Attributes of a Organized Crime Group Essay

While many Americans be familiar with roots such(prenominal) as Al-Qaida, they atomic number 18 less k straightwayledgeable round a conference cattle farm terror within the linked States inner cites. This separate is the mara Salvatrucha, likewise known as MS-13. This essay allow for centre on the history, structure, operation, activities and participants of the mathematical group known as MS-13. The focus go away as well include the groups involvement in the drug trade and practice of law enforcement efforts to mollycoddle the groups activities. As the group gains strength in total and with knowledge, it becomes increasingly more dangerous for anyone to encounter them.During the early 1980s, a polished war took place in El Salvador. The war lasted everywhere 12 years and resulted in approximately 100,000 casualties (Valdez, 2000). The war caused fear among the citizens in El Salvador and as a result, over one million people fled to the linked States. El Salva dor refuges began to settle in southerlyern California and Washington D.C., with the largest sign group settling in Los Angeles.When the first group of El Salvadorians refuges colonised in the Rampart area of Los Angeles, they were met with opposition. The Mexican residents did not welcome them and they became targets of local anaesthetic tintinnabulation abandon (known ringings, n.d.). As a result, a group of refugees created a new face pack to protect themselves. This aggroup became known as mara Salvatrucha. The name is believed to have been derived from combining the word mara, which is the Spanish word for armament ant, with the word Salvatrucha, which is slang for Salvadorian (Wikipedia, n.d.)When mara Salvatrucha initially leaped, their goal was to protect themselves from oppowebsite Los Angeles crowds. galore(postnominal) initial members of mara Salvatrucha had connections with a violent pass gang from El Salvador, called La mara. Several otherwises previousl y belonged to paramilitary groups. One such group, Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL), was comprised of Salvadorians trained in guerilla warfare. Many in this group were knowledgeable in the use of explosives, booby traps and other patchs (Valdez, 2000).Soon after organizing, Mara Salvatrucha gained a reputation for creation greatly organized and became known for extreme violence and sad natural action (Valdez, 2000). Today, this gang is known as one of the virtually violent gangs in existence. This group adopted the letterM as their symbol or gang sign. Members display this symbol by pointing lead fingers downward. Mara Salvatrucha overly identifies with the get 13, which is their way of paying hom historic period to the prison gang, the Mexican Mafia (Know Gangs, n.d.). In addition, Mara Salvatrucha members also use the term sureno as a get up of identification. The term sureno means southerner and is often abbreviated as SUR (Valdez, 2000).Mara Salvatrucha m embers are usually heavily tattooed with these symbols. Since there are other gangs victimisation close to of these symbols, Mara Salvatrucha members may be hard to identify. This gang impart use M or MS in addition to the image 13 or Sureno (Valdez,2000). Today, Mara Salvatrucha has many associate gangs, or rings. At times, other tattoos may include the name of an associate gang or mob (Valdez, 2000).Upon initial organization of the gang, many members were arrested and deported.Initially, the deportees were sent to the Guezaltepeque Prison in ElSalvador. While in prison, deportees recruited members, which extended Mara Salvatrucha into prison gangs. As a result, this gang began to grow in the streets of El Salvador as healthy as the United States (Know Gangs,n.d.).When Mara Salvatrucha was first organized the members were of El Salvadorian descent. Today, the group participates in many malefactor activities which include other gangs.thitherfore, Mara Salvatrucha has now allo wed other racial groups to join their organization.Today, Mara Salvatrucha includes members from Guatemal4 Honduras and Mexico. MaraSalvatrucha also has a small number of Black members (Valdez, 2000).Mara Salvatrucha is becoming a with child(p) problem for law enforcement. They are tough in many miserable activities and a number of high level criminal enterprises (Valdez, 2000). Some of their criminal activities include car theft, carjacking, sexual assaults, robbery, home invasion, weapons smuggling, car jacking, murder, illegal firearm sales and drug trafficking. Mara Salvatrucha jointly traffic cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine. Additionally, Mara Salvatrucha members initiated a tax payment for all non-member drug dealers and prostitutes who work on their turf. These non-members must pay the tax or face consequences of guaranteed violence (Valdez, 2000). bodily structureMara Salvatrucha is a by and large structured street gang. There is no atomic number 53 pea ker of governing authority directing the daily operation of all Mara Salvatrucha cliques (U.S. segment of Justice, 2002). The Los Angeles-based clique is the most prominent clique of this gang finishedoutthe country. The cliques throughout the country usually follow the Los Angeles clique. For example, when the Los Angeles-based clique designates another street gang as an enemy (The 18ft street Gang) or forms an alliance with another street gang (The Mexican Mafia) the other cliques throughout the country often follow suit. The members of Mara Salvatrucha inLos Angeles, New York urban center and Washington D.C./ northern Virginia maintain strong ties with one another. This is often through with(p) through family relationships and friendships, and increasingly are meeting to coordinate and conduct criminal activity (U.S. Department of Justice, 2002).Mara Salvatrucha cliques in Los Angeles often have found internal organizations with designated leaders. Several Los Angeles cliqu es have adopted a military-type organizational structure, appointing captains, lieutenants, and soldiers (U.S. Department of Justice, 2002). The cliques that are based outside of Los Angeles tend to not appoint authorised leaders. There are few assigned roles for the members of these cliques. The senior members of such cliques lead meetings and plan the criminal activities of the cliques. The senior members are usually entrusted with the treasury aspects of the cliques as well.Despite all its acts of violence, what may be most alarming about the MS-13 gang is its increasing organization and structure that many leading experts are comparing to criminal factions of the 1950s such as the Mafia and nut houses Angels, (Logan and Morse, 2007). In 2004 the National Drug Intelligence Center stated that the gang may be increasing its coordination with MS-13 chapters in Los Angeles, Washington D.C./Northern Virginia and New York City, possibly signaling an attempt to build a field of stud y command structure (Logan and Morse, 2002). law enforcement has questioned the organized, national leadership structure of the MS-13.There is thought by law enforcement that MS-13 members of various cliques might simply accept in networking.OperationIn order to join or to be introduced into the gang, one must under go a ceremony of being jumped in. In Washington D.C. a young boy of the tender age of 1l sought after membership because some kids from a local condition kept beating him up, in order for those beatings to cometo a enlistment he would have to undergo one more beating and that would be from his friends in the gang- As the 11 year old child was located in the circle of gang members, the five strongest of the group entered the arena do up of humans. And as the members proceeded to count slowly to 13, the child was kicked and beaten over and over until he finally lay motionless on the ground. If this had been a girl, the ceremony would have not only included her being b eaten, besides also being gang raped by six members of this group. (et, al 1998)This of course is to prove your worth and loyalty and of course this is only the counterbalance of the process of initiation into this gang. In regards to MS- I 3 you must also prove yourself, by committing a violent act against someone else, and consort to what they have written you can accomplish this act in three different ways beating, raping, or murdering someone. (et, al 1998)Once in Mara Salvatrucha you are in for life. There have been numerous occasions where a member of the gang has wanted to leave and when this happens the gang members have allowance to kill, maim or commit whatever act they choose on that member whose intentions are to leave the gang. Another defining characteristic evaluate ofMS-l3 is their absolute intolerance for any person who has the inclination of going to the law and informing them of any activity that the gang is in or has been involved in. One unfortunate soulf ulness had his hands completely removed and and then was shot in the head. (et, al 1998)One, tell tell sign that an idiosyncratic is in the lustrous gang is thenumerous tattoos that are all over the body, even on the face. Most common are the numbers 1 and 3, or text MS, and even l8 tattooed on any part of their body. Symbols also behave the gang and those consists of crossbones, daggers, and dice. Most importantly the symbol will represent what that particular individual brings to the cell or group i.e. if a individual has a grenade on part of his body he/she is known for weapons or explosives in some fashion or form. (et, al 1998), (Valdez 2000)Activities and ParticipantsThe Mara, or MS-l3 gang members, are large in number. Like al-Qaid4 they operate loose, autonomous cells that form a broad transnational network (cells are groups of at least 20 members). The individual cells are very sophisticated. Some are inclined to intelligence gathering, propaganda, recruitment and logis tics as well as their more common activities of drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and murder (Elkus, 2007). Specifically, MS members are engaged in sell drug trafficking, primarily trafficking in powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana, and to a lesser extent, in methamphetamine and heroin. The drug proceeds are then laundered through seemingly legitimate businesses in the communities (FBI, 2005). ln the cities or other areas under MS control, members have managed to create zones of autonomy where they provide a system of superciliousness and protection to the people in exchange for allegiance and tribute.Mara Salvatrucha is considered the fast growing, most violent and least understood of the nations street gangs. There are believed to be an estimated 10,000 members across 33 states in the United States (Campo-Flores, 2007). This is possibly due in part to the nations focus on the war against terrorism post 9/11. Focus on gang and gang activity was reduced and re sources were aimed elsewhere in most law enforcement agencies, specifically at the federal level.That has since changed. In December of2004 a multi-agency MS-13 National Gang Task military force was created with focus on the dismantling of MS- I 3 (FBI, 2005). This was done because of the violence exhibited by MS-13 and based on the historical precedent of other similar gangs and organized criminal organizations. correspond tointelligence gathered by the FBI, MS-13 still appears to be a loosely structured street gang however, its threat is based on its violence and its potential to grow, not only geographically, but in its organization and sophistication.As mentioned earlier, these gang members affiliate themselves into groups known as cliques. Each clique will have a local leader called the shot caller and concord to the FBI, there is no evidence to support the existence of a single leader or governing authority which is directing the daily activity of all MS-13 cliques. There is some evidence, however, of an increased level of sophistication and some indications of a hierarchy of leadership (FBI, 2005).The National Gang Task Force continues to gather information make arrests of known MS-13 members and continues to develop strategies to control this group.Law Enforcement EffortsAccording to Valdez, MS gang members have no trepidation towards law enforcement.They act mostly defiant and are not easily persuaded formerly they have a goal in mind. The MaraSalvatrucha group is creditworthy for the deaths of three federal agents and of many more shootings of police officers across the country. (Valdez, 2000)What the police and the courts have used to deter criminal activity from this particular group is arrest/incarceration and deportation. From April 1994 thru August 1995, theImmigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detained and deported over 100 MS members toEl Salvador. (Valdez, 2000) A good number of the Mara Salvatrucha group are here in theUnited Sta tes illegally, and are distressed in regards to this particular matter. In the event they do get deported their families will be unprotected and by transporting the gang members back toEl Salvador they are at risk for losing their lives by the Sombra Negra (Black Shadow) death squad. The Sombra Negra is a group make up of miscreant police and military personnel whose intention is to do away with unwanted criminals and gang members for vigilante Justice.(Valdez, 2000)ReferencesCampo-Flores, A. (2007). The Most Dangerous Gang in America Inside the battle to police Mara Salvatrucha. _Newsweek_ skirt 28, 2007.Elkus, A. (2007). _Foreign Policy in Focus Gangs, Terrorists, and Trade._ April12, 2007 Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http//www.fuif.ore/fpiftxt/4144FBI. (2005). Federal Bureau of Investigation-Press Room-Headline Archives. Retrieved January 28, 2008 from http//www.fbi.gov/paee2ljuly05/ms/07 1 305.htmKnow Gangs.Com. (n.d.). Mara Salvatrucha MS-13. Retrieved January 28, 2008 fro m www.knowganes.con/eang resources/profiles/ms13MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha 13). Retrieved January 28, 2008, from Altered Dimisions Web site http//www.altereddimensions.net/crime/MS13Gang.htmValdez, Al. (2000). Mara Salvatrucha Street Gang (Al Quedas Friends). Retrieved January 28, 2008 from www.freereoublic.com/focus/f-newsValdez, Al. (2000). Mara Salvatrucha A South American Import. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations Web site http//www.nagia.ore/Gang-Related%2OAfiicles.htmWikipedia (n.d.). Mara Salvatrucha. Retrieved January 28, 2008 fromhttp//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mara_Salvatrucha