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  1. #1
    Senior Member Scubayons's Avatar
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    Violent Street Gang Exposed

    Violent Street Gang Exposed

    By MIKE WELLS mwells@tampatrib.com
    Published: Aug 7, 2005






    TAMPA - A ruthless street gang with a reputation for cutting off rivals' fingers and carving up snitches with machetes appears to have a foothold here.
    They are the Mara Salvatruchas, or MS-13, and a week ago, Hillsborough County deputies arrested three members in a northwest county neighborhood after they tried to persuade a Honduran man to ``join us or die,'' Sgt. Scott Wellinger said.

    Fortunately for the man, a deputy was driving by and saw him gesture for help. Recognizing what appeared to be gang tattoos on the suspects, he called for backup.

    The victim, a 38-year-old illegal immigrant, told the MS- 13 that he was too old to join their gang and wasn't interested, Wellinger said. One man shoved him, and when he shoved back, the rebuff angered the MS-13 enough for one to raise his shirt to expose the handle of what turned out to be a pellet gun.

    For weeks, deputies heard from tipsters that the gang was making its presence known on the streets through intimidation and threats, but the July 30 arrests became the first official record of an MS-13 presence in the county.

    And where there are three, there are likely to be more, Wellinger said. It's going to take time to find out how many. It's unlikely an MS-13 problem would be contained in northwest Hillsborough when there are plenty of Hispanic migrants for the gang to target in eastern and southern parts of the county, he said.

    Detectives suspect each of the men arrested are in the country illegally. Court records show they were all born in Central American countries.

    Frank Dasaro, assistant special agent in charge of Tampa's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, said his agency is committed to targeting MS-13 members in the country illegally.

    ``They are the next big problem as far as gangs,'' he said. ``When you remember California, there were the Crips and Bloods. They're pansies compared to these guys.''

    The Justice Department estimates there are now 8,000 to 10,000 MS-13 members in 33 states, involved in drug, human and arms trafficking, extortion, auto theft, robbery and a litany of rapes and murders.

    The MS-13 found its beginnings in Los Angeles in the 1980s among Salvadoran migrants who banded together against more established Mexican gangs. ``Mara'' means gang or posse and ``Salvatruchas'' means street-tough Salvadorans.

    The MS-13 eventually opened membership to other Central Americans, but membership traditionally has followed the migration patterns of Salvadorans across the country.


    Other Immigrants Aware


    On Friday morning, the produce markets of East Hillsborough Avenue were busy with customers and vendors, many of whom are Hispanic immigrants aware of the Mara Salvatruchas and their reputation.

    Under one wide tent, a 56- year-old Mexican man sat on a bench behind the rows of fruit and vegetables and sharpened a weathered machete with a file. He uses it to cut the tops off coconuts.

    Looking up from his sweaty work, he nodded and said, yes, he's seen MS-13 here - lots of them.

    Pedro agreed to speak on the condition that his last name not be published because he fears retaliation.

    Most of the MS-13 are between 25 and 30 years old and tend to hang out in the parking lots of gas stations late at night in cars, he said.

    ``They're never walking, always in cars,'' he said. ``There are a lot, but they rarely let themselves be seen.

    Gang members, like one of the suspects arrested by Hillsborough County deputies, often adorn their bodies with tattoos that record the places they have been and the deeds they have done in MS-13's name.

    Hillsborough County detectives want to find out who the local members are, who's in charge and what their roles are in the group as a whole, Wellinger said, adding it's likely that an already established local gang, the SUR 13, has an alliance with MS-13 and would protect their members from rival gangs.


    International Exposure

    MS-13 made national headlines in recent years when accused of gruesome acts. In Charlotte, N.C., the gang is suspected in 18 killings since 2000. Machete attacks in Virginia that left victims fingerless prompted lawmakers in 2004 to add the long blades to a list of weapons that cannot be concealed legally. And in May of this year, two MS-13 members were convicted in Alexandria, Va., of hacking to death a pregnant teen in 2003 after she was exposed as a federal informant.

    The Mara Salvatruchas is also blamed for international crimes, including gunning down 28 Honduran women and children inside a bus at Christmastime. Honduran officials called the act retaliation for their government's crackdown on gang activities. Laws there and in El Salvador make it illegal to belong to a gang or to have gang tattoos.

    In an unprecedented move of its own, the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year announced a new multiagency task force dedicated to wiping out the MS-13. Its first endeavor, Operation Community Shield, spent two weeks in July hunting down and arresting 582 suspected gang members across the nation.

    Task force member Ed Develasco, a special agent supervisor with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, first began watching MS-13 in the early 1980s during his days as a Los Angeles police officer.

    ``It sounds like your local agency is doing exactly what they should be doing by becoming aware and proactively trying to gather all the intelligence they can to attack the problem,'' he said.

    Not enough is known about how much MS-13 has grown in the United States and who is in charge of the cliques, he said. ``We think there's some type of structure in this country, but we don't know how well organized it is,'' Develasco said.

    He's hoping for the proposed Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005, or ``Gangbusters Bill,'' will help. It recently passed the House and would increase funding for efforts against violent gangs and create new criminal gang prosecution offenses and enhance existing penalties for gang-related crimes.

    In a statement last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said 261 of the suspects arrested in Operation Community Shield were foreign nationals with criminal convictions, rendering them subject to deportation.

    But some say deportation makes the MS-13 problem worse because deportees who previously were returned to their home countries have formed new cliques of the gang there and then made their way back to the United States with a false identity and even more gang members trained in guerrilla tactics.

    Each man arrested by Hillsborough County deputies last weekend faces felony charges of recruiting gang members and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Two face additional charges of providing a false name to officers.

    Wellinger said it's possible others have been intimidated by the MS-13 locally but that they haven't come forward because, like the Honduran man, they are in the country illegally and fear deportation if they make contact with law enforcement.

    Wellinger said deputies are more concerned with stopping gangs than with subjecting their victims to deportation.


    Reporter Chris Echegaray contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 657-4534.

    http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBS5H8M2CE.html
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    You can not be loyal to two nations, without being unfaithful to one. Scubayons 02/07/06

  2. #2

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    Heres some more food for thought...

    When these gang bangers go to the joint they sit around all day making contacts with other gangs locked up, Recruiting new members while inside the joint and learning different skills.
    I can't speak for the state joint but as far as the federal prison system you have the bloods & crips, they got a few cubian gangs, the chinia & vetinam gangs. Oh and lets not forget the Jamacan, Russian, & other Mexican gangs. Thats not even counting our good ol American breed Nazi'a, Skinheads, and Klan.
    Its great, they come here, we catch them, send them to jail we its like going to college for gang bangers.
    Oh I almost forgot... all the jails in the United States are at least 35% overcrowded and many are as much as 200% over crowded.
    Jails are being built as fast as local goverments can afford them.

    Just some things to think about... even if the wetbacks are busted... where you gonna put them?
    Lt. Col. North Carolina Confederate Militia

  3. #3
    Senior Member Scubayons's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ArthurC
    Heres some more food for thought...

    When these gang bangers go to the joint they sit around all day making contacts with other gangs locked up, Recruiting new members while inside the joint and learning different skills.
    I can't speak for the state joint but as far as the federal prison system you have the bloods & crips, they got a few cubian gangs, the chinia & vetinam gangs. Oh and lets not forget the Jamacan, Russian, & other Mexican gangs. Thats not even counting our good ol American breed Nazi'a, Skinheads, and Klan.
    Its great, they come here, we catch them, send them to jail we its like going to college for gang bangers.
    Oh I almost forgot... all the jails in the United States are at least 35% overcrowded and many are as much as 200% over crowded.
    Jails are being built as fast as local goverments can afford them.

    Just some things to think about... even if the wetbacks are busted... where you gonna put them?
    Oh my ideal is to send a bunch of building material to Gitmo and let them build there own retention center and if they escape, oh well then Castro will have to deal with them.
    http://www.alipac.us/
    You can not be loyal to two nations, without being unfaithful to one. Scubayons 02/07/06

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