SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

El Salvador begins transfers to ‘mega prison’ amid gang crackdown

El Salvador’s government moved thousands of suspected gang members to a newly opened “mega prison” on Friday, the latest step in a controversial crackdown on crime that has caused the Central American nation’s prison population to soar.

“This will be their new home, where they won’t be able to do any more harm to the population,” President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter.

Around 2,000 accused gang members were moved to the 40,000-person-capacity prison, considered to be the largest in the Americas, early Friday morning.

In a video posted by Bukele, prisoners stripped down to white shorts, with their heads shaved, are seen running through the new prison into cells. Many bear gang tattoos.

    Source:
  • Reuters