Joining forces to fight gangs
With street gangs using global networks to carry out extortion, drug trafficking and murder, top federal and local law enforcement officials said Monday they are strengthening ties across borders, sharing information and even officers.
Using an annual three-day summit on transnational gangs as the backdrop, the Los Angeles Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's departments signed an agreement to launch an officer exchange program with El Salvador, saying they and federal officials are increasingly turning to their foreign counterparts to hunt down Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), 18th Street and other street gangs. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
The homegrown L.A. gangs - both with strongholds in the San Fernando Valley - have ravaged Central American communities as thousands of immigrants returned to their homeland over the past two decades and spread a culture of violence.
"No single nation can fight gangs alone," said John Pistole, an FBI deputy director. "They are far-reaching criminal enterprises that ... often transcend state and international borders to accomplish their needs."