$ecurity Risks: Ya Gotta Spend Money to Make Money

Federal authorities arrested 582 alleged gang members over a two-week period, officials said Monday, targeting an estimated 80 violent groups they say have spawned street crimes across the country.

Investigators picked up most of the offenders between July 16 and July 28 on immigration violations for being in the United States illegally. Seventy-six face criminal charges, ranging from illegal possession of a firearm to holding fraudulent documents.

"For too long, these gangs have gone unchecked _ flouting all laws and demonstrating a blatant disregard for public safety," Chertoff said in announcing the arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. ICE is an arm of the Homeland Security Department.

Investigators targeted members in 27 states of what they considered to be the most violent street gangs, including Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13; Sure Inos; the 18th Street Gang; Latin Kings; the Mexican Mafia; Border Brothers; Brown Pride and numerous others.

Many of the arrests came in large urban areas, including 61 in Boston, 28 in Denver, and 23 each in Los Angeles and Detroit. But even smaller cities have been infiltrated by the gangs, the arrests showed, including 42 in Birmingham, Ala., and one each in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and North Platte, Neb...

More than half of them have been members of MS-13, a street gang rooted in Central America where members have been known to behead enemies and attack with grenades and machetes. Federal officials estimate between 8,000 and 10,000 MS-13 members live in 31 states _ the majority of them in the country illegally.

"We're just getting started," said ICE investigations chief Marcy Forman.

I'm sure.

There's a history here (in the multiverse everything has a history).

MS-13 members are the sons of immigrants from El Salvador and other Central American countries that were forced to flee because of the CIA instigated war during the Reagan Administration that completely destroyed the physical, economic, social, religious and cultural infrastructure of the region. MS-13 was founded in Los Angeles by the offspring of the immigrants for protection.

You can find items like this out there: Al-Qaida nukes already in U.S.
Terrorists, bombs smuggled across Mexico border by MS-13 gangsters.

The wingnuts are all a-twitter about suitcase nukes being smuggled across the border by MS-13. No links, because I have this thing about promoting hate and ignorance. You know how to find that if you want it.

There might be suitcase nukes in this country, but to my knowledge the smallest nukes Pakistan or North Korea can make are about the size of an SUV. If there are suitcase nukes- and according to the D.o'D. and international treaties we don't even have them- they've been produced by a massively funded black budget somewhere. Of course I can't imagine what country would be paranoid enough to produce such an evil thing.

Much less hand them to a terrorist organization that they, themselves, created as an excuse to have somebody to play their Game with.