Level 1 - Explanation
Organized Crime and International Narco-Activity Bosses (international): The top block of the pyramid represents the highest levels—the leadership—of organized crime and narco-activity networks. Most analysts do not believe that there is a direct ascension from street or neighborhood gangs to organized crime, yet it is believed that some narco-bosses work closely with the leadership of the most sophisticated transnational gangs. In general, these bosses do not have communication with members below the regional and national levels. But, other lower levels maintain close relations to ensure drug distribution in specific regions or neighborhoods.
Level 1 - Profile of a Boss: “El Chapo”
Max Aregon a.k.a. Joaquin Guzman-Loera, a.k.a. “El Chapo” Guzman, 51 years old, of the notorious Mexican drug cartel is an example of an organized crime boss who has contracted out work to gang members. It is speculated that El Chapo has hired MS-13 gangsters to combat rival cartels. In addition, other lower level cartels use gang members to distribute drugs.
Level 2 - Explanation
Transnational Gang Leadership (regional): This block represents the leaders of 18th Street, MS-13, or other gangs with international presence. These individuals oversee well-connected cells with extensive communication networks that are engaged in extortion and support drug and arms trafficking through territorial control of specific barrios (neighborhoods), or of other places such as nightclubs. When detained, a few of them have lawyers who are able to help them avoid prison sentences.
Level 2 - Profile of a Transnational Gang Leader
Bernardo Bonilla, 24 years old, a.k.a. the Loco, is an ambitious gang member who has evolved from involvement in local neighborhood operations to more sophisticated, transnational organized crime activity. He has built strong networks with gang members in prisons and in other countries. He understands the potential of the gang organization and is trying to become more involved in lucrative organized crime. As the majority of his clique currently lacks the necessary skills to engage in the more sophisticated business of organized crime, its involvement is limited. However, Bonilla has begun to groom some members for future involvement.
Level 3 - Explanation
Gang Cell Members (national): At this level, 18th Street or MS-13 clickas (cells) are involved in lower-level trafficking and have lesser territorial control over barrios. These gang members may be involved in extortion, such as the collection of impuestos de guerra (war taxes) from bus and taxi drivers and small businesses owners, and they sometimes carry out orders from regional leaders. They often receive special privileges in prison from other gang members when detained. These members communicate up to the drug traffickers and down to the lower level members.
Level 3 - Profile of a Gang Cell Member
Eduardo Perez, a.k.a. the Joker, is a member of MS-13, and the leader of his clicka. He and his gang regularly distribute drugs in the neighborhood. He has moved his way up in the gang through his progressively brutal acts. His gang extorts buses, local businesses, and families in residential areas. The money collected is used to satisfy various needs of the clicka, finance parties, and support the families of those who have been killed or those who are in prison. Despite these financial gains through extortion, Perez still lives in relative poverty.
Level 4 - Explanation
Neighborhood Gang Members (local): Maras de Barrio (neighborhood gangs) are not necessarily members of the 18th Street or MS-13 gangs, but they may imitate these two gangs. They fight for territorial control over barrios and carry homemade arms or arms that are often acquired through the robbery of private security guards. These gangs typically comprise youths from marginal urban neighborhoods. They do not receive special privileges from other gang members while in prison and are often viewed as illegitimate by gang members who consider themselves true members of specific gang clickas. Youth gangs in Mexico are normally referred to as “pandillas,” not “maras,” and exhibit these same characteristics.
Level 4 – Profile of a Neighborhood Gang Member
Roberto Lopez, 16 years old, says that he joined the gang because he wanted love and respect. He dropped out from school, consumes crack, and carries a homemade arm. He is protective of his territory, and regularly fights with the rival gang to safeguard it, which often gets him in trouble with the police. He knows about the MS-13 and 18th Street gangs and may one day become a member of one of them.
Level 5 - Explanation
Vulnerable Youths at Risk of Joining a Gang: This group represents the largest segment of the population: youths ages 8-18 whose lives are characterized by several risk factors, making them susceptible to joining a gang. The majority of youths in this group are poor, live in marginalized urban areas, have limited to no educational or job opportunities, and represent the lowest level of the gang supply chain. This group can be further broken into three subsets. The first group of at-risk youth is often referred to as “simpatizantes,” or sympathizers. This group includes at-risk youth who are exposed to gang activity, may have a relative who is in a gang, are somewhat familiar with certain aspects of gang culture (e.g., gang symbols, graffiti), and often display allegiance to one gang over another; that is, they are sympathetic to one particular gang, but have not been officially inducted, or “jumped into” a gang. This group is perceived to be the group of youth most at risk of making the decision to join a gang. The second group of at-risk youth, often referred to as “aspirantes,” or aspirants, includes often the youngest youth who have some exposure to gang activity but have not yet become very familiar with specifics of gang culture. With continued exposure, this group of youth will become well-versed and more sympathetic to gang life. Lastly, the third and largest subset includes the broader at-risk youth population that includes youth living predominantly in poor, marginalized, urban areas without access to education, employment, and other opportunities. While this group has not yet been exposed to any significant level of gang activity, the likelihood does exist that they will be drawn to gang life especially if their basic needs such as income and fulfilling social ties are not satisfied in other ways. Subsets can help policy makers identify and target appropriate policies and programs.
Level 5 - Profile of a Youth at Risk of Joining a Gang
Alberto Mendez is 10 years old and does not like school. His family lets him hang out on the street with friends even though his mother knows that his cousin joined a gang sometime ago. He admires his cousin. Last week his cousin’s picture was in the newspaper. He was detained by the police but back in the neighborhood three days later. If his father continues to get drunk at night, and beat his mother and his little brother, he will ask his cousin to let him join the gang.

Pg. 45 (From El Salvador annex)
Gang structure in El Salvador is difficult to determine. As explained in the overview of this report, the two main gangs—MS-13 and 18th Street—have a series of decentralized clickas, or smaller units, that cover specific neighborhoods. Gang infiltrators report that some clickas convene periodically with national-level gang leadership who determine the criminal and delinquent actions for the entire gang. Most gang experts acknowledge that it is difficult to identify gang leaders. People interviewed by the field team indicated that there is a national-level leader for MS-13 who calls the shots from prison, but the field team could not confirm this information.

Pg. 48 (From El Salvador annex)
There are many reports that MS-13 and 18th Street gangs are trying to establish their own drug corridors through Central America and Mexico and in some cases have made contact with Colombian narco-traffickers. This speculation has been fueled by reports that MS-13 members in Tapachula, Mexico, are working with the Mexican drug cartel run by Chapo Guzman.

PG. 48 (From El Salvador annex)
"The increased sophistication of El Salvadoran gangs is exemplified by the following characteristics:
• Use of minors to commit crimes, since they cannot be convicted as adults.
• Family support of gangs, as some gang members support their families financially through gang activities.
• Widespread, national visibility, with incarcerated gang members expanding their networks through jails.
• "Fees" demanded (extortion) from bus drivers and business owners.
• Stronger links with organized crime.
• Competition for drug trafficking replacing competition for territories.
• Some members are to pay for costly defense attorneys indicating substantial profits through criminal activity.
• Fluid communication between gangs in El Salvador and in the United States. Members have a sophisticated communication networks between prisons and the street, using coded language and paper messages folded in a precise manner, which is also coded. Gangs may also communicate through Web sites.
• Autonomy and organization. It is believed that in El Salvador, 18th Street has a structure made up of ranfla (national leaders), runers (leaders with no tattoos, strong discipline, and the responsibility for committing homicides, and trafficking drugs and weapons), and missionaries (clickas gang members).
• Gang members displacing "coyotes" and narcotraffickers.

Pg. 113 (From Mexican border area annex)
Press accounts describe the rivalries among various drug cartels involving the El Chapo cartel and the cartels from the Gulf (Osiel Cárdenas Guillén cartel), Tijuana (Benjamin Arellano Félix cartel) and Ciudad Juárez (Carrillo Fuentes cartel). Interesting to note are various accounts of El Chapo hiring MS-13 gangsters to combat the rival cartels, while other accounts describe the Tijuana and Juarez cartels using MS-13 members to fight El Chapo. The validity of these accounts is impossible to corroborate. Throughout the assessment, the field team repeatedly heard that gang members from the United States were working for the various cartels. One specific example alluded to Logan Height and Mafia Mexicana (EME) gang members working for Arellano Felix in Baja, California. Along the Texas border, there was much mention of the Los Aztecas and the Mexicles gangs—both based in the United Status—working as hired guns and drug runners for the Juarez and Gulf cartels. Matamoros was anecdotally mentioned as a city with a concentration of MS-13, but the field team did not visit the city and cannot corroborate the claim made by a local gang member in Ciudad Juarez.

Others report that the gang situation on the northern border seems to involve the drug cartels using gangs to provide specific services. Criminal activity seems confined to the trafficking of drugs and people. Gangs, where they do exist, seem to be at the service of established drug cartels like Arellano Felix and the Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. This link between gangs and drug cartels implies increased gangs participation in organized criminal activity. As a former gang member from Nuevo Laredo explained to the assessment team, “There are no more gangs here. What exists now is more dangerous than gangs. The gang member obeys orders from drug cartels. The gangs used to fight for territory, culture, and identity. Now the cartels recruiting them just fight for power and money.”

Analysis:
The triangular view of the levels of gang involvement were included in this post to create a better understanding of the demographic center of gravity of the gangs. It is important to remember that, even though there are signs that MS-13 is cooperating with high level organized crime and becoming more organized daily, the bulk of the people in MS-13 fall in the disorganized rabble of the lower levels. Also interesting on a similar vein are the portions of the El Salvador annex, which describe an emerging leadership of the gang. While none of this can be confirmed, a leadership that is moving to control drug corridors and establishing contacts with Columbian suppliers would be a monumental evolution for the gang. Also in the El Salvador annex, in addition to specific tactics now used by the gang, there is an indicator that the 18th Street gang, MS-13's rival, may be organizing more rapidly, with stated goals for the gang, and a hierarchical structure including, "ranfla (national leaders), runers (leaders with no tattoos, strong discipline, and the responsibility for committing homicides, and trafficking drugs and weapons), and missionaries (clickas gang members)." This could force MS-13 to compete and thus further motivate organization.

Finally, the document sheds more light on the alliances and participation of MS-13 members in the Mexican cartels. It seems that MS-13 members are working for nearly all the biggest cartels including the Gulf Cartel, for which there has been much reporting, the Tijuana cartel, which explains the severed heads being found in Tijuana, and the Juarez Cartel. There have also been reports from other sources indicating MS-13 members working for the Sinaloa Cartel. The interesting thing about this is that some of these cartels, most notable the gulf and sinaloa, are competing violently for control of border areas, which means in theory MS-13 members could be fighting MS-13 members. This calls into question whether the MS-13 members are really still members of their gang or of the cartel.