SAN SALVADOR — Police in El Salvador have
arrested more than 55,000 alleged gang members since President
Nayib Bukele
declared a “war” on criminal groups seven months ago, authorities said on
Friday.
اضافة اعلان
“There have been more than 55,000 captures” of
alleged gang members since March, when the government was handed emergency
powers to arrest such suspects without a warrant, said Gustavo Villatoro, the
country’s minister of justice.
The number of arrests comes on top of 16,000 that
had already been made before the emergency powers were granted.
The wave of detentions is unprecedented in the
country of 6.5 million people, which has suffered decades of violent crime
driven by powerful gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18.
“We are winning the war (against organized crime)
and we will continue to deploy thousands of police and soldiers every day to
arrest these terrorists,” Villatoro said as he sought the seventh extension of
the emergency powers.
Police and military forces have seized 1,644
firearms, 2,026 vehicles, 12,842 cell phones, and $1.2 million, Villatoro
added.
To cope with an influx of inmates, El Salvador’s
judicial authorities are building a huge prison for 40,000 suspected criminals
in Tecoluca, a rural area in the center of the country.
The detention center is expected to be completed by
the end of the year.
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