The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) is a transnational criminal organisation that originated in the United States during the 1980s and expanded into Central America as conflict-hardened refugees from El Salvador and Nicaragua were deported back to their countries. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele recently decimated MS-13’s operational structure in the local theatre through massive incarcerations and backroom deals. [source, source, source]
Despite losing control of their operations and territory in Central America, the MS-13 is currently active in North America and the European Union in loosely organised and independent cliques. This Grey Dynamics article on the MS-13 provides an overview of the street gang, recently designated by the White House as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT), including its operational structure and recruitment methods. [source, source]
1 Symbols, Signs and Tattoos
1.1 Symbols
Symbology plays a larger role in the organisation’s identity. Members validate their affiliation by tattooing the gang’s initials and symbols on their faces or hands. Additional identifiers documented in the United States include the use of white and blue clothing. Some reports also indicate that senior gang members may wear a blue and black combination in addition to the blue and white to display seniority. Members refer to the organisation as “las letras” (the letters), rarely mentioning the complete name of the gang in public. [source, source]
1.2 Signs
The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) utilises a complex system of hand signs for identification and communication. Gang members and associates commonly use hand signs to validate their affiliation, with one of the most recognizable gestures involving the extension of both index fingers in front of or beside the face. Members typically execute this “horn” signal to display allegiance, especially in the presence of rival gangs. Although official sources have identified this gesture, many other sequences of hand signs remain undocumented by security scholars or government agencies, as they often vary between individual cliques. [source, source]
1.3 Tattoos
The United States Department of Justice has identified tattoos consisting of the letters “MS” and the numbers “13” located on the chest and back as a common marking of gang members. “Salvatrucha” and the “Devil Horns” are also used as validating ink. Tears, while carrying various meanings in different gang and prison cultures, are indicative of the dead among MS-13 members. Each one on the right side of the face represents a victim killed by the marero, as the gangsters are called in their home region. If they are on the left side, they indicate deceased companions or loved ones. Women’s tattoos, on the other hand, reflect the organization members’ wives, girlfriends, or mothers. [source]
2 History
2.1 Origins – Los Stoners
The Mara Salvatrucha was founded during the eighties in the Westlake and Rampart neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, as thousands of Central American refugees arrived in California, fleeing from conflict. Young undocumented migrants from El Salvador created “Los Stoners” in Pico Union neighbourhood as a heavy metal-oriented group, but the street dynamics of South Central quickly turned the low-level street gang into a more serious criminal group capable of confronting other gangs.
The Journal of Gang Research documented that some members of the organization, who had come as refugees, had fought in the civil wars back home and did not hesitate to use extreme violence against perceived enemies.not afraid of employing extreme violence against perceived enemies. Under the leadership of Ernesto Deras, a former member of the Salvadoran Army trained by the Green Berets, the Fulton Clique of the Mara Salvatrucha expanded its power into the San Fernando Valley and West Central Los Angeles. [source, source]
2.2 Mexican Mafia
After a decade of violent confrontations, a large number of gang members ended up in the California Department of Corrections. There, instead of disbanding, the gang pledged allegiance to the Mexican Mafia a Hispanic jail outfit born in California, to protect themselves from the racial dynamics in the prison system. Their fame and brutality allowed the Mara Salvatrucha to act as an armed branch of the Mexican Mafia. Eduardo “Satan” Deras presence in prison also solidified the alliance between the “Mareros” and the “Suereños”. [source]
2.3 Deportations and Expansion
During the 1990s, the Bill Clinton Administration developed an anti-immigration policy in the United States aimed at curbing gang activity by illegal aliens. Thus, the United States began a massive deportation programme for foreign-born residents convicted of violent crimes. This resulted in many validated “homeboys” being deported to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Approximately 20,000 gang members returned to Central America between 2000 and 2004. [source]
The Department of Homeland Security assesses that 90% of the 129,726 convicted criminals deported to Central America between 2001 and 2010 were sent to the Northern Triangle. Gangs with American brand names began to operate in those countries shortly after, as deported criminals leveraged their experience to ramp up recruitment in their homeland and organize smaller gangs into more violent groups [source]
2.4 Widespread Violence
El Salvador saw a peak in gang-related violence during the last twenty years, as the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) grew bigger and started fighting Barrio Eighteen (18-ST), with the murder rate increasing to 139 per 100,000 people in 1995, making El Salvador one of the most violent countries in the world. The Salvadoran Government responded with the Mano Dura policing strategy, a heavy-handed police operation aimed at detaining and processing male individuals displaying tattoos or symbols considered as criminal identifiers [source]
Authorities arrested almost 20,000 suspected gang members in the first year of the policy’s implementation, but murder rates remained well above 2003 levels until 2012, when the government brokered a truce between the MS-13 and 18th Street gangs, the gangs no longer had to worry so much about turf wars. Instead, they focused on recruitment and extortion. [source]
2.5 Current Situation
The Mara Salvatrucha currently faces intensified crackdowns in Central America at an operational and tactical level. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s state of emergency decree has led to over 76,000 arrests of validated members and suspected collaborators since 27 March 2022. Said crackdown also cut off their communications, impeding their ability to manage local extortion and micro trafficking. [source]
Official documents from the Salvadoran executive also show an undetermined number of senior gangsters negotiated with the government to avoid prosecution. According to prison reports obtained by local journalists, Bukele Government officials and Mara Salvatrucha leaders agreed to reduce homicides in exchange for prison benefits and early releases. [source, source, source]
The Mara Salvatrucha is currently expanding its source of revenue to other countries. The Spanish Police, for example, in April 2025 detained at least 27 individuals related to a local clique. According to an official statement from the Intelligence Commissariat, the targeted group was receiving orders from Central America. [source]
Donald Trump’s January 2025 return to the Oval Office has resulted in the White House ramping up pressure on the Mara Salvatrucha. The United States Government currently designates the transnational criminal organization as a foreign terrorist group, and the Department of Homeland Security listed its most notorious members among its most wanted. Despite the crackdown, official sources estimate at least 10,000 gang members are operating stateside. [source, source]
3 Organisation
3.1 Structure and Leadership
Mareros have diverse leadership and organizational models that change across the board, depending on social conditions or geographical location. Some networks are hierarchical and transnational, while others organize themselves loosely into horizontal structures guided by a senior council. Members inside the organization refer to these councils as “the program” or “the roundtable.” [source]
It should be noted that the cliques in the United States tend to be more horizontal and independent, while the ones in Central America are of a hierarchical nature. Data from federal indictments and academic investigations suggests several leaders imprisoned in El Salvador were increasing their efforts during the last seven years to establish a communications channel with their American counterparts. [source]
Unlike other criminal organisations of a transnational character, the Mara Salvatrucha does not operate under a unified command or recognized leader. United States cliques tend to operate more horizontally and independently, while Central American cliques maintain a hierarchical structure. MS-13 leaders usually have a second-in-command known as “second runner” or “second shotcaller.” [source]
Insight Crime researchers consulted United States police personnel, who confirmed that large cliques govern themselves and make unilateral decisions, while regional programs in specific areas usually tax and control smaller outfits. Recent investigations reveal that non-initiated associates comprise around 80% of American cliques. [source]
3.2 Recruitment and Membership
The Mara Salvatrucha has a ranking system for possible recruits. Candidates are initiated during their teenage years as lookouts. “Postmen” work around twelve-hour shifts in their neighbourhoods, acting as the eyes and ears of senior members. After years of assessment, “postmen” are promoted to “checkers,” which translates in gang work to physical security and access control in controlled territories.
“Checkers” are expected to inspect, hence the name, individuals or vehicles flagged as suspicious by junior associates. Throughout a minimum of three years, candidates go from policing their territory to murdering objectives. Former members of the Mara revealed to Insight Crime that recruiters consider this the most sensitive period of the recruitment process, as they punish failure or hesitation with execution. [source]
Cliques may vary their initiation requirements, but as a general standard, recruits and associates must have committed at least three violent assignments before becoming validated members through an initiation ceremony. Said ritual involves the candidate being either beaten or raped by their clique. Other cliques may request the murder of a rival as an additional requirement. [source, source]
After the initiation rite, the “checker” becomes a “homeboy.” In Central America, gang members consider a “homeboy” a validated member and senior gangster with enough power to make operational decisions. In North America, gang leaders still subject “homeboys” to loyalty checks disguised as violent assignments. The gang refers to these internal dynamics as “quotas.”[source]
4 Tactical-Operational Information
4.1 Financial Operations
Like its organizational structure, the Mara Salvatrucha’s core activities vary according to its geographical location. In Central America, the gang is more focused on extortion structures, while in the United States and the European Union, the organisation is dedicated to small-scale narcotics sales. The MS-13 is also capable of committing other violent crimes, but they are not part of its business agenda. [source]
Extortion previously represented the main source of income for El Salvador cliques and programs, with a reported revenue of over two million dollars between 2013 and 2015. Mareros benefit from targeting public transportation and informal markets in urban areas. Publicly available information from 2011 suggests the organization was generating monthly extortion revenues of $100,000 in San Miguel. [source, source]
Honduran and Guatemalan gang members also benefited from extortion until the last four years. Coordinating from prison, local leaders demanded from transport companies a weekly payment per vehicle and route. Investigators believe a normal public transportation route could generate at least $500 per week for the gang. Extortion payments were known as “la renta” or “the rent” in the gang jargon. [source, source]
El Salvador Police Operation Jaque dismantled extortion operations in Central America after targeting the individuals suspected of collecting the payments and, in some cases, the victims of the crime for acting as enablers of the criminal organization. Currently, the criminal elements in El Salvador and Honduras are shifting their focus from extortion to narcotics, especially at the street level. [source]
4.2 Tactical Assessment
The MS13’s tactics are centred on controlling territory through physical presence, as both the clique’s revenue and its members’ security come from geographical dominance. Said control is exercised through a network of lookouts that point the operational elements toward perceived threats. “Homeboys” use the organization’s reputation to demobilize rival gangs or coerce potential victims. Usually, the organization uses extreme violence against internal threats or external enemies to reinforce its reputation as an unforgiving group that gives only one warning.[source, source]
Regarding homicides and kidnappings, the Central America programs tend to be more overt and public, reaching the point of acting in broad daylight with heavy weaponry. Meanwhile, the United States cliques have an established pattern of luring their victims to isolated locations away from the public. These later outfits tend to employ blunt weapons or bladed tools during the commission of gangland homicides. Official records show that the Mara Salvatrucha employs the “Green Light” – a criminal system that sanctions violence through a chain of command, including assaults and murders, both inside prisons and on the streets- of the Mexican Mafia to authorize assassinations [source, source, source].
Debriefs of former and active gang members indicate that the Mara Salvatrucha, both in the United States and Central America, does not have specialists–such as treasurers or breachers–within their ranks. It has members who assume different responsibilities depending on the needs of the clique or the program. MS-13 Leaders assign mareros to rotate among available roles in any activity—such as driving a getaway vehicle, collecting an extortion payment, or serving as a quick reaction force—during weekly meetings. [source]
5 The Future
The Mara Salvatrucha is highly likely to continue moving its revenue stream from extortion and racketeering into the drug trade as Central American governments crack down on street-level operations. Furthermore, their hierarchy structure is also likely to change over time, as incarcerated leaders in El Salvador become more dependent on the financial kickbacks coming from the United States eastern programs. Despite their recent involvement in the drug trade, it is unlikely that the organization will consolidate itself as a main player in the regional markets, already dominated by more centralized and connected organisations. The “Mexico Program,” for example, had to fall in line inside the Sinaloa Cartel command structure to carry out small sales from Mexico to El Salvador. Experts also concluded that the decentralized nature of the MS13 undermined its capacities in the narcotic business. [source, source]
6 Conclusion
The Mara Salvatrucha is a highly adaptable and decentralized transnational gang that has a structure and operations that vary significantly depending on location. While Central American cliques follow a more hierarchical and command-driven model, United States groups operate independently with horizontal leadership. Despite lacking a unified command, local leaders known as “palabreros” exercise considerable control over their cliques. Recruitment into the gang follows a strict, violence-based progression system that culminates in full membership through brutal initiation rites.
Operationally, regional conditions shape their core criminal activities, with a focus on extortion in Central America and drug distribution in the United States and the European Union. Although extortion remains a legacy income stream in areas like El Salvador and Honduras, recent crackdowns have pushed the criminal organization toward narcotics trafficking. Tactically, the gang exerts territorial control through constant surveillance, use of violence, and fear-based reputation management. Despite the absence of designated specialists, the Mara Salvatrucha maintains its effectiveness by rotating responsibilities among members, ensuring flexibility and continuity in its criminal operations.
