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More than 600 suspected gang members operating in North Central America were arrested Thursday in a major police operation, which is still ongoing in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, officials said.
The police operation “takes place simultaneously in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador” and has the support of the United States in the coordination and exchange of information between the countries.
In El Salvador, arrest warrants target 1,152 criminal suspects and more than half had already been arrested at noon Thursday, according to Salvador’s attorney general, Raul Melara.
The Guatemalan Public Ministry, in turn, has announced the arrest of 36 people accused of extortion, one of the main activities of the gangs known as “maras”, associated with drug trafficking and human trafficking.
At least 80 searches were carried out in the capital region, as well as in the departments of Peten (north), Quetzaltenango (west) and Jutiapa and Escuintla (south), Guatemalan authorities said.
“It is an effort for justice to get bandits and criminals out of circulation,” said the prosecutor, who personally led the operations in San Salvador.
El Salvador, with 6.6 million inhabitants, is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world outside the zones of armed conflict, adding, last year, 35.6 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, mostly attributed to gangs.
These groups have 70,000 members in their ranks in El Salvador, including 17,000 in prison.
In Honduras, a vast network of more than 20 smugglers is at the center of the operation, which is taking place in seven cities.
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