What is the MS-13 gang, what has Donald Trump said and what does the name Mara Salvatrucha mean?
US President Trump declared war on the gang, which grew out of LA in the 1980s
VIOLENT gang MS-13 is one of the world's most feared criminal outfits and boasts around 30,000 members around the globe.
Here's what you need to know about the infamous mega-crew which is rumoured to have a revenue of $31.2million each year.
Who are MS-13?
MS-13 is one of the world's most brutal street gangs and has hit headlines around the world following a string of murders in the US.
The group was started by Central American immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1980s.
Most of the founding members were from El Salvador having fled to the US during the country’s civil war, which continued from 1980 to 1989.
Nowadays the gang has at least 10,000 members across 46 states in the US and more than 30,000 worldwide, according to the FBI and the Treasury Department.
“[MS-13] is one of the most dangerous and rapidly expanding criminal gangs in the world today,” Philip Holloway, a legal analyst and former police officer, told Fox News.
“MS-13’s mottos is ‘Mata, roba, viola, controla’ (Kill, steal, rape, control),” he noted.
The gang is said to recruit vulnerable teenagers who must endure a 13 second beating and commit crime, often murder, to become members.
It's reportedly even harder to leave MS-13, with many of those who try brutally slaughtered.
Members are known for having large tattoos across their bodies, often including the group's name, and for using a kind of sign language.
The gang, notorious for brutal killings, is believed to have an annual revenue of $31.2million, according to reports from El Faro newspaper.
What has Donald Trump said about the gang?
US President Donald Trump has vowed a crackdown on the gang following a string of deaths including four teenagers killed in Long island, New York in April 2017.
In November, 2017, the gang made headlines again after they allegedly beheaded a man in broad daylight in Washington DC.
The thugs reportedly ripped out the dead man’s heart and tossed the corpse in a shallow grave.
Officials believe up to ten members of the notorious gang communicated on walkie-talkies as they lured the unnamed man into a city park before stabbing him over 100 times.
In May 2018, Trump sparked controversy when an email to reporters referred to the members of MS-13 as "animals" a total of ten times.
The email read: "President Trump’s entire Administration is working tirelessly to bring these violent animals to justice."
What does the name mean?
MS-13 members often have the gang's name tattooed across their chests.
The MS stands for Mara Salvatrucha.
This is believed to be a combination of Mara, meaning gang, Salva, for Salvador, and trucha, meaning street smarts.
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The letter M's position in the alphabet gives the 13.
The name also comes from peasants who fought in the 1980-1992 civil war that raged in El Salvador.
It is thought the reason for the emergence of the gang in America was in a bid to protect a Salvadoran community against African-American and Mexican gangs.
How is the brutal street gang funded?
MS-13 is said to have a revenue of more than $30million a year.
It has influence in many illegal activities including murder, racketeering, drug trafficking, human trafficking and prostitution, Philip Holloway, a legal analyst and former police officer, told FOX Business.
Violence is also frequently used by gang members as a means for extortion University of Houston sociology professor Luis Salinas told FOX Business.
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