Organised crime wave grips Guatemala "The most visible source of the killings is the rival youth gangs, known as maras, which also operate in Honduras, El Salvador and some parts of Mexico... Even the more conservative government figures of between 20,000 and 50,000 suggest that there are significantly more maras than policemen." Internal disintegration It appears that in many places in Latin America, the illegal economy is almost as if not more powerful than the official economy. Increasingly, the effects of this are being felt in the (southern parts of the) United States and Europe (Spain), where a high demand for drugs persists.