http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20050817-111759-1006r.htm
MS-13 seen as posing organized-crime risks
By Jon Ward
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 18, 2005
Street gangs, particularly MS-13, have become organized criminal enterprises
in Central America and threaten to establish similar operations in this
country, federal law-enforcement officials said yesterday.
"MS-13 has a very well-entrenched, very well-disciplined clique
structure in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras ... organized along certain
sections for homicide, robbery, kidnapping, extortion, all reporting to the
'ranflero,' or the leader," said Robert Clifford, director of the FBI's
MS-13 National Gang Task Force.
The FBI convened an all-day meeting yesterday with more than 80
officials -- including government representatives from El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico -- to discuss the gang problem in the United
States and in Central American countries and to share information and
solutions.
"There was no doubt at the end of today that the National Gang Task
Force, that federal, state and local law enforcement [must] recognize and
will address MS-13 as a criminal enterprise" in the United States, Mr.
Clifford said. "We all came to the conclusion that we must identify the
regional, national and international leadership of MS-13 and attack that."
Mr. Clifford said no central, national leadership has been identified,
but the FBI has "identified members who exercise influence on a regional
basis and are well-known in Central America and the United States."
Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement as well as police officials from Montgomery County, Northern
Virginia, Houston and Los Angeles also attended the meeting. Members of the
Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section and its
Domestic Security Section also were present.
The meeting was closed to the press, but a hastily arranged conference
with Central American officials drew numerous English-speaking and
Spanish-speaking reporters.
Julio Godoy, vice minister of security for Guatemala, said MS-13 -- or
Mara Salvatrucha -- and other gangs in his country are engaged in organized
crime that is threatening the stability of the country's democracy.
"The problem in our country is a lot worse than I think the United
States realizes," he said.
Mr. Godoy also said his government has no reliable intelligence to
estimate how many gang members are in Guatemala, which has a population of
nearly 15 million. He thinks there are at least 20,000 gang members in the
country, but added that the number could be as high as 150,000.
Police in El Salvador have more precise numbers.
The country has roughly 11,500 gang members, including about 4,000 in
prison, said Douglas Omar Garcia Fuenes, assistant director of
investigations for El Salvador's police force.
Since the U.S. government began to deport gang members to Central America,
MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang have proliferated in Central America to the
point where the heads of state in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have
declared war on the gangs.
Although FBI officials say they will treat MS-13 and the 18th Street
Gang as organized criminal enterprises, ATF officials say they will not,
though they are working with the FBI on the issue.
"In our investigations, we have not seen any strong evidence of any
national leadership or any formal structure that would span across the
country, like organized crime," said Michael Bouchard, ATF's assistant
director for field operations.
In addition, an 18-month undercover investigation by ATF agents found
heavy gang activity in the Washington area, but no regional leadership or
criminal conspiracy.
"I don't think it's as organized as some people may think it is,"
Richard Zayas, an ATF undercover agent, told The Washington Times. "For the
most part, guys were just trying to make a profit and doing their own thing,
street thugs."
During his 18 months of police work, the 16-year ATF veteran bought guns
and drugs from more than two dozen gang members to see whether MS-13's
presence in the area rose to the level of a crime ring.
His investigation, which ended in June after an additional year of
interviews with arrested gang members, resulted in 27 arrests and
convictions.
Dan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<http://www.terror-hunters.com/> www.terror-hunters.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
<font face=arial size=-1><a
href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hd9r2if/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1124850742/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992
">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font>
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
--------------------------
Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL
PROTECTED]
--------------------------
Brooks Isoldi, editor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.intellnet.org
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has
not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of
The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT
YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of
intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods,
techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other
intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use
this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,'
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
