Article: Gangs in Mexico

Central American Street Gangs Spread Across Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Violent gangs with roots in U.S. crime culture are spreading through Mexico, with some setting up shop in the capital, the government said on Thursday.

The gangs, or "maras" as they are known, have their roots in a wave of convicts sent back to Central America from the United States in the 1990s and who are said to have brought Los Angeles gang culture to the region.

Blamed for beheadings, murders and rapes, their presence has spread throughout El Salvador to neighboring Honduras and Guatemala and now Mexico.

"We are concerned about the phenomenon from the point of view of public security," Mexican Interior Minister Santiago Creel told reporters on Thursday.

The mara members, easily identified by gang tattoos, have been linked with all sorts of crime in Mexico, including drugs and weapons trafficking.

Eduardo Medina Mora, the director of Mexico's national security institute (CISEN), said gang members have been detained in 21 Mexican states but 85 percent of them were in the southern states of Chiapas, Veracruz and Oaxaca.

Members of the gangs flooded into Central America eight years ago when the U.S. Congress passed a law ordering non-U.S. citizens who were sentenced to more than a year in jail to be deported after serving their time.

Medina said Mexico was working with U.S. and Central American authorities to help control the Maras, although the task was complicated because they are not tightly organized like drug cartels, but operate instead as independent groups.