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New immigration issue: Latin American gangs
Palm Beach Post Editorial

Saturday, June 04, 2005

A 17-year-old member of the Sur 13 street gang will serve four years in prison for his role in the Lake Worth killing of a rival gang member last summer. Guillermo Trujillo faced up to a 40-year sentence, but prosecutors agreed to be lenient in exchange for his cooperation identifying the shooter of 14-year-old Ricardo Andres.

The shooting was more evidence of the increasing numbers of Latin American gangs in the United States and the violent crimes they are importing. Names such as Sur 13, MLK (Makin' Life Krazy), Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Spanish Cobras and Latin Kings are becoming too familiar to law-enforcement authorities in South Florida, especially in south Palm Beach County. The sheriff's office says it has documented at least 173 street gangs and 629 known members, with the numbers of recently emigrated Hispanics disproportionately high. These are not loose associations of neighborhood teens but, rather, structured organizations with international ties to the narcotics trade.

Delegates from the Organization of American States will begin a three-day conference in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, and the spread of gang activity throughout the hemisphere will be an important issue. The theme of this year's General Assembly â€â€