Gangland

Los angeles:

A high school student sat down

To lunch with a friend in this

Food court.

A young woman approached and

Asked where he was from.

in the gang world,

Those words mean trouble.

that really is, "what gang

Are you from, and what are you

Going to do about it?

I'm carrying a gun, and I'm

Ready to kill you."

The teenager had

No idea his life was in danger.

Without warning, a band of

Gangbangers appeared out of

Nowhere and brutally beat him.

Then they fled

But not for long.

one of the gang members came

Back in with a gun and began

Firing at him.

Honduras,

Central america:

Gunmen opened fire on a bus

Full of families.

They slaughtered women,

Children, and the elderly.

it was something out of a

Horror movie, something that

You see in a hollywood

Production.

Two senseless acts

Of violence,

Two differevt countries

Thousands of miles apart.

And yet...

they are all connected.

They are all connected.

The crimes were

The handiwork of one of the

Deadliest gangs in the

Mara salvatrucha,

Known as ms-13.

they're killing people in

The community and extorting

Mothers, fathers, children.

Since its birth in

The 1980s, this gang's tidal

Wave of violence has spread in

Record time...

they seem to have been

Growing at a phenomenal rate.

I think ms now is

In 41 or 42 states.

Crossing

International borders on a whim.

we have gang members running

Around from one country

To the next.

Gangland goes deep

Into the roots of mara

Salvatrucha, back to the place

Where it all began:

The city of angels.

And as a former gang member

Reveals, this is one home

Without a heart.

you can't do anything else

But think of evil things to do.

The motherland for more than

1,000 gangs.

Some have been exported across

The u.S.,

Others, around the world.

gangs don't recognize street

Borders, city borders,

Divisional borders, and

Obviously they don't recognize

Countries, you know,

Our physical borders.

L.A.'s

Streets were the breeding

Ground for what law enforcement

Calls one of the most dangerous

And bloodthirsty gangs in the

Ms-13.

they've gained notoriety

Over the years because of

Their willingness to be

Extremely ruthless.

the reach of the gang, it's

Not limited to one particular

City.

It actually has the ability to

Transcend between the united

States and central america,

And it becomes a very big

Concern for law enforcement.

Ms-13 was born

Here, in the hispanic

Neighborhoods west of downtown

Los angeles.

we're in lafayette park,

Which is pretty much the...uh,

One of the original ms

Strongholds.

This is their neighborhood,

Their territory.

It all started

With a small group of

Immigrants from el salvador.

they didn't come here as

Gang members.

They became gang members.

They created themselves on the

Streets of los angeles.

In 1979, a bloody

Civil war broke out in

El salvador with leftist

Guerrillas battling government

Soldiers.

The war lasted more than a

Decade and killed 75,000 people.

Approximately 700,000 refugees,

Including former combatants,

Fled to the states.

a lot of them settled here in

The greater los angeles area,

Commonly referred to as

Rampart, or macarthur park.

The vast majority

Of these immigrants respected

The laws of the land.

I would say that more than

95% of the salvadorans

In the u.S. Are hardworking,

Decent people.

they just want to be able to

Earn some money, have a good

Job, and provide safety for

Their children...everything

Americans want to do.

Yet the

Salvadorans were not welcomed

Into macarthur park,

A neighborhood controlled

By a mexican street gang.

that area happened to be

Claimed by 18th street,

A very large, violent gang,

Mainly mexican immigrants,

And you might think,

"well, hispanic, hispanic...

Shouldn't they get along?"

But that's not necessarily

The case.

there was class distinction,

Racism, and prejudice present

Within the latino community,

And so they were ostracized.

Some of these

Salvadorans decided to form

Their own gang:

The mara salvatrucha stoners.

In the beginning, they were as

Much about good times as they

Were about protection.

basically, they just started

As a bunch of stoners, smoking

Weed and drinking, just hanging

Around together.

The name combined

The spanish word mara, or

"gang," with the word

Salvatrucha, a term used to

Honor salvadoran peasants

Trained as guerilla fighters.

Salvadoran immigrant julio

Cabrera joined ms in 1987.

He was part of the first

Generation of gang members.

He says the ms stoners had few

Enemies at first.

they got along with

Different gang members.

They would party together.

Ms and 18th street

Would hang out.

But in short

Order, ms became a full-fledged

Gang, aggressively dealing

Drugs and infringing on the

Mexican gang's territory.

One night in the summer of

1990, a fight broke out at a

Party, and an 18th street

Member shot an ms gangster.

Some say the shooting ignited