El Salvador prosecutes more than 200 gang members, 17 of them sentenced to 130 years in prison

San Salvador.– Different courts in El Salvador prosecuted more than 200 gang members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) for various crimes, of which 17 were sentenced to 130 years in prison for the disappearance and murder of two brothers in December 2021, reported this Wednesday the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). The Prosecutor’s Office indicated on X that 214 MS13 members were prosecuted for crimes committed between 2014 and 2022 in the department of La Libertad (center). He pointed out that 17 gang members were sentenced to 130 years in prison each for “the disappearance and murder of the Guerrero Toledo brothers, committed in December 2021”. You can also read: https://ab.deultimominuto.net/internacionales/el-salvador-y-costa-rica-acuerdan-una-alianza-historica-para-combatir-crimen-organizado/ According to the source, 11 other members received a sentence of 75 years each for “the disappearance and murder of soccer player Jimena Granados committed in October 2021.”

Crimes Processed Between 2014 and 2022

The Prosecutor’s Office pointed out that “the 214 gang members have been prosecuted for 43 cases of aggravated homicide, 42 cases of disappearance of persons, 3 cases of femicide, 86 cases of extortion, 29 propositions and conspiracy in the crime of homicide and 32 processes for preparatory acts in illicit trafficking”. The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) did not explain whether the gang members were captured during the implementation of an exception regime, in force since March 2022 against the gangs, or if they were already in prison before the measure. Nor did he indicate whether they were mass trials which, according to different human rights organizations, would be taking place in El Salvador for people detained during the state of exception. The state of exception, which leaves more than 90,000 people detained for allegedly belonging to gangs, was approved after the murder of more than eighty people in a weekend at the end of March 2022, which journalistic investigations indicate was due to the breaking of a pact between the Government and criminal gangs. You may be interested in: https://ab.deultimominuto.net/internacionales/el-salvador-completara-3-anos/ This measure became the government’s only bet against gangs, which also earned President Nayib Bukele his immediate re-election for a second term, despite the constitutional prohibition, and which maintains high approval among Salvadorans.