The times in Richmond are changing rapidly as new hunters come to town, ready to consume it along with the rest of the East Coast. Earlier this year, major clique leaders met in RVA to discuss killing more enemy gang members.
Even though the RVA area has the highest number of violent crimes per year in Central Virginia, local gangs such as Deep C and Kill Central have nothing on the boys down in El Salvador. Except they’re not staying down in South America. MS-13, which stands for La Mara Salvatrucha, is one of the most dangerous, brutal, and fastest growing gangs in America. With thirty years under their belts, the gang boasts tens of thousands of members with a large portion as both legal and illegal immigrants in the US. They have been known to commit murder with machetes, recruit within high schools, and kill innocent bystanders who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Despite the gang being El Salvadorian, it was actually founded in Los Angeles, and a strong presence remains on the West Coast to this day. However, that’s not enough for the bloodthirsty La Mara members. More and more East Coast crimes and subsequent arrests have been connected to MS-13 within the past couple years, particularly in Northern Virginia. NOVA isn’t the only sufferer though. In December of 2015, Jose Adan Martinez Castro AKA “Chucky”, the leader of MS-13’s East Coast Program, lead a meeting of other clique leaders associated with the project in Richmond, where he lived. As the Massachusetts police indictment related to the event states, “Martinez Castro told the leaders that their cliques needed to be more active in killing rival gang members” . Unfortunately for Castro, he was arrested near his home in Northern Richmond on Feb. 5 of this year, along with over 35 other members in a Massachusetts-based police crackdown on MS-13.
Even though a major leader of La Mara was taken down, the danger isn’t over for Richmond residents. Although there haven’t been a high number of crimes attached to the gang in the area yet, the fact that a vital meeting was held here is warning enough for the events to come.
Their ultraviolence is terrifying, but their main front of offense is their hunger for recruitment. In fact, high schools tend to be a major target for potential MS-13 territory. They look for “Paros”, young gang-bangers, in schools to act as posts, watch over territory, and to do some of the dirtier work that higher members can’t risk. Lower income regions of the city are placed in the most danger because it is easier for gang members to recruit among vulnerable teenagers and carry out criminal activities.
The fate of RVA’s safety is in question right now, and police need to take the initiative to deal with this dangerous issue before it blooms into MS-13 territory. In Richmond where gang activity is already a problem, impressionable teenagers and other city residents face potentially difficult times ahead.
