The Trump administration has named a discernible enemy in its war on gangs and criminal cartels: the infamous and strengthening MS-13, known for its violence and brutality.
MS-13 is on one of its most deadly tears through Long Island, New York since it took root there 20-30 years ago, linked to at least eleven murders in the region since mid-2016, according to the Associated Press. Most recently the gang is believed to be connected to four brutal killings in Central Islip, N.Y. last month.
Despite the administration’s promised crackdown, security experts warn it won’t be easy infiltrating what has become an underground economy fueled by illegal immigration. The gang abuses the unaccompanied refugee minors program (URM), which allows immigrant children to come into the country and settle with sponsors, to both shuttle in and recruit members.
“The unaccompanied minors come across the border, they’re detained and sponsors are found for them across the country, usually if they are from El Salvador in an El Salvadorian community, which we have in Brentwood, Long Island. And the unaccompanied minors aren’t vetted, the homes are vetted, but some of those homes, there are MS-13 members living there,” Suffolk County police sheriff Vincent DeMarco said Monday during an interview with FOX Business.
Between October and February 31,407 unaccompanied minors were released to sponsors in the United States, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. In some cases, members are recruited before they even enter the United States, Michael Balboni, founder of securities firm Redland Strategies and former homeland security advisor for New York State, told FOX Business.
MS-13 is not a particularly well-funded organization and it traditionally resorts to theft, human trafficking, sex trafficking, selling drugs and extortion for financing, as reported by FOX Business. However, on Long Island it has “fostered this underground economy that [for 20-30 years] we haven’t been able to reach,” Balboni said, noting that challenge extends nationwide.
MS-13 is remarkable in the sense that it has been “an incredibly persistent problem” over the years throughout the parts of the country where it has a robust presence, Balboni said.
Law enforcement officials have had trouble cracking down on this gang in particular because of its unique organizational structure.
“MS-13 works in cliques — they’re not like the Gambino crime organization where they have regional reach … Which is what makes them harder to get, because they’re not coordinated,” Balboni said. Traditional measures — including the use of informants, undercover agents and surveillance — haven’t been successful, he added.