Posted on 08/14/2005 9:20:14 AM PDT by 4.1O dana super trac pak
BLOOMERY — It seems an unlikely setting for a meeting of big-city gang members — a secluded spot along the Shenandoah River where the loudest noises come from tires crunching gravel and water rushing over the dam.
But it’s here, on a narrow road just across the Virginia state line, that authorities say members of MS-13, one of the nation’s most violent gangs, have begun to congregate.
“If you just drove through, you wouldn’t notice. But we sit and watch what they do,” says Jefferson County sheriff’s Lt. Bobby Shirley. While women serve picnics and children play, “the men are standing around, clearly doing business.”
MS-13 is shorthand for Mara Salvatrucha, a Latin American gang founded in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador. Federal authorities consider it one of the nation’s most vicious street gangs and estimate that it has 10,000 members in more than 30 states.
Earlier this year, after several homicides in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., the FBI announced a crackdown. Hundreds of members have since been rounded up, and some deported. But the gang, in part to lower its profile, is spreading out.
West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, less than 70 miles from Washington, offers a haven from prying eyes.
“We’re so close to Baltimore, Washington, even Philadelphia, that we’re getting an element that we definitely don’t want,” says West Virginia State Police Capt. Rob Blair, commander of the detachment based in Charles Town.
Police suspect MS-13 in only a few assaults and robberies, but Jefferson County Sheriff Ed Boober is certain the gang is present — and preying on some of the county’s newest residents.
A growing number of Hispanic immigrants have found work here, lured by the apple orchards, the booming construction market and the thoroughbred racing industry at the Charles Town Races & Slots. Often, though, they arrive alone and friendless — a situation the gang can use.
“They’re recruiting everywhere. They’re looking for people who don’t belong,” Boober says. “The bad thing is, once you join, you can’t unjoin.”
Although gang activity is not pervasive, Boober says there are subtle signs: MS graffiti on buildings. Clothing emblazoned with 13, XIII or MS. Teens at Jefferson High School weaving red bandannas through belt loops.
“It’s very quiet. It’s below the top of the water. But we know it’s there,” the sheriff says. “To say that they are not present in our community is putting your head in the sand.”
Former Modesto, Calif., police Officer Jared Lewis says MS-13 markets the gang as a way to embrace Latin American heritage. Parents who are unfamiliar with American teens’ customs might not recognize what’s happening, mistakenly believing their children are just learning to fit in.
“They think all kids throw hand signs, all kids wear colors, all kids write these symbols on their books,” says Lewis, director of Wisconsin-based Know Gangs, a group of consultants that educates law enforcement, teachers and social workers. “But I don’t know of any culture — Mexican, Irish, African-American, Polish, whatever — that gang membership is part of the heritage.”
In April, an FBI official testified before Congress about MS-13, whose members also come from Honduras and Guatemala. Three members of the Los Angeles crew moved to the Northern Virginia-D.C. area in 1993 to recruit, and, by this past spring, there were 1,500 members.
“It appears that the MS-13 is still a loosely structured street gang,” Chris Swecker, assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division, says in the transcript of his testimony posted on the FBI’s Web site. “However, its threat is based on its violence and its potential to grow, not only geographically, but in its organization and sophistication.”
Later this month, Thomas E. Johnston, U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Northern District, will hold a training session for local law enforcement agencies. Officers must learn to protect themselves and their communities as the gang presence grows.
“I view this as something that’s possibly on the horizon,” Johnston says, “and certainly a potential threat worth preparing for.”
Anyone who watches television or reads a newspaper knows that law enforcement in the Eastern Panhandle is not growing in proportion to the population it serves.
The State Police has just 62 officers, including commanders, to cover seven counties every day.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department might have only two or three deputies to cover weekend shifts.
“We’re trying to be as proactive as we can, and hopefully we can keep it from growing or from even setting roots here,” says Blair, of the State Police. “We don’t want it and we don’t need it. But with the limited resources and manpower we have, it’s hard.”
Lewis says West Virginia should take MS-13 seriously, regardless of how benign it now seems.
“There is this perception that because they’re not out there carrying guns and shooting people every day, that they’re different from other gangs,” he says.
But they aren’t.
“If that kid is interested in gangs, that’s an interest in drugs. That’s an interest in violence. That’s an interest in victimizing the weak. If that interest is there, that’s a problem,” Lewis says. “It’s just a matter of how long it takes interest to turn to action.”
There are hundreds of these ultra-violent MS-13 thugs in the Boston area. Since we aren't securing the southern border (because they don't intend for us to have one much longer); MS-13 will continue to flood north. Got ammo?
A discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a DALLAS MORNING NEWS article via KANSAS CITY STAR: "FBI BULLETIN OUTLINES POSSIBLE TERRORIST PLOT AT TEXAS BORDER" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The plot, according to uncorroborated information provided by an FBI informant, involves a man, described as an Arab who goes by the nickname "El Espanol," and Ernesto Zatarin Beliz, also known as El Traca, a reputed Mexican drug trafficker and member of the Zetas, the feared enforcers of the notorious Gulf cartel.") (July 17, 2005) (Read More...)
WorldNetDaily.com: Washington - "MEXICAN DRUG COMMANDOS EXPAND OPS IN 6 US STATES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The ultra-violent, U.S.-trained elite, Mexican paramilitary commandos known as the "Zetas," responsible for hundreds of murders along the border this year, have expanded their enforcement efforts on behalf of a drug cartel by setting up trafficking routes in six U.S. states. A U.S. Justice Department memo says the U.S.-trained units have recently moved operations into Houston, San Antonio and the states of California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. They have been operating in Dallas for at least two years, according to the feds.") (June 21, 2005) (Read More...)
A Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding an article published in the August 12, 2005 edition of THE MONITOR:Roma, Texas - "STARR COUNTY VEXED AFTER MS-13 ARREST" (August 13, 2005) (Read More...)
ON THE NET...
ICE.GOV: "MOST WANTED"
http://www.ice.gov/graphics/investigations/mostwanted.htm
NOTE: The following post is an exact quote:
===
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1464074/posts
25 die in Guatemala prison gang clashes
Yahoo ^
Posted on 08/15/2005 7:22:25 PM PDT by vrwc0915
GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Clashes between rival gangs in Guatemalan jails left at least 25 inmates dead and more than 50 wounded, police said.
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Deaths were reported in clashes between members of Mara Salvatrucha and those of Mara-18, a rival gang at the Escuintla and Granja Penal Pavon jails outside Guatemala City.
At least 13 gang members were said to have died in the Escuintla jail, 55 kilometers (35 miles) south of the capital.
Members of the Mara Salvatrucha "wanted to eliminate physically members of Mara-18," according to Daniel Guerrero, police chief in Escuintla.
In another gang rumble, eight members of Los Cholos were killed by gunshots to the head in Pavon prison, in eastern Guatemala, according to the same source.
In Canada prison, near Escuintla, two inmates were killed by the explosion of a fragmentation grenade.
Police intervened to take control of Mazatenango prison, 163 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital, where a member of the Mara Salvatrucha and one of the Mara-18 were killed.
Battles between the principal gangs of Central America, Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18, have become especially worrisome in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Those three countries are the most harmed by these gangs and police repression has not controlled the problem.
The gangs were born in the 1980s in US Latin neighborhoods. The gangs left Los Angeles and went international when some of their members lost their US residency and returned to their homelands.
Ping
Thanks for the ping, Cindy. Sad news indeed.
Its called "Viva La Raza" and our turncoat politicians and stupid corporate fatcats aid and abet this "Red Dawn" scenario.
Ah yes, the wonderful Latin American heritage that made their country of origin such a cesspool, needs to be brought to the USA so we can be lowered to their level.
Damn it Prez Bush, close that fricken border.
Now that's a crying shame...
http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3734977&nav=BsmgdS0L
"Border Patrol keeps eye out for MS-13"
Border Patrol keeps eye out for MS-13 - Part II
Border Patrol keeps eye out for MS-13
Border Issues more>>
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "CORPUS CHRISTI - They're known as Mara Salvatrucha the MS-13 gang. They started in Honduras, but now they're here in Texas and becoming more violent. 6 News spent the day with U.S. Border Patrol in Falfurrias and with a look at the crackdown on the MS-13.
This is one of the most violent, most vicious street gangs in America today. They're in 33 states, but you know how a lot of them get to this country, from Mexico through South Texas.
AEveryday, the Border Patrol is on the lookout for these gang members. They're identified by their tattoos and so far, the increased crackdown on these thugs here is working. In the McAllen sector, Border Patrol agents have captured 42 of these thugs this year alone.
"They do have a history of using the South Texas area as a corridor to travel to large interior cities in the U.S.," said U.S. Border Patrol officer Roy Cervantes. In February, the national leader of the group was arrested in Falfurrias, identified by all those tattoos."
Tattoo's are identification points.
That's good for us.
We can read the history of each gang banger
just by the reading his/her tattoo.
CORRECTION of the last post: ...just by reading his/her tattoos.
When I rode big bikes on the street, I got accustomed to that "citizens look of loathing," based om my appearance ( 190lbs, leathers, long hair, beard, scars... ) and it irked me back then, but security trumps civil niceties.
The same thing you would do if you were in a sinking boat in the middle of a large body of water. Fix the leak as well as you can and then start bailing like a mad man before the boat sinks.
Yep, that inking is bad for one's health, too.
These national and state politicians should be hearing first hand from people who've had loved ones raped, robbed or worse by these thugs and other illegals that are here to re-colonize and not assimilate. Should something ever happen to a family member of a high profile politician at the hands of these gangs it's sure bet the reaction would be sure and swift.
http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=104&sid=555651
"MS-13 Member Found Guilty in Fairfax Machete Attack"
Rival Lost 3 Fingers in Incident At Movie Theater in January
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 18, 2005; Page B01
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A Fairfax County jury convicted a 19-year-old member of the Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha yesterday in a January machete attack on a rival gang member that severed three fingers on the rival's left hand.
The jury then sentenced Wilber A. Rivera of Falls Church to 23 years in prison for aggravated malicious wounding and five years for participating in a gang. On Dec. 9, Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Jonathan C. Thacher will decide whether the two terms should run consecutively or concurrently. Under state law, Thacher has the option of reducing the jury's sentence, but he cannot increase it.
The machete attack outside a Merrifield movie theater was the second involving the gang, also known as MS-13, in an eight-month span in Fairfax and heightened fears of escalating gang violence in the region. In the first attack, in May 2004, a member of the South Side Locos gang lost four fingers. Two MS-13 members were sentenced to 15 years in prison, and a third received a 12-year term."
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