It is an international gang involved in drug and human smuggling, prostitution, murder, extortion and other illegal activities.
Its full name is Mara Salvatrucha which means street-tough Salvadorans.
It was founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s by immigrants from El Salvador. Its origins though are in El Salvador since the 1970s. Its motto is ‘kill, rape and control’.
It all started after the civil war in El Salvador forcing thousands to leave the country and move to the USA.
In the 1990s it formed an alliance with the Mexican mafia and Mexican drug cartels. It is well known for extreme violence. It also has ties to powerful paramilitary members in El Salvador.
There is no formal leadership but cliques of gang members operating independently.
There are about 50.000 members in Central America and 6.000 to 10.000 in the USA. They are mainly Hispanics and some African-Americans of age 11 to 40.
[Source: www.britannica.com]
