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Central American gangs raising fears in southern Mexico

A sign with the portrait of a Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is seen on the rear window of a passenger van parked at a station in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. As Central American street gangs have moved operations into southern Mexico, drivers of the passenger vans and taxis have raised the alarm, holding temporary work stoppages to get authorities’ attention. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Migrants gather at a bus station after crossing the border between Mexico and Guatemala, in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Jose Mateo Martinez, Chiapas state prosecutor for migrant affairs, says El Salvador's crackdown on organized crime is behind the increase in criminal activity in Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Passengers wait for their passenger van at a station in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. There’s a police vehicle parked daily at the local station in Tapachula where vans arrive and depart constantly, but their drivers remain exposed to the activities of Central American street gangs that have moved operations into southern Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Migrants gather at a bus station after crossing the border between Mexico and Guatemala, in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. From 2018 through November 2022, 97 Salvadorans allegedly tied to gangs were arrested and deported, according to the Chiapas state prosecutor’s office. Most of those arrests and deportations happened in the past two years. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Passengers walk in front of a bus station in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. There’s a police vehicle parked daily at the local station in Tapachula where vans arrive and depart constantly, but their drivers remain exposed to the activities of Central American street gangs that have moved operations into southern Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) A passenger van starts its route from a station in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. With threatening phone calls, burned minibuses and at least three suspected killings, street gangs more closely associated with Central America are imposing their brand of terror-based extortion on transport drivers in southern Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Drivers chat prior to the start of their workday at a bus station in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. As Central American street gangs have moved operations into southern Mexico, drivers of the passenger vans and taxis have raised the alarm, holding temporary work stoppages to get authorities’ attention. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) A young man sells hats near gang graffiti of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 gang, near a bus station in Tapachula, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Organized crime groups including the rival Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs have long maintained a presence along the border between Mexico and Guatemala, but Mexican authorities say their numbers have increased over the past year as El Salvador cracks down on gang members and their criminal enterprises. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Passenger vans are parked at a station in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. As Central American street gangs have moved operations into southern Mexico, drivers of the passenger vans and taxis have raised the alarm, holding temporary work stoppages to get authorities’ attention. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Police in riot gear charge during a training exercise, near a burned passenger van, center, allegedly torched by gangs on Jan. 4, 2023, in Cacahoatan, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Local authorities have formed an anti-gang task force and posted police at transport hubs, and last month Mexico's military deployed an additional 350 soldiers to communities along the Guatemalan border. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) A bus driver shows photo of late coworker Nehemias Verdugo Trejo who was killed by gunmen in Feb. 24, 2022, at a bus station in Huixtla, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Drivers of the passenger vans and taxis people depend on for transportation in largely rural Chiapas say they live in fear for their livelihood, or their lives as street gangs more closely associated with Central America are imposing their brand of terror-based extortion on public transportation drivers in southern Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) Passengers sit in a passenger van with tinted windows, inside a station in Tapachula, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. With threatening phone calls, burned minibuses and at least three suspected killings, street gangs more closely associated with Central America are imposing their brand of terror-based extortion on transport drivers in southern Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Central American gangs raising fears in southern Mexico