Fighting MS-13 on two fronts, federal prosecutors from El Salvador and Maryland team on investigations
LANGLEY PARK, Md. - After a few minutes' walk behind Langley Park-McCormick Elementary School and not far from the rusted footbridge, the line of prosecutors in dark suits hung a left at the felled tree in the woods. Tromping through brush along a dirt path littered with beer bottles and condom wrappers, they came to a shaded clearing with two trees scarred with graffiti. "It's the same," German Garcia Arriaza said after running his hand along the trunk and inspecting the markings of MS-13. "It's the exact same." The clearing - known as "The Cemetery" - is a popular meet -up spot for MS-13 members and was the first stop on a tour Monday outside Washington for Arriaza and other prosecutors from El Salvador visiting their counterparts in the United States. The tour in Maryland's Prince George's County was part of a two-day meeting between prosecutors from the Central American country and prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland as the groups combine investigative powers to fight the violent transnational gang on both fronts. Money that gang members extort from businesses in Maryland is being sent directly to El Salvador, prosecutors said. And orders to kill in Maryland often come after a communique from a gang leader in El Salvador, they said. With the operational ties between gang members in both countries so strong, it made sense to develop the same kind of relationship between prosecutors to fight back, said Robert Hur, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland. "We can't simply play whack-a-mole here against the gang," Hur said of prosecutions in federal court that has put gang members in jail. "We've seen that the gang will regenerate and regrow. We're attacking the gang from two sides." Prosecutors often share information on the Sailors and...
