19 Facts About MS-13

Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1970s and 1980s.

MS-13 is defined by its cruelty, and its rivalry with the 18th Street gang.

Many MS-13 members were deported to El Salvador after the close of the Salvadoran Civil War in 1992, or upon being arrested, facilitating the spread of the gang to Central America.

Some original members of the MS-13 adhered to Satanism, and while the majority of contemporary MS-13 members do not identify as Satanists, the Satanist influence is still seen in some of their symbolism.

In January 2021, Acting United States Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen announced terrorism charges against fourteen MS-13 leaders known as “Ranfla Nacional” imprisoned in El Salvador.

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MS-13 has been a theme in the Republican Party's, in particular former President Donald Trump's, discourse during political campaigns and debates on immigration.

MS-13's was killed for informing the FBI about Mara Salvatrucha's criminal activities; two of her former friends were later convicted of the murder.

MS-13 had begun studying law and working to keep children out of gangs.

Torres tipped authorities to the plan after he and four MS-13 members were stopped by NYPD detectives for hassling passersby on Northern Boulevard in Queens, New York.

Danilo Velasquez, the former leader of the San Francisco branch of MS-13, was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 10 years, and is incarcerated at USP Hazelton.

MS-13 could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted.

MS-13 member William Castellano was accused of murdering him on the suspicion that Cardona-Hernandez was a member of a rival gang.

NYPD said that MS-13 were responsible for 17 murders between January 2016 and April 2016 in Long Island.

MS-13 was sentenced in June 2012 to 50 years in prison for child prostitution.

In September 2012, Yimmy Anthony Pineda Penado of Maryland, a former "clique leader" of MS-13, became the eleventh member of the gang to be convicted of child prostitution since 2011.

MS-13 later came to Charlotte, North Carolina, according to witnesses, as a veteran member of MS-13, to reorganize the Charlotte cell of the gang.

Thirty-five MS-13 members were arrested in the provinces of Alicante, Barcelona, Girona, Madrid and Tarragona on 24 March 2014 in an operation involving approximately 300 officers of the Civil Guard.

MS-13 reportedly had been extracting this fee over numerous people to regulate illicit commerce within the area, as MacArthur Park is a significant source of revenue in the center of the gang's territory.

The resulting publicity of the attacks led to increased police activity in the park, to a point where much of MS-13 operating in the area had relocated to 10th Street.