M-18 gang’s rivalry with MS-13 gang began in Los Angeles.
In the 1980s
Mexican migrants from Southern California formed the Barrio 18 group in the 1960s. The group got organized into the Mara-18 in the 1980s in Los Angeles.
Teens were adopting hip hop culture. The underground urban movement was based on small groups of teens who formed crews to rap, spray paint graffiti and break dance together. They gave each other short nicknames. Baggy jeans, over sized jerseys and baseball caps were part of the style.
The gang divides into “cliques” – the groups that control MS-18 territory in countries, states, cities and neighborhoods. The “cliques” leaders are known as “shot-callers” and order murder-for hire jobs and organize drug sales.
Joining the ranks were more Central Americans, who were fleeing from political left-right armed conflicts and the lack of infrastructure and poverty.Since its inception the gang’s culture focuses more on profit maximization than on fighting rivalry.
In the 1990s
Once they graduated from high school the undocumented kids had limited opportunities. Those who had once joined gangs for protection from African-American gangs grew up to become career criminals.
FBI agents took down M-18 leaders, but that did not weaken the gang. The leaders ran the operation from within prison’s walls.
[…]
