Organized crime in El Salvador is a serious problem. Efforts to understand or deal with this phenomenon in the small Central American country have been insufficient.. There are an estimated 25,000 gang members at large in El Salvador; another 9,000 are in prison. The best-known gangs, called maras in colloquial Salvadoran Spanish, are Mara Salvatrucha and their rivals 18th Street; maras are …

