However, it may portend a growing trend of incursions into other U.S. cities by the gang, which has a reputation for extreme violence, including hacking victims with machetes, controlling prisons and threatening the stability of some Central American countries.

The gang member arrested in El Paso was among a dozen Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, members stopped in September and October during heightened law enforcement operations along the Texas-Mexico border, the Texas governor's office said recently. Gang members, which have cliques in Houston and Dallas, also were captured in Maverick, Webb and Hidalgo counties.

Although the presence of a Mara Salvatrucha gang member in El Paso is unusual, said Javier Sambrano, El Paso police spokesman, police don't have reason to believe the gang will become a major factor locally.

'There have been some people arrested,' he said. 'They are associated or members of that (MS-13) gang, but we really haven't seen any activity.'

The Mara Salvatrucha was founded by Salvadoran immigrants

The gang, which is the target of a multi-agency MS-13 National Gang Task Force based at FBI Headquarters, has about 10,000 members in 33 states and Washington, D.C.

Because there are already about 500 street gangs, party crews and other gangs in El Paso, local law enforcement officials have said it would be difficult for MS-13 to muscle its way in. They say their security efforts along the border also are intended to make it more difficult for gangs to expand their turf.

Thirty members of gangs have been arrested this year in warrant roundups, traffic stops and vehicle checks that were part of the border security projects Operation Linebacker and Operation Border Star, said El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokesman Deputy Eduardo Placencia.

Most of the gang members arrested in El Paso County were from the Barrio Azteca and Folk gangs and not necessarily undocumented immigrants, Placencia said. A new round of Operation Border Star began Wednesday.

The operations have been criticized by immigrant-rights activists as targeting undocumented immigrants.

'It's basically putting more deputies out on the street. We are not looking for undocumented people. We are just there in numbers,' Placencia said.

Placencia said deputies may ask for a Social Security number because it is part of the form filled in for traffic tickets.

Figures released from the governor's office also showed arrests of members of the Mexican Mafia and Tango Blast prison gangs as part of the crackdown.

Tango Blast is a fast-growing, but loosely organized prison gang found in Austin, Houston and Dallas, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

'Gang intel said they are not having any problems with Tangos yet,' Placencia said. 'They have confirmed several of them being inmates' at the El Paso County Jail.

SOURCE:Las Cruces-Sun News