The Minister of Defense, René Merino Monroy, assures that the objective of implementing the security fence in the populous Soyapango is being achieved, and that is that, until yesterday, he had managed to arrest more than 185 gang members who committed crimes in the area.
Although the data estimates the population of Soyapango at 350,000, the military chief says that on the ground the citizens who converge in that populous municipality reach 500,000, adding to those who enter to work in the various factories and businesses. Therefore, the military and police presence must be well tuned so that honest people can continue with their normal lives.
He added that in the execution of the security fence, 40 extraction points have been established in the colonies where there is a record that gang members are concentrated. Merino indicated that they have the identification list of the gang members pending capture and their locations. «Those who are captured are eliminated from that list,» he added.
The official highlighted that the siege in Comasagua helped them plan the operation that is being carried out in Soyapango. «Both municipalities have a big difference, mainly due to the amount of population and the activity of the municipality. That makes the operations different, as well as the number of Armed Forces personnel that have been made available.
«In the theater of operations, as it has been called, we have three divisions: the northern part, the central part, and the southern part. In each area there is a Brigade », he explained.
Merino Monroy stressed that «now that the municipality has been surrounded, it does not allow gang members freedom of action, and that is what allows extraction.»
In less than 48 hours since the security fence was established in said municipality, the authorities reported the arrest of 140 gang members, among them, that of a gang member who was hiding under the facade of a «pastor» in the Ríos de Agua Viva prophetic church in Soyapango, department of San Salvador. The terrorist was identified as Nelson Vladimir Palacios, alias Zorro, 50 years old.
Merino stressed that the gang members are also being quickly located thanks to the courage of the population, who are denouncing and providing essential data.
The minister explained that «there are reports of gang mobilization, so this indicates that other municipalities should be surrounded» and expressed that the security plan is flexible to achieve the objective: to make the gangs disappear.
The President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, when he launched the fifth phase of the Territorial Control Plan (PCT) called «Extraction» a few weeks ago, assured that the objective of this new stage is to eliminate «the plague [gangs» that cause harm to El Salvador and the honest population.
SUSTAINED LOW IN HOMICIDES
Another of the results of the PCT is the decrease in homicidal violence in El Salvador, which has allowed the country to position itself as one of the safest in Latin America.
So far in December, no deaths due to violence have been reported, according to police data.
«December closes its fifth day. All of them without homicides. Thank God,» published the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, after the police authorities reported that last Monday there were no homicides nationwide.
According to police statistics, so far this year there have been 159 days with no homicides, of which 152 have been during the emergency regime.