El Salvador announced yesterday, Sunday, the issuance of prison sentences against hundreds of members of a dangerous criminal gang, where the sentences of some convicts reached hundreds of years.
The Attorney General's office stated in a post on "X" platform that 248 members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) received "deterrent sentences" for committing 43 murders and 42 cases of enforced disappearance, in addition to other crimes.
The office did not specify the date of these rulings or whether the trials were conducted collectively.
The post added that one of the convicts was sentenced to 1,335 years in prison, while another ten received sentences ranging from 463 to 958 years.
Since March 2022, President Nayib Bukele has been waging a crackdown on gangs under a state of emergency that allows for arrest without a warrant.
According to official sources, more than 90,000 people have been detained and about 8,000 others were released after being acquitted.
Bukele's campaign against gangs has successfully reduced murder rates to their lowest historical levels in El Salvador, but human rights organizations accuse the security forces of committing violations.
According to the Salvadoran government, the "MS-13" gang and another gang named "Barrio 18" are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.
At one time, the two gangs controlled about 80% of the area of El Salvador, which then recorded one of the highest murder rates in the world.
The United States classifies the "MS-13" gang and other gangs in Central and South America as foreign terrorist organizations.
