Thread: Los Angeles Combating Gangs Gone International

Los Angeles Combating Gangs Gone International

http://www.nytimes.com

LOS ANGELES — Two gangs that originated on the streets here have grown so large in El Salvador that there are two prisons in that country devoted exclusively to their members, one for each gang, according to officials who traveled there recently to meet with the local authorities.

That is just one measure of the way gangs in this city with the worst gang problem in the United States have bolstered their presence in Mexico and Central America, where they attract new members eager to come here. The growth in their transnational networks has made these criminal organizations all the more worrisome, officials say.

“These gangs are the new and emerging organized crime in America,â€

LOS ANGELES — Two gangs that originated on the streets here have grown so large in El Salvador that there are two prisons in that country devoted exclusively to their members, one for each gang, according to officials who traveled there recently to meet with the local authorities.

What are the names of the gangs--author doesn't mention them in the article? I thought one of the gangs they were talking about was MS-13--named after "La Mara", a street in El Salvador and "13th Street" in Los Angeles. But MS-13 originated in El Salvador and initially consisted of violent guerillas who fought in El Salvador's civil war so it didn't originate in LA.

"Evil unchecked grows. Evil tolerated poisons the whole system."
Jawaharlal Nehru