Expert: Transnational Criminal Gang MS-13 Recruiting in American Elementary Schools

Fearsome international criminal gang Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, is going someplace to recruit new members that suggests, more than ever, the group means business when it comes to gaining a menacing foothold throughout the 21st century American landscape:

American elementary schools.

Reporting by Washington, D.C.���s WUSA9 on the recent gang-related murder of 15-year-old Alexandra Reyes-Rivas of Montgomery County, Md. led the news outlet to Jay Lanham of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, which is assisting in the investigation of the teen���s murder.

���Oh grade-school. They're recruiting in grade-school but generally 5th grade and on,��� said Lanham. According to Lanham the gangs ���lure��� the young kids ���through social media and parties where they offer them drugs, alcohol, and sex.���

At this writing, ten people in total have been arrested in connection with Reyes-Rivas brutal slaying, with five of those actually charged with her abduction and murder; three of the five are 17 years old.

According to WUSA9, the murdered girl���s mother, Maria Reyes, told the news station that there is gang activity inside of her daughter���s school, and that she believes her daughter���s involvement with gangs began when she was in middle school. Separately, she told FOX 5 that she is now receiving threats from gang members who are ���blaming her for the arrests.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large