Trial Sheds Light on MS-13 Leadership Structure
The Washington Post: Ruben Castaneda : March 14th,
2007
Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301636.html
Summary:
In a recent federal racketeering trail in Greenbelt,
Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C., the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney
James M. Trusty, asserted that the defendant, Omar "Duke" Vasquez,
revealed to the FBI that he met with gang leadership at a prison in El Salvador
to have the “green light”, or assassination order on his brother lifted. When
the gang leadership agreed to lift the “green light”, they ordered him to go to
Mexico to oversee a MS-13 train robbing enterprise. “Timothy Mitchell, defense
attorney, suggested that the government was ‘overreaching’ by portraying MS-13
as an international conspiracy”, and questioned the portrayal of MS-13 as
highly organized. The defendants are Omar "Duke" Vasquez, Henry S.
"Homeboy" Zelaya, and Jose "Piranha" Cruz Diaz. The
prosecutor associated the defendants with the Teclas Salvatrucha (TLS), and the
Sailors Locos Salvatrucha Westside (SLSW) cliques of MS-13.
Analysis:
One interesting aspect of this article is the light is sheds
on how leadership within MS-13 operates. It has been my assessment for some
time that leadership within MS-13 emanates from the prisons in El Salvador.
This is the first article that I’ve seen which seconds my assessment. Granted,
it is an assessment given by someone with an agenda. Additionally, since this
site (msthirteen.com) appears on the first results page when you Google MS-13.
I wonder if the prosecutor in this case, while in the course of doing his
research, visited this site and read the assessment here. It’s remote but
possible. However, if the prosecutor does reveal FBI interrogations, confirming
the leadership resides in the prisons in El Salvador. This would be a major
revelation about the structure of the gang.
Another interesting part of this article, and one that lends
credibility to a leadership that resides in the prisons in El Salvador, is the
supposed order Omar Vasquez received from the leadership. After the green light
was lifted, he was supposedly ordered to oversee an MS-13 train robbing
enterprise. For this connection to make sense, you have to know that MS-13 is
known to haunt the Chiapas-Mayab railway in the Mexican state of Chiapas, and
prey upon illegal immigrants heading north. Illegals often stow away on the
railcars heading north. This fact is not widely reported by the Press in the
US, and as near as I can tell it gets limited reporting in the Mexican press.
The only real reason that I know about it is because I focus on what MS-13 is doing
outside the US, and it has been reported in State Department reports, which
I’ve obtained as part of a freedom of information act request. Expect to see a
separate FOIA post on this particular subject. If Vasquez knew about this
activity, then he either does a lot of internet research, which I doubt, or he
actually met with MS-13 leadership like he said. This would also be evidence
that MS-13 leadership does exert supervision over this criminal activity. Thus,
they must receive some profit back from it. On a side note, I’m not certain of
the continued status of this MS-13 immigrant robbing enterprise. I’ve read that
the tracks were damaged by a hurricane, and haven’t had a chance to see what
the 2007 status of this rail line is. However, the company that runs the rail
line, Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab a
subsidiary of Genesee and Wyoming, Inc. mentions on their website that the Ferrovias
Guatemala line at Ciudad Hidalgo, needs “restoration”.
Associated links:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/031507/prinnew192950_32330.shtml
http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20070315-113443-7789r.htm
