SAN SALVADOR – The Tutunichapa and La Granjita communities, in the capital of El Salvador, woke up surrounded this December 24 and 25 by some 2,000 police and soldiers who were looking for gang members from the Barrio 18 accused of turning the area into one of the centers of drug dealing in San Salvador.
“We had 42 targets, among them, the house occupied by the historical leader who has managed drug operations for 40 years (…) We have found $10,000 in cash, a firearm, abundant marijuana and crack…”, reported the Security Minister, Gustavo Villatoro.
La Tutunichapa is a condominium in San Salvador with more than 50 homes that, according to the Salvadoran authorities, has served as a center for the trade and distribution of portions of drugs in the last four decades.
The operations in the area have included, in addition to the captures, the destruction of black tents and cement blocks installed at the entrance of the community to prevent easy access.
“After surrounding Tutunichapa, a famous drug distribution center, we knew that many drug traffickers would go to the La Granjita community, another famous distribution center, to supply themselves. What they did not expect is that we would surround La Granjita, once they were inside”, tweeted Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
In recent months, El Salvador has surrounded the municipalities of Comasagua, in La Libertad; Soyapango, in San Salvador, and two communities in the capital. This through the protection of the exception regime in which the country is maintained from March 27which allows, among other things, arrests without a warrant.
On December 15, El Salvador expanded for the ninth time the emergency regime to maintain its fight against gangs, despite criticism from opposition politicians and human rights organizations that demand the end of the measure because, they argue, it has given rise to arbitrary arrests and abuses of authority.
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