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El Salvador Opens Mass Trial of 486 Alleged MS-13 Leaders for 47,000 Crimes

The case tests Bukele’s emergency-era justice under sustained due‑process warnings.

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FILE - The Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) stands in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)
Members of Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13 gang, are seen on a monitor as they attend an open hearing by El Salvador prosecutors against 486 members of the gang, who are accused of more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, according to a statement from the Attorney General's Office, at the Judicial Center Against Organized Crime in Soyapango, El Salvador April 21, 2026. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas
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Overview

  • Prosecutors opened the consolidated trial Monday in San Salvador against 486 alleged MS-13 members accused of more than 47,000 crimes dating to 2012, including about 29,000 homicides, with 413 in custody and 73 tried in absentia.
  • On Tuesday, protected witnesses testified as prosecutors depicted MS-13 as a hierarchical “criminal corporation” led by 22 top figures, while many defendants participated by video link from the CECOT maximum‑security prison.
  • Charges span homicide, femicide, extortion, arms trafficking and forced disappearances, plus rebellion for allegedly seeking territorial control that functioned as a parallel state.
  • The Prosecutor’s Office has presented autopsies, ballistics and witness statements and is seeking the maximum penalty for each count, which could leave a single defendant facing up to 245 years in prison if convicted.
  • Rights groups and regional bodies say mass, video‑based hearings under the four‑year state of emergency restrict defense rights and coincide with overcrowded prisons and more than 500 deaths in custody, even as officials cite a sharp national drop in homicides.