New Report Shows MS-13 'Increasing Violence' In NJ: Here's Where

A new report shows that the MS-13 threat still exists – and the risk of "increasing violence" still presents problems in a surprising number of New Jersey communities in North and South Jersey and the Jersey Shore.

The report is part of a project revealed this week by the State Commission of Investigation called “Organized Crime Spotlight,” which says New Jersey "is a central command post for the gang’s operations on the East Coast." Some of the leaders may even be in Monmouth County, for example.

The project follows earlier reporting by Patch showing how the MS-13 gang may be in your town – or a town near you. We have the list of 48 towns where they've been identified. Read more: MS-13 Gang Threat In NJ: Here's Where They've Been Found

While the Trump administration has been criticized for drumming up the threat of the notorious gang, the state Commission of Investigation and the State Police say they take the threat seriously.

Here are examples cited by the new report that show when and where the MS-13 presence has presented a threat:

• Despite the absence of recent high-profile violence, it’s clear New Jersey remains a place where gang members seek safe harbor after committing crimes in other states, according to the report.
• The commission learned that New Jersey is a central command post for the gang’s operations on the East Coast. Over the past decade, an effort by MS‐13 leaders in El Salvador to exert greater control over U.S.‐based cliques, or sets, has taken root. These cliques take orders directly from compatriots in El Salvador for killings and pay tribute by wiring cash to leaders in the Central American nation.
• New Jersey has played a prominent role in this movement with leaders in Monmouth and Hudson counties directing operations along the East Coast.
• Late last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) arrested six MS-13 members in Lindenwold, according to a municipal police officer then on loan to the U.S. Marshals Service, which works with ICE. Two of the six were wanted for the murder and dismemberment of a man in Maryland
• Another MS-13 member from Houston was arrested in Hudson County after authorities learned he was wanted in connection with a Texas homicide.
• In Union County, the number of confirmed MS-13 members now stands atabout 70, down from 104 in 2014, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. Those members mostly live in Elizabeth and in Plainfield.
• It is possible, beyond arrests and deportations, that the number of active MS-13 members is dwindling or remaining flat as aging members distance themselves from the gang, according to the report.
• Investigators in Hudson County told the commission that some members have been known to pull back from MS-13 activity once they start their own families. Members in the county typically range in age from 13 to 34, the investigators said. It is rare, they said, to see second-generation MS-13 members, a phenomenon seen in other gangs.
• The "most infamous example of MS‐13’s savagery in New Jersey was the slaying of three individuals – and the grave wounding of a fourth – in a Newark schoolyard on the night of Aug. 4, 2007. Six of the gang’s members, including the leader of the Newark clique, are serving long prison sentences for the grisly attack, according to the report.
• Such vicious incidents of violence have been less frequent in recent years, and some policing experts believe elements of MS‐13 may be intentionally lying low to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.
• Today, MS‐13 members are scattered throughout the state from Union City to Morristown, Trenton to Lakewood, and Lindenwold to Pleasantville.
• Law enforcement officials in Union City told the Commission that while many MS‐13 members are present in the city, the gang does not conduct overt criminal activity there because of a zero‐tolerance approach that involves multiple city departments and the school system.
• Some measures taken in Union City include a midnight curfew on those under 18 and a requirement that building owners swiftly remove graffiti, such as gang‐related tags, or face significant financial penalties.
• The largest concentrations of MS-13 have been reported in Hudson, Union, Mercer and Cumberland counties.
• A number of members have also been sent to federal prison in recent years for crimes including: The murder of a female gang associate, suspected of working with law enforcement, in an empty parking lot in Piscataway.
• Two members of a clique, hunting for rival gangs as they drove around Plainfield, spotted a man they believed to be a member of the Latin Kings at the city’s train station. He was shot and killed.
• One leader cut a deal with the Mexican Mafia to obtain heroin, cocaine and marijuana that was then redistributed for sale in Long Branch, the Bronx, Long Island and other East Coast locations, prosecutors said.
• Hudson County investigators say that while MS-13 members continue to reside in the county – they put the figure at fewer than 100, mostly in Jersey City, Union City, North Bergen and West New York – the gang appears to have gone mostly dormant, an assessment echoed in Atlantic City, Long Branch and other communities where MS-13 once had information that a leader maintained an address in Long Branch through at least October 2016.

The State Police have already released at least two reports – the most recent in 2010 – that have identified the presence of MS-13 gang members in New Jersey towns (see the below list).

The threat appeared to hit its peak in publicity in April, when six members of MS-13 were indicted in a big New Jersey bust and faced murder charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Five of the defendants, all citizens of El Salvador, were members or associates of MS-13 sub-units, or "cliques," operating in New Jersey, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Read more: Big MS-13 Gang Bust In NJ: 6 Charged With Murder In Sweep

Here are the towns that identified a presence in the 2010 report:

Towns with at least one MS-13 gang member:

• Egg Harbor Township
• Frenchtown
• Highlands
• Hillsborough
• North Bergen
• Ocean Township
• Paramus
• Wall Township
• Westfield

Towns with at least two to 20 MS-13 gang members:

• Atlantic City
• Bloomingdale
• Bridgewater
• Cherry Hill
• Dover
• Englewood
• Fairview
• Flemington
• Galloway
• Glassboro
• Highland Park
• Hightstown
• Howell
• Lindenwold
• Long Branch
• Newark
• North Plainfield
• Pemberton Township
• Pennsauken
• Ramsey
• Riverside
• Robbinsville
• Somers Point
• South River
• Toms River
• Washington Township (Morris)
• West Orange

Towns with at least 21 to 99 MS-13 gang members:

• Bound Brook
• Bridgeton
• Elizabeth
• Lakewood
• Morristown
• Trenton
• Union City

Towns with at least 100 to 199 MS-13 gang members:

• Plainfield
• West New York

ICE photo