2023-07-11 18:17:47
The authorities of El Salvador announced this Tuesday the arrest of one of the 15 national leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), accused of being “responsible” for having asked members of his gang to increase the number of murders.
“The eleventh chair of the 15 that head the MS-13 structure has fallen before the courts,” said the Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro.
The gang leader was identified as Manuel Herrera, alias Kalifa, who has an “extensive” record of crimes, according to the minister.
Herrera was detained on Monday by soldiers in a town in the central department of Cabañas, said Defense Minister René Francis Merino.
“He is responsible for ordering increases in homicides” in the country, between 2021 and March 2022, Merino said.
The Salvadoran government has been waging a “war” against gangs since March 2022 under an exceptional regime that is questioned by different human rights organizations.
The state of emergency, which allows arrests without a warrant, was established after the country registered 87 murders on a weekend in March 2022. An escalation of violence that the Government attributed to gangs.
Since then, more than 70,000 people, suspected gang members, have been arrested.
Different surveys show that on average 9 out of 10 Salvadorans feel safe with the exception regime, which has already been in force for 15 months.
1689103327
#capture #fifteen #leaders #MS13 #Salvador #Daily #Listin