Known for sometimes beheading their enemies, MS-13 consists of more than 30,000 members and operates in at least five countries, including the United States. Law enforcement authorities consider it one of the most dangerous criminal gangs in the world today. MS-13 promotes its illicit interests through murder, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion and assassination, including carrying out numerous murders within the United States.
Six members of the notorious El Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, which has which has sought to expand its influence throughout the United States, including the D.C. metropolitan area, were designated Wednesday by the Treasury Department as international criminals as the government seeks to cripple the gang’s growing and dangerous operations.
The designation makes the gang subject to penalties by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and gives U.S. authorities an opportunity to hinder MS-13’s ability to funnel money to its leaders in El Salvador or launder criminal proceeds through otherwise legitimate businesses. Adding the names of six of the gang’s purported leaders allows the U.S. to target their bank accounts individually.
“MS-13 is an extremely violent and dangerous gang responsible for a multitude of crimes that directly threaten the welfare and security of U.S. citizens, as well as peoples throughout Central America,” said Adam Szubin, director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. “We will continue to target the leadership and financial networks supporting MS-13, and work with our law enforcement partners from across the United States and around the world to disrupt their criminal activities.”
[…]
