Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Ms-13

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Ms-13

    This is a really weird gang. They're known to be among the most brutal of gangs, but mostly they don't peddle drugs. Right now, they get by by petty crime and begging.

    Begging?

    Yes, begging. It sort of reminds me of a cult rather than a gang, although I admit that as a guy growing up in the rural midwest, I don't know too much about gang life. The way it is different from a cult is that the violence seems related to pretty intense territoriality rather than some religious precept.

    Here's a very interesting article from the WaPo.

    In MS-13, a Culture of Brutality and Begging
    Gang's Women Panhandle, Men Plot in Motels, Testimony Shows

    By Jamie Stockwell
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Monday, May 2, 2005; Page A01

    Inside a sparsely furnished motel room in Fairfax County, members of the violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha cemented the details of a death decree.

    While the men debated, the women waited in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Fairfax at Fair Oaks Mall. Brenda Paz, 17, stood among them, unaware that in Room 318, it was her fate the men were deciding.

    When the meeting finally ended, the women filed back in, some carrying bags with a change of clothes. It was a Saturday, and they all planned to spend the night. In all, about a dozen members of the gang, also known as MS-13, crammed into the motel room. Hours later, empty beer cans and cigarette butts littered the furniture and floor.

    Details of that night in 2003 were disclosed during testimony in U.S. District Court in Alexandria as part of a trial for those accused of killing Paz, who was slain early the next morning more than 100 miles away in Shenandoah County. The trial, in its fourth week, has cast light on the inner workings of MS-13, a gang that in recent years has staked its claim in Northern Virginia. Witnesses, including current and former gang members, have offered details of the everyday life of MS-13, from the mandatory weekly clique meetings to the list of rules with which recruits are indoctrinated.

    Testimony has revealed a gang that is divided into smaller groups or cliques that resort mostly to petty theft and begging for their sustenance. There is no organized drug dealing or robbery, other than with a handful of older cliques, according to testimony.

    "The girls would go out and ask for money," testified Gloria D. Rodriguez, 23, who hung out with the gang but was not a member. "We would just go to shopping centers and stuff and tell people we needed to make a phone call or something or needed to eat and needed some money. We would work as a group." They'd make between $60 and $80 a day, enough for a group to eat at a McDonald's and get a motel room and some beer.

    Perhaps most telling from the testimony is that the gang members -- an estimated 2,000 in the Washington region -- are in most ways not much different from other adolescents.

    They hang out at shopping malls, especially those close to the motels where they party and sleep at night. They eat at fast-food restaurants. They play video games and watch movies. They talk about fast cars and rap artists, and they wear the baggy clothes that are popular among teenagers.

    But they also are far more sophisticated and street savvy. The girls, some as young as 12, spend their mornings begging in such mostly Latino neighborhoods as Fairfax Circle in Fairfax and Arlandria in Alexandria to support the members, many of whom are runaways. The boys, also young, maintain control of the cliques. And when the sexes are together, there is a distinct hierarchy, with the males leading the meetings while the females wait outside, unable to offer any opinions.

    On weekends, when those who live with their parents join the others in the motel rooms, the meetings, called misas , or masses, are conducted, and looming problems are discussed. It is at those meetings that decisions are made, from the mundane, such as approving tattoos, to the criminal, such as attacking a rival gang member or authorizing the killing of a fellow MS-13 member.

    Mostly, the female members don't question the males. Doing so can result in a beating. Stephanie L. Schwab, 19, a former MS-13 member who ran away from her Manassas home when she was 12, testified that she once was burned with a cigarette for talking to someone in another gang.

    After the meetings, the members drink beer and smoke cigarettes and marijuana. They tell jokes and stay up all night. According to testimony, sex also is rampant at the parties.

    Paz was different from the other girls. She came as close to being a leader as a female could, in part because of her membership in a more elite clique, the Normandies Locos Salvatruchas, or NLS. She pushed the boundaries, according to testimony, and she broke many of the rules. The most prominent rule, the one that forbids cooperation with authorities, is what got her killed.

    On trial for her killing is Denis Rivera, 21, of Alexandria, who goes by the nickname "Conejo," or rabbit. He is accused of plotting Paz's death from jail cells in Arlington and Fairfax counties after discovering that she was going to testify against him in a murder case. He was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison for that crime.

    Seated beside him in the courtroom are Oscar A. Grande, 25, of Fairfax, Ismael J. Cisneros, 26, of Vienna and Oscar A. Garcia-Orellana, 32, of Fairfax, each accused of carrying out the carefully plotted slaying.

    Each defendant faces the death penalty if convicted.

    The prosecution, having called nearly 50 witnesses, is expected to finish its case today. Attorneys for each defendant then have a chance to present their sides.

    Although heavily focused on the weeks leading up to Paz's slaying on July 13, 2003, the trial also has devoted much time to outlining the makeup and livelihood of MS-13. Divided into numerous cliques -- Grande and Cisneros belong to the Centrales Locos Salvatruchas, or CLS; Garcia-Orellana belongs to the Modesto Locos Salvatruchas, or MDLS; and Rivera was a founder of the Big Gangsters Locos Salvatruchas, or BGLS -- the members meet every weekend for their "masses" and once a month for the "Big One," a meeting that if missed can lead to a beating.

    At the meetings, they discuss the rules and the appropriate punishment for those who fail to abide by them.

    Some cliques have only a few members while others have upward of 30. Clique members mostly hang out with each other, although they are friendly toward everyone in MS-13. Rules dictate the hierarchy: Members face punishment if they write their clique name before the characters MS-13. All tattoos, for example, must have MS-13 etched above or before the clique name.

    In Room 318 at the Holiday Inn, the members mostly talked about Paz. They knew she was helping authorities, and they knew she could send many of them to jail with her testimony. Paz was helping investigators from at least six states and had witnessed many crimes, from thefts to beatings to murder.

    The approved sanction for being an informant is a "green light" on that person's life, gang code for an authorized killing. Witnesses have testified that it must be carried out within a reasonable period by a fellow gang member. But not before the target has been made to feel comfortable.

    Luring in those tagged for death is a concept the gang refers to as "baby-sitting," a drawn-out process in which the person is coddled, as was Paz, known in the gang as Smiley.

    Grande, a mustachioed man with dark, closely cropped hair, was Paz's babysitter, according to testimony.

    Beginning when she moved into an FBI safe house in Silver Spring in November 2002, Grande, who goes by the nickname Pantera, or panther, became close to Paz. He spent many hours with her at the safe house, a one-bedroom apartment in the Winexburg Manor complex. With about a dozen others, the pair would drink, smoke and adorn each other's body with tattoos using homemade kits.

    And so it made sense, witnesses testified at the trial, that Grande would offer to kill her.

    "He said she trusted him the most and that he would go, and then he asked for volunteers" to help, testified Joel H. Reyes-Mattos, 24, a member of Centrales Locos Salvatruchas. He added that Cisneros, who goes by the nickname Arana, or spider, "raised his hand."

    After an afternoon spent roaming the department stores of the Fair Oaks Mall, Paz and several others secured a room at the Holiday Inn. That night, according to testimony, the plan was hatched: She would be killed the next morning far from Northern Virginia to avoid arousing suspicion.

    According to testimony, Paz, 16 weeks pregnant, fell asleep that night on the floor of the motel room, curled up in the arms of Grande. It was his last night as her "babysitter." The next morning she awoke very early. She dressed in the darkness of the room and followed Grande, Cisneros and Garcia-Orellana out the door.

    Staff writer Jerry Markon contributed to this report.
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

  • #2


    If they actually had jobs we'd call them Unions.
    Monkey!!!

    Comment


    • #3


      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

      Comment


      • #4
        Paz was different from the other girls. She came as close to being a leader as a female could, in part because of her membership in a more elite clique, the Normandies Locos Salvatruchas, or NLS. She pushed the boundaries, according to testimony, and she broke many of the rules. The most prominent rule, the one that forbids cooperation with authorities, is what got her killed.


        Rules, technicalities, mumbo-jumbo. Sounds to me that she was murdered for challenging the patriarchy through existing.
        Blog | Civ2 Scenario League | leo.petr at gmail.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Or maybe it was the "going to testify against other gang members and send them to jail" bit.....
          “It is no use trying to 'see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To 'see through' all things is the same as not to see.â€

          ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man​

          Comment


          • #6
            Damn, good story

            Is there a part 2???
            We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

            Comment


            • #7
              Not yet. Is MS-13 big in LA?
              I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

              Comment


              • #8
                Yes.
                “It is no use trying to 'see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To 'see through' all things is the same as not to see.â€

                ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man​

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thought so. The feds are coming down hard on them, but 2,000 members in one area sure seems like a lot!
                  I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    It originated here by Salvadoran immigrants.

                    Who ironically exported it back to Salvador where it's been getting alot of press lately with them doing raids on the gang.
                    We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      How long ago did the gang start? I've only seen the name in the local paper for a year or so and we have plenty of Salvadoran immigrants around the area.

                      I'm surprised that they haven't got into the drug market much. Begging just seems so strange.
                      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I believe since the 1980s, when refugees were coming in from El Saldador.
                        We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Here's an interesting twist:

                          NACO, Ariz. — Members of a violent Central America-based gang have been sent to Arizona to target Minuteman Project volunteers, who will begin a monthlong border vigil this weekend to find and report foreigner sneaking into the United States, project officials say.



                          Gang will target Minuteman vigil on Mexico border


                          By Jerry Seper
                          THE WASHINGTON TIMES

                          NACO, Ariz. -- Members of a violent Central America-based gang have been sent to Arizona to target Minuteman Project volunteers, who will begin a monthlong border vigil this weekend to find and report foreigner sneaking into the United States, project officials say.
                          James Gilchrist, a Vietnam veteran who helped organize the vigil to protest the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration, said he has been told that California and Texas leaders of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, have issued orders to teach "a lesson" to the Minuteman volunteers.
                          "We're not worried because half of our recruits are retired trained combat soldiers," Mr. Gilchrist said. "And those guys are just a bunch of punks."
                          More than 1,000 volunteers are expected to take part in the Minuteman vigil, which will include civilian patrols along a 20-mile section of the San Pedro River Valley, which has become a frequent entry point to the United States for foreigner headed north.
                          About 40 percent of the 1.15 million foreign nationals caught last year by the U.S. Border Patrol trying to gain illegal entry to the United States were apprehended along a 260-mile stretch of the Arizona border here known as the Tucson sector.
                          Many of the Minuteman volunteers are expected to be armed, although organizers of the border vigil have prohibited them from carrying rifles. Only those people with a license to carry a handgun will be allowed to do so, Mr. Gilchrist said.
                          An operational plan calls for teams of four to eight volunteers to be deployed along the targeted 20-mile stretch of border at intervals of 200 to 300 yards, along with observation posts and a command center.
                          Mr. Gilchrist said some of the patrols and posts will be right on the U.S.-Mexico border, while others will be located farther north. The volunteers also have been told to "make lots of noise and burn campfires at night to be very visible."
                          According to guidelines issued to the volunteers earlier this month, organizers said they expect that they will be targeted by various protest groups and others and that some protesters would try to provoke confrontations.
                          "If we are to send the message loud and clear to President Bush and Congress, it is imperative we stay within the law," Mr. Gilchrist said.
                          "If one single person steps over the line for their personal gratification, we are all stained with that irresponsible behavior and labeled forever as a fringe element that embarrasses all who are counting on us to make this historic statement," he said.
                          The MS-13 gang has established major smuggling operations in several areas along the U.S.-Mexico border and have transported hundreds of Central and South Americans -- including gang members -- into the United States in the past two years. The gang also is involved in drug and weapons smuggling.
                          Gang members in America have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortion, rapes and aggravated assaults. Authorities said that the gang has earned a reputation from the other street gangs as being particularly ruthless and that it will retaliate violently when challenged.
                          The MS-13 gang, with 20,000 members nationwide, has risen in recent months to such prominence that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, has begun a nationwide crackdown on gang members in this country -- as part of a sweeping law-enforcement initiative known as Operation Community Shield.
                          ICE agents arrested more than 100 members of the gang during limited raids that began in January in just six cities, including 35 who were taken into custody in Virginia and Maryland. The authorities said MS-13 gang members originally moved into the Los Angeles area in the 1980s.
                          We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by DanS
                            How long ago did the gang start? I've only seen the name in the local paper for a year or so and we have plenty of Salvadoran immigrants around the area.

                            I'm surprised that they haven't got into the drug market much. Begging just seems so strange.
                            I would imagine by staying away from drug trafficing, they managed to slip under the radar of law enforcement.
                            There's no game in The Sims. It's not a game. It's like watching a tank of goldfishes and feed them occasionally. - Urban Ranger

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              There was once an interesting article on Belmont High School in downtown LA, it's the area that all the central american refugees came to when they fled in the 1980s, and it transformed the city core, and also the crime wave was reaching epidemic proportions at the same time.

                              Anyway this core was primarily made up of Central Americans, who replaced mostly whites who had made up the population in the area before.

                              It traced a bunch of kids from their days growing up to their graduation in the year 2000, because their life growing up gave them the opportunities they didn't have back home, but at the same time, the place they came to was very brutal in its own ways.
                              We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X