A Central American street gang based in Los Angeles has been newly classified by the Obama administration as an international criminal organisation, which means that it is now subject to US sanctions. "This is first time the designation has been given to such a group in the US," reports the Guardian. Mara Salvatrucha "is believed to have as many as 10,000 members across 46 US states and Central America."

  • kartwaffles

    How do you sanction a gang?

    • ChicagoD

      You make it impossible for them to use the international banking system to move money. You deny the ability to travel into the United States to identified members. You kill them with drones fro . . . I mean, other ways too.

      • http://www.fagerland.org tofagerl

        Gitmo?

        • EH

          No US Citizens in Guantanamo.

  • Mister44

    Sooo what does this mean for MS-13? Is this just the equivalent of the gov. saying, “No, seriously guys. Stop it.”

    • kartwaffles

       Stahp.

  • ChicagoD

    Is Los Angeles officially part of Central America now? Because I feel like a “Central American” “Los Angeles-based” gang is . . . confusing. They are a Salvadoran gang stronger in Los Angeles than some other cities (although apparently they are pretty strong in Northern VA as well).

    • http://tokyofarm.com Spencer Cross

      They’re not a Salvadoran gang. They’re a gang founded in Los Angeles by Salvadoran immigrants, which, thanks to deportation, then spread across Central America and other parts of the world. Thus, “a Central American gang based in Los Angeles”

      • ChicagoD

        OK. I get that interpretation. It still reads ambiguously for me, but that actually makes sense.

    • Culturedropout

       I hear some of them telecommute…

  • Brainspore

    Just once I’d like to see this classification applied to a multinational corporation.

  • Boundegar

    I don’t get why this is “the first time.”  Haven’t mafias and gangs maintained international connections for decades…  or even centuries?

  • Scott

    Cool now he’s gonna start a war in his own country for a change.
    What a novel idea

    • Culturedropout

       For a change?  I believe it was Bushmaster GW who started all of our “wars” in recent memory. 

  • Daemonworks

    What? No sanctions against the Hells Angels? The Maffia?
    Oh, wait… they’re white.

  • DewiMorgan

    How come this is a White House thing? I woulda thought CIA/FBI/NSA or somesuch would be this instead.
    Or is this just the usual “Blame Obama for all gov’t decisions” thing?

    I mean, seriously – who *does* sign off on who gets added to that list?

  • vance_tam

    You can poke fun at him if you wish, but this was a shrewd move on the government’s part. Now that MS-13 has been classified as an international crime gang, the government can devote serious resources into its destruction.

  • David J. Weiner

    I just watched the movie “Sin Nombre” a few days ago, which is all about a kid from the Mara Salvatrucha gang in and around Chiapas, Mexico. They are a very brutal bunch, if that movie is at all accurate. Great movie, btw.