The Mounting Threat of Domestic Terrorism: al Qaeda and the Salvadoran Gang MS-13

The Mounting Threat of Domestic Terrorism: al Qaeda and the Salvadoran Gang MS-13
Cynthia L. Starita
July 2009

ISBN-13:  978-1-59332-341-7 / Hardcover
Dimensions:  5.5 x 8.5 / viii, 256 pages

Price   $70.00

Description

Starita considers the terrorist threat of the transnational criminal syndicate Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, its affiliation with Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) in El Salvador, and its possible link to al Qaeda. Starita's findings suggest that the goals, tactical capabilities, and organizational fecklessness of MS-13 make the Salvadoran gang capable of providing the assistance necessary for the realization of al Qaeda's goals and that this assistance could be provided by the cliques of MS-13 operating in the southwestern United States. Further, she finds indirect evidence of collaboration between MS-13 and al Qaeda andthat other transnational criminal syndicates could also offer al Qaeda the same tactical assistance MS-13 might provide.

About the Author

Cynthia L. Staritais an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Campbell University. She has fourteen years of experience in the banking industry as well as a background in chemistry and biology, which she taught for six years. Dr. Starita formerly headed a forensic science program and was a police Sergeant for nine years serving as a police academy training coordinator and instructor.