The US offers a million-dollar reward for the leader of the Mara Salvatrucha in Honduras

The United States government offered a reward of 5 million dollars on Wednesday for information that allows the capture of the leader of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) in Honduras, Yulan Adonay Archaga, alias ‘Alexander Mendoza’ and ‘Porky’, accused of drug trafficking, murder and extortion for his activities in Central America.

“Today we announce a reward of 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías (…) for conspiring to participate in transnational organized crime operations,” the State Department said in a statement. .

The note highlights that Archaga “is one of the most wanted fugitives” by various US security agencies, including the DEA and the FBI, and indicated that the measure serves as “support” for the Honduran authorities.

“The United States reinforces its support for efforts by law enforcement in Honduras to seek justice against violent members of the MS-13 gang, such as Archaga,” the statement read. “It is in coordination with these initiatives, and as a complement to the work of the police and prosecutors in Honduras that we offer this reward today.”

And in addition, sanctions

Apart from the reward, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury also imposed sanctions on Wednesday both on Archaga and one of his lieutenants in the organization, David Elías Campbell Licona, who is currently detained in Nicaragua.

“The Treasury sanctions against MS-13 are aimed at disrupting their use of the financial system to launder illicit proceeds,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, was quoted as saying in the statement.

The sanction imposed by OFAC takes immediate effect, with which all assets and interests in the US owned by the designated persons are blocked, according to the federal agency.

“MS-13 is a violent and destabilizing threat to the security of people in Central America. Their criminal activities degrade the economies of the region to such a degree that citizens are forced to seek safety and better opportunities elsewhere,” added Under Secretary Nelson.

The Mara Salvatrucha is the first transnational street gang to be designated by the Treasury as a criminal organization; Their activities include people smuggling, trafficking for sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, murder, organized crime, extortion and immigration crimes, according to US law enforcement.

“The criminal activities of MS-13 have helped turn Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras into one of the most violent regions in the world. The violent control of MS-13 in Central America is one of the forces that drive thousands of migrants to flee to the United States,” he noted.

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