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San Salvador (AFP) – A second group of 2,000 alleged imprisoned gang members was transferred this Wednesday, March 15, under tight security measures to the “largest prison in the Americas,” reported the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. The move comes a few weeks after his “war” against these gangs turns one year old.
“In a new operation, we transferred the second group of 2,000 gang members to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT). With this, there are already 4,000 gang members who inhabit the most criticized prison in the world,” wrote Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, On twitter.
The mega-prison, with a capacity for 40,000 prisoners, has a severe confinement regime that has been denounced by human rights organizations.
This day, in a new operation, we transferred the second group of 2,000 gang members to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT).
With this, there are already 4,000 gang members who inhabit the most criticized prison in the world. pic.twitter.com/A2oTUIYubW
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 15, 2023
Among the prisoners transferred to CECOT this Wednesday, according to a statement from the Presidency, there is a “historical ranflero (founding leader of the Mara Salvatrucha), 57 national ranfleros, 33 commanders of different categories, 43 ‘gatilleros’ and 1,866 ‘homeboys'” .
The president released images of the transfer, which began at dawn, from the Izalco prison to the mega-prison located in a rural area of Tecoluca, about 74 km southeast of San Salvador.
Defense Minister René Francis Merino reported that 1,200 soldiers provided security on the ground during the transfer, which was followed from the air by three Air Force helicopters.
A second transfer of prisoners in El Salvador
The first 2,000 gang members had been taken to the CECOT on February 24.
Equipped with high technology for surveillance, the gigantic prison was inaugurated at the beginning of February by Bukele himself.
In the video that the president shared on Twitter, many tattooed, barefoot, chained and bare-chested prisoners are observed, wearing only white shorts.
What is CECOT?
The prison was built to detain part of the 65,000 alleged gang members detained under an emergency regime decreed by Congress at the request of Bukele, in response to an escalation of violence that claimed the lives of 87 people between 25 and 27 March 2022.
The operation this Wednesday coincided with a new request by the Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro, for Congress to extend the exception regime for 30 days, totaling one year of validity of this measure that allows arrests without a warrant.
The gang members “are never going to return to the communities, the neighborhoods, the neighborhoods and our cities,” declared Villatoro when requesting the extension of the emergency regime.
To build the mega-prison, the Government bought 166 hectares of land, 23 of which house eight pavilions within a concrete wall 11 meters high and 2.1 kilometers long, protected by electrified barbed wire.
