Big and Dangerous U.s. Gangs Making Alliances in Other States and Countries

Big and Dangerous U.s. Gangs Making Alliances in Other States and Countries

 

By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter Aug 11, 2008 12:01 AM PDT

 

United States gangs are expanding their sphere of influence here and around the world. Many gangs are much more sophisticated now days and are run much like military units and corporations and therefore are much more of a threat to law enforcement as well as citizens.

U.S. gangs have forged illegal business connections with other gangs in the states as well as in Mexico and Afghanistan seeking more lucrative drug markets.

 

These alliances make them much more dangerous and this organization is much more threatening. Many of the American gangs buy or are fronted drugs from the new alliances from as far away as Afghanistan where drug trades and whole selling take place. This proliferation and gangs adoption of terrorist tactic’s is worldwide and is increasingly accompanied by beheadings, shootings, kidnappings and other extreme violence and is threatening society in general.

 

 

It is estimated that there are 25,000 or more gangs currently operating in the U.S. and more than 1,000.000 active gang members. Most current gang members in the U.S. are believed to possess automatic AK 47’s, shot guns, hand guns, other weapons such as explosives and police report confiscating more and more bullet proof vests. Gangs conduct all sorts of criminal activity in all 50 states, U.S. territories, Mexico, South America, Afghanistan and else where. Although most gang activity is concentrated in major urban areas, gangs also are proliferating in rural and suburban areas of the country. 

 

Operation Community Shield that was begun in February 2005 to dismantle street gangs is hard at work but many feel it’s been a losing battle. The Department of Homeland Security said the program had led to about 7,500 arrests involving violent gangs, including Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, whose members are from El Salvador, Honduras and other Central American countries.

About 1,300 violent gang members who are in this country illegally were arrested in the last couple of years in U.S. Government crackdowns, federal officials announced. “We’ve arrested quite a number of very serious criminals – individuals who frankly have worn out their welcome by coming into this country illegally and committing more crimes when they got here,” said Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of homeland security for immigration and customs enforcement.

Large street gangs readily employ violence to control and expand drug, gun, prostitution and other illegal activities, targeting rival gangs and dealers who neglect or refuse to pay extortion fees. Members also use violence to ensure that members adhere to the gang’s code of conduct or to prevent a member from leaving. Authorities throughout the country report that gangs are responsible for most of the serious violent crime in the major cities of the U.S. Gangs engage in an array of criminal activities including torturing, assault, burglary, drive-by shooting, extortion, homicide, identification fraud, money laundering, prostitution operations, robbery, sale of stolen property, and weapons trafficking.

 

Street gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs), and prison gangs are the primary distributors of illegal drugs on the streets of the United States. Gangs also smuggle drugs into the United States and produce and transport drugs within the country.

 

U.S. gangs are now working hand in hand with Mexican cartel gangs, according to a DEA official who wants to remain anonymous. 

Street gang members convert powdered cocaine into crack cocaine and produce most of the PCP available in the United States. Gangs, primarily produce marijuana and methamphetamine. In addition, gangs increasingly are involved in smuggling large quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine, and MDMA (also known as ecstasy a sex drug) into the United States from foreign sources of supply.

 

Gangs primarily transport and distribute powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, MDMA, and PCP in the United States. And that illegal activity generates millions of dollars for the gangs and their members.

Gangs collect millions of dollars per month selling illegal drugs, trafficking weapons, operating prostitution rings, producing porno films and selling stolen property. Gangs launder proceeds by investing in real estate, recording studios, motorcycle shops, car washes and construction companies. They also operate various cash-based businesses, such as porno shops, porno movie houses, barbershops, music stores, restaurants, catering services, tattoo parlors, launder mats, donut shops, and strip clubs, in order to commingle drug proceeds with funds

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