“We are 48 hours after starting the siege in Cabañas, we already have between 12 and 15 captures,” the general director of the National Civil Police (PNC), Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, told reporters after inspecting the area where the gang member was killed. .
He added that the exchange of shots with the gang took place when a combined army and police patrol entered the Güiscoyol hill, located on the border of the departments of Cabañas and Chalatenango, some 90 kilometers northeast of the capital.
“This is how a gang member is killed, one of the ranflers (who is part of the decision-making body), one of the third parties in command of the criminal structure, of the arming group that are remnants of the MS-13,” added. The police chief did not identify the alleged leader of the Mara Salvatrucha.
After verifying the area where the gang member died, the Ministers of Public Security and National Defense and the Director General of the PNC met with the high command of the Armed Forces and the police to assess the situation and adjust the plans. to combat criminal structures.
The Security Cabinet said in a press release published by the Presidential House that “terrorists will feel the full weight of the operations of the security forces, police and armed forces. The operations extend by land and air.
On Monday, President Nayib Bukele ordered the deployment of more than 8,000 army and PNC troops to pursue and capture a group of gang members who ambushed a patrol car over the weekend and wounded two policemen with bullets.
Since March 27 of last year and at the request of President Bukele, Congress approved the state of emergency as part of its heavy-handed strategy against criminal structures that implies the suspension of fundamental rights such as association, having the assistance of a lawyer and Know the reasons for an arrest. This has led to harsh criticism from human rights organizations.
Under the exception regime, more than 71,000 alleged gang members or collaborators have been captured, according to official figures, the majority for the crime of illegal grouping. Of them, more than 90% have provisional detention ordered by a judge, that is, they are in prison without a final sentence. In turn, more than 5,000 people have been released because their link to criminal organizations could not be established.
Congress also approved some reforms to the Criminal Code to make it a crime to be part of a gang, which can be punished with sentences of 20 to 40 years in prison. The ringleaders could receive sentences of 40 to 45 years, but recently the same Congress raised the sentences up to 60 years for the ringleaders.
It also approved that they can be prosecuted in organized crime courts in groups of 900 people.
In 2012, the US government included the Mara Salvatrucha on a list of international criminal organizations. Three years later, the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador declared her a terrorist, as well as the Barrio 18 gang.
For several decades, the gangs had a presence in populous communities and neighborhoods in the country and, according to the authorities, they have been involved in drug trafficking and organized crime, extortion of merchants and transport companies, and the murder of those who refuse to pay.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
