El Salvadoran Barrio 18 Gang Members Arrested In Salvadoran Gang Hotspot Tapachula, Chiapas

[Judi Lynn]

By El Huaso 4/18/2023 11:00:00 AM
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

Four alleged gang members, two of them Salvadoran, were arrested by Mexican anti-gang police in Tapachula, Chiapas, in southern Mexico. Recent arrests of Salvadoran gang members are a reminder of warnings by journalists and the government that their numbers are increasing in the region.
The men were arrested in the Palmeiras neighborhood around 10:00 a.m., after police encountered them on a patrol. The men attempted to flee, but were surrounded and captured.

Police found they were carrying many small bags of marijuana in dealing bags. Underneath their shirts, two of the men had tattoos. One man had his gang allegiance "18" tattooed on his stomach, referring to Barrio 18, a mega gang from El Salvador, as well as his clique, or faction "Locos Sureños".

Two of the men are from El Salvador, and the other two are Mexican. The two Salvadorans men's names are Hanson Stanley N, 32 years old, alias "el Cufi"; Mauricio Alexander N, 18 years old, alias "el Sparky". The Mexicans are named Abimael N, alias "el Boker", 37 years old, and Denisse Uriel N, 21 years old, reported Diario del Sur.

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Central American Gangs in Chiapas

Central American gangs such as MS-13 and Barrio 18 built a foothold in Southern Mexico in the late 1990s, but have reemerged in the last five years.

A report by Heraldo de Chiapas found that MS-13 has been involved in the state since 1996, albeit on a small scale, mostly limited to extortion of migrants. Their numbers gradually increased, bringing violence with them. In 2004 however, the Mexican government deployed hundreds of police to round up the easily distinguishable tattooed gang members. For a decade, they lay dormant.

More:
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2023/04/el-salvadoran-barrio-18-gang-members.html