Eastie gang linked to al-Qaeda

[ET Awful]

A burgeoning East Boston-based street gang made up of alleged rapists and machete-wielding robbers has been linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, prompting Boston police to ``turn up the heat'' on its members, the Herald has learned.

MS-13, which stands for La Mara Salvatrucha, is an extremely violent organization with roots in El Salvador, and boasts more than 100 ``hardcore members'' in East Boston who are suspected of brutal machete attacks, rapes and home invasions. There are hundreds more MS-13 gangsters in towns along the North Shore, said Boston police Sgt. Detective Joseph Fiandaca, who has investigated the gang since it began tagging buildings in Maverick Square in 1995.

In recent months, intelligence officials in Washington have warned national law enforcement agencies that al-Qaeda terrorists have been spotted with members of MS-13 in El Salvador, prompting concerns the gang may be smuggling Islamic fundamentalist terrorists into the country. Law enforcement officials have long believed that MS-13 controls alien smuggling routes along Mexico.

The warning is being taken seriously in East Boston, where Raed Hijazi, an al-Qaeda operative charged with training the suicide bombers in the attack on the USS Cole, lived and worked, prosecutors have charged.

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=61903

[SweetLeftFoot]

1. So ...

that's how the Provos from Colombia are going to get home - up into El Sal;vador, then to Boston then home.

[sniffa]

2. this was the screaming tabLoid cover today

not sure what merit it has but if it's true, MS-13 has members in somerviLLe, cheLsea, & everett too. the originaL MS-13 is a product of the eL saLvador civiL war (which i'm sure we nudged aLong).

[ET Awful]

3. That's where I first saw it. . .

in the machine while I was sitting in my car waiting in line for the Dunkin' Donuts drive-through :)

I just saw the headline and had to go to their site to see what the hubbub was.

[bemildred]

4. Sounds like Boston needs a much bigger police department, eh? nt

[benburch]

5. This sounds like the beginning of a domestic insurgency.

I think we all need to be worried about this.

[sniffa]

6. not at aLL

this is aLL bark and no bite. granted, they are a vioLent gang, but this story is big on bLuster and inuendo.

it's typicaL heraLd reporting

[shadowknows69]

7. This is the start

of the gov. tying any cohesive crime unit or organized dissenters to Al-Qaida and terrorists. Patriot Acts kick in and people start disappearing.

[sniffa]

8. exactLy

more fear mongering. the peopLe who reaLLy have to fear, are the ones who Live in the ghettos with the gang - but they aLready know that, and Live their Lives accordingLy. aLL this story does is get whitey scared.

[papau]

9. Does this mean the FBI will stop ordering Murders in Boston via Bulgur's

gang

and indeed we will stop looking for Whitey?

As if they have not stopped looking already - it has been years and only one FBI has gone to trial as far as I know.

[sniffa]

10. a state trooper too

and the FBI goon might be getting out anyhow.

[tk2kewl]

11. does this mean that the "freedom fighters" we funded in El Salvador...

are teaming up with the "freedom fighters" we funded in Afghanistan?

boy, Karma is just dandy, ain't it?