It is the fastest growing and most violent gang in the country. Formed by Salvadorian immigrants on the streets of Los Angeles in the l980's, the Mara Salvatrucha has now grown to more than 60,000 members worldwide. It combines the best organizational elements of La Cosa Nostra and Al-Qaeda. The FBI has created a special task force to curb its expansion. None the less, it continues to grow, seeping deeper into the neighborhoods of America and bringing with it extreme violence, extortion, fear and crime. Investigative journalist Samuel Logan has spent the past five years, reporting on gang activity across the US, Mexico and Central America. His book This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang tells the brutal tale. My conversation with Sam Logan.
