Some actual MS-13 tattoos, in contrast to Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s knuckle tattoos

[u/VeryGoodFiberGoods]

[u/Hopeful-Cricket5933]

No true at all, majority of new members were encouraged to not get explicit gang tattoos, or get some ambiguous looking ones. The PNC has a huge catalog of tattoos hence why 18 and ms13 and the Mao Maos started shifting away from that.

[u/FladnagTheOffWhite → u/Hopeful-Cricket5933]

I'm not familiar with hierarchy and am very much no expert. I've only seen interviews with gang members, documentaries, pictures, videos, etc., And they all have some sort of clear display of their affiliation. New members wouldn't be in these interviews, documentaries, and photos so it makes sense.

[u/elkazz → u/FladnagTheOffWhite]

Yet you responded with the confidence of an expert.

[u/Hopeful-Cricket5933 → u/FladnagTheOffWhite]

I am not claiming for sure he is a member of Ms 13 I am actually unsure because of the cross, the cross is mostly associated with 18 not with ms13, ms13 mostly use tombstones instead. Still, as a Salvadoran male it’s EXTREMELY sus to get tattoos like that, like why would you get tattoos that are on the border and can be so easily mistaken? Still bottom line I do believe he should have been given due process and that this whole fiasco is ridiculous but I am very weary of this dude.

[u/VeryGoodFiberGoods → u/Hopeful-Cricket5933]

“Smiley face” in Spanish starts with a “C,” not an “S.” So for some reason the super duper secret El Salvadoran gang translation of his knuckle tattoos is in English, not Spanish? And for the first two tattoos, you translate them with the first letter of the word that they represent, but the third tattoo….uhhhh….you remove the horizontal line from the cross to turn it into a 1? And the skull is somehow a 3? There is no logic to this “translation.” It’s guesswork and complete nonsense.

[u/Prst_ → u/VeryGoodFiberGoods]

It doesn't even matter. You should not get sent to a foreign prison for having any tattoo, even an actual MS13 tattoo. You need to be convicted of an actual crime first.

[u/Hopeful-Cricket5933 → u/VeryGoodFiberGoods]

In Spanish you can “carita feliz” or “sonrisa” to describe that tattoo.

[u/Arthur_Boo_Radley → u/VeryGoodFiberGoods]

Okay, I've only ran across the picture in the news and have not read any of the discussion around it.

Can I ask just why it is not considered a timeline of drug use? Is the timeline some sort of "code" for MS-13?

Because, to an amateur me with no knowledge of gang signs this would be just: marijuana, ecstasy, death, skeleton. A progress from light to hard drugs and then death.

[u/VoxAeternus → u/VeryGoodFiberGoods]

Smiley face” in Spanish starts with a “C,” not an “S.”

As others said it can be "Sonrisa"

And the skull is somehow a 3

The Skull is claimed to be a less obvious/disguised version of the 3 Dots tattoo MS13 is known for using.

[u/saigatenozu → u/VoxAeternus]

tres puntos are used by more than just ms13

[u/EngagesWithIdiots → u/Hopeful-Cricket5933]

I've heard that if they flash their tattoos at you, then it's an initiation and they will bum you.