MS-13 Map & Profile 2026: Leaders, Territory and U.S. Charges

What official records and reporting say about the MS-13: who leads it, where it is reported to operate, and how the U.S. has targeted it. Territory and leadership change fast, so each item links to its source and shows dates as reported. Allegations are as stated by the source; people who are charged are presumed innocent until convicted.

All cartel profiles

Names and aliases

• The gang is known as Mara Salvatrucha, universally abbreviated MS-13 or MS13. [U.S. Department of State, 2025-04-21]
• The State Department's FTO listing styles the group as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist. [U.S. Department of State, 2026-06-18]
• The U.S. Treasury categorizes MS13 as a transnational criminal organization, the first such designation ever applied to a U.S. street gang. [InSight Crime, 2026-07-14]
• MS-13 also goes by "MS" and "Mara"; DOJ explains "mara" is Salvadoran slang for "gang," while "Salvatrucha" combines "Salva" (Salvadoran) and "truncha" (cunning), and the 13 alludes to M, the 13th letter, signaling allegiance to the Mexican Mafia prison gang. [Police1]

Origins

• MS13 emerged in the 1980s in poor Los Angeles neighborhoods populated by refugees of El Salvador's civil war. [InSight Crime, 2026-07-14]
• From Los Angeles the gang first expanded into Central America and later into other countries including in Europe. [InSight Crime, 2026-07-14]
• During the Clinton administration the U.S. deported gang-affiliated immigrants in large numbers; the crackdown is believed to have spread the gang worldwide, which is now estimated at up to 10,000 members in the U.S. and over 30,000 worldwide. [Police1]
• The gang was created in Los Angeles by Salvadoran refugees fleeing the civil war, and arrived in El Salvador in the 1990s after the U.S. began deporting members back following the 1992 peace accords. [Wikipedia]
• U.S. deportations of gang members in the 1990s transplanted MS13 to El Salvador, where poverty, urbanization, and weak counter-gang measures fueled recruitment. [Wikipedia]

Leadership

• How much command and control senior leaders exercise over cliques varies by region and country, with U.S.-based cliques generally diffuse and El Salvador-based cliques more connected. (as of 2025-12) [U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2025-12]
• Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, alias Porky, is the highest-ranking MS-13 member in Honduras, directing drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, and kidnappings plus large-scale cocaine importation into the U.S.; he remains at large with a reward of up to $10 million. (as of 2026-06-18) [U.S. Department of State, 2026-06-18]
• Víctor Eduardo Morales Zelaya, alias Cuervo, is described alongside Porky as a highest-ranking MS-13 leader in Honduras; he remains at large with a reward of up to $5 million. (as of 2026-06-18) [U.S. Department of State, 2026-06-18]
• Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, described as one of MS-13's top three leaders in the United States, was arrested on March 27, 2025 in Prince William County, Virginia, and charged with illegal gun possession. (as of 2026-09-30) [Associated Press via SRN News, 2025-03-27]
• High-ranking MS-13 leaders in El Salvador, known as the Ranfla Nacional, ordered and approved murders carried out by U.S.-based members, at times monitoring executions by phone. (as of 2026-04-21) [U.S. Department of Justice, 2026-04-21]
• The U.S. government has charged more than a dozen MS13 leaders in El Salvador with terrorism, an unprecedented escalation against the gang. (as of 2026-07-14) [InSight Crime, 2026-07-14]
• El Salvador's crackdown has led to the imprisonment of nearly two-thirds of MS13's members and collaborators, a major blow to its leadership structure. (as of 2026-07-14) [InSight Crime, 2026-07-14]

Factions and splits

• The gang operates as loosely organized cells or cliques, some of which report to a "program" leader overseeing activity in a geographic region. (as of 2025-12) [U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2025-12]
• The gang is organized into local branches called cliques (clicas), with thousands of members across the U.S. in numerous cliques. (as of 2025-03-27) [Associated Press via SRN News, 2025-03-27]
• No major internal split of MS13 is reported; it remains a distinct organization from its longtime rival Barrio 18, which itself has two factions. (as of 2026-09-30) [InSight Crime, 2024-07-31]

Allies and rivals

• Barrio 18 was likewise designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. in February 2025, alongside MS-13. (as of 2026-09-01) [Policy Stability, 2026-09-01]
• MS13's fiercest and most enduring rival is Barrio 18 (the 18th Street gang), a rivalry dating to their shared Los Angeles origins that persists to this day. (as of 2026-09-30) [Wikipedia]
• The gang embedded itself in poor Salvadoran communities, terrorizing residents and businesses with extortion and murder, which became its social and financial base. (as of 2024-07-31) [InSight Crime, 2024-07-31]

What it does

• The gang engages in violence, extortion, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and murder across its operating countries, and has diversified into noncriminal investments including taxis, funeral homes, gas stations, and recycling centers. [U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2025-12]
• Extortion is the gang's main source of income; InSight Crime describes MS13 as a predatory organization that relies primarily on extortion. [InSight Crime, 2026-07-14]
• The gang's leadership directs drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, and kidnappings, including the importation of large amounts of cocaine into the United States. [U.S. Department of State, 2026-06-18]
• Members use machetes, baseball bats, firearms, and ligature strangulation, among other means, to maintain power, reputation, and territory. [U.S. Department of Justice, 2026-04-21]
• U.S.-based members sent photos of victims' bodies to leadership in El Salvador as proof of executions to gain rank, sometimes further mutilating the bodies before photographing them. [U.S. Department of Justice, 2026-04-21]

U.S. designations, sanctions and charges

• On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Secretary of State designated Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. [U.S. Department of State, 2025-04-21]
• MS-13 was one of eight Latin American criminal organizations declared Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Trump administration in February 2025. [Associated Press via SRN News, 2025-03-27]
• In June 2026 the State Department raised the TOCRP reward to up to $10 million for Porky and set up to $5 million for Cuervo. [U.S. Department of State, 2026-06-18]

Key events

• In 2023 El Salvador opened the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security megaprison built to hold 40,000 inmates under severe conditions. [InSight Crime, 2026-09-27]
• In April 2026, three MS-13 members were sentenced in Houston — 35 and 45-year terms — for murders committed at the direction of gang leaders in El Salvador between 2017 and 2018. [U.S. Department of Justice, 2026-04-21]
• On March 27, 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest in Virginia of alleged East Coast MS-13 leader Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos by a new FBI-led task force. [Associated Press via SRN News, 2025-03-27]
• In June 2026 the State Department raised rewards for MS-13's top Honduras leaders to $10 million and $5 million as part of the Homeland Security Task Force created under Executive Order 14159. [U.S. Department of State, 2026-06-18]
• In March 2022, after gangs killed 87 people in 72 hours, President Bukele declared a state of exception, launching mass arrests that drove MS13 and Barrio 18 off El Salvador's streets. [InSight Crime, 2024-07-31]

Where it operates in Mexico

• The U.S. intelligence community's counterterrorism guide lists Mexico among the countries where MS-13 has members, alongside Belize, Costa Rica, Italy, and Spain. (as of 2025-12) [U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2025-12]
• The AP reports the gang has members in Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, in addition to El Salvador and thousands of members across the U.S. (as of 2025-03-27) [Associated Press via SRN News, 2025-03-27]

Reported U.S. footprint

• The U.S. intelligence community describes MS-13 as operating mainly in the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. (as of 2025-12) [U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2025-12]
• DOJ reporting places MS-13's violent criminal activity in Texas, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and California, as well as El Salvador and Honduras. (as of 2026-04-21) [U.S. Department of Justice, 2026-04-21]
• Archaga Carías is listed among the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and as a most-wanted fugitive of the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations. (as of 2026-06-18) [U.S. Department of State, 2026-06-18]

Reported presence by Mexican state

MS-13 in the United States

States with specific evidence: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia.

Cartels in the U.S.: map and state-by-state evidence →

Last reviewed: September 30, 2026. Territory, leadership and advisories change; tell us about errors via our corrections page.