Operation Devil Horns

Reviews / Votes

[This is a] nonfiction account reveals how a dedicated law enforcement team dismantled one of San Francisco's most notorious gangs over the course of four years.

If gangs commit so much of their mayhem in the open, with members flaunting their allegiance and violent achievements, what makes it so difficult to catch and prosecute them? In their book [the authors] demonstrate all of the challenges involved. . . . Santini and Bolger provide readers of all backgrounds with valuable insights into the psychology of both individual gang members and MS-13 as a whole, portraying the deep-rooted feelings of loyalty and pride that young men especially derived from their shared identity. But the crimes they committed in the service of this identity were gruesome, as the authors adeptly illustrate, and with the investigation's stakes building ever higher both publicly and privately, Santini and his team became increasingly determined to finally punish those responsible.

A suspenseful, informative take on an ambitious criminal investigation. * Kirkus Reviews * What reads like a work of fiction, so vivid and fantastic is the account of this crusade against MS-13 in San Francisco's Mission District, is, in fact, the story of one investigator's Herculean effort to marshal federal, state and local law enforcement resources to take on and defeat a criminal syndicate as sophisticated as La Cosa Nostra was in its prime, as vicious as any terrorist group and as menacing and dangerous as any subversive organization this nation has ever seen, a victory that was all the more extraordinary given that it played out against the backdrop of a political establishment more concerned with promoting sanctuary for illegal alien criminals than protecting the general public from harm. Operation Devil Horns is a must read for anyone who thinks they know how MS-13 operates, the threat it poses, and what can and must be done to destroy it. -- Joseph P. Russoniello, Former United States Attorney, Northern District of California Operation Devil Horns is a real-life thriller, taking you inside the savage world of MS-13 in San Francisco-but they are no match for a smart and audacious ICE agent, who also has to fight local sanctuary politics to get the job done. This book couldn't be more timely, as MS-13 has regained a foothold in many American communities, and ICE is again contending with interference from foolish and misguided pro-sanctuary politicians. Read it for the great story, send it to your member of congress, and then go thank your local ICE office for what they do every day to keep us all safe. -- Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies, Center for Immigration Studies Operation Devil Horns is a true crime story about one of the most brutal and ruthless transnational gangs in America and the dogged special agents, federal prosecutors and local police officers who took down more than two dozen MS-13 gang members in the City by the Bay. . . . Operation Devil Horns is an interesting and illuminating book about MS-13 and the bold law enforcement operation that took them down in San Francisco. * The Washington Times * Operation Devil Horns is a first rate 'true crime' genre work that provides an insider's view of an MS-13 clique by means of an undercover federal operation utilizing insider criminal informants. The work is a highly pleasurable read due to the professional writing skills of Ray Bolger and is targeted for professional and general rather than academic audiences. * Small Wars Journal *