All language subtitles for Gangland Chronicles S01E10 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[♪]

Gangs rule their territories
through ruthless enterprises,

fear,

and a strict code.

Deviate from this code

or challenge their power...

and retribution soon follows...

especially for the notorious
street gang MS-13.

From its humble roots
in the barrios of L.A.

to its transformation

into the most dangerous
street gang

in the Western Hemisphere,

here are three stories from
inside MS-13's brutal world.

First, MS-13
attempts a violent takeover

of the United States,

but there's a mole
in their ranks.

He is probably the best source
I've ever operated

in 21 and a half years
as a special agent in the FBI.

[Narrator] Then, MS-13
kills a former member

hiding in the witness
protection program.

If you rat, you die.

[Narrator] And finally,
the gang goes head to head

with a federal task force

determined to end
their reign of terror.

We declared war on MS-13.

[Narrator] These are the stories
from inside MS-13.

This is Gangland Chronicles.

1970s.

Los Angeles.

This is the birthplace
of what will become

one of the world's
most dangerous gangs, MS-13.

Starting as a social group

for Salvadorian teenagers
who recently immigrated

from war-torn El Salvador...

they initially call themselves
"Mara Salvatrucha Stoners,"

which means "tough street gang,"
or "MSS" for short.

They were kids that liked
to listen to heavy metal music

and smoke weed,

who were kind of
protecting themselves

against other people
in the neighborhood.

[Narrator] But once
gang members spend time

in L.A. County jails and
California state prisons,

MSS turns from
a small neighborhood gang

into something more menacing.

MS-13 is the most violent
street gang

I've ever investigated,

and they make their money
by extorting businesses.

It can be bodegas,
cab drivers, bus drivers.

They sell drugs.

[Narrator] In prison,
the gang also finds an ally

in one fearsome group,

and they change their name
to MS-13.

13 is the 13th letter
in the alphabet,

which is the letter M
for the Mexican Mafia.

[Narrator]
The newly formed MS-13

quickly becomes known
for their brutality...

and their weapon of choice,
the machete.

[Hunter] The damage
that the machete does

is just, it's horrific.

We deal with gang members

who engaged
in so many homicides,

they would lose count.

[Narrator] In 1992,

the civil war
in El Salvador ends,

and MS-13 leaders are deported

back to the country,

where they set up the gang

and take it to new levels
of brutality.

El Salvador
didn't have an MS-13 problem

until we deported
these members back there.

[Narrator] MS-13
spreads like wildfire

across El Salvador
and Central America.

By the early 2000s,

there's an estimated 50,000
to 70,000 new members.

And the leadership now
is taking place in El Salvador.

They're becoming
extremely organized

and becoming even more violent
than before.

[Narrator] Having conquered
Central America,

the leadership is now intent
on dominating the U.S...

but they don't see
what's coming next.

2005.

MS-13 has spread
all over the U.S.,

but lacks real organization.

Neighborhood groups
known as cliques

operate independently,

and often against one another.

MS-13 got this bad reputation
of infighting.

[Narrator]
Leadership in El Salvador

knows there's more money
to be made

if they can reorganize
MS-13 in the U.S.,

especially on the East Coast.

[Esteban] MS-13 wants
to have more control,

almost like the mafia.

[Narrator] They force cliques

in Texas, North Carolina,
Virginia,

Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey,
New York, and Massachusetts

to come together
into an organized unit

known as
the "East Coast Program."

Its chosen stateside leader
is Jose Adan Martinez Castro,

aka "Chucky."

[Narrator]
But not all the cliques

are falling in line
with the program.

They weren't following
instructions,

they didn't want
to join the program,

and the leaders in El Salvador
want people killed

if they're not
following the rules

and not joining
the East Coast Program.

[Narrator]
The Salvadorian bosses

direct Chucky to call a meeting
to fix the problem...

but nobody is prepared
for who is listening in.

December 13, 2015.

Richmond, Virginia.

Head of MS-13's
East Coast operations,

Jose Adan Martinez Castro,

aka "Chucky,"

calls an emergency meeting
with senior members

after several cliques

refuse to join MS-13's
reorganization efforts

in the region.

During the meeting,
Chucky told these members,

"We have to remove those leaders

to get everyone in line
with our idea of MS-13

and how they should operate."

[Narrator] Chucky
asks a member from Boston

to take out his boss.

[Wood] Chucky asks him,

"Why haven't you
killed your leader yet?

He's not getting
with the program.

He's not following
our instructions.

He should be removed,
he should be killed."

"You and another member

should become the leaders
of the clique."

[Narrator]
But Chucky is unaware

of one important detail...

the member from Boston
is an informant,

and he's wearing a wire.

He is probably the best source
I've ever operated

in 21 and a half years
as a special agent in the FBI.

[Narrator] The informant,
a former drug dealer,

has infiltrated
a Boston MS-13 clique

for over two years

in exchange for getting him
and his family

out of El Salvador...

but this is his most dangerous
meeting yet.

[Wood] He's going in where
I can't watch or see him,

where I could hear a code word

saying, "I'm in trouble.
I need help."

When you go to these meetings,
they check for phones,

and if you have a phone,
they make you turn it off,

they take the battery out,
they put it off to the side,

because they don't want anyone

to be able
to record these meetings,

and if they found out
that he was an informant,

they would've killed him,
and I would've never known.

[Narrator] But the informant

is able to record
the entire meeting

without being caught.

He provides the FBI
with evidence

they've been struggling
to get on MS-13 for years.

[Wood] It showed
not only the organization

but the level of violence
that they're willing to commit

in order to run
this criminal enterprise.

[Narrator] Chucky and
the senior leaders are arrested.

Chucky pleads guilty

and goes to prison for 20 years
for conspiracy.

[Wood] It was a huge success.

It disrupted MS-13
in the East Coast,

and it affected El Salvador.

[Narrator] MS-13 has suffered
a serious setback,

but leadership
is not backing down

on carrying out
their brutal expansion plans.

No threat will go unpunished.

2002.

Arlington, Virginia.

Police arrest MS-13 member
Brenda "Smiley" Paz

and her boyfriend, Denis Rivera,

while trying to steal a car.

Police figure out that Rivera
is a suspected MS-13 hitman,

and send him to jail
on murder charges.

16-year-old Brenda lands
in juvenile detention,

and authorities discover

her ties to a notorious
MS-13 clique run deep.

[Hunter]
Her status within the gang

was based
on her romantic relationship

with two different,

very, very senior,

very, very violent members
of MS-13 at different times.

[Narrator]
And Brenda could be charged

as an accessory
to their many crimes.

[Hunter]
And even as a juvenile,

she could get significant time

and really serve the best years
of her life in prison.

[Narrator] But if Brenda

tells authorities
what she knows,

her life is on the line.

The gang kill their own faster
than any gang I've ever seen.

If you're caught or suspected
of talking to the police

or cooperating with the police,

they'll kill you.

[Narrator] Brenda Paz has
an impossible choice to make...

risk betraying the gang,

or spend the rest of her days
behind bars.

2002.

Arlington, Virginia.

MS-13 member Brenda Paz
has a choice...

work with police
or land a long prison sentence

as an accessory
to several crimes.

She's got the offer of help

from police officers
and prosecutors...

and smartly, she took it.

[Narrator] Brenda agrees
to become an informant,

and gives law enforcement

important details
of brutal unsolved murders.

[Hunter] Brenda helped
to solve a lot of murders

here in the DC area
and elsewhere in the country

where she'd been with these
other various MS-13 members.

[Narrator]
Now that she's spilled

the gang's secrets
to authorities,

Brenda is no longer safe
in Virginia.

In 2003, the now-pregnant teen
enters Witness Protection,

and relocates to Minnesota.

She wasn't happy.
She wanted to get out of it.

She missed the culture,
the lifestyle, her friends.

[Narrator]
Brenda takes a huge risk,

and breaks
Witness Protection rules.

She called her fellow
gang members in Virginia,

and said, "Hey, I'm up here.

Why don't you come up
and we can party?"

And so they did.

[Narrator]
Brenda lies and tells them

a relative is paying
for her new apartment,

but some grow suspicious.

One of the gang members
found her journal

in which she had described
her meetings with FBI officials,

and reportedly,

there was a business card

for one of these
FBI special agents.

And so of course,
this was a smoking gun.

[Narrator] It doesn't take much

for the gang members
to convince Brenda

that she's better off
back in Virginia with them.

Once there, her clique
holds a secret meeting.

And at that meeting,
it was unanimously decided

that she had to be taken out.

[Narrator]
And MS-13 gang members

hatch the perfect plan.

They will take Brenda fishing.

July 13, 2003.

Shenandoah County.

They parked the car

on the parking area
on the one side,

and they got
the fishing rods out,

and she was several months
pregnant at this point,

and they walked
across the bridge...

and they helped her
down the hillside

to the river's edge,
where there's a trail.

They stabbed her to death
right there.

It was to set the example

that anybody that rats out
on this gang,

this is what's going
to happen to you.

[Narrator]
Two of Brenda Paz's attackers

are later caught
and sentenced to life in prison.

A third suspect is acquitted.

Consistently thwarted
by informants,

MS-13 isn't scrapping
their plans for expansion.

Their biggest invasion
is yet to come...

And law enforcement
is up to the challenge.

2016.

Suffolk County, Long Island.

It's considered one of the
safest places in the country...

until MS-13 invades.

MS-13 in Suffolk County

was solely responsible
for 28 homicides.

[Narrator]
With the murder rate tripled,

the normally tranquil county
is gripped with fear,

and MS-13 is on the offensive,

recruiting innocent
immigrant children

to fill their ranks,

and attempting to move
massive amounts of drugs

into the community.

There was a clique

that was moving kilos
of heroin and cocaine.

When you have a clique

that has the capacity
and the network

capable of distributing kilos,

that's a red flag for us.

[Narrator] Suffolk County
draws a line in the sand.

We declared war on MS-13.

[Narrator] But will it
be enough to take out

one of the most violent
street gangs in history?

2016.

Suffolk County, Long Island.

The authorities
have declared war

against MS-13,

which has taken a stranglehold
on this once sleepy community.

Law enforcement floods
known MS-13 hangouts and turf

with police officers on foot,

in patrol vehicles,
and in the air.

If we determined that someone
was going to do a violent crime,

we had to stop that.

[Narrator] The police tactic
also prevents murders

before they can be carried out.

We had a patrol in the area,

and they actually saw
an attempted abduction

involving MS-13 gang members
in a van

in the area of the school,

and in that van,

they discovered duct tape
and other weapons

that were clearly
going to be used in this crime.

[Narrator] Just as quickly

as authorities
can arrest MS-13 members,

the gang puts fresh recruits
onto the streets.

But the authorities have
something MS-13 does not...

a wiretap.

We conducted

one of the largest wiretap
investigations of a gang

that I'm aware of.

It involved
over 200 communication devices.

[Narrator] By intercepting MS-13
communications,

authorities are able to stay
one step ahead of the gang.

When law enforcement gets
involved in major operations

to disrupt a gang like MS-13,

it really makes them
almost impossible

for them to do business
in the area.

If they're being watched,
they're being surveillanced,

they can't function.

[Narrator]
After two years of recording

over 200 different MS-13 phones
on wiretap,

Long Island authorities are able
to deal their final blow.

December 19, 2019.

The largest MS-13 bust
in history goes down.

[Wood] Hundreds of agents,
police officers,

go out at 5:00 in the morning,
get ready,

and at 6:00 a.m...

execute, execute, execute,

and these law enforcement teams
start banging down doors.

[Narrator] Law enforcement
hits hard and fast,

resulting in nearly 96 arrests
in Long Island,

and hundreds worldwide.

We decimated those cliques
in Long Island.

There were nine cliques up
and down the eastern seaboard.

We took them out as well.

We identified many, many
leaders in El Salvador

that we pursued.

They were arrested as well.

[Narrator] The 150-page
indictment

against the 96
Long Island MS-13 members

includes seven murder plots,

as well as gun-running
and drug trafficking charges.

[Donovan]
After we took down MS-13,

we saw a sharp decrease

in the number of homicides
throughout Long Island

related to MS-13.

[Narrator] But despite
many MS-13 members

on Long Island sent to prison,

authorities fear
they will return to the area.

[Donovan]
Being the most violent gang

that we've seen in recent times

really calls for us as a nation
and for us in law enforcement

to pursue them
no matter where they are.

[Narrator] MS-13 will remain
a potential threat

as long as the gang is intent

on upholding
its vicious reputation.

Today, membership of the gang

is approximately 10,000
in the U.S.

[Ward]
They're constantly recruiting

because they want
to replace the numbers

who are winding up in prison

or who have left the country

or who are killed
in the line of fire,

and so
there's this constant need

to replenish the membership.

[Wood]
MS-13 will continue to morph,

so we have to stay on our toes
to keep them from reconstituting

and re-establishing
their presence.