El Salvador Jails 71 Barrio 18 Members in Group Trial
SECURITY · EL SALVADOR
Key Facts
- —The country El Salvador uses the US dollar. Since 2022 it has arrested suspected gang members under emergency powers and tries many of them in large group cases.
- —Why it matters Washington lists Barrio 18 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, so each conviction feeds US policy on gangs, deportations and security cooperation.
- —Why now The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced the sentences on Sunday 11 October, closing a busy week of group verdicts against both main gangs.
- —What happened A Santa Ana organised crime court sentenced 71 members and collaborators of an 18 Sureños cell in Atiquizaya to between 20 and 40 years.
- —The numbers Three cell leaders got 40 years each, 30 full members 30 years, and 38 collaborators 20 years, one with 10 more for making guns.
- —What it means for you Nothing changes directly for visitors. Firms that deliver goods in rural western El Salvador lose one extortion network, according to prosecutors.
- —Still open The trial date, the evidence for each defendant, whether any will appeal and how much money the cell collected.
A court in western El Salvador has sentenced 71 members and collaborators of a Barrio 18 cell to prison terms of 20 to 40 years, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced on Sunday 11 October. The El Salvador Barrio 18 case covers a group that prosecutors say extorted delivery drivers around the town of Atiquizaya for about two decades. For American readers, it matters because the United States designated Barrio 18 a Foreign Terrorist Organization in September 2025.
The verdict is one of several group sentences the FGR has announced this month. Together they show how President Nayib Bukele’s government is turning mass arrests into mass convictions.
What the Court Decided
The ruling came from the Second Organised Crime Court of Santa Ana, a city in the west of the country. The FGR, the public prosecutor, shared the outcome and a photograph, which Diario El Mundo, a San Salvador daily, published on Sunday evening.
The defendants belonged to what prosecutors call the Hengla Hoover Vatos Locos Sureños clique, based in the Atiquizaya “cancha”, or territory. The 18 Sureños are one faction of Barrio 18. Another faction, the Revolucionarios, was the subject of a separate verdict this week.
The court convicted them of unlawful association, the charge used for gang membership. It also convicted them of illegally possessing or carrying firearms and of possessing or making homemade weapons.
Three men described as “corredores de cancha”, the local leaders who run a territory, each received 40 years. The FGR named them as José Armando Cerón Caballero, Mario Enrique Palacios Vanegas and Byron Brian Corado Aguilar.
Thirty full members, known in gang slang as “homeboys”, received 30 years each. Thirty-eight people classed as active civilians or collaborators received 20 years. One of them got 10 more years for making firearms.
How the Cell Operated
According to the FGR, the cell was active from the early 2000s until its members were detained in 2022 and 2023. Those arrests took place under the “régimen de excepción”, the state of emergency that suspends some legal guarantees.
Investigators placed the group in the rural cantons of Izcaquilío, El Salitrero and San Juan El Espino. They also named the La Dalia neighbourhood, the hamlet of Cruz Verde and the Chalchuapita neighbourhood, all within Atiquizaya.
Atiquizaya lies in Ahuachapán, the department in El Salvador’s far west that borders Guatemala. It is now a district of the municipality of Ahuachapán Norte.
Prosecutors said the cell systematically demanded money from drivers working for commercial companies. Those drivers had to pay to deliver goods into communities the gang controlled. The FGR did not name the companies or say how much was paid.
A Week of Group Verdicts
The Atiquizaya ruling was the largest of at least five group sentences the FGR announced between Wednesday 7 and Sunday 11 October. On 7 October it reported 20 members of the Normandie clique of MS-13, the rival gang, convicted with terms of up to 367 years.
On Thursday 8 October, the FGR announced 52 convictions against the Soya Criminal clique of MS-13 in Soyapango, with terms of 20 to 48 years. It also reported 22 members of MS-13’s Little Dangerous clique in Cojutepeque sentenced to 20 to 60 years. The same day, 12 members of a Barrio 18 Revolucionarios cell in Aguilares, in the San Salvador Norte municipality, received 25 to 55 years.
The FGR’s own releases describe these groups as “terrorist structures”. Each case followed arrests made under the emergency regime.
The El Salvador Barrio 18 verdict also follows earlier cases we have covered, including El Salvador Jails Barrio 18 Leader for 45 Years and El Salvador Logs Zero Homicides in Early October.
What It Means for You
For US policy watchers, the case adds to the record behind Washington’s terrorism designation. The State Department named Barrio 18 a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, in notices published in the Federal Register on Wednesday 24 September 2025.
Under US law, knowingly giving material support to a designated group is a federal crime. That raises the stakes for anyone in the United States with ties to the gang’s money or members.
For companies, the convictions remove one network that preyed on delivery routes in the west of the country. Firms that distribute goods there may face lower informal costs, though no official figure on that exists.
For travellers, nothing changes directly. The ruling concerns people already in custody since 2022 and 2023, not a new security operation.
The risk runs the other way too. Group trials are fast, but they make it harder for outsiders to judge the evidence against each person, and the ruling can still be appealed.
What Is Not Known
The FGR announcement, as reported, did not give the date of the hearing or say whether the trial was held in person or by video link. It did not say how many defendants admitted the charges.
The written judgment has not been published. It is not known how much money the cell collected, which companies it targeted or whether any victims testified.
The FGR statement could not be read directly on its website on Monday morning. The details here come from Diario El Mundo’s report of it and have not been independently confirmed.
It is also unclear whether defence lawyers will appeal. Until any appeal is decided, the sentences are first-instance rulings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Barrio 18 members were sentenced in Atiquizaya?
Seventy-one. Three leaders got 40 years, 30 full members got 30 years and 38 collaborators got 20 years, one with 10 extra years for making firearms.
What were they convicted of?
Unlawful association, plus illegal possession or carrying of firearms and possession or manufacture of homemade weapons, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Is Barrio 18 a terrorist group under US law?
Yes. The State Department designated Barrio 18 a Foreign Terrorist Organization, in a notice published in the Federal Register on 24 September 2025.
Sources: FGR announcement as reported by Diario El Mundo; FGR releases on the La Florida, Soya Criminal and Normandie cases; Federal Register, FTO designation of Barrio 18.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief