Border crosser admits gang membership

Last Updated: 2 hours and 11 minutes ago
By: ABC15.com staff, wire reports

YUMA, AZ - Authorities say Border Patrol agents took an admitted gang member into custody Wednesday.

According to a Thursday news release, a man approached U.S. Park Rangers in Kelso, California and requested food and water. He claimed to be an illegal alien and asked that the Border Patrol be contacted.

Agents transported the man to the Blythe Border Patrol Station in the Yuma sector where he admitted to being an MS-13 gang member.

The MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, gang is reported to be dangerous and violent with factions throughout the U.S., Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and other South American countries.

The FBI Web site says the MS-13 perpetrate violence from assaults to homicides, using firearms, machetes, or blunt objects to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement, and the general public.

The suspect faces prosecution under Operation Streamline , which orders federal criminal charges for persons who cross the border illegally.

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