A man wearing a t-shirt with a marijuana leaf and a tattoo featuring a medicine symbol
A man wearing a t-shirt with a marijuana leaf and a tattoo featuring a medicine symbol attends the first cultivation of cannabis authorized for medicinal purposes in Chile, Santiago October 29, 2014. Reuters/Ivan Alvarado

Mara Salvatrucha, one of the world’s most notorious groups, supposedly breaks into Australia. There are fears that the gang, also known as MS-13, has already set foot on Australian soil.

Graffiti tags of Mara Salvatrucha in New South Wales are believed to be an indication that the deadly gang is here. There are also chances that the group is under a different guise and is utilising other names such as “Tiny Devils” and “SPS-13 as they roam around Adelaide.

Mark Selby, US Homeland Security’s special agent in charge, said it was an extremely violent gang to be entering the country. “MS-13 are opportunists. We are concerned that (if) they partner with criminal groups like outlaw motorcycle gangs, it will make them more devastating,” he told the Herald Sun.

The Australian Federal Police has not yet released a statement about the gang and whether they are really in Australia or not. It is believed that Mara Salvatrucha is targeting the Land Down Under to tap into the lucrative drug market.

The group was previously linked to Mexican drug lord, El Chapo. Selby said Mara Salvatrucha primarily focuses on drug distribution and extortion. Its members are “brutally violent” as they would hurt anyone who disrespects them.

In 2015, a garage door in Bondi was tagged with the gang’s name. Letterboxes and walls in the suburb were also painted with bright blue graffiti which had caused fear to some residents.

Australian Criminal Intelligence chief executive Chris Dawson said cartel activity had started to emerge in the country in 2014, which can be an indication that gang is establishing itself in Australia. “In July (2014) the Australian Crime Commission was involved in the arrest of two men allegedly linked to the drug cartel,” he told the Daily Mail.

Mara Salvatrucha has earlier spread to Mexico, Canada and other parts of the United States. Its members cover their entire faces in tattoos, some of them as young as eight years old.

Most of the members are born by refugees from El Salvador, which is one of the most violent countries in the world. According to the United Nations, El Salvador had 41.2 murder rate in 2012 and a projected murder rate of 91 per 100,000 in 2015.

But it seems the public should not fear as Selby believes that the authorities will be able to handle the Mara Salvatrucha. “I’ve no doubt the authorities will be able to deal with it,” he said.