“Street gang activities of MS-13 have a major effect in regards to homeland security?” The purpose of this paper seeks to justify that the street gang activities of MS-13 affects and poses a threat to the homeland security.
The Mara Salvatrucha is the most notorious gang in America to date. The gang is commonly referred to as MS-13. It is believed that MS-13 is comprised of over 70,000 members who are distributed in every state in Northern and Latin America. The gang has cultivated a legacy that has involved various criminal activities that are not limited but include drug trafficking, murder, laundering, and extortion. 2012 the Obama administration declared Mara Salvatrucha as an international criminal organization after the gang expanded their operations in countries outside of the United States. After the Obama administration declared the gang as an international criminal organization, several law enforcement agencies were tasked with the duty of eliminating the organization and their operations (Strickland, 2009). Understanding the threat that this criminal group poses to the homeland security in the US there is a necessity to understand what exactly the Mara Salvatrucha criminal group is. …show more content…
The MS-13 majority members are traditionally Salvadorian nationals. However, there are growing with expansion from countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Hondurans, and other South America immigrants. The gang is estimated to be operating in every state in the US thus there is a need that the locals in every state be vigilant and report any suspicious activities in their neighborhoods as it relates to organized crime. Understanding gang life, it is important to understand it is a culture that captivates youth in poverty and despair. There are six common misconceptions that people have in this group. The first misconception that people have towards this group is that MS-13 is a homogenous gang worldwide. This misconception is the most common one that many people have especially those residing in the US. Many people believe that MS-13 is a gang with transnational coordination in that it operates under a central management. In reality, the Mara Salvatrucha gang group has no uniform organization profile. This organization is typically a fractured organization operating in different countries independently which share the same cultures and origin. It is an inaccurate assumption that the operations of MS-13 gang groups in one country are the same as that in other countries. Time has made the MS-13 gang group to transform as well as evolve a situation which has weakened the links between different MS-13 groups around the world. In every country, the MS-13 gang groups make their decisions based on the environments in which they operate in (Garcia, 2016). The second misconception is that the gang members of MS-13 always carry out crimes on behalf of MS-13. MS-13 carry out violent crimes on behalf of the MS-13 since and members of this gang carry out criminal activities for personal reasons. The personal vendettas cause major corruption within the locale gang and their counterparts. An example that helps us understand that this assumption is wrong is the action by one criminal gang member of the Fulton Locus Clique called” Joker.” In the mid-2000s, Joker was involved in trafficking children from Tijuana to California. This action was done for personal income generation and was not an act of the entire gang but rather individuals. (Garcia, 2016). The third common misconception is that MS-13 is directly affiliated with the cartels. This is another misconception since the MS-13 is involved in a smaller-scale distribution and movement of drugs which is limited in nature. Most members of the MS-13 take a secondary role in the illegal drug market and …show more content…
This belief is a misconception people have and result from statements by many government officials who have no reasons justifying the lack of investigation of murders. Most government officials, especially in the security agencies, justify murders of victims stating that they were killed for refusing to join MS-13 which gives the wrong message to the general public. It is a fact that if an individual is interested in joining the MS-13 gang group, one is required to have interest and show commitment through writing two letters to the gang. For the gang to approve the letters, one must be tested if he is committed, and thus one is required to kill someone before they are accepted into the gang (Garcia,
The Mara Salvatrucha is the most notorious gang in America to date. The gang is commonly referred to as MS-13. It is believed that MS-13 is comprised of over 70,000 members who are distributed in every state in Northern and Latin America. The gang has cultivated a legacy that has involved various criminal activities that are not limited but include drug trafficking, murder, laundering, and extortion. 2012 the Obama administration declared Mara Salvatrucha as an international criminal organization after the gang expanded their operations in countries outside of the United States. After the Obama administration declared the gang as an international criminal organization, several law enforcement agencies were tasked with the duty of eliminating the organization and their operations (Strickland, 2009). Understanding the threat that this criminal group poses to the homeland security in the US there is a necessity to understand what exactly the Mara Salvatrucha criminal group is. …show more content…
The MS-13 majority members are traditionally Salvadorian nationals. However, there are growing with expansion from countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Hondurans, and other South America immigrants. The gang is estimated to be operating in every state in the US thus there is a need that the locals in every state be vigilant and report any suspicious activities in their neighborhoods as it relates to organized crime. Understanding gang life, it is important to understand it is a culture that captivates youth in poverty and despair. There are six common misconceptions that people have in this group. The first misconception that people have towards this group is that MS-13 is a homogenous gang worldwide. This misconception is the most common one that many people have especially those residing in the US. Many people believe that MS-13 is a gang with transnational coordination in that it operates under a central management. In reality, the Mara Salvatrucha gang group has no uniform organization profile. This organization is typically a fractured organization operating in different countries independently which share the same cultures and origin. It is an inaccurate assumption that the operations of MS-13 gang groups in one country are the same as that in other countries. Time has made the MS-13 gang group to transform as well as evolve a situation which has weakened the links between different MS-13 groups around the world. In every country, the MS-13 gang groups make their decisions based on the environments in which they operate in (Garcia, 2016). The second misconception is that the gang members of MS-13 always carry out crimes on behalf of MS-13. MS-13 carry out violent crimes on behalf of the MS-13 since and members of this gang carry out criminal activities for personal reasons. The personal vendettas cause major corruption within the locale gang and their counterparts. An example that helps us understand that this assumption is wrong is the action by one criminal gang member of the Fulton Locus Clique called” Joker.” In the mid-2000s, Joker was involved in trafficking children from Tijuana to California. This action was done for personal income generation and was not an act of the entire gang but rather individuals. (Garcia, 2016). The third common misconception is that MS-13 is directly affiliated with the cartels. This is another misconception since the MS-13 is involved in a smaller-scale distribution and movement of drugs which is limited in nature. Most members of the MS-13 take a secondary role in the illegal drug market and …show more content…
This belief is a misconception people have and result from statements by many government officials who have no reasons justifying the lack of investigation of murders. Most government officials, especially in the security agencies, justify murders of victims stating that they were killed for refusing to join MS-13 which gives the wrong message to the general public. It is a fact that if an individual is interested in joining the MS-13 gang group, one is required to have interest and show commitment through writing two letters to the gang. For the gang to approve the letters, one must be tested if he is committed, and thus one is required to kill someone before they are accepted into the gang (Garcia,