Skip to main content

Murders, rapes, drugs and extortion are the calling cards of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13.

Murders, rapes, drugs and extortion are the calling cards of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13.According to the FBI, MS-13 operates in at least 42 states, with the largest concentrations in California, the District of Columbia, New York and Virginia.The gang originated in Los Angeles, but now they're putting down roots in Northern California."Two years ago, we have never heard of MS-13," Yuba City police Sgt. Brian Bernardas said. "Now we have 26 or 27 of them."Bernardas, on the gang task force, called MS-13 one of the most brutal gangs. Body and facial tattoos come with the territory."I am talking shootings. I am talking stabbings. I am talking murders," he said.But members are holding down regular 9-to-5 jobs, mostly in construction or farming.An undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who spent several years infiltrating MS-13 said now that the economy has dwindled, gang members are moving into rural communities.Police said gang members are getting younger by the day -- some as young as 9 or 10 years old. So in Lincoln, residents have decided to take it upon themselves to rid their streets of gangs one child at a time.Karen Hernandez is president of the nonprofit group called REDIRECT. Its mission to help kids stay off the street by offering alternatives to the gang lifestyle, such as spending time at the Lincoln Community Center."It takes a community to raise a child. That is what we are going after," she said.Former gang member Alejantro Tomas, 14, said he can only image where he'd be without REDIRECT."I wouldn't be here in Lincoln. I would be on the run," he said.
And while organizations such as REDIRECT work to change lives, police and other authorities work to change gang culture one arrest at a time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club compound,Ronald B. Campbell,Andrea G. Reeder,Dylan C. Grose,William C. Casteel.arrested

Four people were arrested on suspected drug charges, including the group's leader.Methamphetamine was found at the Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club compound at West 19th Avenue and South Gum Street. Benton County Undersheriff Paul Hart said they needed so many officers as a "precautionary" step because the Gypsy Jokers are known to be connected to drugs and other criminal activities."It is an outlaw motorcycle gang with convicted felons who reside there," Hart said. "We gear up to meet that threat."Some stolen property and a couple of weapons also were seized, he said. The Violent Crimes Task Force, made up of federal agents and local police detectives, raided the club house and two homes at 5 a.m.The Benton County Regional SWAT team and the Yakima SWAT team were used to help search all the buildings."Because of the large site ... it makes it difficult to secure and make sure everybody is safe," Hart said. "The Violent Crimes Task Force ... ...

William (Billy) Bowden pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom today to carrying a firearm in a careless manner in January 2007

William (Billy) Bowden, 33, pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom today to carrying a firearm in a careless manner in January 2007 and skipping out on his preliminary hearing about a year later. Other drug and weapons charges related to the 2007 incident were stayed as part of a plea bargain securing the two convictions. Bowden remains in custody though, charged with manslaughter in relation to the November 2007 killing of Jeff Engen, who was fatally stabbed at the Empire Cabaret, prompting the club to close. That charge remains before the courts. Bowden has been in custody since he was arrested Feb. 14 in Whistler, B.C., and returned to Manitoba. The Crown and defence jointly recommended that time be noted in his sentence for carrying the firearm. That crime occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2007, as Bowden was leaving the NV lounge in a truck with friend Ken Houston, court heard. Police discovered a Glock 9mm handgun loaded with 18 bullets in a pile of garbage close to where the...

Oak Park gang member charged in the shooting death of one of his homeboys while they were out on a retaliation attack in rival territory.

Closing arguments began today in the murder trial of a reputed Oak Park gang member charged in the shooting death of one of his homeboys while they were out on a retaliation attack in rival territory.Deputy District Attorney Anthony Ortiz said as many as 30 shots were fired in the June 27, 2005, broad-daylight shooting on Della Circle in the Florin area. One of the shots fired by defendant Denishio Demmitrius Collins, 26, killed David Perkins, 22, one of the eight gang members from the Oak Park Bloods who filled three cars in the assault on a rival Crip set, according to Ortiz."This wasn't an in-the-dark sneak attack," Ortiz said. "These were people who said 'screw it' - this is our war and we're going to bring it to your streets." After the shooting, the Oak Park gang members dumped the dying Perkins out of one of their vehicles and left him to die, Ortiz said."He was left on a sidewalk to die by his homeboys," the prosecutor said. Their m...