The report stated that the subject was carrying the weapons, two M16 rifles and the ammunition, hidden in a bag, at the time he was intercepted by authorities in a sector of the department of La Paz, southeast of the capital.

The arrested man was identified as Jose Angel Recinos, a member of the MS13 gang, and according to the PNC, his was captured in an area of the municipality of San Pedro Masahuat.

Recinos will be prosecuted for the crime of illegal possession of weapons of war. In recent months, some analysts have wondered why the number of weapons seized from the gangs, known as maras, is so low.

Between March 27, 2022 and April 12, 2023, 2,629 firearms were seized, reported the capital’s newspaper “La Prensa Grafica”.

The amount is relatively low if compared to the 67,203 weapons captured under the regime or even with the records of the last years of the government of President Salvador Sánchez Ceren, in which averages of more than 3,000 firearms were cnfiscated annually.

The current seizure is 23 percent lower than the sum recorded between June 2018 and May 2019 ( 3,356), the last of Sánchez Cerén, it is also 20 percent lower than that of the first year of the administration of President Nayib Bukele, whose security cabinet reported 3,260 between June 2019 and May 2020.

Among the weapons seized from gangs are M16 assault rifles, AK-47 and FAL rifles, M3-A1 or Steyr MP-34 submachine guns, and Ingram M-10 and Intratec AB-10 submachine guns, although the highest percentage corresponds to shotguns, carbines, revolvers and pistols.

jrr/jav/mgt/lb