Enough Is Enough! El Salvador Sends In 10,000 Military Troops To Try To Reclaim City From Violent Street Gangs.

El Salvador has a serious problem with gangs. It’s so bad that violent gangs have taken over parts of a city, and the military is coming in with 10,00 troops to try to take back the city of Soyapango. 

All roads to the city have been blocked, and troops are stopping any cars trying to get out and ensuring they have proper IDs. They are also going house to house looking for gang members. 

This is no small task. Soyapango has a population of nearly 300,000, and for years it’s been the epicenter of gang activity, but the violence has gotten out of hand lately, and the military had to come in. 

Images of what’s going on are intense, with thousands of special forces dressed in body armor carrying assault rifles lined up outside the city. 

It’s part of an ongoing effort to get things under control by the country’s president. Since he issued a state of emergency in March, almost 60,000 people have been arrested. 

The amount of murders committed by gang members is staggering; 62 alone on one day in March.  

President Nayib Buckle is all-in on the crackdown.  It’s called “Extraction,” and it tightens the military’s control of big cities in El Salvador and uses high-tech surveillance equipment to watch what’s going on. Police and military have the right to arrest suspects without due process, and a recent poll said 95% of residents are cool with the new rules. 

Reports say that potentially thousands of people with no link to gangs have been caught up and arrested.  The other negative side effect of the crackdown is that the country is running out of prison space, and a new penitentiary is set to be built soon. 

The brutal MS-13 and 18th Street gangs have run roughshod in cities, terrifying residents for years.