El Salvador sends thousands more alleged gang members to prison in major crackdown

El Salvador has imprisoned another 2,000 suspected gang members as part of President Nayib Bukele's major crackdown against organized crime and drug cartels with the nation.

The 2,000 arrived this week at the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism, a large-scale prison authorities have touted as inescapable, the New York Post reported.

Bukele announced the mass incarceration via Twitter, asserted that the facility is now home to 4,000 inmates after he launched an earlier crackdown. Included in the post is a video of prisoners in the facility, many of whom sport gang tattoos.

Este día, en un nuevo operativo, trasladamos al segundo grupo de 2,000 pandilleros al Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT).



Con esto, ya son 4,000 pandilleros los que habitan la cárcel más criticada del mundo. pic.twitter.com/A2oTUIYubW

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 15, 2023

In the past year, El Salvador has detained more than 60,000 alleged gang members, with roughly 57,000 awaiting still awaiting trial. Authorities have vowed they will not return to the streets.

Bukele's policies have drawn international criticism, but appear to resonate with the Salvadorian people, who have long had to contend with widespread criminal gang activity and drug cartels operating in their country.

Earlier this week, La Prensa Grafica, El Salvador's main opposition newspaper, posted a poll indicating that Bukele enjoys a 91% approval rating. The president publicized the poll, saying "I wonder what the real approval rating is, if the opposition is saying 91%."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.