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According to insightcrime.org: "The Barrio 18 spread south into Central America and Mexico mainly as a function of a change to US immigration policies in the mid-1990s, which increased the number of criminal charges for which any foreign-born resident could be deported to their country of origin.
The new policy was applied aggressively to…
According to insightcrime.org: "The Barrio 18 spread south into Central America and Mexico mainly as a function of a change to US immigration policies in the mid-1990s, which increased the number of criminal charges for which any foreign-born resident could be deported to their country of origin.
The new policy was applied aggressively to gangs in California, where many gang members were not US citizens. The deportations led to a sudden influx of Barrio 18 and other gang members in Central America and Mexico, bringing with it violence and crime.".
Other gangs appear to have the same origin. About why they "chose" extortion as their business, I don't see what other options they had in the 1990s. (https://insightcrime.org/el-salvador-organized-crime-news/barrio-18-profile/)
But many other poor nations dont have a big extortion problem. Of course, the elephant in the room is the anti-individual rights US drug laws. You describe its indirect effects.