Bukele affirms that the authorities of El Salvador have arrested more than 140 gang members in two days

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has indicated this Sunday that the country’s authorities have arrested more than 140 gang members in less than two days, after the announcement of an operation involving 10,000 soldiers and police that have surrounded the municipality of Soyapango.

“The municipality of Soyapango, the most populous in our country, has been totally fenced off since yesterday morning. In less than 48 hours, more than 140 gang members have been arrested inside the fence. Territorial control is now entirely up to the State”, he indicated through a message published on his profile on the social network Twitter.

The office of the Presidency has added that some of the convicted are doing community work. “Inmates in the trust phase are removing graffiti alluding to criminal structures,” she explains. “We are not only taking them off the streets, we are also taking away their sense of belonging in our communities,” the presidential office added.

Bukele announced on Saturday that the aforementioned municipality, attached to the country’s capital, was “completely closed” due to the deployment of thousands of security forces in order to end the threat of gangs in the territory.

“8,500 soldiers and 1,500 agents have surrounded the city, while the extraction teams of the Police and the Army are in charge of removing all the gang members that are still there one by one,” the president declared.

Military checkpoints in Soyapango have been a constant these days. /

Marvin RECINOS / AFP

Exception status

The leader decreed a state of emergency at the end of March – when the country registered up to 62 homicides in just one day – which has been extended in recent months and under which more than 50,000 suspected gang members have been arrested.

“Ordinary citizens have nothing to fear and can continue to lead their lives as normal. This is an operation against criminals, not against honest citizens,” added the Salvadoran leader.

“Phase 5 of the Territorial Control Plan has begun”, Bukele has settled in relation to this security plan that, as he made it known on Thursday, managed to close November with a balance of 13 homicides, therefore standing in the month ” safest” in the entire history of the Central American country.