'Like a Movie Shoot'... Transfer of 2,000 Prisoners in El Salvador

Last Month Completed Terrorist Detention Center... Capacity for 40,000 People
Over Half the Size of Yeouido with 11m Concrete Walls

The government of El Salvador transferred 2,000 gang members at once to a newly built super-prison last month.

On the 24th (local time), the local daily Diario El Salvador reported that from the night before until early dawn on the same day, the government moved 2,000 violent criminals belonging to 19 gangs, including 'MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha),' from Isalco Prison to the Terrorist Detention Center (CECOT, Sekot). This made them the first group of inmates at Sekot, which opened on the 31st of last month.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele personally posted on his Twitter account the transfer scenes of gang members.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The transfer resembled a special operation. The prisoners, wearing only thin underwear resembling white shorts, boarded vehicles with their hands cuffed behind their backs and were transported to Sekot. Upon arrival, they quickly lined up with their hands clasped over their heads and waited their turn to be assigned to cells.

Sekot, built on a remote site of 1.65 million square meters near Tecoluca with a building area of 230,000 square meters, is known as the largest prison in Latin America, capable of housing 40,000 inmates at once. In terms of land area alone, it exceeds half the size of Yeouido inside the Yunjungno embankment in Seoul, which is 2.9 million square meters. The facility is equipped with concrete walls over 11 meters high to prevent easy escapes, electric fences, 19 watchtowers, full-body and parcel scanners, and other security installations. Additionally, about 850 military and police personnel, along with guard dogs, are responsible for tight security.

President: "This is their new home... They can no longer harm us"

Gang members transferred to the Tecoluca Terrorist Detention Center in El Salvador on the 24th (local time) are waiting.
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted on his Twitter, "This will be their new home," adding, "Those who will stay there will no longer be able to harm the people." He declared a 'war on gangs' in March last year and has been conducting intensive operations against organized crime groups.

Gustavo Villatoro, Minister of Justice and Public Security, also described Sekot as "a monument of justice for the 120,000 citizens who have lost loved ones." He further warned, "Despicable criminals, know that you will never leave Sekot again."

It is reported that over 64,000 gang members have been arrested in El Salvador in the past year. The Bukele administration is intensifying its crackdown even by revising laws. Currently, gang members can be arrested without a warrant, and merely joining a gang can result in a heavy sentence. Minister Villatoro emphasized, "All crimes committed by them during the 10 years from 2012 to 2022 will be duly punished," and declared, "We will remove each cancerous cell from our society one by one."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.