CRIME/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions Monday designated MS-13, the violent street gang, a target for a Justice Department task force that has traditionally attacked drug kingpins and cartels.
The designation will allow the Justice Department to more aggressively target the gang for violating racketeering, gun and tax laws, Mr. Sessions said in a speech in Philadelphia to the International Association of Chiefs of Police…
MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, is composed mostly of immigrants from El Salvador and their offspring. Mr. Sessions’ move has designated it a priority for the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, a program begun in the 1980s to better ‘mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers,’ according to the Justice Department website.
Justice Department officials said the designation will allow a variety of law-enforcement agencies to better coordinate and target the gang. MS-13 has focused most of its energy on such activities as human trafficking, prostitution and extortion, rather than drug dealing.
But Mr. Sessions said he believed the gang’s willingness to engage in extreme acts of violence and retaliation justifies designating it a priority for the drug enforcement task forces.”
-Del Quentin Wilber, “Attorney General Jeff Sessions Takes Aim at MS-13 Gang,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 24, 2017 11:18am