Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 24 OcTOber 2017
Sessions: MS-13 street gang a ‘priority’ for law enforcement

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and Virginia. The gang’s entrenched itself in Central
Associated Press violence drew the Repub- America when its leaders
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — U.S. lican president’s attention were deported.
Attorney General Jeff Ses- after two teenage girls was Making a street gang like
sions on Monday promised beaten and hacked to MS-13 a priority marks a
an even stricter crack- death in a suspected gang shift for the drug enforce-
down on the brutal MS-13 attack on Long Island. ment task force, said
street gang, whose mem- The girls were among 22 James Trusty, who headed
bers are suspected in a people believed to have the Department of Jus-
series of killings in New York been killed by the gang on tice’s organized crime and
City’s suburbs. Long Island since the start gang section before he left
The attorney general des- of 2016. Most of the people in January.
ignated the gang with arrested in those killings Some MS-13 cases have
Central American ties as were in the U.S. illegally, drug connections, but
a “priority” for the Depart- law enforcement officials “you’d be hard-pressed
ment of Justice’s Orga- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at the International have said. to come up with evidence
nized Crime Drug Enforce- Association of Chiefs of Police conference Monday, Oct. 23, After Trump took office, he that MS-13 is part of a car-
ment Task Forces, which 2017, in Philadelphia. Sessions on Monday designated the gang, directed federal law en- tel,” he said. “The most
has historically focused on MS-13, as a “priority” for a federal task force that traditionally forcement officials to fo- common aspect of MS-
drug trafficking and mon- pursued cartels and drug kingpins. cus resources on combat- 13 prosecutions has been
ey laundering. MS-13, or La (AP Photo/Michael Balsamo) ing transnational gangs, murder and witness intimi-
Mara Salvatrucha, is gen- Alabama. and well-being of each including MS-13. But the dation or retaliation, not
erally known for extortion “MS-13 members brutally and every family every- new designation will al- drug trafficking.”
and violence rather than rape, rob, extort and mur- where they infest.” low officials to target MS- The designation lets local
distributing and selling nar- der,” Sessions told hundreds The gang has become a 13 with a “renewed vigor police departments tap
cotics. of police executives at the prime target of President and a sharpened focus,” into federal money to help
The new designation di- International Association Donald Trump’s administra- said Sessions, who flew to El pay for things like wiretaps,
rects prosecutors to pursue of Chiefs of Police confer- tion amid its broader crack- Salvador in July, in part to interpreters and overtime
all legal avenues, including ence in Philadelphia. “With down on immigration. learn more about how the related to cases involving
racketeering, gun and tax more than 40,000 mem- Members of the gang are gang’s activities there af- the gang, but it does not
laws, to target the gang, bers worldwide, including suspected of committing fect crime in the U.S. mean all local MS-13 cases
said Sessions, a Republican 10,000 in the United States, several high-profile killings MS-13 originated in Los will qualify for extra fund-
former U.S. senator from MS-13 threatens the lives in New York, Maryland Angeles in the 1980s, then ing, he said.q
Senate presses ahead on $36.5B disaster relief package

By ANDREW TAYLOR nior Senate Democrat said Monday on a $36.5 billion a much-needed infusion of replenish rapidly dwindling
Associated Press there’s no time to waste as hurricane relief package cash. emergency disaster ac-
WASHINGTON (AP) — A se- the Senate pressed ahead that would give Puerto Rico The measure also would counts and provide $16 bil-
lion to permit the financial-
ly troubled federal flood
insurance program to pay
an influx of Harvey-related
claims.
But the bill rejects requests
from the powerful Texas
and Florida congressional
delegations for additional
money to rebuild after hur-
ricanes Harvey and Irma.
The measure was certain
to sail through Monday’s
procedural vote and a fi-
nal vote was expected no
later than Tuesday. That
would send the measure to
President Donald Trump for
his signature.
There is urgency to move
the measure swiftly — rath-
er than add more money
to it at this time — because
the government’s disaster
response and flood insur-
ance reserves are running
out.“If we do not act, di-
saster relief funds and the
flood insurance program
will run out of resources in
a matter of days,” said top
Appropriations Committee
Democrat Patrick Leahy of
Vermont. q