2004, 20 000 immigrés clandestins auraient été expulsés des États-Unis vers le Guatemala, le Honduras et le Salvador, après avoir été membres d'un gang criminel sur le territoire américain.

Cette nouvelle forme de criminalité s'était manifestée spectaculairement l'an dernier au moment de Noël, lorsqu'un gang de ce genre avait tué 28 passagers dans un autobus au Honduras et laissé sur place un message de défi à la classe politique qui a déclaré la guerre à la criminalité.

En outre, par-delà les frontières, il semble que les gangs soient désormais ramifiés à la fois dans le pays d'origine et sur le territoire même des États-Unis. Un gang d'origine salvadorienne, le Mara Salvatrucha, serait ainsi en passe de devenir le principal gang dans la région de Los Angeles, où il commencerait à se créer des « succursales » dans les petites villes environnantes, à mesure qu'il parvient à enrôler de nouveaux immigrés clandestins originaires du Salvador, selon des déclarations faites au ''Washington Times'' par Robert Clifford, directeur au FBI de la « MS-13 National Gang Task Force ».