EPISODE · Oct 17, 2025 · 42 MIN
Inside MS-13, the Gang That Swallowed a Country
from The World Unpacked · host Steven Dudley, Jon Bateman
MS-13 brought El Salvador to its knees and has spread to a dozen other nations, doing battle with presidents as much as rival gangs. Yet despite its infamy, MS-13 is poorly understood: It has little in common with the cartels, traffickers, or mafias that it’s often lumped in with.What is the violent logic behind MS-13, and why has it grown steadily more powerful during both crackdowns and truces? Has President Nayib Bukele’s unprecedented brutality finally turned the tide against MS-13 in El Salvador, and does he have a plan for what comes next? If it takes an autocrat to slay a gang, should countries trade one beast for another?Steven Dudley, author of the award-winning book MS-13: The Making of America’s Most Notorious Gang, joins Jon Bateman for a gripping new episode of The World Unpacked.Find the episode transcript, video episode, and get the show direct to your inbox, here.Follow Jon on X (https://x.com/JonKBateman) here.
What this episode covers
Co-Founder and Co-Director of InSight Crime Steven Dudley joins The World Unpacked this week to dive into MS-13's grip on El Salvador and President Nayib Bukele's fight to dismantle its power.
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Inside MS-13, the Gang That Swallowed a Country
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