The gangs that commit crimes and intimidate the population in El Salvador have been dismantled to a greater than 70% as stated this morning by the Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro.
«The gangs [MS, gang 18 and others] have been dismantled by more than 70%. We have dismantled them as a criminal structure, as that parallel society that they wanted to impose on the country, and we have regained control of the territory,” said the official.
Villatoro assures that this achievement is thanks to the security measures implemented in the country: Territorial Control Plan and the exception regime. “What we have been doing has allowed us to have 10 of the 15 chairs already subdued,” he says.
In the last century, chairs were assigned to the bosses of the Italian mafia, who had tentacles in various criminal fields.
Until now, Security has reported that 10 of the 15 “sillas” [bosses] of the Mara Salvatrucha have already been captured. The last capture of one of these commanders was achieved on December 8, he was wanted for homicide in El Salvador and other crimes.
The terrorist was identified as Eduardo Pérez or Héctor Yovanny Carpio, known in the gang as “Scoody.” He was expelled from Guatemala and handed over to the National Civil Police (PNC).
The Security Minister assures that the 5 bosses who are still pending capture already have the identification of the criminals, “but some are in other countries, which is why they are working jointly with other countries,” he said.
Villatoro says that as a Cabinet, they are satisfied that since the beginning of the Territorial Control Plan and the emergency regime, they have managed to recover security and that the crime numbers have dropped.
«In nine months we have managed to transform the feeling and reality that Salvadorans had. We had kidnapped more than 6 million Salvadorans by the gangs,” says the official.
“Since March 27, for the first time in history, the authority or security institutions have taken one step ahead of crime,” he explained.
Villatoro reiterates that “by the fifth month of the regime, impunity had been achieved below 20%. Impunity previously exceeded 97%; that is, it has already been reduced by more than 60%.
The head of security stressed that the war against gangs continues and will not stop until these structures that harm the honest population are completely dismantled.
“We are applying intelligence-guided operations; we have a database that we use to direct the capture of members of gang structures,” he explains.
“This executed war will not end only with the capture but until the conviction is achieved,” said Villatoro.