Street Gangs of El Salvador TV - World’s Biggest Gangs TV - Inside the Gangster Code I II TV - Ross Kemp TV -
Rival gangs 18 [th Street Gang] and MS-13 are at war for control of the city. Gang conflict is blamed in one of the highest murder rates in the world. Thousands of gang members have been locked up. But out on the streets there is no shortage of teenage recruits. Street Gangs of El Salvador
Many of the younger gang members have grown up without their parents. ibid.
Many of 18’s leaders are in jail. ibid.
The ongoing war between 18 and MS-13 claims several lives a week. ibid.
Two rival gangs the 18 and MS-13 ... have divided El Salvador into control zones. They deal drugs and weapons and charge any kind of business for protection. The clash between the 18 and MS-13 over the control of this market has acquired the proportions of a non-declared war. World’s Biggest Gangs: El Salvador
Their reach stretches throughout central America, the US and as far as Europe. It’s estimated between both gangs there are 140,000 members worldwide. ibid.
Gang members have developed elaborate systems of hand signals. ibid.
In 1979 civil war broke out in El Salvador. An alliance of left-wing guerrilla fighters known as the FMLN confronted the army of the country’s extreme right US-backed government. ibid.
The war ended in 1992: seventy-five thousand people dead, eight thousand missing and one million displaced. The FMLN became a political party and the country continued to be governed by the right. No-one was ever punished for the crimes committed during the war. ibid.
Black Shadow members are primarily police and military personnel. ibid.
I’m in El Salvador and I want to meet the leaders of one of the world’s most feared gangs: the 18th Street. Inside the Gangster Code, Discovery Channel 2013
El Salvador has the second highest homicide rate in the world. ibid.
No-one has ever escaped ... security is tight. But the authorities don't control what goes on inside ... About 700 18th Street inmates. ibid.
‘We’re gangsters. We know we’re crazy. We pledge our life to the gang.’ ibid.
One of the world's most feared gangs – the 18th Street ... For decades the 18th have waged war with MS-13. Inside the Gangsters’ Code: 18th Street
It is estimated there are 70,000 gang members in El Salvador. 7,000 are currently in prison. ibid.
‘Without loyalty the gang is nothing.’ ibid. Sharkey