The New Face of the Salvatrucha
Between 1980 and 1992, the Central American country of El Salvador was torn apart by a violent civil war. One lasting result of this conflict was a mass migration of El Salvadoran citizens into Southern California. In the Los Angeles area, the El Salvadoran refugees found that they were not welcomed by the predominantly Mexican immigrant population, often becoming the target of abuse and violence at the hands of the Mexican, African American and Caucasian gangs. To protect their community from abuse, many young El Salvadoran formed their own gang. The newly-formed gang chose to embrace a derogatory term for their race - “Salvatrucha” - and called themselves the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners.
Since it’s formation in the Rampart Division of Los Angeles, the gang that began as the M.S. Stoners has undergone a gradual process of evolution and maturing. Its members, who began by emulating the young Americanos who wore long hair and listened to heavy metal music, gradually altered their appearance as they took on the identity of a Sureno gang. Traditional Sureno gang clothing and fashion became more apparent. Many members even chose to shave away their long, heavy-metal hairstyles in lieu of the fashionable pelones bald-headed gangster look. As the M.S. Stoners were gradually replaced by Mara Salvatrucha, they also established a reputation for extreme violence during conflicts with rival gangs. One of the terrifying background elements of many older veterano MS members is that they may have received special-forces training from the C. I. A. (Morales – 2006).
In early 2005, the Salvatrucha began to undergo another metamorphosis. Walls and buildings once covered with MS graffiti were now graffiti-free. Streets once populated by MS members who would defiantly force their identity on the community now appeared to be largely free of obvious gang members. These changes were unfortunately not an indication that MS had faded away into the night. They were the first warning signs for law enforcement that a new and more structured criminal organization was emerging.
During the summer of 2005 as many overt signs of MS activity seemed to be fading, police in the eastern United States began to uncover new information about the regional activities of the gang. Areas where MS was prevalent but disorganized were now seeing older and more seasoned members arrive from other areas. One of these members boasted to a gang investigator that he had been “sent” to the area to help the somewhat disorganized local cliques establish a lucrative and efficient illegal drug trade. The subject also dispelled the popular myths about monthly MS meetings in public areas and told police that meetings were no longer held at pre-arranged times and places because of police interference. Instead, those who were required to attend clique meetings were being notified of time and place no more than one week prior to the meeting and these meeting were only held if there was specific business to be discussed (Intelligence Report – 2005).
Other interviews with cooperating gang members revealed that MS cliques in parts of the eastern US were seeking to become organized and sophisticated in their criminal activities by modeling themselves after the Sicilian mafia. Instructions had come from west coast MS veteranos that visible tattoos, widespread gang graffiti and “dressing like gangsters” would no longer be permitted. With their newly enacted low profile, the cliques also began to change their method of operations. Senior members who had run drug distribution networks of various sizes now chose to distance themselves from their drug business by using African American, Jamaican and Caucasian dealers to sell their products in exchange for a small percentage of the profits (Intelligence Report – 2006).
Over the past few years, many smaller MS cliques in the eastern United States have been absorbed into other, more established cliques with stronger chains of command. While the members continue to be involved in extortion, prostitution and illegal drug sales, they have also become involved in other criminal enterprises such as identity theft and the pirating of commercial music and video. But while these seasoned MS members are attempting to rise to the level of being a more sophisticated organized crime group, there remains a new generation of MS members who have joined their respective cliques to become like the Mara Salvatrucha gangsters of the past, forcing their identity on their communities. These young gangsters, who were raised with stories of the violence, fear and respect associated with their gangs, will not likely be satisfied with the new direction that Mara Salvatrucha is taking.
Will this generational gap cause a division within Mara Salvatrucha? Will in-fighting follow? It is still too early to answer these questions. But with older members seeking a lower profile to protect their business and younger members seeking a higher profile to protect their reputation, the new face of the Salvatrucha is still uncertain. What is certain, however, is that they are a growing criminal gang and will not be fading away regarless of the direction they ultimately take.
References:
Morales, G. C. (2006) Varrio Warfare: Violence in the Latino Community. San Antonio: Munguia Printers, Inc.
Maryland State Police (2005, 2006)
Investigative Intelligence Memorandum,
Eways, A.
