Video: MS13 For our first video assignment we saw the short documentary film on Netflix about the international gang MS13. This gang was formed in the city of Los Angeles in the 1980’s, which simply started off as a group of teenagers who were formed due to segregation and hung around each other so they wouldn’t get bullied by other gangs in the area. The first members of MS13 were into rock bands and metal music that is where the devil horns came to be the sign for the Marasalvatrucha. During the video an ex member of the Marasalvatrucha was interviewed and they discussed that back then they were just a group of kids out to protect each other and have company so they wouldn’t get pushed around by gangs, but slowly developed into a beast of a gang. The individual even expresses himself as the entire situation with this gang today is scary and out of control. MS13 has a large membership of 70,000 members internationally. They have many allies with whom they conduct criminal activity with; Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Familia Michoacana, Mexican Mafia and Los Zetas. The Marasalvatrucha’s rival gangs consist of the 18th Street Gang, Juarez Cartel, Los Negros, TJ Cartel, Latin Kings and the Juggalos.
Originating in Los Angeles, the MS13 controls about 11 blocks, from Normandie to Hoover composed of different types of sets today. The MS13 gang members are each separated into groups, or sets, that have duties to perform in order for the gang to thrive. These duties include keeping “turf” or streets under their control by taxing individuals with businesses in the area and writing MS13 on all the blocks that they control. Also, if someone tries to sell outside drugs on their streets those individuals have to pay a fee, for example 50% of all their winnings, and they get permission to sell and or protection from MS13. If another gang tries to cross over to MS13 area of control the Marasalvatrucha uses deadly force to gain control of what is theirs and kill to take out intruders.
This Los Angeles the gang has spread southbound into Mexico and other Latin American countries such as Honduras and El Salvador. In the east coast of the United States there have been gang members arrested and found dead, as well as graffiti from MS13 sets from Hollywood and other Los Angeles areas. The MS13 was compared to a disease in how fast it was spreading all over the world, and it’s very alarming to authorities. Nationwide and Internationally gang units have been formed to take down MS13 members in large quantities and throwing them in jail, which has now been identified into a problem. By throwing gang members in jail, these individuals come out of jail as better criminals and with more information on how to be a better gang member, almost graduating from prison into becoming a more hardcore gang member. A different alternative was to deport the gang members back to their country of origin, which also became an issue. In Latin American countries there was crime but not as bad as today. What happened is that thousands of gangs from the United States were sent back to their countries with skills that they
