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Mara Salvatrucha is perhaps the most dangerous gang in the country at this point. Originating in El Salvador, the gang has gone transnational, with members across the United States (in 42 states) and in countries like Guatemala and Mexico. MS-13 has worked with Mexican drug cartels and communicates frequently with incarcerated members despite no official leadership structure.
The gang is notoriously violent, relentlessly cruel and merciless, with plenty of well-documented public crimes, such as a San Francisco member who killed a family for briefly blocking his car.
Though the gang is included in the 2011 Gang Assessment, the FBI has a separate section, and an MS-13 Task Force, dedicated to stopping the group and alerting the public of the threat it poses.


The Trinitarios is the fastest-growing gang in New York


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Formed in New York's prison system in the 1980s, the ultra-violent Trinitarios quickly spread to the streets as inmates were released. Its influence is now felt in all five boroughs of New York and in at least 10 states covering all corners of the country. The predominantly Dominican gang, with deadly rivalries with Bloods, Crips and Dominicans Don't Play (DDP), is notorious for recruiting in high schools throughout New York and New Jersey, and is said to be behind a number of teen shootings and machete deaths.
Last year the FBI locked up the leader of the Trinitarios' Long Island chapter on drug charges, and another 50 members were captured in The Bronx in a raid linked to illegal firearms and numerous murders — especially around Upper Manhattan.


Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos runs Texas' prisons


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Another prison gang, Pistoleros Latinos, was born in, and now dominates, Texas' correctional facilities. Outside, the Hispanic group owns the streets of Laredo, in the state's south, and has strong ties to Mexican drug-runners across the border. Pistoleros Latinos is heavily organized with its own constitution, traditions and life-long membership, often marked by life-size tattoos of handguns inked just above operatives' pants-lines.
The group's leader, Jesus Espinosa, is serving a life sentence for drug trafficking — Hermanos Pistoleros is known to be a huge importer and seller of cocaine and marijuana. The gang has also been linked to armed burglaries, car-jacking, prison gambling and protection rackets, inmate assaults, staff intimidation and multiple murders.


The Mexican Mafia is the oldest, most powerful prison gang in the U.S.


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Most Latino gangsters who are incarcerated in southern California throw aside old rivalries and unite under the banner of the Mexican Mafia. Formed in a juvenile correctional facility in Tracy, California in the 1950s, the group has steadily grown in size and extended its reach into Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Control is now shared by hundreds of operatives in prisons right throughout those states, with the power to order thousands of loyalists to murder guards and other enemies. They also run the drug trade and various rackets within institutions.
The group commands influence on the outside, too. In 2010, 20 members were arrested for running drugs and carrying out stabbing murders ordered from within the prison system. Others have infiltrated the US military.


The Mongols battle with brass knuckles, pipes and steel-toed boots


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In a swipe at the American Motorcycle Association, which is said to have claimed 99% of bike riders are law abiding citizens, the Mongols proudly identify as "one-per-centers". The outlaw biker gang is allied with the Bandidos, Outlaws, and the Sons of Silence. The crime syndicate, formed by Hispanic Vietnam vets who were denied membership to the Hells Angels, is headquartered in southern California but has a presence in 14 states and runs international chapters in Australia, Germany, Italy, Mexico and parts of Scandinavia. They war openly and violently with rival gangs — a nightclub brawl in New Mexico last year ended with a double homicide.
In 2008, a three-year federal sting resulted in the arrest of 61 Mongols on offenses including racketeering, murder, drug trafficking and money laundering. Their weapons of choice include guns, knives, brass knuckles, lead pipes and steel-toed boots.


The Vagos Motorcycle Club are at war with the Hells Angels and police


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Originally known as "The Psychos", the Vagos Motorcycle Club is a violent crime organization active throughout southern California. Vagos, many military trained, are notoriously ruthless with their enemies and have declared war on law enforcement. A recent spat with the Hells Angels over the turf surrounding a Starbucks store in California left two people dead and eight others wounded. Thirty more members were arrested over a separate plan to kill police detectives with home-made booby traps.
The gang is known for producing and selling narcotics, an operation backed up with a cache of weapons and a long history of assaults, extortion, thievery and money laundering. They have also been accused of witness intimidation and insurance fraud.


Wheels of Soul members are judged by their brutality


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The Wheels of Soul is a predominantly black, national biker gang headquarted in Philadelphia. A spate of arrests last month suggests the group is criminally active in at least six other states. Gang members are encouraged to strive for "1%er" or "Diamond" status within the group through particularly cruel acts violence. Members currently stand accused of stabbing a rival gang member in the head and shooting another in the stomach in a recent attack at a Chicago motorcycle club.
According to a federal indictment in December, the Wheels of Soul also orchestrates robberies and kidnappings and is involved in the production and sale of drugs.


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