MS-13 is getting younger and deadlier: Experts sound alarm about changing demographics of machete-wielding gangsters who recruit fifth-graders and commit violence for its own sake
MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, was started nearly 20 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the US
Gang has as many as 20,000 members in 46 states and has been tied to a string of brutal murders, inclduing in Long Island, New York
Experts say MS-13 is recruiting increasingly younger members and committing acts of extreme violence for its own sake
One of MS-13’s distinguishing features is its reliance on the machete as the weapon of choice
Towns of Brentwood and Central Islip in New York have become hotbeds of MS-13 activity over the past year
In April, four young men, between the ages 16 and 18, were found slaughtered and mutilated in a Central Islip park
DAILYMAIL.COM
8 May 2017
The Central American gang known as MS-13, which has been linked to a string of bloody murders in the US over the last few years, has been recruiting increasingly younger members and resorting to ever more violent methods, according to alarmed experts.
MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, was started nearly 20 years ago in Los Angeles after millions of immigrants from El Salvador came to the US after a violent civil war left more than 100,000 dead.
The criminal enterprise composed, mostly of El Salvadoran and Honduran youths, was the first to be designated by the FBI as an international criminal group.
With as many as 20,000 members in 46 states, the gang has expanded far beyond its initial roots. Members are accused of major crimes including murder, kidnapping, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking.
One of MS-13’s distinguishing features is its reliance on the machete – a broad, sharp and extremely durable knife that is ubiquitous in the farming communities of Central America – as the weapon of choice because of it is readily available, relatively cheap and can be used to inflict catastrophic injuries.
Experts studying MS-13 have recently noticed a shift in the demographics of the notorious gang and its modus operandi: they now skew younger and tend to be more ruthless.
Hector Silva, a former deputy chief of mission at the Washington embassy in El Salvador and current research fellow at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University in Washington, tells Newsday that brutality is considered a part of MS-13 members’ identity, and they carry out acts of violence for the their own sake, not as means to an end.
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