MS-13 Research Paper

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According to Drugs, Society, and Criminal Justice, outlaw motorcycle gangs and street gangs have been credited as the two types of organized crime in America since the 1980's (Levinthal, 2012). However, both criminal organizations have various gangs that are identifiable by crimes they commit, how they are committed, and where they are committed, just as each gang has their friends and foes. "Gang members who sell drugs are significantly more violent than gang members who do not sell drugs and are more violent than drug sellers who do not belong to gangs", (Levinthal, 2012, p. 107). The never-ending sell of illicit and licit drugs generates profit that will be protected by any gang member associated with this type of illegal activity. Historical …show more content…
MS-13 originated out of Central America and Mexico, and have expanded themselves into the United States as well as Canada (Ortiz, 2012). Furthermore, MS-13 has the capabilities of orchestrating sophisticated criminal enterprise across national borders, making them an international gang with members ranging from 11 to 40 years of age. Interestingly, MS-13 has the capabilities of forming alliances with other gangs for the purposes of criminal organizations and most other gangs will adhere to MS-13's demands due to MS-13's extreme violence they are well known for. One contributing factor that makes MS-13 so powerful is their flexibilities and the broad range of expertise among it's members. MS-13 members have capabilities of conducting "white collar" crimes such as computer crimes and wire fraud, while others specialize in street crimes such as carjacking or selling drugs. The flexibility of MS-13 allows the gang to perform criminal activities as a business enterprise, with each gang member having the common factor of inflicting extreme violence on anyone that stands in their way (Ortiz,

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