By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Jan 30, 2009 at 10:00PM PST

Many of American gangs have developed regular

working relationships with Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s)

and other international criminal organizations in Mexico,

Central America, Canada and Afghanistan. Where they develop

sources of supply for wholesale quantities of illicit drugs and to

facilitate other criminal activities. According to federal law enforcement

gang members provide Mexican MDC’s with support, such as

smuggling, transportation, and security. Specific examples include:

Some prison gangs are capable of directly controlling or

influencing the smuggling of multi-hundred kilograms of cocaine

and methamphetamine weekly into the United States from MDC’s.

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California-based, prison gangs

cooperate with Mexico-based MDC’s to smuggle wholesale

quantities of cocaine and marijuana and illegal aliens into the

United States from Mexico. According to federal authorities.

Additionally, these gangs extort money from drug and alien

traffickers transiting the U.S. Mexican Border.

Often national and international-level Hispanic street gangs

have close associations with Mexico-based MDC’s. Hispanic

gang members reportedly obtain cocaine, methamphetamine

and marijuana from the MDC’s and their surrogate Mexican gangs,

who transport the drugs to primary U.S. drug market areas for further

distribution by American street gangs.

Canada-based Chinese and Vietnamese MDC’s and criminal

groups maintain close working relationships with Asian gangs

operating in Canada and the United States. Canada-based MDC’s

are the primary suppliers of multi thousand tablet quantities of

MDMA and multi hundred pound quantities of high-potency

marijuana to Asian gangs operating in the United States. The

MDC’s also use Asian and Mexican gang members for other

aspects of drug distribution operations, prostitution, money

laundering and gunrunning in the United States and Mexico.

Gang Members are infiltrating the U.S. Military, according to high

placed American law enforcement agencies they believe members

of nearly every major street gang as well as some prison gangs and

Organized Motorcycle Gangs OMG’s have been identified on both

domestic and international military installations.

Deployments have resulted in gang members among service

members and/or dependents on or near overseas bases.

Additionally, military transfers have resulted in gang members, both

service members and dependents/relatives, moving to new areas and

establishing a gang presence.

These same gang members come out of the military and many times

return to their old neighborhoods and with their newly gained

knowledge of weapons training. These gang members with military

training provide a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because

of the distinctive military skills that they possess and their willingness

to teach these skills to fellow gang members. While the number of gang

members trained by the military is unknown, many experts estimates

the number to be in the thousands. This threat that they bring to law

enforcement is potentially significant, particularly if gang members

trained in weapons, tactics, and planning pass this instruction on to

other gang members.

In addition, gang members currently serving in the military sometimes

take advantage of their positions to engage in criminal activities such as

trafficking in weapons and drugs.

Cross-Border gang activity and relationships of U.S.-based gang

members are increasingly involved in cross-border criminal activities,

particularly in areas of Texas and California along the U.S.–Mexico

border. Much of this activity involves the trafficking of drugs and

illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States and considerably

adds to gang revenues. Further, gangs are increasingly smuggling

weapons from the United States into Mexico as payment for drugs

or to sell for a significant profit.