[Shadow_Group] Fw: Gangs Spread Across Mexico

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

rense.com

Central American Street 
Gangs Spread Across Mexico
12-3-4
 
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Violent gangs with roots in U.S. crime culture
are spreading through Mexico, with some setting up shop in the capital,
the government said on Thursday. 
  
The gangs, or "maras" as they are known, have their roots in a wave of
convicts sent back to Central America from the United States in the 1990s
and who are said to have brought Los Angeles gang culture to the region. 
  
Blamed for beheadings, murders and rapes, their presence has spread
throughout El Salvador to neighboring Honduras and Guatemala and now
Mexico. 
  
"We are concerned about the phenomenon from the point of view of public
security," Mexican Interior Minister Santiago Creel told reporters on
Thursday. 
  
The mara members, easily identified by gang tattoos, have been linked
with all sorts of crime in Mexico, including drugs and weapons
trafficking. 
  
Eduardo Medina Mora, the director of Mexico's national security institute
(CISEN), said gang members have been detained in 21 Mexican states but 85
percent of them were in the southern states of Chiapas, Veracruz and
Oaxaca. 
  
Members of the gangs flooded into Central America eight years ago when
the U.S. Congress passed a law ordering non-U.S. citizens who were
sentenced to more than a year in jail to be deported after serving their
time. 
  
Medina said Mexico was working with U.S. and Central American authorities
to help control the Maras, although the task was complicated because they
are not tightly organized like drug cartels, but operate instead as
independent groups. 
  
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the
prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any
errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon. 
  
http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6982801<http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6982801>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/shadowgroup-l/attachments/20041205/5a820663/attachment.html>