Country ORBAT

MARA

mara

8 platform lines · 24 mapped sites · 16 deployable units

Personnel & posture

GDP (est.): $5B

Order of battle

MS-13 cliques
- Programadores (leaders)200 – 400
  National leadership
- Local clique soldiers5,000 – 15,000
  Active fighters pre-crackdown
- Lookouts & tax collectors10,000 – 30,000
  Territorial control
Weapons
- Handguns / machetes / AK5,000 – 15,000
  Street-level armament
- Improvised explosives50 – 200
  Grenades and IEDs
Revenue
- Extortion & transport tax0
  Primary income
- Drug distribution cut0
  Secondary income
Deported members
- US deportee recruitment1,000 – 5,000
  Pipeline from US prisons

Bases & infrastructure (24)

MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Ministry of Defense
hub
National command and crisis coordination
command
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Army Headquarters
military base
Ground forces command and mobilization center
army
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Primary Air Base
airport
Combat aviation and airlift hub
air
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Naval Base
port
Fleet homeport and coastal defense
naval
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Main Seaport
port
Strategic maritime trade and logistics gateway
trade
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Defense Industrial Complex
factory
Ammunition, vehicles, and sustainment production
manufacturing
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Munitions plant
factory
Artillery shells, small arms, explosives
ammunition
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Oil & gas refinery
factory
Fuel processing and petrochemicals
energy
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Integrated Air Defense Site
military base
Long-range SAM coverage for capital region
air_defense
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Early Warning Radar
military base
Air and missile tracking
air_defense
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Combined Arms Training Area
military base
Brigade-level exercises and mobilization
training
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Border Defense Outpost
military base
Frontier surveillance and rapid response
army
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Cyber Command Center
hub
Offensive/defensive cyber operations
cyber
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Forward Corps HQ
military base
Theater-level ground command
army
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) Secondary Airfield
airport
Dispersal, training, and surge capacity
air
Soyapango clique command
hub
El Salvador — largest MS stronghold.
covert
San Salvador urban cell network
hub
Capital extortion and recruitment.
covert
Apopa plaza territory
military base
Northern San Salvador control zone.
covert
Santa Ana western clique
military base
Border smuggling and recruitment.
covert
San Pedro Sula MS cell
hub
Honduras industrial city stronghold.
covert
Tegucigalpa clandestine network
hub
Capital extortion ring.
covert
Guatemala City MS clique
hub
Northern Triangle hub.
covert
Encrypted gang comms network
research
Clique coordination.
sigint
MS-13 Soyapango clique
hub
Primary MS stronghold.
covert

Deployable units (16)

1st Mechanized Brigade (MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha))armor
3rd Infantry Division HQarmy
7th Artillery Regimentarmy
Air Defense Battalion (capital)sam
Special Operations Task Grouparmy
Coastal Defense Regimentnavy
Tactical UAV Squadrondrone
Logistics Support Brigadefacility · Supply and transport hub
Armored Cavalry Squadronarmor
Combat Aviation Wing (detachment)air
Soyapango clique strike teamarmy · Urban enforcement
Contract hit squadarmy · Assassination cell
Extortion collection crewarmy · Territorial tax
Human smuggling celllogistics · US-bound migrant routes
Neighborhood lookout networkfacility · Early warning for raids
Prison clique coordinationfacility · Mariona/CECOT internal network

Theater glossary

MS-13: Mara Salvatrucha — transnational gang born in Los Angeles, rooted in Central America.
Clique: Local MS-13 cell — territorial unit with own leadership.
Programador: MS-13 clique leader — coordinates tax and violence.
La Mara: Street name for MS-13 — blue and white symbolism.
Northern Triangle: El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala — core operating area.
State of exception: El Salvador crackdown — mass detention since 2022.
Chokepoint: Narrow sea or land passage where trade or military traffic can be blocked.
Rare earth: Elements used in magnets, motors, and precision weapons — China dominates refining.
SPR: Strategic Petroleum Reserve — emergency crude stockpile.
TSMC: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — advanced logic fab cluster.
Hormuz: Strait of Hormuz — ~20% of global oil transits.
Malacca: Strait of Malacca — busiest shipping lane between Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Suwałki corridor: Poland–Lithuania land bridge — NATO logistics vulnerability.
Cobalt belt: DRC–Zambia mining corridor — battery supply chain.
Lithium triangle: Chile–Argentina–Bolivia brine deposits — EV battery input.
Grain corridor: Black Sea / Danube export routes — global food security.
Red Sea corridor: Bab el-Mandeb through Suez — Houthi interdiction risk.
Taiwan Strait lane: Kaohsiung–Busan chip & container sea lane under blockade exercise.
Black Sea grain lane: Odesa/Danube export routes under missile and mine threat.
Horn access lane: Djibouti–Massawa–Assab Red Sea port competition axis.