MS-13: Who are they and why has Jeff Sessions declared war against them?

US Attorney General promises to destroy gang 'like we took Al Capone off streets'

A member of MS-13 in El Salvador (AFP/Getty)

Jeff Sessions has said the Department of Justice’s organised crime task force will destroy MS-13 “just like we took Al Capone off the streets”.

The US Attorney General made the comparison between the infamous gang and the Prohibition-era mobster at an International Association of Police Chiefs conference in Philadelphia.

The 70-year-old told officers that his department had made dealing with MS-13 a priority.

Here The Independent looks at what it is he wants to target.

What is MS-13?

The international criminal gang sprung up in the Latino neighbourhoods, known as barrios, of Los Angeles in the 1980s.

Formed by refugees who had fled El Salvador’s brutal civil war, gang members are still predominantly from Central American countries, including Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.

The group now operates across North and Central America, with a presence as far north as the Canadian city of Toronto.

Known for their tattoos, which often cover most of their bodies, gang members are notorious for their violence and a moral code based on brutal retribution.

The gang’s original purpose was to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other established gangs in LA, but it now exerts influence in drug trafficking, racketeering, murder, human trafficking and prostitution, Philip Holloway, a legal analyst and former police officer, told Fox Business.

How did it get its name?

MS-13 stands for Mara Salvatrucha 13. It is said to be a combination of Mara, which translates as gang, Salva, for Salvdor, and trucha, which roughly means street smarts. The 13 is reportedly used because it is the position of M in the alphabet.

Ioan Grillo, who authored the Gangster Warlords book on Latin American gangs, has claimed he name is actually based on a Charlton Heston movie.

“Back in the 1950s, the film The Naked Jungle was a hit in El Salvador with the weird translation of 'Cuando Ruge la Marabunta' or 'When the Ants Roar’,” he told Business Insider.

“Following this, Salvadorans took the name Mara to mean group of friends, who like ants protect each other."

How big is it?

In 2012 the US Treasury declared was the gang a “transnational criminal organisation", which placed it on a level with much larger criminal organisations, such as the Japanese Yakuza and the Mexican Zetas.

There are estimated to be up to 10,000 members in the US, according to a 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment and up to 70,000 members and associated members worldwide.

It currently has a presence in 46 states.

Reputation

MS-13 has a reputation for extreme violence and is known to favour the use of machetes for murders.

Its motto is “kill, rape, control,” according to an FBI gang specialist who investigated the group.

Recent cases linked to the gang include the revenge slaying of two female high school students in New York. They were killed with a machete and a baseball bar.

The group was also linked to the kidnapping and rape of three girls in Texas earlier this year.

The gang has been accused of recruiting poor and isolated teenagers. New beaten for 13 seconds in an initiation ceremony known as being “jumped in”.

It is also reported that new recruits are expected to “get wet” by committing a crime, often a murder.

Why is the Trump administration placing priority on this particular gang?

"MS-13, you know about MS-13?" the US President said at a speech to the National Rifle Association in April. "It's not pleasant for them anymore. That's a bad group. Not pleasant for MS-13. Get them the hell out of here, right? Get them out."

Though there is little evidence that MS-13 is more prevalent in recent years or more dangerous that other gangs in the US, its methods are particularly brutal and recent high-profile murders have generated a spate of news headlines.

The Trump administration has nonetheless used the gang as justification for its hardline immigration policies.

Mr Trump and Mr Sessions have both blamed Barack Obama for a perceived expansion of the group.