Jeff Sessions is right about the gang threat

Atty General Jeff Sessions with El Salvador
Civil Police director Howard Cotto during visit
to San Salvador, El Salvador, July 28, 2017.

by Roger F. Noriega: Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions traveled to El Salvador as part of the Trump administration’s initiative to combat the growing threat of gangs afflicting both the United States and Latin America. At the center of the administration’s focus is MS-13, the largest of the Central American gangs with over 40,000 members around the world and a significant presence in the United States.

A recent AEI report on transnational organized crime offers an in-depth look at MS-13 as well as practical policy recommendations for the US to combat this dangerous threat. The report explains that, in the Northern Triangle region of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, ruthless gangs like MS-13 have destabilized governments and communities through the spread of brutal violence, extortion, and corruption. They are also behind the region’s increasing homicide rates, now some of the highest in the world.

Between expenditures on security and lost economic activity, the cost of the gang menace to these countries is staggering, siphoning as much as 16% of GDP in El Salvador while much of the population lives in poverty.

This is not just a problem for Central America. MS-13 has a strong foothold in the United States and its gang members are responsible for murders, extortion rackets, and human trafficking operations in American cities from Los Angeles to New York. Furthermore, these violent gangs are a primary motivator for Central Americans to flee the region and illegally immigrate into the United States.

There are also worrying developments in the way MS-13 seeks to evolve into a more sophisticated criminal group. The AEI report finds that while MS-13 does not have the same level of cohesion or organization as Mexico’s cartels or South America’s drug trafficking groups, its leaders are actively seeking to change that by expanding into new criminal activities and spheres of influence such as the drug trade and even politics.

According to the report, “gangs have taken clear steps indicating a purposeful transformation of their structure and activities. MS-13 in particular has worked to codify a chain of command, consolidate territorial control, and integrate itself into regional cocaine transportation structures in new and lucrative ways.”

In a speech to a group of Latin American law enforcement officers, Sessions acknowledged the importance of international cooperation saying, “Partnerships between our law enforcement agencies are increasingly important because the threats we face have been growing.”

He’s right. Central America cannot successfully face this threat alone, and the US cannot overcome MS-13 and the problems it creates by ignoring what is happening in the Northern Triangle. Strong US leadership and engagement is needed in order to rid both the United States and Northern Triangle of the MS-13 scourge.
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Roger F. Noriega is a former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs (Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean) and a former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States. He coordinates American Enterprise Institute's program on Latin America.

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Tags: Foreign and Defense Policy, Latin America, Jeff Sessions, gang threat, MS-13, AEI, Ambassador, Roger F. Noriega, American Enterprise Institute To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!