As violence continues to spiral out of control in El Salvador, that country’s Supreme Court has ruled that the fearsome Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18 (MS18), along with other affiliated gangs, are to be now considered terrorist groups.
The ruling came this week when the court handed down their opinion that “as a consequence, their bosses, members, collaborators, apologists and financiers are included in the concept of terrorist in their different groups and forms of participation,” Mexico’s Animal Politico reported.
The measure gives that country greater ability to take on the criminal organizations as the uptick in violence in El Salvador reaches an all-time high.
Just last week, from Sunday to Friday, El Salvador saw 220 murders tied to the ongoing gang violence. Last year, that country endured 3,912 murders, as the two gangs fought each other as well as law enforcement.
The raging violence in that country is also linked the increase in illegal immigrants and Salvadoran criminal aliens who have trekked across Mexico into the U.S.
More than 5,000 MS13 gang members have been arrested in the U.S. since 2005, Breitbart Texas previously reported.
While El Salvador has taken a strong step in targeting the hyper-violent Mara Salvatrucha, similar moves in the U.S to target Mexican drug cartels have not been successful
In 2011, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul moved to classify Mexican cartels as such, however the move was not successful, Breitbart News reported at the time.
In Mexico the debate whether to classify drug cartels as criminal organizations has not gained tractions in recent years. But at least two former governors from Tamaulipas and various other politicians have been criminally indicted in the U.S., and some remain fugitives on money laundering and other charges tied to various drugs cartels, including Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel, and the Beltran Leyva Cartel, Breitbart Texas reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.