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Criminal organizations have been around the streets of America for many years. Over the years, the definition of “organized crimes” has grown into multiple different meanings. According to the FBI, “organized crime as any group having some manners of a formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities.” In my opinion, organized crimes are mostly used within dangerous gangs and they’ll eliminate anyone who stands in their way. MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, is a very good example of transnational criminal organization, and I believe that Mara Salvatrucha is perhaps the most notorious and dangerous street gang in United States and El Salvador. I think MS-13 is disciplined enough to be considered organized crime, because this gang is responsible for both national and international criminal enterprises. Throughout this essay I will tell you about the origins of this gang, how they recruit the new members, and in what criminal activities that they’re involved, along with examples of crimes that they’ve committed.
The Mara Salvatrucha, aka MS-13 was founded on the mean streets of Los Angeles in the 1980s. During the civil war in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, many of the refugees came to Los Angeles, and lived among the Mexican blocks of East Los Angeles. While the Mexican gangs ruled the local streets, the refugees organized themselves into competing gangs, and the Mara Salvatrucha was one of them. MS-13 was initially composed of refugees from El Salvador in the Pico Union neighborhood. In think that the gang’s main purpose was to protect the Salvadoran immigrants from African-Americans and Mexicans, but that idea changed over the years. When the gang expanded through cities and states,...
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...d bars for the rest of their life without parole for doing such things. The MS-13 is a substantial gang that is spreading throughout the cities of America; therefore, citizens need to be alert and aware of the crimes this gang is capable of committing, and that they should inform the local or federal authorities if they see something suspicious around their neighborhood.
In conclusion, I think that MS-13 plays a huge role in our society based on the crimes that they’ve committed and, I also think that MS-13 is one of the most ruthless gangs in United States of America. The violence that MS-13 perpetrates is unprecedented in this country, and they do not limit their brutality towards rival gang members. Whether a civilian or law enforcement agents, no one is safe as long as this dangerous/notorious gang exists on streets of El Salvador and United States of America.
As we open our eyes to the world around us, we see that crime comes in many different shapes and sizes. Organized crime is really not much different, it is a larger scale of individuals with the same goals, to commit criminal acts, normal for money or profit. As early as the 1700’s immigrants have been submitted to organized crime. They migrate to the United States and other countries in search for a better life but sometimes get caught up in the American system of wanting money and power and feel as though the illegal way is the only way of achieving this.
These members that follow the rules blindly are subjected to loyalty. The consequences are grim if a member doesn’t obey the rules. In the documentary the reporter interviewed former members of MS 13. There is no hope for a former MS 13 member. “There’s no way out” states a previous MS 13 member “but either by hospital, jail, or death.” They’re jails strictly filled with all MS 13 members. If you’re a refugee to MS 13 jail is your safe haven. Many men who leave the organization flee to jails to seek protection. Because if they were on the streets they would end up dead. If you leave MS 13 there’s a target on your back. Once you’re in MS 13 you’re committed for life. No exceptions. No excuses. If you want out of the gang that is a sign of being disloyal. If you leave not only are you in serious danger, but your family are now at risk as well. The ultimate penalty of disloyalty is to be killed. That’s why many men who leave the gang go to jail for protection. The only correct answer in MS 13 rule book is to live your whole life solely devoted to the gang. These types of rules foster fear of leaving and that’s why a lot of members continue the path they’re on so that they can protect there family. The leaders of MS 13 make up the rules and their followers are required to follow them because there is no other option. When it comes to a right and wrong decision the leaders make the final decision. There’s only one
Dismissed by the police as mere adjuncts to or gofers for male gangs, girl gang members are in fact often as emotionally closed off and dangerous as their male counterparts. Carrying razor blades in their mouths and guns in their jackets for defense, they initiate drive-by shootings, carry out car-jackings, stomp outsiders who stumble onto or dare to enter the neighborhood, viciously retaliate against other gangs and ferociously guard their home turf.
The MS13 is a perfect example of a counterculture. They are a world within themselves. The gang is very organized and structured; there is hierarchy with the gang. There is a significant amount of money flow within the gang. A few ways the gang obtains money is by drug dealing, illegal weapons, vendors pay the gang to work in their territories and for their protection, and drug dealers also pay the gang to earn the right to sell drugs in their territories. There are laws and rules that a gang member must abide by. One very strict rule for a gang member is silence. If a gang member becomes informant and it is found out that they are, it will more than likely result in death for the informant. The breaking of laws and rules are punishable, even by death. They have a law system and law enforcement of their own. Check courting is a punishment served by the gang to gang members who break the laws of the gang. There are initiations one must endure to become a member of the gang. Jumping in is one of the initiations, a brutal thirteen second beating by multiple people at the same time. (World’s Most Dangerous Gang) There is a communication system within the gang. They use stacking to communicate, tattoos, graffiti, and an overall dialect that is unique to the gang. This counterculture exists internationally inside and outside of prison walls. Within the gang there are individual cliques, but when threatened they will come together and fight alongside one another. It is instilled in a gang member to kill to maintain territory and to acquire new territories. T...
Having grown increasingly frustrated with these rampant displays of impunity by gangs, the Salvadoran public pressured its government to prioritize public security above all else. In response, the Salvadoran government has attempted to tackle the gang phenomenon using several strategies and methods which have evolved, due to the political and economic dynamics of the country and region, over time.
Surprisingly, little has been written about the historical significance of black gangs in Los Angeles (LA). Literature and firsthand interviews with Los Angeles residents seem to point to three significant periods relevant to the development of the contemporary black gangs. The first period, which followed WWII and significant black migrations from the South, is when the first major black clubs formed. After the Watts rebellion of 1965, the second period gave way to the civil rights period of Los Angeles where blacks, including those who where former club members who became politically active for the remainder of the 1960s. By the early 1970s black street gangs began to reemerge. By 1972, the Crips were firmly established and the Bloods were beginning to organize. This period saw the rise of LA’s newest gangs, which continued to grow during the 1970s, and later formed in several other cities throughout the United States by the 1990s. While black gangs do not make up the largest or most active gang population in Los Angeles today, their influence on street gang culture nationally has been profound.
Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, is a well-known transnational criminal organization (TCO) originating from El Salvador. They are specifically targeted for its involvement in transnational criminal activities including drug trafficking, kidnapping, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and many more. It is certain that there are more transnational gangs other than MS-13, but the reality of these gangs impact society, and their neighborhoods, more than one can imagine. There are underlying realities “that make it difficult to generalize [the gangs].” The one of many underlying realities is that each neighborhood level gang group of transnational gangs, particularly MS-13, has a “great deal of autonomy in the relationship it maintains with other organizations.” The second reality factor is that gangs, especially MS-13 in El Salvador are in a state of turmoil. The third reality factor is that the gangs in Central America differ from each other in significant ways. Although most gangs are involved in human smuggling and drug retail, MS-13 has a solidified relationship with “transportista networks and are reaching out to Mexican TCOs.” These realities can be analyzed with Taussig’s notions and theoretical framework of space of death.
Nuestra Familia (NF, Spanish for Our Family) was created in the late 1960’s at the Soledad Correction Training Facility in California. (NF 2011) Nuestra Familia was created because some of the Spanish inmates had gotten tired of the abuse handed out by the Mexican Mafia to fellow Mexicans. (Nuestra Family (2011)) Nuestra Familia was created as protection from the Mexican Mafia for young Mexican-American from rural areas. The first members of Nuestra Familia were strictly from Northern or Central California. (NF 2011) The all-out prison war between the Mexican Mafia and Nuestra Familia occurred in 1968 when Sonny Pena was stabbed to death by a member of the Mexican Mafia at San Quentin state prison. The recruitment for the two gangs split California in two. ...
One of the major problems of corrections today is the security threat group - more commonly known as the prison gang. A security threat group (STG) can be defined as any group of offenders who pose a treat to the security and physical safety of the institution. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, prison gangs focused primarily on uniting inmates for self protection and the monopolization of illegal prison activities for monetary gain (F.B.P., 1994, p. 2). STGs are mostly divided along racial lines and practiced defiance towards authority. STGs use a variety of hand signs, alphabet codes, tattoos, and different types of gang terminology. Gangs characteristically have rivals and make an alliance with other gangs. The criminal activity of S.T.G.’s does not only exist inside the confines of the prison walls, but has flowed to the outside world. “Prostitution, extortion, drug selling, gambling, loan sharking – such activities are invariably operated by prison gangs” (Gaines, Kaune, Miller, 2000, p.652). The Texas Prison System consists of eleven classified security threat groups; Texas chooses to classify a gang as a STG when they become involved in violent activity. “Prison gangs exist in the institutions of forty states and also in the federal system” (Clear and Cole, 2000, p. 260). Three main stages that the offender will experience with the S.T.G. are recruitment, the gang experience, and affiliation upon release.
The first ever gang-group was created just after the American Revolution ended around 1783. This group consisted of White European immigrants, mainly English, German, and Irish. However, the first serious gang originated around 1820 in New York City. At many times gangs were made informally, in 1826, in the back room of Rosanna Peer’s greengrocery, the first well-organized gang was formed. Through the 1860 to 1980’s period, many more gangs produced in New York City. Asian and European descent, the Chinese, Italians, Austrians, and many more began to create even worse slum conditions for the City. The criminal activity had started to shift around New York, from Manhattan to East Harlem, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Many fighting gangs soon began to emerge from the African descent, and a little ways after, black gangs appeared around 1950. Later in the 1950’s, a “slum clearance” project in the City began where several thousan...
As a result, the law enforcement officials have proven to have a lack of empathy and the poor connection to their county. Which has provoked many citizens to speak out against law enforcement and in view of the opinion of the newscasters it has “created a climate of fear” and has left the Latin community feeling intimidated and helpless. The government has precautionary reactions to this violence and have observed the organization of MS-13. The video then speaks of the gangs as “domestic terrorists” with the most threatening crimes, such as the piling unsolved homicide cases, which have led to many suspects. Government officials chose to state that these gang members would be eradicated from their community, by remaining fully committed to “finishing the job”.
There were groups such as the Black Panthers, and the US Organization, which were known to have been rivals due to false rumors that had been spread by the government and the media. Black Panthers were known to have offered a more reliable source of protection during this time than the police did for African Americans. Sloan interviews current and former gang members from a variety of gangs spread throughout Los Angeles. He gives us a different perspective on where gangs came from and why they formed. Although they were originally formed to protect African Americans, they have strayed far from where they started.
The LA Eme is a Hispanic Organized crime. Both in Prison and in the street gangs in CA. The La Eme (the Mexican Mafia) was found in 1957 by Luis Flores AKA Huero Buff. Flores and gangs of other gangs founded the LA Eme. The La Eme are there to protect Hispanics from other gangs with in the prison of California corrections moved some La Ema members to San Quentin to prevent Gang Activities at DTI.
Franco, C., (2007, May). The MS-13 and 18th street gangs:Emerging transnational gang threats, Retrieved from http://opencrs.com/document/RL34233/2007-11-02/download/1006/.
It is surprisingly difficult to pinpoint the origin of street gangs. This may be because of the inherent nature of gangs: a group of individuals who come together for the same purpose and in the case of str...