MS-13 final

MS-13 History and Origins

The Mara Salvatrucha gang originated in Los Angeles, in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants in the neighborhood between Pico and Wilshire also know as the city's Pico-Union neighborhood. They immigrated to the United States Due to a 12-year civil war in El Salvador, which resulted in over 100,000 deaths and over a million refugees(www.ms13gang.com). The Salvadorian refugees and immigrants predominantly settled in southern California and Washington, D.C. Some of the refugees and immigrants had ties with La Mara, a violent street gang from El Salvador. Others had been members the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL) during the El Salvadorian civil war(Rimmer, 2009). FMNL was made up of Salvadorian peasants who were trained as guerilla fighters. Many were adept at using guerilla tactics and working with explosives, firearms, and booby traps.
Salvadorians were not accepted into the Los Angeles Hispanic community, and were frequently targeted by local Hispanic and African American gangs notably the 18th street gang. Due to this suffering, in the late 1980s, some refugee members of La Mara and FMNL formed what is now known as the Mara Salvatrucha (MS) street gang. Like many other street gangs, MS initially formed for protection, but quickly developed a reputation for being organized and extremely violent criminal enterprise.
The gang’s rivals took note. One, known as the Mexican Mafia, or “la eme” for short, and is one of the most storied of California’s gangs, decided to integrate the MS into their regional Latino gang alliance. Called the “Surenos,” the alliance included many prominent gangs and stretched into much of the southwest of the United States and Mexico. It afforded the MS more protection in the barrios and in prison. In return, the MS provided hit men and added the number 13, the position M occupies