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They are members of possibly the most violent gang in America today, and they're showing up right here in San Antonio.
The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is an extremely violent gang, known for using intimidation and extortion and has built a reputation of being enforcers. In other words, you do what they say or you're going to pay a price.
Salvadorian refugees started MS-13 as a street gang. Now, with more than 10,000 members, the gang is considered one of the fastest-growing and most violent street gangs in the nation.
"They're very ruthless in the way they, if somebody's done something that's not all of what they want done, it's going to be dealt with violently," said Al Peña of the San Antonio division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"It's going to be a clear message that you do not cross them, you do not mess with them, you follow what they want done," Peña. said.
It is this type of violence that has captured the attention of not only ICE officials, but also the FBI.
"We've recently created a national task force that is focusing on the Mara Salvatrucha," said FBI spokesman Rene Salinas.
The FBI has even declared the MS-13 a top priority — ranking second only to national terrorism.
"They are well-organized and they're extremely violent, and we are working along with our state and local police agencies in attacking these individuals and taking them out of circulation." Salinas said.
Takedowns such as one two weeks ago in Houston in which the MS-13 broke into a home only to find the FBI SWAT team waiting for them.
"When the MS-13 showed up, they kicked the door in and immediately started firing," Salinas said.
Two members of the gang were killed and two others injured.
A fifth member was captured, which sent a message to the MS-13:
"We'll be coming looking for you," Salinas said.
"We'll do our very best to protect the public."
That effort starts at our borders.
In Laredo, nearly 200 illegal immigrants come through that sector each day — and each one is put on record.
And with two to three members making it into Texas each week, you can never be too careful.
Because if they make it through, they wind up here, on the street.
"There are here to prey on the public, anybody that's vulnerable. They're in for profit - there are in it for the money." Peña. said — "either through drug-trafficking, through prostitution, through various crimes, through extortion, through intimidation, violence."
That's why ICE initiated Operation Community Shield.
The operation is designed to go after the MS-13.
"It was a project aimed at disrupting, dismantling, and prosecuting." Peña. said.
And so far, it has worked.
"We did raids, we went out to various locations early in the morning looking for these people."
And they found them, with 582 arrests nationwide, 14 of them right here in San Antonio.
Once they're caught, they are put in the system. Those with criminal charges face prosecution. The rest are put on a plane and sent back to El Salvador, although authorities know some of them will return again.
While several MS-13 members have been captured here in San Antonio, the good news is that many are not staying here.
According to authorities, those who make it through San Antonio keep moving farther north, with the largest populations now being seen in Virginia and the Midwest.
