MS-13 : the making of America's most notorious gang / Steven Dudley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dudley, Steven, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

MS-13 (Gang).

Gangs--California--Los Angeles--Case studies.

Gangs.

Gangs--El Salvador--Case studies.

California--Los Angeles.

El Salvador.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

339 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Hanover Square Press, [2020]

Summary:

Looks at the most dangerous street gang in America, MS-13, as seen through the lives of one family caught in its malicious web.

"The MS-13 was born from war. In the 1980s, El Salvador was enmeshed in a bloody civil conflict. To escape the guerrilla assaults and death squads, many fled to the US and settled in Los Angeles. Among them were Alex and his brother. There, as a survival instinct, Alex and a small number of Salvadoran immigrants formed a group called the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners, a relatively harmless social network bound by heavy metal music and their Salvadoran identity. But later, as they brushed against established local gangs, the group took on a harder edge, selling drugs, stealing cars and killing rivals who threatened their territories. As authorities cracked down, gang members like Alex were incarcerated and deported. But in the prison system, the group only grew stronger, and in Central America, the gang multiplied, eventually spreading to a half-dozen nations in two continents. Today, MS-13 is one of the most infamous street gangs on earth, with an estimated ten thousand members operating in dozens of states and linked to thousands of grisly murders each year in the US and abroad. But it is also misunderstood--less a drug cartel and more a hand-to-mouth organization whose criminal economy is based mostly on small-time extortion schemes and petty drug dealing. Journalist and longtime organized crime investigator Steven Dudley brings readers inside the nefarious group to tell a larger story of how a flawed US and Central American policy, and the exploitative and unequal economic systems helped foster the gang and sustain it. Ultimately, MS-13 is the story of the modern immigrant and the perennial battle to escape a vortex of poverty and crime, as well as the repressive, unequal systems that feed these problems" -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Getting In (1979

1990)

1. The Beginning

2. Norman's Wars

3. The Making Of A Street Gang

4. The Ghost Of William Walker

pt. II Getting Serious (1990

2010)

5. Los Senores

6. The Deported

7. "We Go To War."

8. "We Ruled."

9. Escape From Zacatraz

pt. III Getting Out (2010

2019)

10. The Gang Truce

11. God And The Beast

12. The New War

13. Nothing To Hide

14. The Monster.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-339) and index.

J. Anthony Lukas Award

ISBN:

9781335005540

1335005544

OCLC:

1134850603

Publisher Number:

065373028990 00554