El Salvador Puts 486 Alleged MS-13 Gang Members on Trial

The indictment includes more than 47,000 charges, including ⁠homicide, extortion, and arms trafficking, which were allegedly committed between 2012 and 2022.

Defendants on video links as they attend the trial of 486 alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, accused of more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, at the Judicial Center Against Organized Crime in Soyapango, El Salvador, on April 21, 2026. Jose Cabezas/Reuters

A mass trial of 486 alleged members of El Salvador’s most notorious gang, the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, got underway in the Salvadoran capital, San Salvador, on April 21.

It is the biggest trial since Salvadoran President Nayib ‌Bukele enacted emergency ⁠powers to take on the country’s organized crime groups.