“According to the latest count on Thursday morning, 41,846 suspects have been arrested in the large-scale operation that began in late March,” Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado told Canal 10.
Nearly 42,000 alleged members of the “Maras”, the gang of thugs who are raiding El Salvador, have been arrested since the “war” declared against them by President Najib Boukele three months ago, Attorney General Naldo Rhodes announced on Thursday.
“According to the last count that took place this morning (yesterday Thursday), 41,846 suspects have been arrested in the large-scale operation that started in late March,” the judge told the public television network Canal 10.
Of those, 33,258 have been “temporarily detained” for six months, following orders from Salvadorian justice, another 8,588 are awaiting their first court hearing, while 456 have been released as “having no connection to the gangs,” he said.
After the first period of temporary detention of six months has passed, the prosecutor’s office has the possibility to renew it for another six, added Mr. Delgado.
The tattoos, with which the gang members certify their membership in the “mara”, as well as confiscated quantities of drugs are among the “evidence” that the authorities have in their hands against the suspects, according to the Attorney General.
More than a thousand cars allegedly bought with dirty money from drug trafficking or extortion were seized, including 821 firearms, 8,994 mobile phones and $ 1.5 million in cash, according to the most recent Justice Department report. .
The “Maras”, the two largest of which are Mara Salvatrouca (MS-13) and Barrio 18, have around 70,000 members. President Buchele says he is determined to crush them to solve the crime problem, he says, as Salvador has previously recorded one of the highest homicide rates on the planet, beyond war zones.
Following a wave of 87 killings in late March, the president declared a state of emergency, allowing the massive police and army to arrest and imprison tens of thousands of alleged “mareros”, adding to the 16,000 already in prison. , where the problem of the surplus population of inmates continues to become more acute.
Despite a flurry of criticism of blatant human rights abuses, the crime campaign is securing the 40-year-old president, who puts a lot of emphasis on social networking sites, a record-breaking popularity in the small, impoverished Central American country of 6.5 million.
