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John Hollenhorst reportingThe FBI says the threat from a notably violent street-gang rooted in Central America is high and growing, especially in the West.
Utah investigators say the MS-13 gang hasn't flexed its muscles much here yet, but it may be recruiting members as young as 8 years old.
Nobody knows how many MS-13 members are in Utah. Investigators we spoke to had estimates ranging from under 100 to as many as 300. But the FBI's new threat assessment says the gang is engaged in a variety of serious criminal activities and can be "exceedingly violent."
The U.S. version of the gang started in Los Angeles. It's a gang notable for tattoos, violence and aggressiveness, with connections to El Salvador.
FBI Special Agent In Charge Timothy J. Fuhrman said, "We've actually got two FBI agents in El Salvador working side-by-side with Salvadoran police."
As they spread to the East Coast, high profile crimes -- especially the murder of a witness -- brought a federal crackdown.
"So they've engaged in that type of very violent, high-profile criminal activity," Fuhrman said.
The law enforcement pressure apparently helped pushed them into other places, like Utah. Their distinctive graffiti began turning up here in the last three years. MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha. The gang is here.
Gang investigator Bruce Champagne, president of the Utah Gang Investigator Association, first encountered the gang two to three years ago.
"They are becoming more visible," he said. "They were completely different than any other gang member I've ever spoken to, by their demeanor. They did brag they were very forceful, they were very proud of what they were."
So far, no major crimes have been attributed to the gang in Utah, but Champagne believes it is building its strength, aggressively recruiting, and getting heavily involved in drug trafficking that will eventually bring the group into conflict with other gangs.
"We know that there are MS-13 members in Park City. We know they're in West Valley. We know they're in Salt Lake City. We know they're in Tooele," he said.
Fuhrman told us, "The recruiting, unfortunately we've seen, goes into the middle schools and in some cases it's actually into the elementary schools. We've seen some recruiting in that area."
Champagne agreed, "Recruiting in grade schools, as young as 8 years of age."
One of the unknowns is whether local gangsters who claim membership in MS-13 are really connected to a national or international hierarchy. That's one reason membership numbers are in dispute. Some alleged members may just be "wannabes."
