Ms 13 gang pdf

She was involved in a case where a young MS member was lured into a park in by fellow members, stabbed repeatedly, and then decapitated.

The country's homicide rate is 22 times that of the US. In the first few months of , there was a murder every hour in the country. In , there were 6, murders in El Salvador. It's the highest homicide rate in the world for a nation at peace. In October , authorities arrested 35 MS members in Long Island in connection to several killings in Brentwood, NY, most notably for the murder of two teenage girls.

The girls were beaten to death, and their bodies were found 50 feet from each other, close to an elementary school. All told, six bodies discovered in Brentwood in just over a month and the Suffolk County police commissioner said at least five of the people arrested were high-ranking MS members.

It was originally a Mexican-American gang in Los Angeles, but later accepted members of other Latin American nationalities. MS had a brief truce with Barrio 18 in , but it dissolved after a year. This led to the deadliest month El Salvador had seen in more than a decade. About 16 people were murdered every day, and some believe the truce was a cover to allow the gangs to expand.

According to a former gang member interviewed for the History Channel series Gangland , some of the immigrants streaming into the US from El Salvador had trained for and fought with their native country's armed forces. Because of this, they were more accustomed to modern warfare than other gangs in LA who were used to battles on the streets.

By way of example, the former MS member cited fellow members walking up to rival gang affiliates and shooting them in the face without blinking. As MS expands into illegal transnational ventures, the gang's criminal activities have been tied to international threats. It's believed that MS has ties to Al Qaeda. In , the Salvadoran government designated MS a terrorist group in its own right. Becoming an MS member isn't an easy task. After that, senior members of the clique vote on whether or not the candidate is worthy.

If the candidate gets enough votes, he has to submit to a brutal beating , during which he's pummeled by members while they slowly count to After becoming a member, small violations like public intoxication or pulling a gun could lead to serious beatings.

More serious violations are punishable by death. There are no guards inside. Instead, it's guarded from the outside by the Salvadoran army. The prison ended up in Mara Salvatrucha hands because MS couldn't be housed with other criminals or gang populations.

The prison was built to house about inmates but, as of , it's home to about 2, There's a semblance of society within the prison and each inmate fills a particular role. The prison has bakers, carpenters, and even nurses - although they may not have formal training. Brenda Paz ran away to join the MS as a young girl. She became one of the most well-known witnesses against the gang and didn't live to see her 19th birthday.

In , Paz witnessed her boyfriend kill her friend in cold blood in Virginia. The following year, police apprehended her in relation to auto theft and started talking. The information she gave to federal and state authorities proved so valuable they placed her in the witness protection program. Paz was moved to a new state and given the chance at a new life, but her attraction to the gang remained strong.

While in witness protection, Paz contacted old friends and escaped protection to meet up with gang members. She even let them visit her safe-house in Minneapolis. In the summer of , Paz fled witness protection for the final time and returned to Virginia, but there was already a hit put out on her.

Three weeks later, a fisherman found her mutilated body on a riverbank. Within MS, women are allegedly seen as sex objects and abused physically and emotionally. There's an initiation process for women who want to be in the gang. In some cases, instead of enduring a beating from everyone in the clique, women reportedly have to sleep with all of the male members. MS also uses women as drug mules because they're regarded with less suspicion by authorities. Despite mistreatment, there are a surprising number of women who opt for this lifestyle.

But if a female member does leave, she often has a difficult time escaping harassment from MS members. Many MS members are covered in tattoos. It's not only for intimidation, but also to display loyalty to the group. Many of the tattoos have meanings related to gang culture and history and crimes members have committed. Four alleged MS members were charged with that crime.

Another two alleged members were charged at the same time with the murder of a fellow gang member said to have violated gang protocol. The same month, two alleged members of the gang in Houston, Texas were charged with kidnapping three teenage girls, holding them hostage and raping them before shooting one dead on the side of the road.

Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, and Diego Hernandez-Rivera, 18, laughed and waved at the cameras during their court appearance. MS's motto is "kill, rape, control", according to one FBI gang specialist who investigated the group. Mr Trump and Mr Sessions have pointed the finger at former President Barack Obama over the spread of MS, alleging that his open-door immigration policies fuelled its growth. But the gang formed and flourished in the US long before Mr Obama came to power.

MS was identified as a significant threat in the s, and a special FBI taskforce was convened against the gang in The Obama administration also prioritised the deportation of gang criminals, including MS members, in an aggressive deportation program.

Sign-up to get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning. Prison life in El Salvador. US targets El Salvador gang cash. MS gang accused of New York murders. Image source, Getty Images. But what is MS and is Obama really to blame? A reputation for extreme violence.

Brutal initiations. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Inside El Salvador's Ciudad Barrios prison. Blaming Obama. Image source, Reuters. Politifact rated Mr Trump's claim as false. Published 20 November Published 12 October