A court in El Salvador has handed down prison sentences of up to 1,048 years to 28 members of a criminal gang, underscoring President Nayib Bukele’s relentless campaign against organized crime.
According to prosecutors, the convicted gang members, linked to a group known as “El Gremio,” were found guilty of drug trafficking, money laundering, and participating in an illegal criminal organization. Two defendants each received 1,048-year prison terms, while another was sentenced to 1,038 years. Authorities did not disclose the sentences imposed on the remaining 25 convicts.
The convictions come as part of Bukele’s sweeping anti-gang offensive, launched in 2022 under a nationwide state of emergency. Since then, more than 90,000 suspected gang members have been detained in high-security prisons as the government seeks to dismantle the powerful criminal networks that once terrorized the country.
The latest ruling follows another major gang trial involving 485 members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), where prosecutors have also requested prison terms stretching into thousands of years. A verdict in that case is still pending.
In December 2025, Salvadoran courts sentenced 248 MS-13 members to prison terms of up to 1,335 years for their roles in 43 murders and 42 enforced disappearances.
Bukele’s tough-on-crime approach has earned widespread support from many Salvadorans, who credit his administration with dramatically improving public security. However, human rights organizations continue to raise concerns, alleging arbitrary arrests, torture, deaths in custody, and due process violations under the government’s prolonged emergency measures.
