HomeNewsBriefCentral American 'Maras' Expanding in Spain: Govt
BRIEF

Central American 'Maras' Expanding in Spain: Govt

BARRIO 18 / 13 AUG 2013 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

Central American street gangs have established a presence in Spain and receive orders from their counterparts in Honduras and El Salvador, says the Spanish government, adding to fears these "maras" may become genuine transnational criminal actors.

According to a government report obtained by Spanish newspaper La Razon, the Barrio 18 and MS13 street gangs -- known as "maras" -- have been present in Spain since 2005, and could now use the country's fragile economic situation to expand.

The report refers to the cells established in Spain as "pseudo-maras," and says they are made up of gang members who have fled the hardline "iron fist" government policies in El Salvador and Honduras, and are now attempting to expand territorially from their new location.

Until now, the gangs have mostly been involved in isolated acts, included property crimes, knife violence, and inter-gang confrontations, says the report, but criminologist Ricardo Magaz said they are becoming "more and more violent" and have begun to profit from local drug distribution.

Sociologist Laura Etcharren said the maras had also begun associating with drug traffickers moving product through Spain -- a jumping off point for cocaine distributed in Europe -- and that the groups represented a "fusion between local and 'imported' crime."

InSight Crime Analysis

Both the Barrio 18 and MS13 gangs have cells stretching from Central America to Canada. The United States recently sanctioned six MS13 leaders for charges including international drug trafficking, and last year designated the gang as a transnational criminal organization.

However, as noted by InSight Crime, this label is questionable because much of the gang's activity continues to be localized. The different cells, or "cliques" control territory and charge extortion fees to local residents and businesses. While certain cliques are contracted to assist transnational drug traffickers, they generally have not in the past -- with certain exceptions -- run operations or been drug traffickers in their own right.

Nonetheless, cross-border communication does occur between mara cliques, as evidenced by Honduran maras' attempts to replicate the El Salvador gang truce, and by numerous examples of maras in the United States coordinating with Central American counterparts.

The establishment of Spanish mara cliques that maintain contact with the Central American gangs, along with reports they are involved with drug traffickers, could be signs that the maras are becoming genuinely transnational operations. However, for the moment it seems social and economic factors are driving migration, not a planned criminal strategy, and their criminal objectives remained dominated by the local.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BARRIO 18 / 24 AUG 2021

A scrapped investigation by El Salvador’s former Attorney General has revealed a massive trove of evidence that the administration of…

BARRIO 18 / 25 APR 2021

The ideas of masculinity, discrimination and homophobia within El Salvador's gangs are at the heart of "Unforgivable," a documentary who…

ARGENTINA / 12 SEP 2022

Synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, fentanyl, and ecstasy are reshaping Latin America's drug trade.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…