Transnational Gangs: Worldwide
According to the Congressional Research Service report on MS-13 and 18th Street Gangs, transnational gangs are characterized by one or more of the following:
- Being criminally active in more than one country
- Committing crimes in one country that are controlled by gang leaders in another country
- Being mobile and adaptive to new areas of operation
- Having sophisticated criminal activities that transcend borders 1
The case of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 has recently brought the phenomenon of transnational gangs to the national stage. Born out of the Salvadoran civil war in the 1980's into the rough neighborhoods of Los Angeles, MS-13 has grown to nearly 10,000 members across 33 states. This has led to increased attention from law enforcement agencies and immigration officials, whose deportation policies reinforce the flow of gang culture to and from El Salvador. 2
Background
The story begins with the civil war in El Salvador lasting from 1980 to 1992. The conflict was characterized by roaming death squads and the hundreds of thousands that fled the country. Many of the exiles settled in Los Angeles,California, bringing with them a history of violence. The youth among these immigrants, including sons and daughters of former guerilla and government soldiers, joined together as a band of brothers to protect each other from the predominantly Mexican gangs of Los Angeles. Their past experiences of the brutality of war in El Salvador, as perpetrators, victims, and bystanders, as well as the living conditions of their new homes in America served to prepare many of the youth for entry into the gang culture. It is also due to these unsettling origins that MS-13 achieved its notoriety, deservingly or not, as one of the more violent gangs in America. It has quickly expanded its membership to include first and second generation immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. 3
