El Salvador captures more than 140 gang members in a city surrounded by Bukele with more than 10,000 police and military

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukeleassured on Sunday night that more than 140 gang members have been detained in the city of Soyapango after two days of being surrounded by the military.

“In less than 48 hours, more than 140 gang members have been arrested inside the fence”assured the ruler on his Twitter account.

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Since early Saturday morning, 8,500 soldiers and 1,500 police officers have established a fence to try to arrest suspected gang members in the populous municipality of soyapangoa neighbor to the capital San Salvador, as part of the war that the government has waged since March against these criminal groups.

Bukele recalled that Soyapango, one of the most populated towns in the department of San Salvador with 242,000 inhabitants and where the capital of the same name is also located, “is totally fenced off.”

A soldier frisking a man during a search operation for gang members in Soyapango, El Salvador, on December 3, 2022. (AFP).

The authorities, for the moment, have not publicly presented the detainees, as they usually do in public security operations.

The government has not mentioned, for security reasons, how long the military siege will be maintained in Soyapango.

In El Salvador, an emergency regime has been in force since March 27 and allows arrests without a warrant.

The exception regime, with which the war against gangs is promoted, was declared in response to an escalation of violence that claimed the lives of 87 people from March 25 to 27.

Questioned by humanitarian organizations, the measure was recently extended by Congress until mid-December and it has allowed the arrest of 58,800 people, suspected gang members, according to government figures.

Source: Elcomercio