This article is going to bring the M18 into the MS article ready for publication. I can't edit it in one fell swoop so I will do it at this page, watching for any changes in original article. --SqueakBox 01:25, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Mara Salvatrucha are the MS-13 and the M18 are 2 street gang from El Salvador that currently also have a strong presence in Honduras and the United States of America and a weaker one in Guatemala. They are deadly rivals, and initiation rites to enter one or other gang often involve killing an enemy from the other gang.

Beginnings

The Maras emerged out of 1960's El Salvadoran gangs, and then spread to the Los Angeles in the 1980's through refugees from the country's violent civil war, and from illegal Salvadoran immigrants in the United States of America. It may have spread to Honduras from Hondurans in the US. Salvadoran youths were not readily accepted by other Hispanics, and particularly Mexicans in the area and were often attacked by these countries owned gangs.

The Salvadoreans formed MS-13 and M18 as a means of protecting themselves from other street gangs. Theu become deadly rivals, and like any gang of serious criminals became involved in committing crimes such as drug and weapons trafficking, bank robberies, murder and rape.

Geographical presence

The age of an MS-13 or M18 member can range from as young as 11 to as old as 50. While mainly found in Central America and in Los Angeles they can now be found in 33 US states including the rest of California, Washington DC, Oregon, Alaska, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, and Rhode Island. MS-13 and M18 have also been active in Canada and Mexico. Many of the initial MS-13 and MS-18 members were former guerrilla fighters from the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) paramilitary group. Members of the FMLN group were trained in firearms, explosives and booby traps. There is no centralization or hierarchy among the gangs from different regions, although a 2004 report by the National Drug Intelligence Center of the US says that chapters of MS-13 and M18 in different areas may be trying to set up coordination networks.

When it first began in the U.S., MS-13 and M18 only allowed Salvadorans as members but today the gangs now includes members from as far afield as Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and Ecuador,. MS-13 and M18 have some blacks as members, particularly in the US and in the north of Honduras. Members are strongly encouraged to get tattoos on their body that express their alligence to MS-13. Those who join are expected to remain members for life, and anyone who leaves the gang is killed. Recently, a teenage female in Long Island, New York, who was an MS-13 member but left the gang so she could return to high school and go to college, first received death threats and then was gunned down by her former friends in MS-13 for leaving the gang. Her parents were making plans to move her out of the state so that she could be beyond MS-13's reach and have a clean start, but they were too late. It is not uncommon for ex-members to leave the state after they quit MS-13. Many ex-members who leave MS-13 leave the state that they lived in to get a fresh start and to avoid death at the hands of MS-13 members.

The origin of the names

The name ;ara come from the Spanish word Marabundi, which is a type of ant. In Salvadoran slang the word had also come to mean posse. Salvatrucha was a Salvadoran word for a hard young man. The origins of "13" and 18 are not certain, though the letter "M" is the thirteenth letter of alphabet, and is a frequently used letter in names fo Southern California Latino gangs, and used to distinguish it from the Northern California gangs, which use the number "14". The number "13" is also used symbolically in the gang's rites of passage. The MS have a reputation to do their killings on the 13th and the M18 on the 18th of any month.

Gang markings

MS-13 and M18 members have tattoos on most of their upper body, including the arms and face, with lettering done in Gothic style. The MS and 13, or M18 is always tattooed on them. Other tatoo marks include the letters "SUR" for sureño or "southerner", and pentagrams. Typical attire of members is blue and white pro sport jerseys, often with the number "13", (blue and white are national colors of both El Salvador and Honduras, bandanas, Nike sneakers. A moustache and partial beard below the mouth but with the cheeks shaven, and very short hair or completely bald, are also sometimes used as distinguishing features by the gangs.

Suspected ties with Al-Qaida

Law enforcement throughout the USA has begun to crackdown hard on MS-13 after it was rumored that members of the international Islamist terrorist group Al Qaida (القاعدة) has been in secret talks with members of MS-13 in Honduras and in Washington DC. Authorities do not know what the talks were about but the possibility of al-Qaida and MS-13 forming even a loose alliance is enough for law enforcement to come down on MS-13 with a "pull-no-punches" attitude.

Sworn enemies

One group sworn to eradicate MS is the Sombra Negra ("Black Shadow") death squad. Sombra Negra is a vigilante group made up of police and soliders in El Salvador that is not controlled by the government. Sombra Negra hunts down and executes all types of criminals, but its specialty is hunting down MS-13 members and executing them. Sombra Negra is said to match the MS-13 and possibly even surpass it in terms of violence and brutality. It is said that MS-13 is deadly afraid of Sombra Negra to the point that there have been several documented incidents where MS-13 members have poured acid on tattoos indentifying them as MS-13 members and then using a cheese grater to scrape off the skin that the tattoo is on. Many MS-13 members in the U.S. are there illegally and are afraid of being deported back to El Salvador where they believe they will face certain death at the hands of Sombra Negra upon their return. It is believed by law enforcement and gang experts that Sombra Negra may be the cause of many of MS-13's most hardcore members leaving El Salvador and coming to the U.S. where law enforcement does not use death squads to hunt down and execute criminals on the streets like they do in El Salvador.

Ernesto Miranda, a.k.a. Smokey, who is a co-founder of the MS in Los Angeles left the gang and is helping children to stay out of gangs. [1]

In March 2005, the United States government announced a crackdown on MS-13. 103 individuals were arrested in seven cities.

External links

• The International Reach of the Mara Salvatrucha story by Mandalit del Barco (National Public Radio).
• Combatting El Salvador's gangs story by Claire Marshall (BBC).
• Youths flock to massive El Salvadorean gang... story by Jeremy McDermott (The Scottsman Online).
• Gang Sweeps Result in 103 Arrests story by Rich Connell and Robert J. Lopez (Los Angeles Times).
• Mara Salvatrucha: A South American Import assessment by the National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations (NAGIA).
• Gang will target Minuteman vigil on Mexico border