According to sources, residents in several areas are reporting gang activities and calling on the government to address this resurgence.

As stated by Marvin Reyes, from the MTP, they received reports that individuals linked to the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) have been seen in those communities doing surveillance or posting with cell phones, sending messages and videos, and receiving and making calls, monitoring the movements of the police and soldiers posted in the area, Reyes said. These actions indicate that “there is an activation of the gang structure, since the Italia District area was one of the strongest strongholds of the MS gang, its headquarters and operational brains of that criminal structure and that it is still unwilling to disappear,” he added.

The MTP maintained that no major operations were carried out in Tacuba, even though there is information about the presence of armed gang members, while operations were carried out in Altavista, but not with the magnitude it deserves.

The MTP’s alert confirms over a dozen confidential reports from the National Police disclosed by the InSight Crime magazine, which states that the three main gangs operating in El Salvador are still a threat, despite being “weakened” after a year and a half of emergency regime.

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS13), the Barrio 18 Sureños and the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios maintain 54 armed groups, especially in rural areas.

According to reports, almost 43,000 persons, profiled as gang members, remain at large, in three categories: active members (homeboys), aspiring members (checkers), and what they call “collaborators,” a broad designation of alleged operators and assistants of those gangs.

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