12/10/2023 0 Comments Barney actor drug crime![]() The Treasury Department’s designation, for instance, surprised more than a few US law enforcement agencies that work on gangs. There is no consensus in the US government on the question of whether the gangs are TCOs. ![]() ( See the General Accounting Office report of the implementation of this decision here.) To some, the MS-13 designation seemed like a similar power play to gain a foothold in the battle against street gangs and thus secure another avenue of funding. In 2009, the ICE won a longstanding bureaucratic battle to try so-called “Title 21” cases, which was the sole jurisdiction of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In addition, the Treasury Department seemed to be following the lead of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a law enforcement entity that has a reputation for trying to extend its jurisdiction and thus secure more funding for itself. ![]() In this context, the Treasury Department’s decision could be viewed as a de facto message to the Salvadoran government to proceed with caution. The United States government has been against this truce from the beginning. In return, the Salvadoran government moved 30 leaders to medium-security prisons and promised to implement social, economic, and educational programs so they could re-integrate into society. In March 2012, the MS-13 and the Barrio 18 signed a truce at the behest of the Salvadoran government. What’s more, the announcement had strange timing. However, unlike other designated groups, the Treasury Department statements gave no details about the economic holdings of the MS-13. “Money generated by local MS-13 cliques in the US is consolidated and funneled to the group’s leadership in El Salvador.”Ī more recent statement offered up six names of leaders to keep an eye on, two of whom face charges in the United States. “Local MS-13 cliques take direction from the group’s foreign leadership for strategic decisions involving moves into new territories and efforts to recruit new members,” the statement read. The gang was involved in “drug trafficking, kidnapping, human smuggling, sex trafficking, murder, assassinations, racketeering, blackmail, extortion, and immigration offenses,” it said, placing the MS-13 in the same bracket as Mexico’s Zetas, Italy’s Camorra, and Japan’s Yakuza. To be sure, the Treasury Department’s designation offered some enthralling details and powerful imagery. While this assertion seems unfounded, there is one case that illustrates just why the US government is worried about the future. In October 2012, the US Treasury Department designated the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) as a transnational criminal organization (TCO).
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