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WASHINGTON -
The U.S. Justice Department is taking the fight against the Central American street gang known as MS-13 to its home turf - the so-called "northern triangle" countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
With roots among war refugees from El Salvador in Los Angeles in the 1980s, MS-13, also known by its Spanish name "Mara Salvatrucha," has morphed into one of the largest and most violent gangs in the United States, boasting an estimated 10,000 members.
But much of its leadership remains in El Salvador from where they plan and orchestrate "some significant murders" in the U.S., cases that local prosecutors are unable to investigate, according to Kenneth Blanco, assistant attorney general in charge of the department's criminal division.
As part of its fight against the gang, the Justice Department's criminal division coordinates with the Central American governments to gather leads and evidence for prosecuting gang members in the United States and to target others "before they ever reach U.S. ports of entry," Blanco told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on MS-13 Wednesday.
"The department's ultimate goal is to dismantle the entire leadership structure of MS-13, including those members who reside overseas," Blanco said.
FBI vetted foreign investigative units in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to probe MS-13 and other gang members as well as locals responsible for criminal activity in the United States, while another Justice Department unit sends attorneys overseas to combat gangs, cartels, financial crimes, public corruption and other transnational criminal activities, he said.
"You can help us take the fight where it emanates from to make sure those people never get here and those who are here go back," Blanco said.
Terrorist organization?
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called the gang "one of the gravest threats to American safety," and in April told a television interviewer that it could be designated a terrorist organization.
Sessions later said he wasn't certain whether the gang, the first street gang to be labeled a transnational criminal organization by the United States, meets the State Department's standards to be designated as a terrorist organization.
The Justice Department's focus on MS-13 as part of its new tough on crime approach has drawn criticism that the administration is using it as a pretext to crack down on undocumented immigrants.
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