Member of notorious Central American gang caught by Border Patrol

UNION-TRIBUNE
4:02 p.m. February 3, 2009

SAN DIEGO – A member of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha street gang was caught among a group of illegal immigrants Monday by Border Patrol agents in rugged country near Jamul.

Javier Cortez Majano, 23, was among a group of five people stopped about 6 a.m. about two miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, said Border Patrol spokesman Mark Endicott.

A records check showed that Cortez, a Honduran national, was a member of the gang, also known as MS-13, and had a criminal history in Arkansas, Endicott said.

Founded in Southern California by Salvadoran immigrants in the 1980s, Mara Salvatrucha has spread through much of the United States and back into Central America, bringing with it a reputation for violence and tight organization.

Cortez, who had been formally removed from the United States in the past, is being held pending deportation, Endicott said.

Breaking News Team: (619) 293-1010; breaking@uniontrib.com

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