U.S. Government joins local law enforcement in targeting MS 13

July 2, 11:48 PMSpokane Homicide ExaminerDoyle Wheeler

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U.S. Government joins local law enforcement in targeting MS 13 to stem their ever increasing violent behavior.

MS 13 has spread from the streets of LA and El Salvador to every major city and many small towns across America. They frequently target honest members of the Hispanic community for extortion, rape, and murder. The gang is involved in drug trafficking and human trafficking as well as auto theft and nearly any other criminal enterprise you can imagine.

Since 2000 members have committed murders in nearly every state in America. They are responsible for hundreds of murders yearly in Central America. It’s not uncommon for MS 13 members to decapitate their victims or cut off an arm or leg. This is to strike terror into their rivals and it works. They are pretty much at the top of the food chain when it comes to Apex predators on the streets of America.

In 2000 they were believed to have upwards of 36,000 members in Honduras alone. When that country passed stiff punishment for being a member of any gang it's believed many of its members came to this country. None of them stopped at the border and filled out citizenship papers.

Once again American law enforcement is forced to try to play catch up. After gang violence began to decline in the late 1990's many cities started cutting back on their gang units. MS 13 was quietly moving in to all of the major cities on the Eastern Sea board. Soon they branched out to every city and took over the lion’s share of the drug trade.

While other gangs are used to shooting each other they find that getting their heads cut off with a machete a bit troubling. The only other gangs as intimidating as MS 13 are the Jamaican Posse, the Russian Mafia, or Dominican Trinitarios but they are almost exclusively in New York and New Jersey.

Frequently the old gang will just settle for a smaller piece of the pie. MS 13 is not afraid to target law enforcement and have recently started acting a lot like a Para military organization. In recent shootouts with police they were found to have AK47's, body armor, night vision devices and communications equipment.

Only the Russian Mob has shown a greater willingness to go after law enforcement, prosecutors and their families. Also like the Russian mob, MS 13 is almost impossible for law enforcement to place an undercover officer inside the gang. Thus they have to depend on informants for information and they are few and far between. Not many people like the prospect of having their head cut off, which is the going price for taking to the police.

Homeland security is reportedly worried that some major terrorist groups will use MS13 to smuggle members into the U.S. along the Mexican border. I contacted a source within Homeland Security who would neither confirm nor deny that intelligence agency fear MS 13 working with terrorist. Most members of MS 13 range in age from 13 to 40 years of age, however recruiting has started with children as young as seven or eight years old.

If the government’s case against Alex Sanchez, executive director of the anti-gang Homies Unidos, holds -up then they will have cut one of the heads off of the snake.

In recent years law enforcement has been able to track the movements of some of the MS 13 members by their distinctive tattoos. So trying to stay one step ahead of the law, many MS13 members have started having their Tattoo's removed.  Alex Sanchez using government grant money and donations is reported to have helped over two hundred MS 13 members to remove their tattoo's.  If he's the reputed head of MS 13 and no one leaves MS 13 alive it stand to reason Sanchez was using taxpayers money to aid MS 13 members in going undercover so to speak.

Using the Racketeering and criminal enterprises statue RICO for short allows the Government to:  1. seize all property and money belonging to any charged member of the gang.

2. It also gives the government a 25 to 30 year mandatory sentences to put the members away. It’s often easier to prove Racketeering than even a single count of murder. Facing a mandatory 30 year sentence the toughest of bad guys will roll over and sing like a song bird.

The Government has recently had its RICO case upheld against the MONGOLS in Arizona and HELLS ANGELS in Washington. Now in the case of the Mongols the government argued that the wearing of their patch was evidence that they were part of a criminal enterprise. If this case stands up on appeal and I believe it will. Watch for the Government to say the MS 13 tattoos are evidence of being a part of a criminal enterprise. It is likely MS 13 has seen this coming and that's why they're losing their tattoos.

This group is constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated.  It will take some serious enforcement efforts to curb the violence this group is willing ready and able to dish out. We have black gangs that commit serious violent crimes. Likewise we have white gangs, oriental gangs, Russian gangs every nationality in this country has a gang associated with it.

You name it they are all dangerous and commit violent crimes. This article is about the fast growing and currently the most violent gang in America. It is not an exercise in “Stereo Typing” or any other political argument or agenda. It is written to point out a very violent group that is most frequently targeting people within the Hispanic community.

Gangs commit domestic terrorism and should be handled exactly the way we handle foreign terrorists. They commit violent crimes to spread fear and terrorize the people in their area of operation from talking to the police or testifying against them.

They use murder, assault, rape, as a recruiting tool. While foreign terrorists are trying to get the American government to change its policies or even topple the government. Local gangs are trying to grow their territory, intimidate other gangs and law enforcement. But their actions are the same, they kill and threaten people. Both groups biggest weapon is fear and intimidation.

In the 1970’s and previous years 70 plus percent of the homicides in America were committed by someone known by the victim. Law enforcement was frequently able to close up to 100 percent of the murders committed within their area in any given year.

As the 1980’s came along and gang violence increased the percentage of murders committed by someone that knew the victim dropped below 40 percent.  Likewise the cancellation rate in homicides dropped to around 50 percent in most major cities.

As gang violence started dropping off in the late 1990’s both numbers started rising again. Now gang related crimes are starting to go up again in many major cities and the stranger homicide rate is going up and open homicide cases that have not been solved are going up proportionately.

A new wave of gang violence is looming on the horizon and MS 13 will be at the center of it!

For more information on MS 13 see: http://www.examiner.com/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m7d2-Criminal-aliens-Notorious-MS13-gang-leaders-members-indicted-by-Feds