MS-18 Bashny.Net

The gang Mara 18 (also known as M-18 or MS-18) is a criminal organization, whose members are mostly immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.





Wilmer Matamoros leader of one of the branches of the gang, posing in a prison in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. AP Photo

Mar 18 (La Mara 18) was established in Los Angeles, California, in 1980, during a mass exodus of refugees from El Salvador who fled the civil war.

To become a member of MS-18, tebovalos be tested to withstand a beating from gang members for 18 seconds, and do not fall.

Gang member gets on the head by the police. AP Photo



The gang members are perceived to be for life, except become «calmado» or «calmada», ie people who are still considered to be participants, but gang activity involves not accept.



Honduran police special operation





The typical age of new gang members for 12 years, with some "calls" the age of nine. The recruitment of the gang at such a young age, allowing on the one hand to prepare the place of the old members who died or were imprisoned, and on the other also avoids harsh legal sanctions that apply in relation to an adult.

Activities Mara 18 "applies to many cities in El Salvador and other countries in Central America, especially Honduras and Guatemala.



Armed gangs quite on the level ...



... That pozvolyaett join the firing skirmish even with spices from the Honduran Cobra ...

The main rivals Mara 18 gang is M-13, Mara Salvatrucha, which consists mostly of natives of El Salvador. Mara Salvatrucha (MS13, «Hollywood Locos") - one of the most brutal South American gangs that are now actively are operating on the territory of 6 countries (50 thousand bandits in America - Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, and even in Spain) ... < br />


The members of the M-18, are also involved in the ongoing territorial wars in Mexico with Mara Salvatrucha. The competition takes place mainly over control of areas near the southern border of Mexico, where there are pathways of illegal immigrants into the United States.



It happens that the gang members are in such a form that's ...

Clashes between the two gangs have become commonplace in the south of Mexico, in areas that are often used as a route used to transport illegal immigrants into the United States.



Farmers in Honduras falls too hard. therefore necessary to arm themselves against the bandits, respectively, up to the AK ...

In 2005, there were bloody clashes between MS-13 and MS-18 in several prisons throughout Guatemala, as a result of which 31 inmates died and dozens were injured.

As Mara Salvatrucha, MS-18 members are often easily identified by their extensive tattoos, which sometimes cover the entire face. The US officials responded to a peculiar isskusstvo underwear, work and denying admission to schools for those on whom showed such a tattoo. Some past and current members of the MS-18 began to remove their tattoos in order to prevent their identification as a member of the gang. The new leaders of gangs such as MS-13 tattoos began to refuse to avoid further attention.