THE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT OF THE MOST INFAMOUS STREET GANG IN AMERICA

In the 1980s, El Salvador was involved in a bloody fight for control of the government. To escape the guerrilla assaults and death squads many fled to the US. As a survival instinct, they formed a group called the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners, a relatively harmless social network bound by rock and roll. But later, as they brushed against established local gangs, the group took on a harder edge, selling drugs, stealing cars and killing rivals who threatened their territories. As authorities cracked down, gang members were incarcerated and deported. But in the prison system, the group only grew stronger.

Today, MS-13 is one of the most infamous street gangs on Earth, with tens of thousands of members operating in a half-dozen nations and two continents, and linked to thousands of grisly murders each year. Through the story of former gang member Norman and his family, journalist Steven Dudley brings readers inside the deadly group.

Steven Dudley is one of the foremost experts on MS-13. The co-director of InSight, an initiative of aimed at monitoring, analysing and investigating organized crime in the Americas.

Dudley has a BA in Latin American History and an MA in Latin American Studies. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese fluently.