Suspected MS-13 gang member arrested in Texas
Chron.com AP : September 20th 2006

Link:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4202919.html

Summary: 
Santos Chileno-Gomez, a suspected member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) was arrested on Wednesday attempting to re-enter the United States after a fingerprint check revealed he has an extensive criminal background including a conviction of second-degree assault on a Long Island, New York police officer.  Chileno-Gomez was picked up in Pharr, Texas after the Texas National Guard, with the help of night vision equipment, spotted Chileno-Gomez and 3 other illegal immigrants and alerted Customs and Border Protection who made the arrest.  Since the fiscal year began in October, Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol agents say they have arrested 75 members of MS-13.

Analysis:
Biometrics is an extremely important tool in tracking and catching members but until more samples are taken by law enforcement personnel in other countries, we will only obtain samples after they have committed a crime in the United States.  The benefit would far outweigh the cost for the United States to invest and encourage Central American law enforcement officials to begin and maintain their own biometrics databases and sharing this information would be mutually beneficial.  Instead of catching a small percentage of known repeat offenders, we could be identifying and capturing known gang members that otherwise would have slipped through the cracks.