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El Salvador police arrest 55,000 suspected gang members
Authorities said on Friday (Oct 14), police in El Salvador have arrested more than 55,000 alleged gang members since President Nayib Bukele declared a "war" on criminal groups seven months ago.
Gustavo Villatoro, the country's minister of justice said, "There have been more than 55,000 captures" of alleged gang members since March, when the government was handed emergency powers to arrest such suspects without a warrant.
The number of arrests comes on top of 16,000 that had already been made before the emergency powers were granted.
The wave of detentions is unprecedented in the country of 6.5 million people, which has suffered decades of violent crime driven by powerful gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18.
But, since president Nayib Bukele came to power, El Salvador implements strong security measures endorsed by the Constitution, such as the emergency regime that after four months has allowed the imprisonment of more than 47,000 gang members who were the ones who caused anxiety and insecurity in neighborhoods and communities and who could now face at least 20 years in prison just for being gang members.
Earlier in July, a survey said that 90% of the Salvadorans expressed not having been victims of crime.
Villatoro said as he sought the seventh extension of the emergency powers: "We are winning the war (against organized crime) and we will continue to deploy thousands of police and soldiers every day to arrest these terrorists.”
El Salvador went from being world's most dangerous country to among safest: President
Villatoro added that police and military forces have seized 1,644 firearms, 2,026 vehicles, 12,842 cell phones and $1.2 million.
To cope with an influx of inmates, El Salvador's judicial authorities are building a huge prison for 40,000 suspected criminals in Tecoluca, a rural area in the center of the country.
The detention center is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
levantnews-anews
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