Victims of the gang MS 13. Mara Salvatrucha - the most brutal gang in the world

MS-13 originated in Los Angeles among immigrants from El Salvador who flocked en masse to the United States in the early 1980s, fleeing civil war in their home country (by the early 1990s, about 300 thousand lived in Los Angeles alone . Salvadorans). Subject to violence from other street gangs (primarily Latinos from the 18th street gangs and African Americans), the Salvadorans responded by creating their own group. With the growing number of immigrants and the expansion of influence, Mara Salvatruchos began to have territorial “branches” - Holywood Locos, Sailors Locos Salvatruchos, Langley Park Salvatruchos, Teclas Locos Salvatruchos, Centrales Locos Salvatruchos, Directa Locos Salvatruchos, Chilangeras Locos Salvatruchos, Brentwood Locos Salvatruchos, Hempstead Locos Salvatruchos, Familia Mara Salvatrucha, Freeport Locos Salvatruchos, Francis Street Locos, Park View Locos Salvatruchos, Coronado Street Locos, Pee Wee Locos, Rampart Street Locos, Western Locos Salvatrucha, Normandie Locos Salvatruchos and Leeward Grandes Salvatruchos (the latter two "cliques" based in Los Angeles, by 2007 were the most authoritative).

Since the early 1990s, American police and immigration authorities began to actively expel Mara Salvatrucha members to their home countries, thus beginning the popularization of the gang in El Salvador. The American gangster subculture (style and colors of clothing, demeanor, gestures and slang, musical culture, including gangsta rap) found fertile ground in war-torn El Salvador, but when faced with local traditions, it became more cruel and bloody. Mara Salvatrucha began to bring entire city districts and prisons under its control; Gradually, former militants who had gone through the civil war began to join it, and the gang spread its influence throughout Central America (and prisons turned into real “universities” for novice bandits). In 1996, the first truce was concluded in El Salvador between the warring MS-13 and M-18, but the authorities' harsh policies towards gangs disrupted the peace and provoked a new wave of violence.

On July 13, 2003, near Washington, Mara Salvatrucha gangsters killed 17-year-old pregnant Brenda Paz after learning that she, as a gang member, had become an FBI informant and participated in the witness protection program (this crime was widely publicized in the press). In 2004, a representative meeting of MS-13 leaders was held on Long Island, at which they tried to bring together the “cliques” of the West and East coasts of the United States. In December 2004, near the city of San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras, Mara Salvatrucha gunmen shot up a passenger bus, killing 28 people, including six children, and seriously injuring 14. This bloody act of intimidation was undertaken by bandits in response to the plans of the country's authorities to introduce the death penalty for serious crimes. Despite the ongoing mass deportation of Mara Salvatrucha members to their homeland, many of them soon return illegally to the United States, where they again join the ranks of the gang (in 2005-2010, American law enforcement officers arrested more than 3 thousand alleged MS-13 members).

In August 2005, Mara Salvatrucha gangsters carried out a coordinated attack on their enemies in seven Salvadoran prisons, killing a total of 35 members of rival gangs (often, uncooperative prison officials, including prison governors, also died at the hands of the bandits). In January 2006, in the Salvadoran city of Zacatecoluca, members of MS-13 shot seven players of one of the teams, who were allegedly members of the M-18 gang, on the football field during a match. In June 2007, two MS-13 kingpins held in a Salvadoran prison were accused of ordering assassinations in the United States. In June 2009, 18 MS-13 members convicted of murder, kidnapping, robbery and racketeering escaped through a 15-meter tunnel from a Honduran prison in San Pedro Sula. In the spring of 2012, in El Salvador, through the mediation of the authorities and the Catholic Church, Mara Salvatrucha concluded a truce with its eternal enemies from the M-18 gang (in response to a decrease in violence on the streets and in prisons, as well as after the gangsters promised to stop the forced recruitment of teenagers, the country's authorities transferred 30 gang leaders from the high-security Zacatecoluca facility to lower-security prisons). In October 2012, Mara Salvatrucha became the first street gang to be designated by US federal authorities as a "transnational criminal organization" (this allowed authorities to freeze any financial assets of the gang and its members, and also made it significantly more difficult for financial institutions to engage in any transactions with MS-13 members and , accordingly, limited the gang’s ability to transfer funds from the United States to Central America).

By late 2012, under pressure from police and other law enforcement agencies, the Mara Salvatrucha's hold on the immigrant neighborhoods of Los Angeles had weakened somewhat, but the gang had increased its influence on the East Coast, especially around Washington, D.C., where there is a large Salvadoran community (by 2012 in the DC metropolitan area There were about one hundred “cliques” with a total number of more than 3 thousand people). In the USA, members of Mara Salvatrucha continue to often use violence against entrepreneurs, ordinary people and illegal immigrants, but there are fewer demonstrative atrocities and reprisals (in some “cliques”, for fear of identification, they even stopped wearing gang colors, and recruitment of newcomers moved to social networks ). In addition, despite the measures taken, MS-13 continues to maintain leadership in the criminal world of Central America.

Mara Salvatrucha which is slang for "Salvadoran wandering ants", also MS 13- a well-organized multinational international criminal group; one of the most brutal South American gangs, which is now actively operating in 6 countries (50 thousand bandits in America - Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as even in Spain). The most dangerous criminal group in the United States. MS-13 originated in Los Angeles among Latin American immigrants.

The origin of the name MS-13 itself is not known for certain. According to some sources, it stands for a street gang of Salvadorans. The number 13 represents the corresponding letter of the alphabet, indicating that the group considers itself a follower of the Mexican Mafia clan operating in Southern California.

The history of the creation of MS-13 is closely connected with the flow of migrants from Latin America, who in the last two decades of the 20th century moved en masse to the United States, escaping the poverty and civil wars that plagued their home countries. During this period, approximately 2 million Latinos moved to the United States.

The largest number of migrants arrived in Los Angeles, where the community of immigrants from El Salvador increased 10 times in the 1980s and reached a population of 300 thousand people.

As the gang's influence expanded, new formations emerged within it on a territorial basis. This is how the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos, Langley Park Salvatruchos and Teclas Locos Salvatruchos brigades were born.

In the late 1990s, police began a large-scale crackdown on illegal gangsters, resulting in the expulsion of many MS-13 members to their home countries. In total, about 20 thousand bandits were deported, experts believe.

MS-13 gangsters are thugs in the literal sense of the word and have become famous for their brutal murders not only in the United States, but throughout Latin America. The bandits used bombs for their purposes, and also hacked their victims with machetes. When killing, gang members sometimes cut off heads or genitals and feed them to dogs.

A distinctive feature of the members is tattoos all over the body.

MS 13 always controls a certain urban area. She is involved in almost all types of criminal business, from theft to arms trafficking. Street stalls usually pay half of the income to the gang. MS receives the greatest income by working as an intermediary in the sale of drugs and receiving tribute for the right to sell drugs on its territory.

Initiation into a gang is called "jumping in" - random mass strikes for at least 13 seconds. There is a silent language of communication using gestures called “Layout”. The gang has its own justice system: the “control court.”

The gang facilitates illegal border crossings as it controls many of the secret US-Mexico border routes.

They immigrate and transport weapons and drugs.

The motto of the gangsters from "Mara Salvatrucha" is: Mata, Viola, Controla, or "Kill, rape, subjugate!"

According to the FBI, MS13 collaborated with al-Qaeda and for several years supplied terrorists with various types of small arms and helped secretly cross the border with Mexico.

MS-13 is mostly teenagers, immigrants who have not received official documents. To them, MS-13 is like family. Difficult teenagers also go there. These people are ready to do anything for the opportunity to get false documents and get at least some job. Latin drug lords are recruiting them in droves; they also need to feed their families somehow - in exchange for services, of course. It's no secret that ALL floor polishers and other support workers in the largest national supermarket chains are entirely illegal Latinos. How do they get to work? That's how they get there.

The Latino community itself suffers the most from the actions of such gangs. Gangsters seek to recruit new members from Spanish-speaking Latin American immigrants.

The video details the actions of MS 13

Despite the development and change of the world, in many countries gangs still rule the streets. One of the most terrible and dangerous groups in America is MS-13. Information about her life, rules and rituals gives me goosebumps.

In America, there is an organized crime group that terrifies all residents - Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13. It is believed that it originated in the 80s of the last century, when during the civil war in Ecuador, a huge number of Latin Americans emigrated to the United States. According to various estimates, the gang includes from 50 to 300 thousand people around the world. Moreover, their numbers are regularly increasing.

MS-13 is involved in drug trafficking, robbery and murder. American President Donald Trump said in one of his interviews that he is ready to quickly deal with this gang, since their actions are already going beyond all possible limits. We invite you to learn the main rituals and traditions of Mara Salvatrucha.

1. Stand up for each other

In the most terrible gang in America, the main principle is mutual assistance. Members of this group are ready to come to the aid of their comrade-in-arms at any time of the day or night. If one of the MS-13 set up or abandoned a “friend” in a difficult situation, then death awaits him.

2. Attracting youth

Members of Mara Salvatrucha use different recruitment methods to attract promising young people to join them. For example, during the day they organize parties for truants, where students and schoolchildren who like to skip classes come. During such fun, gang members lure young people.

3. Street tags

Not only in America, but also in other countries you can see graffiti and gang tags on the walls of houses, fences and other buildings. These are a kind of markers indicating who rules in this territory; they make it clear that there is no place for competitors here. There is a separate group of graffiti that are dedicated to recently killed gang members.

4. Admission of newcomers to the gang

To become a full member of MS-13, a person must go through two steps. It is worth noting that even children as young as eight years old are accepted into the group. The first stage involves a beating by several active gang members, and this action lasts 13 seconds. This may seem like very little, but in fact, when you don't defend yourself and multiple people attack, you can get seriously injured. The second stage is the murder of someone from a rival group, for which the candidate is given a weapon and dropped off in hostile territory.

5. To maintain authority

There is constant competition between participants, and in order not to lose your authority, you need to maintain it. Thus, each gang member must regularly participate in various crimes. Newcomers do the dirty work - murders, rapes, thefts, but the old guys solve more serious issues, for example, related to the sale of weapons and drugs.

6. Belief in Satan

Mara Salvatrucha openly worships Satan. Gang members perform various rituals to thank the dark forces for their support. There is evidence that the criminals committed ritual murders several times.

7. Sign language

America's scariest gang has its own sign language, which they call "layout", for example, patting the stomach means to use a gun, and shaking off the shoulder means knives. The main sign of Mara Salvatrucha deserves special attention - a “goat” made of fingers, which looks like the letter “M”. The sign was chosen in the 80s by the band's founders, who were fans of heavy metal.

8. Trials for women

In disadvantaged areas, the guys from the most famous gang are cool, and many girls want to join their company. Representatives of the fair sex can become members of the group, but to do this they must sleep with at least 15 members of MS-13. According to available data, approximately 20% of the gang are girls.

9. Betrayal is unacceptable

The worst thing that can happen in MS-13 is betrayal, which is punishable by death. To prevent frame-ups during inter-group fights, there is a rule - if you accuse someone, then there must be strong evidence for this, since death will also await you for deception. The gang does not spare anyone, for example, in 2003, not far from Washington, a pregnant girl was found murdered, who, being a member of the group, informed the FBI.

10. Gratuitous cruelty

For members of this group to commit a crime, they do not need a reason. The gang has long been a leader in committing murders without cause. This is necessary in order to maintain the status of the “most brutal” organization.

11. Love relationships

If a gang member has a girlfriend, then other men can no longer rape or beat her, only he has the right to do this. In such relationships, the woman has no say and is property. At the same time, the bandits treat their own children with reverence, considering them their followers.

12. Strict discipline

According to existing information, MS-13 has the highest level of discipline among other American gangs, which is attributed to an important part of their success. Members of this organization have no right to appear drunk in public places and cause rows. Losing gang property and missing gang meetings is prohibited.

In addition, there are many more different rules in the internal code. The offender may first be demoted or beaten, and next time he can expect death. There is information that more people in the gang are executed than die during showdowns with competitors. There is evidence that when certain Mara Salvatrucha groups relax too much, a “punisher” is sent from El Salvador, who executes several people for the purpose of education.

13. Information tattoos

Initially, members of this criminal organization completely covered their bodies with tattoos, and from them one could “read” all the information about a person: biography, character traits, place in the hierarchy. Every old gang member certainly has a tattoo on his face. The most popular tattoo is a tear under the eye, which means murder. It is worth noting that recently beginners have begun to refuse tattoos, and there is a completely objective reason for this - it is very easy to identify, remember and find a person by drawings on the body.

14. Huge scale

It is a mistake to believe that a gang has influence only on the streets. According to the FBI, more than a thousand of its members serve in the American armed forces, receiving military education and at the same time recruiting new people. For this group, prisons are a second home or university where they learn concepts. In El Salvador, there are prisons where only MS-13 members are imprisoned, and those in charge even manage the activities of the gang on the outside. It turns out to be some kind of headquarters.

15. So that no one understands

Members of the group have their own slang that is passed down from generation to generation, for example, the word “bless” means to kill, and the expression “direct to the green light” means to order a person. Among other people, the bandits prefer to communicate in the dead language of the Aztecs, which no one understands at all.

16. Carefully thought out hierarchy

Mara Salvatrucha have a branched structure, which makes it very strong and invulnerable to justice. There are many separate groups that work separately from each other. Each group has its own leaders who know by sight and are in contact with the main leaders. By the way, the highest body of MS-13 is called the “council of nine” and it is located in El Salvador.

17. Letters of complaints

Although substitution is not accepted in this organization, any member can complain that a neighboring group is not working well or is committing some actions against the rules. To do this, he must write a letter to the “council of nine.” If the evidence is significant, then the informer receives an order to kill the head of this group and take his place.

18. Lifetime participation

If a person once joined a gang, then this is forever, since it is impossible to retire, much less quit. In MS-13, all roads lead to only three places: prison, hospital and cemetery, so if a person says he wants to quit crime, then a bullet awaits him.

Which is considered one of the most brutal street gangs of our time.

This gang has been operating on the streets of several US cities for almost 30 years, starting its activities in Los Angeles, California. We have collected the history of this criminal association.

In the 1980s, as a brutal civil war broke out in Ecuador, 300,000 refugees flocked to the United States, particularly Los Angeles, in search of safety. Like the world's most notorious gangs, the Triad and Cosa Nostra, MS-13 emerged as a defensive response among Ecuadorians to oppression by locals and other immigrants. Ecuadorians were often attacked by gangs of African Americans and Latinos. With one of them, the “18th Street Gang,” MS-13 is still waging a bloody war.

The name MS-13 stands for Mara Salvatrucha and means “Salvadoran wandering ants.” Regarding the meaning of the number 13, there are 2 options: either it is 13th Street in Los Angeles, which became the cradle of the gang, or the position of the letter M in the Latin alphabet, showing their connection with the Mexican drug cartels, because the main ally of MS-13 is the Sinaloa cartel - the oldest and largest drug cartel in the world.

Today in the United States there are more than 10 thousand fighters of this gang, and around the world their number is estimated from 100 to 300 thousand members, turning it into one of the most influential groups on the planet, reports.

Recruitment and training

MS-13 typically recruits children 8–10 years old. By the age of 18, they are already hardened criminals with extensive criminal experience. Recruitment takes place right on sports grounds and in schools, and refusal to join the ranks of the gang can lead to death, writes Look 3.

There are 2 main rituals when joining a gang. The first is called a “jump in”—several gang members brutally beat a recruit for 13 seconds. After the “jump,” the future gangster is taught the basic rules: recruit and kill.

After a year or two, the time comes for the second ritual. The boy is taken to the territory of another gang and given a gun. There he must commit his first murder, shooting another bandit. After this, the guy is hired into the business, and he becomes a full member of the gang.

The group's influence extends beyond the streets. According to the FBI, several thousand gang members serve in the US armed forces, where they receive military education and recruit new soldiers. Prisons are a separate issue. For an MS-13 member, prison is a mandatory part of their “career” where they learn “concepts.” There are 24.5 thousand prisoners in El Salvador, and about half of them are members of MS-13. There are prisons in which 100% of prisoners belong to a gang.
There is no way out of MS-13. Anyone who joins it as a child remains a member of the gang until death.

“In a gang, all roads lead to 3 places: to prison, hospital or cemetery,” say its members.

Structure

MS-13 has a very interesting structure. In fact, the entire army of thousands is divided into separate autonomous units — cliques that control their own territory without going beyond its borders. The cabal has its own arsenal, including M-16s, AKs, grenades and machine guns. Each clique has a leader - a representative, he goes to meetings with other representatives and resolves strategic issues. Representatives of the Los Angeles cliques are the most authoritative, like the founding fathers of the gang. The vertical of power of an organization with one boss has not been discovered; if there is one, then the structure perfectly hides any information about him.

The activities of “stray ants” extend to 6 countries; in the United States, they operate in 33 of the 50 states. The gang seizes territories in order to force businessmen on their territory to pay “tribute.” The “protection tax” is usually 50% of daily revenue. To maintain order and pacify those who refuse to pay, members of the group stage show executions: they chop off the heads, hands, and cut off the genitals of those who try to argue with them.

The gang's annual income is about $30 million, according to El Salvador police estimates.
The brutality of MS-13 was added to by the activities of American law enforcement. As soon as the gang began to grow, the US authorities decided to deal with them using a drastic method - mass deportation to their homeland, El Salvador. Thus, the Americans, without suspecting it, helped the “ants” cross the border and set up business in their homeland. In El Salvador, they began to recruit people with military experience who know how to handle heavy weapons. After this, the level of violence in MS-13 increased significantly, and then cutting off body parts began to be used. Today MS-13 controls all illegal routes across the border of El Salvador, drug trafficking, prostitution, kidnapping, and arms trafficking.

Distinguishing marks

Some of the hallmarks of MS-13 are graffiti and tattoos. They mark their streets with gang or clique tags to make it clear to competitors that they shouldn’t tread into that territory. Graffiti is often dedicated to recently killed gang members. MS-13 graffiti can be found from Spain to Alaska.

Tattoos sometimes cover the entire body of a bandit, unlike the Yakuza, who tattoos exactly along the line of their clothing, MS-13 often tattoo them even on the face to show everyone around them who they are. The most common tattoo on the face is a tear under the eye, it means that the person committed murder.

According to one FBI official who investigated the group's activities, MS-13's motto is: "Kill, rape, control."

MS-13 developed their own sign language. For example, patting on the stomach means that pistols will be used, and shaking off the shoulder means knives.
The main sign of the gang is a “goat” made of fingers, reminiscent of the letter “M”. This sign was chosen by the founders of MS-13 in the 80s, who were big fans of heavy metal at that time; modern members of the gang prefer Spanish-language rap.

Terrorism

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the gang "may qualify" for terrorist group status. In El Salvador, MS-13 is already considered a terrorist organization.

MOSCOW, September 17 – RIA Novosti, David Narmania. Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, is considered one of the most violent and dangerous criminal groups in the world. It was not able to achieve such large profits as other crime syndicates. Nevertheless, the notoriety of her outrages spread throughout most of the American continent. After all, the main thing that gang members strive for is to instill fear in everyone who gets in their way.

Now this group operates in 42 states in the United States and several countries in Latin America. According to various sources, it consists of from 70 to 100 thousand people. Their main source of income is drug trafficking, which comes from Mexico.

The gang is famous for its cruelty - the favorite (but far from the only) weapon of the group members is the machete. Some of those killed have their heads or genitals cut off, which are then fed to dogs. On the bodies of many victims, 13 wounds from knife attacks are found - the trademark of the bandits and a message to everyone who dares to interfere with Mara Salvatrucha. The number 13 is a reference to the group "Los Emes" or "The Ms", where "M" - the 13th letter of most Latin alphabets - stands for "Mara" - the gang. The name Mara Salvatrucha can be translated from slang as “Gang of Salvadoran Stray Ants.”

In addition to murder and drug trafficking, the gang is involved in human trafficking, pimping and racketeering. One of the most notorious crimes of MS-13 members was the 2002 rape of two disabled teenage girls in a Boston suburb. One of them used a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, and her friend was deaf. The gang's anger was caused by the fact that a few days earlier the father of one of the girls got into an altercation with the mafia.

In 2010, Rene Mejía, a member of the Mara Salvatrucha, was sentenced to death for the murder of a woman and her two-year-old daughter.

MS-13 is especially harsh on whistleblowers within its ranks. “If you rat, you die,” says one of the group’s rules. This rule works without any exceptions. Brenda Baz, who tried to clean up her criminal record and reported information to the FBI, was killed by her boyfriend, despite the fact that she was pregnant with his child.

The brutality of the gang is evident in everything. Even the initiation rite consists of the fact that those who want to join are beaten by other members of the group for 13 seconds. After that, he must fulfill his first assignment: fight, rob or kill someone. People join the Mara Salvatrucha early - sometimes eight-year-old children join the ranks of the gang.

MS-13 does not have a single leader or clear structure—it is disparate cells united under one “brand.” The gang members' motto from Spanish can be translated as "Kill. Rape. Control."

Members of Mara Salvatrucha do not try to hide their gang affiliation - they are easily recognized by their tattoos in the form of syndicate symbols. The group's signature attribute is also a blue-and-white checkered shirt.

The origins of the gang were refugees from El Salvador who were forced to leave their homeland, torn apart by civil war. This war lasted from 1979 to 1992. Many residents of the country, especially those who belonged to the partisan detachments with left-wing ideology, were forced to leave, fleeing persecution by anti-communist death squads.

Refugees could not afford legal and well-paid work. At that time, other ethnic groups already dominated crime. But none of them had what the people who stood at the origins of Mara Salvatrucha had - they did not see a real war. What the founders of MS-13 experienced in their homeland allowed them to kill people in absolute cold blood and with infinite cruelty.