The first 2,000 prisoners who were members of the “maras” were transferred on Friday to the “largest megaprison in the Americas”, designed to accommodate 40,000 inmates, announced the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who is waging a “war” against the gangs criminals.
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“Today at dawn, in a single operation, we transferred the first 2,000 gang members to the Containment Center of Terrorism (CECOT),” President Bukele said on his Twitter account.
The gigantic prison, equipped with high-tech surveillance, was inaugurated in early February.
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In a video shared on Twitter by Mr. Bukele, we can see many prisoners with tattooed bodies, a sign of their membership in the two main gangs of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18, lined up in the courtyard of a prison in the west of the country.
Then, handcuffed behind their backs, they were transferred by bus under a heavy escort, including several military helicopters, to CECOT.
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“It will be their new home, where they will live for decades, mixed together, unable to do more harm to the people,” Mr Bukele said.
“Cell by cell, we are eliminating this cancer from society. Know that you will never leave CECOT again, you will pay for what you are… cowardly terrorists,” Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro wrote on Twitter.
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The prison was built to accommodate most of the 64,000 gang members locked up since the offensive against them under an exceptional regime decreed by Parliament at the request of Mr Bukele.
Despite criticism from human rights NGOs for the abuses committed, the “war on crime” has earned President Bukele overwhelming popularity.
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