Q: How is the MS-13 structured?

A: The MS-13 is a network with numerous, interlinked groups spread across 42 states and over 1,200 cities in the United States. These groups, called “cliques”, are loosely organized with one older leader, called the primera palabra or “first word”, a secretary, a treasurer, and, often times, a number of members who specialize in stealing cars, smuggling illegal immigrants, or murder.

When I interviewed the MS-13 member Veto, a “first word” in Brenda’s clique in Texas, he was serving time in a maximum-security prison. He told me of his goal to expand the MS-13 across Texas, in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Brownsville. With his cliques in place, he planned to operate a human smuggling ring, bringing Salvadorians through Mexico and up to Brownsville before sending them to Los Angeles and Northern Virginia. His contacts in El Salvador would have also facilitated this process.

The MS-13 is also a transnational gang, with close ties to thousands of members who live in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. From prison cells near San Salvador, senior MS-13 gang members can make one phone call and the next day someone in Charlotte, North Carolina will be found dead, stabbed to death. Such an extension of power - across nations - is part of what makes the MS-13 one of the most dangerous street gangs in America.