MS - 13 - wikipedia MS - 13 For other uses, see MS 13. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2015 ) Mara Salvatrucha Mara Salvatrucha gang member with gang 's name tattooed on his back Founding location Los Angeles, California, U.S. Years active 1980s -- present Territory United States ; Compton, California ; Los Angeles, California ; Boston, Massachusetts ; Fresno, California ; Santa Cruz, California Ethnicity Mostly Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans Membership 8,000 -- 10,000 ( US ) 30,000 -- 50,000 ( Worldwide ) Criminal activities Drug trafficking, illegal immigration, people smuggling, robbery, larceny, human trafficking, extortion, murder, money laundering, prostitution ( including child prostitution ), racketeering, battery, kidnapping, and arms trafficking Allies Sureños, Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, La Familia Michoacana, Mexican Mafia, Los Zetas Rivals 18th Street gang, Juarez Cartel, Los Negros, Sombra Negra, Tijuana Cartel, Beltrán - Leyva Cartel, The Rascals, Tiny Rascal Gang, Bloods, Crips, Pirus, Fresno Bulldogs, Hoover Boyz, Hoover Criminals, Latin Kings Mara Salvatrucha ( MS ), also known as MS - 13 ( the 13 representing their Sureño affiliation ), is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. The gang later spread to many parts of the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America, and is active in urban and suburban areas. Most members are of Central American origin, principally El Salvador. Members of MS are characterized by tattoos covering the body, previously including the face, and by the use of their own sign language. They are notorious for their violence and a subcultural moral code based on merciless retribution. This cruelty of the distinguished members of the `` Maras '' or `` Mareros '' earned them a path to be recruited by the Sinaloa Cartel battling against Los Zetas in an ongoing drug war in Mexico. Their wide - ranging activities have drawn the attention of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who have initiated wide - scale raids against known and suspected gang members, arresting hundreds across the country. Contents 1 Etymology 2 Physical appearance 3 Presence 4 History 5 Illegal immigration and human smuggling 5.1 False Al - Qaeda connection 6 Publicized crimes 6.1 Child prostitution 6.2 Charlotte, North Carolina cases 7 Sanctions 8 In film 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links Etymology There is some dispute about the etymology of the name. Some sources state the gang is named for La Mara, a street gang in San Salvador, and the Salvatrucha guerrillas who fought in the Salvadoran Civil War. Additionally, the word mara means gang in Caliche slang and is taken from marabunta, the name of a fierce type of ant. `` Salvatrucha '' may be a combination of the words Salvadoran and trucha, a Caliche word for being alert. The term `` Salvatruchas '' has been explained as a reference to Salvadorian peasants trained to become guerrilla fighters, referred to as `` Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front. '' Physical appearance An MS gang sign and tattoos Minors make up the majority of suspects arrested for killings attributed to MS - 13. Many school districts were reluctant to admit unaccompanied teenagers when they arrived from Central America, which left them home alone and vulnerable to gang recruitment. Many Mara Salvatrucha members cover themselves in tattoos. Common markings include `` MS '', `` Salvatrucha '', the `` Devil Horns '', the name of their clique, and other symbols. A December 2007 CNN internet news article stated that the gang was moving away from face tattoos so as to be able to commit crimes without being noticed. Members of Mara Salvatrucha, like members of most modern American gangs, utilize a system of hand signs for purposes of identification and communication. One of the most commonly displayed is the `` devil 's head '' which forms an ' M ' when displayed upside down. This hand sign is similar to the same symbol commonly seen displayed by heavy metal musicians and their fans. Founders of Mara Salvatrucha borrowed the hand sign after attending concerts of heavy metal bands. Presence This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2017 ) MS - 13 presence territories with a weaker presence territories with a stronger presence In the U.S., MS - 13 has an especially heavy presence in Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area in California ; the Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas of Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County and Prince George 's County, Maryland ; Queens and Long Island in New York ; Newark, Plainfield, Jersey City, and Elizabeth, New Jersey ; the Boston, Massachusetts area ; Charlotte, North Carolina ; and Houston, Texas. There is also a presence of MS - 13 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. MS - 13 appears to use Texas as a stopping point for travel from Los Angeles to the East Coast and for the trafficking of drugs, humans, and weapons between Mexico and the United States. In Central America the gang is strongest in the `` Northern Triangle '' of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. History The Mara Salvatrucha gang originated in Los Angeles, set up in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants in the city 's Pico - Union neighborhood who immigrated to the United States after the Central American civil wars of the 1980s. Originally the gang 's main purpose was to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other, more established gangs of Los Angeles, who were predominantly composed of Mexicans and African - Americans. Many Mara Salvatrucha gang members from the Los Angeles area have been deported after being arrested. For example, Jose Abrego, a high - ranking member, was deported four times. As a result of these deportations, members of MS - 13 have recruited more members in their home countries. The Los Angeles Times contends that deportation policies have contributed to the size and influence of the gang both in the United States and in Central America. According to the 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment, `` The gang is estimated to have 30,000 to 50,000 members and associate members worldwide, 8,000 to 10,000 of whom reside in the United States. Since the first decade of the twenty - first century the gang has expanded into the Washington, D.C. area, in particular the areas of Langley Park and Takoma Park, Maryland. In 2004 the US FBI started the MS - 13 National Gang Task Force. The FBI also began teaming with law enforcement in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. In 2005 the office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started Operation Community Shield. By 2011 this operation had made over 20,000 arrests, including more than 3,000 arrests of alleged MS - 13 members. NYPD said that MS - 13 were responsible for 17 murders between January 2016 and April 2016 in Long Island. On July 27, 2017, 113 suspected MS - 13 gang members were arrested by Salvadoran authorities, In an interview with Bill Ritter in late 2017, Nassau County, New York District Attorney Madeline Singas, referring to crimes committed by MS - 13 gang members, stated : `` The crimes that we 're talking about are brutal. Their weapon of choice is a machete. We end up seeing people with injuries that I 've never seen before. You know, limbs hacked off. And that 's what the bodies look like that we 're recovering. So they 're brutal. They 're ruthless, and we 're gon na be relentless in our attacks against them. '' Illegal Immigration and human smuggling According to The Washington Times, MS - 13 `` is thought to have established a major smuggling center '' in Mexico. There were reports by the Minuteman Project that MS members were ordered to Arizona to target U.S. Border Patrol agents and Minuteman Project volunteers. Robert Morales, a prosecutor for Guatemala, indicated to The Globe and Mail that some Central American gang members seek refugee status in Canada. Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police integrated gang task force, John Robin, said in an interview that `` I think ( gang members ) have a feeling that police here wo n't treat them in the harsh manner they get down there. '' Robin noted that Canadian authorities `` want to avoid ending up like the U.S., which is dealing with the problem of Central American gangsters on a much bigger scale ''. The gang is violent to migrants on the southern border of Mexico. False Al - Qaeda connection In 2005 Honduran Security Minister Oscar Álvarez and the President of El Salvador raised alarm by claiming that terrorist organisation Al - Qaeda was meeting with Mara Salvatrucha and other Central American gangs to help them infiltrate the United States. FBI agents said that the U.S. intelligence community and governments of several Central American countries found that there was no basis to believe that MS - 13 was connected to Al - Qaeda or other Islamic radicals, although the head of the FBI task force on MS - 13 did visit Central America to discuss the issue. Publicized crimes The Central American population in North America is the primary victim of MS - 13. Many of the victims are minors. Aspirants are beaten for 13 seconds in order to join the gang, a ritual known as a `` beat - in ''. On July 13, 2003, Brenda Paz, a 17 - year - old former MS - 13 member turned informant was found stabbed to death on the banks of the Shenandoah River in Virginia. She was killed for informing the FBI about Mara Salvatrucha 's criminal activities ; two of her former friends were later convicted of the murder. In 2004 the FBI created the MS - 13 National Gang Task Force. In 2005 the FBI helped create a National Gang Information Center ( NGIC ), and outlined a National Gang Strategy for Congress. On December 23, 2004, one of the most widely publicized MS - 13 crimes in Central America occurred in Chamelecón, Honduras when an intercity bus was intercepted and sprayed with automatic gunfire from assault rifles, killing 28 and wounding 14 civilian passengers, most of whom were women and children. MS - 13 organized the massacre as a protest against the Honduran government for proposing a restoration of the death penalty in Honduras. Six gunmen raked the bus with gunfire. As passengers screamed and ducked, another gunman climbed aboard and methodically executed passengers. In February 2007 Juan Carlos Miranda Bueso and Darwin Alexis Ramírez were found guilty of several crimes including murder and attempted murder. Ebert Anibal Rivera was arrested over the attack after fleeing to Texas. Juan Bautista Jimenez, accused of masterminding the massacre, was killed in prison ; according to the authorities, fellow MS - 13 inmates hanged him. There was insufficient evidence to convict Óscar Fernando Mendoza and Wilson Geovany Gómez. An MS - 13 suspect bearing gang tattoos is handcuffed. On May 13, 2006, Ernesto `` Smokey '' Miranda, a former high - ranking soldier and one of the founders of Mara Salvatrucha, was murdered at his home in El Salvador a few hours after declining to attend a party for a gang member who had just been released from prison. He had begun studying law and working to keep children out of gangs. On June 6, 2006, a teenage MS - 13 gang member named Gabriel Granillo was stabbed to death at Ervan Chew Park, in the Neartown district in Houston, Texas. Chris Vogel of the Houston Press wrote that the trial of the girl who stabbed Granillo, Ashley Paige Benton, gave attention to MS - 13. In 2007 Julio Chavez, a Long Island MS - 13 member, allegedly murdered a man because he was wearing a red sweatshirt and mistaken for a member of the Bloods gang. On June 4, 2008, in Toronto, Ontario, police executed search warrants, made 21 arrests and laid dozens of charges following a five - month investigation. On June 22, 2008, in San Francisco, California, a 21 - year - old MS - 13 gang member, Edwin Ramos, shot and killed a father, Anthony Bologna, 48, and his two sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16 as they were returning home from a family barbecue. Their car had briefly blocked Ramos from completing a left turn down a narrow street. On November 26, 2008, Jonathan Retana was convicted of the murder of Miguel Angel Deras, which the authorities linked to an MS - 13 initiation. Gang graffiti In 2008 the MS - 13 task force coordinated a series of arrests and crackdowns in the U.S. and Central America that involved more than 6,000 police officers in five countries. Seventy - three suspects were arrested in the U.S. ; in all, more than 650 were taken into custody. In February 2009 authorities in Colorado and California arrested 20 members of MS - 13 and seized 10 pounds of methamphetamine, 2.3 kilograms ( 5 pounds ) of cocaine, a small amount of heroin, 12 firearms, and $3,300 in cash. In June 2009 Edwin Ortiz, Jose Gomez Amaya and Alexander Aguilar, MS - 13 gang members from Long Island who had mistaken bystanders for rival gang members, shot two innocent civilians. Edgar Villalobos, a laborer, was killed. On November 4, 2009, El Salvadoran leaders of the MS - 13 gang allegedly put out a contract on the federal agent responsible for a crackdown on its New York factions, the Daily News learned. The plot to assassinate the unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was revealed in an arrest warrant for reputed gang member Walter ( Duke ) Torres. Torres tipped authorities to the plan after he and four MS - 13 members were stopped by NYPD detectives for hassling passersby on Northern Boulevard. in Queens, New York. He told police he had information to pass on ; he was debriefed on October 22 at Rikers Island, where he was being held on a warrant issued in Virginia, according to court papers. Torres said `` the order for the murder came from gang leadership in El Salvador '', ICE agent Sean Sweeney wrote in an affidavit for a new warrant charging Torres with conspiracy. Torres, who belonged to an MS - 13 `` clique '' in Virginia, said he was put in charge, and traveled to New York in August `` for the specific purpose of participating in the planning and execution of the murder plot '', Sweeney wrote. Gang members were trying to obtain a high - powered rifle to penetrate the agent 's bulletproof vest. Another MS - 13 informant told authorities the agent was marked for death because the gang was `` exceedingly angry '' at him for arresting many members in the past three years, the affidavit states. The murder was supposed to be carried out by the Flushing clique, according to the informant. Federal prosecutors have indicted numerous MS - 13 gang members on racketeering, extortion, prostitution, kidnapping, illegal immigration, money laundering, murder, people smuggling, arms trafficking, human trafficking and drug trafficking charges ; the targeted special agent was the lead federal investigator on many of the federal cases. Sinaloa Cartel hierarchy in early 2008 In 2010 Rene Mejia allegedly murdered a Long Island 2 - year - old baby and his mother. In August 2011 six San Francisco MS - 13 members were convicted of racketeering and conspiracy, including three murders, in what was the city 's largest - scope gang trial in many years. Another 18 defendants reported to have ties to the gang pleaded guilty before trial. In 2011 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in New Haven, Connecticut was vandalized several times with the `` MS - 13 tag '' and `` kill whites '' in orange spray paint. In February 2012 a Federal judge convicted three MS - 13 gang members of murder. Danilo Velasquez, the former leader of the San Francisco branch of MS - 13, was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 10 years, and is incarcerated at USP Hazelton. In January 2016, over 400 Boston police officers were involved in the arrests of 37 MS - 13 members, 56 were charged altogether. Guns, knives and money were also seized at the homes of the gang members. Massachusetts State Police Lt. Col. Frank Hughes commented in a public conference `` in my 30 years of law enforcement, I 've never seen a more violent gang out there. These are very very violent individuals. The violence is unspeakable. '' The charges included immigration violations, racketeering, firearm and drug trafficking. In August 2017, two undisclosed members were charged with the January murder of civilian 19 - year - old Julio Cesar Gonzales - Espantzay who was lured to a forest in Long Island where he was attacked with machetes and stabbed with knives. Nassau County police also said the two members were responsible for 21 murders in New York just short of 2 years. Authorities said the motive was to gain reputation. On 13 / 14 of August 2017, MS - 13 New Jersey faction member Walter Yovany Gomez who was added to the FBI most wanted list in April 2017, was apprehended and charged with the 2011 brutal murder of his friend Julio Matute for associating with another gang. After a night of drinking, Gomez and another MS - 13 member smacked Matute on the head with a baseball bat, sliced his throat with a knife and stabbed him in the back with a screwdriver 17 times. Gomez managed to evade arrest but was later captured in Virginia where he was hiding out with other MS - 13 gang members. The Washington, DC think tank Center for Immigration Studies released a report that listed 506 cases of MS - 13 criminal acts in the United States between 2012 and 2018. In 2017, two MS - 13 members, Miguel Alvarez - Flores and Diego Hernandez - Rivera, were arrested for kidnapping, raping, torturing, and drugging a 14 - year - old girl for over 2 weeks. According to the 14 - year - old, the members also held another victim, `` Genesis '', hostage in the same apartment. The East Coast kingpin of the MS - 13, Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, was arraigned April 19, 2018 in Nassau County Court in Mineola, New York, Long Island, New York on charges including conspiracy to commit murder. He could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted. He was one of seventeen defendants in a 21 count indictment in January that charged him with several counts of conspiracy to commit murder and operating as a high level drug tracker of controlled substances. He was extradited on the week of April 23, 2018 from Prince George 's County, Maryland, where he was held since October. That earlier jailing was in lieu of $125,000 bail. Child prostitution In 2011 Alonso `` Casper '' Bruno Cornejo Ormeno, an associate of MS - 13 from Fairfax, Virginia was sentenced to 292 months in prison for child prostitution. Ormeno recruited juvenile females into a prostitution ring by locating runaway children. Rances Ulices Amaya, a leader of MS - 13, of Springfield, Virginia was convicted in February 2012 for trafficking girls as young as 14 into a prostitution ring. He was sentenced in June 2012 to 50 years in prison for child prostitution. The girls were lured from middle schools, high schools, and public shelters. Once acquired by Amaya, they were required to have sex with as many as ten men per day. In September 2012 Yimmy Anthony Pineda Penado, also known as `` Critico '' and `` Spike '', of Maryland was a former `` clique leader '' of MS - 13. Penado became the eleventh MS - 13 gang member to be convicted of child prostitution since 2011. Charlotte, North Carolina cases In the first decade of the twenty - first century US authorities investigated MS - 13 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Eventually the work led to charges against 26 MS - 13 members, including 7 trial convictions in January 2010, 18 guilty pleas, and 11 multi-year prison sentences. This included the alleged first federal death - penalty conviction for an MS - 13 member, Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umaña, aka `` Wizard '' ( age 25 ). In 2005, in Los Angeles, according to a jury in a later sentencing phase, Umaña murdered Jose Herrera and Gustavo Porras on July 27, and participated in and aided and abetted the killing of Andy Abarca on September 28. He later came to Charlotte, North Carolina, according to witnesses, as a veteran member of MS - 13, to reorganize the Charlotte cell of the gang. According to witnesses at his trial on December 8, 2007, while in the Las Jarochitas, a family - run restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina, Umaña shot Ruben Garcia Salinas fatally in the chest and Manuel Garcia Salinas in the head. Witnesses testified that the shootings took place after the Garcia Salinas brothers had `` disrespected '' Umaña 's gang signs by calling them `` fake ''. Firing three more shots in the restaurant, according to trial testimony, Umaña injured another person with his gunfire. Trial testimony and evidence showed that Umaña later fled back to Charlotte with MS - 13 assistance. Umaña was arrested five days later in possession of the murder weapon. Additional evidence and testimony from the trial revealed that while Umaña was incarcerated awaiting trial he coordinated attempts to kill witnesses and informants. Umaña was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 23, 2008. During trial, he attempted to bring a knife with him to the courtroom, which was discovered by U.S. Marshals before he was transported to the courthouse. Thousands of hours were spent on the case over several years. International work was also involved. The case was investigated by the Charlotte Safe Streets Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Chief Criminal Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the U.S. Attorney 's Office for the Western District of North Carolina, and Trial Attorney Sam Nazzaro from the Criminal Division 's Gang Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Don Gast and Adam Morris of the U.S. Attorney 's Office for the Western District of North Carolina were also members of the government 's trial team. Charges included : Murder in aid of the racketeering enterprise known as MS - 13, two counts Murder resulting from the use of a gun in a violent crime, two counts Conspiracy to participate in racketeering Witness tampering or intimidation, two counts Possession of a firearm by an illegal alien Extortion On April 19, 2010, the jury convicted Umaña of all charges, and additionally found him responsible for the 2005 murders during the sentencing phase. On April 28 a 12 - person federal jury in Charlotte voted unanimously to impose the death penalty. On July 27, 2010, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr., of Charlotte, NC, formally imposed the federal death penalty sentence. Also commenting on the decision in the government press release were Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina, Owen D Harris, Special Agent in charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI, and Rodney Monreo, Charlotte - Mecklenburg Police Chief. The case was automatically appealed under Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Sanctions In October 2012 the US Treasury Department announced a freeze on American - owned assets controlled by the organization and listed MS - 13 as a Transnational Criminal Organization. While the three leaders ( José Luís Mendoza Figueroa, Eduardo Erazo Nolasco, and Élmer Canales Rivera ) were imprisoned in El Salvador, they continued to give orders. As a result, the US Treasury Department imposed further sanctions in 2015, allowing the government to seize all assets controlled by these men and any business with these leaders would no longer be allowed. On November 16, 2017 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ), U.S. Department of Justice ( DOJ ), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ), officials announced that they arrested a total of 267 alleged MS - 13 gang members and associates in Operation Raging Bull, which was carried out in two phases. The first phase was in September 2017, and resulted in 53 arrests in El Salvador. The second phases was between October 8 and November 11, 2017, and resulted in 214 arrests in the U.S. Charges included drug trafficking, child prostitution, human smuggling, racketing, conspiracy to commit murder. In film Principal characters of the feature movie Sin Nombre ( 2009 ) are members of MS in Chiapas, Mexico and many of the traditions and practices of MS are depicted accurately ( killings, tattoos, initiation, exploitation of migrants, etc. ). Violence by MS - 13 against immigrants at Guatemala -- Mexico border is pictured in the feature movie La vida precoz y breve de Sabina Rivas ( 2012 ). National Geographic created a documentary in 2005 titled World 's Most Dangerous Gang, portraying MS - 13. In the debut season of The History Channel 's television series Gangland released two full episodes covering MS - 13 : 2007 season 1 episode 2, titled `` You Rat, You Die '' -- Former gang member turned informant Brenda Paz had been supplying the authorities with first - hand accounts of MS - 13 's operations, later she was found dead. 2008 season 1 episode 13, titled `` Root of All Evil '' -- Reports on the drugs and prostitution rackets run by MS - 13. See also Greater Los Angeles portal Gangs portal El Salvador portal 18th Street gang Criminal tattoos Gangs Gangs in the United States List of California street gangs List of criminal enterprises, gangs and syndicates Organized crime Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ) Salvadoran Civil War A.U.E. References ^ Jump up to : `` National Gang Threat Assessment ''. fbi.gov. National Gang Intelligence Center. Retrieved June 19, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Zetas and MS - 13 Join Forces in Guatemala ''. Fox News Latino. Fox News Network. Associated Press. April 7, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012. Jump up ^ Marzulli, John ( March 4, 2011 ). `` MS - 13 gang member yelled ' the beast has eaten ! ' after murder of man he mistook for a Blood : witness - New York Daily News ''. Articles.nydailynews.com. Retrieved October 24, 2012. Jump up ^ Kessler, Robert ( July 16, 2009 ). `` MS - 13 gang member 's murder trial gets under way ''. Newsday. Newsday. Suffolk Long Island. 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February 24, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2010. Jump up ^ Strickler, Andrew ( July 26, 2009 ). `` Suffolk victims linked by gang violence ''. Newsday. Newsday. Retrieved June 9, 2012. Jump up ^ Marzulli, John ( November 4, 2009 ). `` MS - 13 gang leaders puts out hit on ICE agent assigned to crackdown ''. Daily News. NYDailyNews.com. Retrieved June 9, 2012. Jump up ^ Egelko, Bob ( August 31, 2011 ). `` MS - 13 gang members convicted by S.F. jury ''. San Francisco Chronicle. SFGate.com. Retrieved September 13, 2011. Jump up ^ VietNam. `` New Haven Ct Vietnam Veterans Memorial Hit Again Ms - 13 Gang ''. Wn.com. Retrieved June 9, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Life Sentence For Gang Member In ' 09 Daly City BART Slaying ''. Jump up ^ `` Federal Authorities Charge 56 MS - 13 Gang Members in Boston Area ''. necn news. Retrieved 5 September 2017. Jump up ^ `` Officials : MS - 13 members lured, killed NY teen to boost stature in gang ''. CBS News. Retrieved 5 September 2017. Jump up ^ `` WALTER YOVANY GOMEZ ''. FBI. Retrieved 5 September 2017. Jump up ^ `` ' Most Wanted ' fugitive sought in brutal N.J. murder snared in Virginia ''. NJ.com. Retrieved 5 September 2017. Jump up ^ `` MS - 13 Gang Members Gaining Numbers By Recruiting Illegal Immigrants : Report ''. washingtontimes.com. Retrieved April 4, 2018. Jump up ^ `` MS - 13 gang members ' tortured teen and killed woman as sacrifice to the `` Beast '' in Satanic ritual for insulting their cult god ' ``. March 2, 2017. Jump up ^ Michael O'Keefe, `` Alleged East Coast MS - 13 kingpin arraigned, '' `` Newsday, '' April 20, 2018 Jump up ^ `` MS - 13 Associate Sentenced to 292 Months for Sex Trafficking Teenage Runaway Girls ''. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved May 22, 2016. Jump up ^ `` MS - 13 Leader Gets 50 Years For Trafficking ''. NBC4 Washington. Associated Press. June 2, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2016. Jump up ^ `` MS - 13 Leader Pleads Guilty in Juvenile Prostitution Case ''. FairfaxNews. September 11, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012. ^ Jump up to : MS - 13 Gang Member Sentenced to Death After Conviction on Racketeering Charges Related to Double Murders Archived September 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Howard LaFranchi. `` MS - 13 gang labeled transnational criminal group, a first for US street gang ''. CSMonitor.com. Retrieved October 24, 2012. Jump up ^ Malkin, Elisabeth ( April 16, 2015 ). `` U.S. Imposes Sanctions on 3 Leaders of Gang Based in El Salvador ''. The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2016. Jump up ^ `` 22 MS - 13 Members and Associates Charged Federally in ICE 's MS - 13 Targeted ' Operation Raging Bull ' Which Netted a Total of 267 Arrests ''. United States Department of Justice. 2017 - 11 - 16. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Operation Raging Bull ''. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 08. Jump up ^ McCausland, Phil ( 2017 - 11 - 16 ). `` Federal government announces hundreds of arrests in MS - 13 crackdown ''. NBC News. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 08. Jump up ^ `` More than 250 ' MS - 13 gang members ' arrested in six - week crackdown ''. Daily Mail Online. 2017 - 11 - 16. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 08. Jump up ^ `` World 's Most Dangerous Gang ''. National Geographic Channel. NGHT Inc. Retrieved May 22, 2016. Jump up ^ `` MS13 : World 's most Dangerous Gang - Watch Free Documentary Online ''. Topdocumentaryfilms.com. August 18, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Gangland ( 1x02 ) You Rat, You Die - Video Dailymotion ''. Dailymotion. History Channel. Retrieved May 22, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Gangland ( 1x13 ) Root of All Evil - Video Dailymotion ''. Dailymotion. History Channel. Retrieved May 22, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Gangland Season 1 Episode 13 - Root of All Evil ''. www.putlocker.ae. Retrieved May 22, 2016. Further reading Adams, Jennifer J. and Jesenia M. Pizarro, PhD. `` MS - 13 : A GANG PROFILE '' ( Archive ). Journal of Gang Research. Volume 16, Number 4. Summer, 2009. Ana Arana, `` How the Street Gangs Took Central America '', Foreign Affairs, May / June 2005. De Amacis, Albert ( MPMM, MPIA ). `` Mara Salvatrucha ( MS - 13 ) And Its Violent World '' ( Archive ). University of Pittsburgh Graduate School for Public and International Affairs, Independent Study October 9, 2010. Federico Brevé `` The Maras : A Menace to the Americas '', Military Review, July -- August 2007. Tom Diaz No Boundaries : Transnational Latino Gangs and American Law Enforcement, Ann Arbor, Mich. : University of Michigan Press, 2009. Samuel Logan This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha : Inside the MS - 13, America 's Most Violent Gang, 2009 UNODC, May 2007 ; Washington Office on Latin America and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México ( ITAM ) Transnational Youth Gangs in Central America, Mexico and the United States, March 2007. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mara Salvatrucha. `` Gangs, Terrorists, and Trade '' April 12, 2007 in Foreign Policy In Focus MS - 13 Member 's Trail Shows Gang 's Movement MS - 13 Rivalry / 18th Street Gang National Geographic post-investigation essay. PBS Wide Angle : 18 With a Bullet MS - 13 Gang in El Salvador Strohm, Chris ( August 1, 2005 ). `` DHS touts success of anti-gang operation ''. GovExec.com. Retrieved March 14, 2006. The Gangs of Los Angeles FBI The MS - 13 Threat - A National Assessment United Against MS - 13 - Our Central American Partnerships Four MS - 13 Leaders Sentenced - Serious Threat Removed from Atlanta Streets New Top Ten Fugitive ICE.gov MS - 13 Gang Articles Archive at TheChicagoSyndicate.com Sureños Mexican Mafia List of Sureños subgroups California 38th Street gang The Avenues Culver City Boys 13 Eastside Bolen Parque 13 El Monte Flores 13 Logan Heights Gang Northside Bolen Parque 13 Playboys Pomona 12th Street Sharkies Puente 13 Varrio Nuevo Estrada Venice 13 White Fence People Toker Lil Rob Mr. Capone - E Mr. Criminal Mexican Drug War ( 2006 -- present ) Names in italics represent dead or arrested individuals. Timeline Federal forces Mexican Army Mexican Air Force Mexican Navy Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales ( formerly GAFE ) ( special forces ) Policía Federal Ministerial SEIDO ( organized crime investigation ) Federal Police Beltrán - Leyva Cartel disbanded 2010 Armed wings Los Mazatlecos South Pacific Cartel Founders Arturo Beltrán Leyva Alfredo Beltrán Leyva Carlos Beltrán Leyva Edgar Valdez Villarreal Sergio Villarreal Barragán Héctor Beltrán Leyva Leaders Héctor Beltrán Leyva Fausto Isidro Meza Flores La Familia Cartel Disbanded 2011 Founders Nazario Moreno González Carlos Rosales Mendoza Arnoldo Rueda Medina Dionisio Loya Plancarte Rafael Cedeño Hernández Alberto Espinoza Barrón Enrique Plancarte Solís José de Jesús Méndez Vargas Servando Gómez Martínez Gulf Cartel Factions Los Metros Los Rojos Founders Juan Nepomuceno Guerra Juan García Ábrego Leaders Óscar Malherbe de León Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Antonio Cárdenas Guillén Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez Mario Ramírez Treviño Homero Cárdenas Guillén Juárez Cartel Armed wings La Línea Founders Rafael Aguilar Guajardo Pablo Acosta Villarreal Amado Carrillo Fuentes Leaders Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Juan Pablo Ledezma Knights Templar Cartel Armed wings La Resistencia Founders Enrique Plancarte Solís Servando Gómez Martínez Leaders Enrique Plancarte Solís Servando Gómez Martínez Sinaloa Cartel Armed wings Gente Nueva Jalisco New Generation Cartel Los Ántrax Artistas Asesinos Founders Héctor Luis Palma Salazar Adrián Gómez González Joaquín Guzmán Loera Ismael Zambada García Leaders Joaquín Guzmán Loera Ismael Zambada García Juan José Esparragoza Moreno Ignacio Coronel Villarreal Tijuana Cartel Founders Ramón Arellano Félix Benjamín Arellano Félix Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix Carlos Arellano Félix Eduardo Arellano Félix Francisco Javier Arellano Félix Leaders Enedina Arellano Félix Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano Edgardo Leyva Escandón Los Zetas Founders Arturo Guzmán Decena Jaime González Durán Jesús Enrique Rejón Aguilar Heriberto Lazcano Galindo Mellado Cruz Leaders Heriberto Lazcano Miguel Treviño Morales Omar Treviño Morales Jalisco New Generation Cartel Founders Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes Abigael González Valencia Leaders Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes Rubén Oseguera González Abigael González Valencia Antonio Oseguera Cervantes Elvis González Valencia Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez Gerardo González Valencia Other cartels and drug lords Corrupt officials Other cartels Guadalajara Sonora Colima Oaxaca Milenio Los Negros Independent Acapulco Early drug lords Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo Rafael Caro Quintero Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo Héctor Luis Palma Salazar Jesús Amezcua Contreras Pedro Avilés Pérez Juan Nepomuceno Guerra Juan García Ábrego Corrupt officials Miguel Nazar Haro José de Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo Arturo Durazo Moreno Noé Ramírez Mandujano Raúl Salinas de Gortari Julio César Godoy Toscano Tomás Yarrington Projects Operations Projects Coronado Delirium Gunrunner Shadowfire Southern Tempest Wildfire Operations Baja California Bishop Black Swan Blue Storm Chihuahua Community Shield Coyote Diablo Express Escorpión Fast and Furious Jump Start Kruz Control Lince Norte Michoacán Nuevo León - Tamaulipas Phalanx Quintana Roo Sinaloa Solare Terminus Wide Receiver Xcellerator Massacres Deaths Massacres San Fernando 2010 Villas de Salvárcar 2010 San Fernando 2011 Durango 2011 Monterrey casino attack 2011 Apodaca prison riot Nuevo Laredo 2012 Cadereyta Jiménez Iguala 2014 Deaths Politicians killed Journalists and media workers killed Enrique Camarena ( DEA agent ) Rodolfo Torre Cantú ( physician / politician ) Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez ( police commander ) Jaime Jorge Zapata ( US agent ) Books Other topics Books Cartel : The Coming Invasion of Mexico 's Drug Wars El Narco : Inside Mexico 's Criminal Insurgency The Fight to Save Juárez Other topics Allegations of CIA drug trafficking Blog del Narco Juárez house of death Most - wanted Mexican drug lords Piracy on Falcon Lake War on Drugs Narco - submarine Narco tank Manhunt of Joaquín `` El Chapo '' Guzmán ( 2001 -- 2014 ) 2015 Amado checkpoint protest Organized crime groups active in the Americas Argentina Ashkenazum Puccio family Zwi Migdal Brazil Amigos dos Amigos Comando Vermelho Primeiro Comando da Capital Terceiro Comando Terceiro Comando Puro Hells Angels Zwi Migdal Canada See : Organized crime groups in Canada Caribbean No Limit Soldiers ( Curaçao ) Yardies ( Jamaica ) Shower Posse ( Jamaican ) Zoe Pound ( Haiti ) Colombia Clan del Golfo Oficina de Envigado Mexico Gulf Cartel Juárez Cartel Knights Templar Cartel Los Zetas Sinaloa Cartel Tijuana Cartel U n i d s Various European Albanian Boys Albanian Mafia American Mafia ( Italian - American ) Dixie Mafia ( White Southerner ) ( State Line Mob ) Friends Stand United Greek mafia Philadelphia Greek Mob Velentzas crime family Irish Mob The Westies The Winter Hill Gang The K&A Gang Jewish Mob Polish Mob Odessa mafia ( Ukrainian Jewish ) Russian mafia Serbian Mafia Simon City Royals Chicago Gaylords Dead Man Incorporated Popes Juggalo Gangs Zwi Migdal Italian and Italian - American American Mafia Bufalino crime family ( Northeastern PA ; mostly defunct ) Buffalo crime family Chicago Outfit Cleveland crime family DeCavalcante crime family ( Northern New Jersey ) Detroit Partnership Five Families ( New York City ) Kansas City crime family Los Angeles crime family Milwaukee crime family New Orleans crime family ( possibly defunct ) Patriarca crime family ( New England ) Philadelphia crime family Pittsburgh crime family Trafficante crime family ( Florida ) St. Louis crime family Camorra ( Neapolitan / Campanian ) ' Ndrangheta ( Calabrian ) Sicilian Mafia South Brooklyn Boys The Tanglewood Boys African - American Black Disciples Black Guerrilla Family Black Mafia ( Muslim / Nation of Islam ) Junior Black Mafia Black P. Stones Jungles Black Spades Bloods Bounty Hunter Bloods Pirus Sex Money Murda United Blood Nation Nine Trey Gangsters Crips Du Roc Crips East Nashville Crips Grape Street Watts Crips Rollin ' 30s Harlem Crips Rollin 60 's Neighborhood Crips Venice Shoreline Crips D.C. Blacks Four Corner Hustlers Gangster Disciples OutLaw Gangster Disciples Hidden Valley Kings KUMI 415 Lucerne Street Doggz Mickey Cobras Savage Skulls Supreme Team Vice Lords Westmob Hispanic and Latin American The Corporation ( Cuban ) Dominicans Do n't Play Trinitarios ( Dominican ) Latin Eagles Spanish Gangster Disciples Latin Kings ( Mexican / Puerto Rican ) Maniac Latin Disciples Ñetas ( Puerto Rican ) Mara Salvatrucha ( Central American ) Marielitos ( Cuban 18th Street gang ( Mexican / Central American ) 38th Street gang ( primarily Mexican ) Barrio Azteca ( Mexican ) El Monte Flores 13 ( Mexican ) Florencia 13 ( Mexican ) Fresno Bulldogs ( Mexican ) Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos ( primarily Mexican ) Mexican Mafia Los Mexicles Mexikanemi Norteños ( Mexican ) Nuestra Familia ( Mexican ) Puro Tango Blast ( Mexican ) La Raza Nation ( Mexican ) Almighty Saints ( primarily Hispanic, also European - American ) Savage Skulls Siete Viejo Sureños ( Mexican ) 38th Street gang The Avenues Barriox13 Culver City Boys 13 Eastside Bolen Parque 13 El Monte Flores 13 Logan Heights Gang Northside Bolen Parque 13 Playboys Pomona 12th Street Sharkies Puente 13 Santa Monica 13 Varrio Nuevo Estrada Venice 13 White Fence Toonerville Rifa 13 ( Mexican ) Texas Syndicate ( primarily Mexican ) Asian Asian Boyz ( Southeast Asian ) Bahala Na Gang ( Filipino ) Black Dragons ( Chinese ) Born To Kill ( Vietnamese ) Fullerton Boys ( Korean ) Flying Dragons ( primarily Chinese ) Ghost Shadows ( Chinese / Vietnamese ) Indian Mafia Jackson Street Boys ( Chinese ) Menace of Destruction ( Hmong ) Satanas ( Filipino ) Tiny Rascal Gang ( Cambodian ) Tongs ( Chinese ) On Leong Tong Hip Song Tong Four Brothers Triad ( Chinese ) 14K Triad Big Circle Gang Four Seas Gang Jackson Street Boys Snakehead VVT ( Tamil ) Wah Ching ( Chinese ) Yakuza ( Japanese ) Pacific Islander Sons of Samoa Tongan Crip Gang Uso Family, Samoan for Brother ( Samoan ) The Company ( Native Hawaiian ) Native American Aboriginal - based organized crime ( Native American ) Indian Posse ( Native American ) Native Mob ( Native American ) Middle Eastern / Western Asian Armenian Power Chaldean Mafia Israeli Mafia Turkish Mafia African Cape Verdean organized crime Organized crime in Nigeria Non-Hispanic Caribbean Yardies / Posses ( Jamaican ) Shower Posse ( Jamaican ) Zoe Pound ( Haitian ) Outlaw motorcycle clubs and One percenter gangs 69'ers Bandidos Motorcycle Club The Breed Motorcycle Club Brother Speed Devils Diciples Diablos Motorcycle Club El Forastero Motorcycle Club Free Souls Motorcycle Club Grim Reapers ( U.S. ) Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club Hells Angels Highwaymen Motorcycle Club Iron Horsemen Mongols Motorcycle Club Outlaws Motorcycle Club Pagan 's Motorcycle Club Rock Machine Motorcycle Club Satan 's Soldiers Sin City Deciples Sons of Satan MC Sons of Silence Vagos Motorcycle Club Warlocks Motorcycle Club ( Florida ) Warlocks Motorcycle Club ( Philadelphia / Delaware Valley ) White supremacist gangs 211 Crew Aryan Brotherhood Aryan Brotherhood of Texas Aryan Circle Aryan Nation Aryan Republican Army Combat 18 European Kindred Hammerskins Nazi Lowriders Public Enemy No. 1 Keystone State Skinheads Mafia bibliography Organized crime groups in New York City Italian American Mafia Active The `` Five Families '' : Bonanno Colombo Gambino Genovese Lucchese Inactive or in decline Camorra in New York Morello crime family East Harlem Purple Gang South Brooklyn Boys Five Points Gang The Tanglewood Boys Irish Mob Inactive 19th Street Gang 40 Thieves Bowe Brothers Dead Rabbits The Ducky Boys Gopher Gang Grady Gang Hudson Dusters Kerryonians Marginals Patsy Conroy Gang Potashes Rhodes Gang Roach Guards Swamp Angels Westies White Hand Gang Whyos Yakey Yakes Jewish - American organized crime Inactive Arnold Rothstein Bugsy Siegel Dutch Schultz Eastman Gang The Bugs -- Meyer gang Lenox Avenue Gang Murder, Inc. Yiddish Black Hand Zwi Migdal Russian mafia Inactive Evsei Agron 's Bratva Marat Balagula 's Bratva Potato Bag Gang Eastern European and Southeastern European groups Velentzas crime family ( Greek ) The Greenpoint Crew ( Polish ) Rudaj Organization ( Albanian, inactive ) Albanian Boys Outlaw motorcycle clubs Hells Angels Satan 's Soldiers 69'ers African - American groups Active Bloods Crips Sex Money Murda Nine Trey Gangsters Inactive Black Spades Bumpy Johnson 's gang Casper Holstein 's gang Nicky Barnes 's Council Frank Lucas 's gang Supreme Team Stephanie St. Clair 's gang Hispanic - American groups Colombian drug cartels Medellín Cartel ( inactive ) Cali Cartel ( inactive ) Norte del Valle Cartel ( inactive ) Dominican gangs Dominicans Do n't Play Trinitario Puerto Ricans gangs Latin Kings ( gang ) Ghetto Brothers Mau Maus ( inactive ) Ñetas Central American gangs MS - 13 Sur 13 Chinese American groups Tongs Four Brothers Hip Sing Association On Leong Tong Gangs Flying Dragons Ghost Shadows Foreign Triad gangs 14K Triad Big Circle Gang Sister Ping 's Snakehead Other Asian American groups Born to Kill ( Vietnamese, inactive ) Other historical groups Batavia Street Gang Baxter Street Dudes Boodle Gang Broadway Mob Charlton Street Gang Cherry Hill Gang Chichesters Crazy Butch Gang Daybreak Boys Dutch Mob Gas House Gang Honeymoon Gang Hook Gang Lenox Avenue Gang Molasses Gang Neighbors ' Sons Shirt Tails Slaughter House Gang Tenth Avenue Gang Tub of Blood Bunch Bowery Boys Organized crime groups in Canada Quebec Italian organized crime families Rizzuto crime family Cotroni crime family Cuntrera - Caruana Mafia clan Sixth Family Outlaw motorcycle clubs Rock Machine Irish Mob West End Gang Other gangs Dubois Gang Ontario Italian organized crime families Siderno Group Commisso ' ndrina ‎ Musitano crime family Luppino crime family Papalia crime family Cuntrera - Caruana Mafia clan Cross-border Italian crime families Buffalo crime family Bonanno crime family Chicago Outfit ( historically ) Detroit Partnership Outlaw motorcycle clubs Satan 's Choice MC Other gangs VVT Dömötör - Kolompár criminal organization Dixon Bloods British Columbia Independent Soldiers United Nations Red Scorpions Bacon Brothers Indian mafia 856 gang Alberta Grim Reapers Rebels Motorcycle Club Manitoba Indian Posse Manitoba Warriors Nova Scotia North Preston 's Finest Foreign groups Outlaw motorcycle clubs Hells Angels Bandidos Outlaws Mongols Chinese Triads Big Circle Boys 14K Triad Wah Ching American street gangs Crips Bloods MS - 13 South and Southeast Asian gangs Born to Kill Tiny Rascal Gang Events Lennoxville massacre Quebec Biker war Boxing Day shooting 2009 Vancouver gang war Shedden massacre See also Aboriginal Based Organized Crime Gangs in Canada Organized crime groups in the Americas Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MS-13&oldid=843578634 '' Categories : MS - 13 Gangs in Los Angeles Gangs in Massachusetts Transnational organized crime Latino street gangs 1980s establishments in California Organized crime in Canada Organized crime groups in Latin America Organized crime groups in the United States Mexican Drug War Modern street gangs Gangs in California Gangs in Canada History of Los Angeles Gangs in New Jersey Gangs in New York City Gangs in Philadelphia Gangs in Detroit Gangs in Mexico Gangs in Toronto Gangs in Vancouver Crime in El Salvador Crime in Honduras Crime in Guatemala Terrorism in the United States Hispanic - American gangs Gangs in Texas Organizations established in the 1980s Salvadoran - American culture in California Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism Use mdy dates from July 2017 Articles needing additional references from April 2015 All articles needing additional references Pages using infobox criminal organization with ethnicity or ethnic makeup parameters Pages using infobox criminal organization with rivals parameter Articles needing additional references from August 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2016 Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Қазақша Lietuvių Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 19 more Edit links This page was last edited on 30 May 2018, at 02 : 15. 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Question: what does ms stand for in ms 13
Answer: Mara Salvatrucha