Mara Salvatrucha , commonly known as MS , is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles , California, in the s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area. Over time, the gang grew into a more traditional criminal organization. MS has a longtime rivalry with the 18th Street gang. Many MS members were deported to El Salvador after the end of the Salvadoran Civil War in , or upon being arrested, facilitating the spread of the gang to Central America.
Most members are Central American—Salvadorans in particular. As an international gang, its history is closely tied to United States—El Salvador relations. There is some dispute about the etymology of the name. In El Salvador, children are recruited while traveling to school, church, or work. Incarcerated youth are usually impressed into a gang during their incarceration.
Aspirants are beaten for 13 seconds as an initiation to join the gang, a ritual known as a "beat-in". Mara Salvatrucha gang members are typically impoverished young men and teenagers, who are often homeless and estranged from family, and who subsist on minor drug dealing, theft and extortion of street vendors and other small-time criminals.
Infanticide and femicide are common, with El Salvador hosting the third-highest femicide rate in the world. In , one in 5, Salvadoran women were killed. Legal impunity is a key factor. Occupied passenger buses are sometimes burned. Attacks like these have led the Supreme Court of El Salvador to authorize the classification of gangs as terrorist organizations.
The cruelty of the distinguished members of the " Maras " or " Mareros " resulted in some being recruited by the Sinaloa Cartel battling against Los Zetas in the Mexican drug war. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE , who have initiated wide-scale raids against known and suspected gang members, arresting hundreds across the United States. Their weapon of choice is a machete.
