Mass trial of nearly 500 alleged MS-13 members reaches sixth day in El Salvador

El Salvador’s mass trial of 486 alleged MS-13 leaders and members reached its sixth day this week, with prosecutors presenting new evidence in one of the country’s most extraordinary criminal cases.

The attorney general’s office says the defendants are tied to more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including homicides, extortion, disappearances and weapons trafficking. The case began on April 20 and has continued through at least April 29.

On the latest day reported, prosecutors said they were presenting audio recordings from 2016 and 2017 that allegedly captured orders to commit murders and other crimes. La Prensa Gráfica reported that the evidence included conversations linked to MS-13 leaders, and Univision said the hearing had entered its sixth session.

The prosecution says 413 of the accused are detained in prisons, including CECOT, while 73 remain absent and have arrest warrants outstanding. The case is being heard as a single mass proceeding, rather than in separate trials.

The proceeding is a major test of El Salvador’s anti-gang strategy and of how far the courts will go in processing a case on this scale. The next developments will likely depend on how the judge handles the documentary, testimonial and audio evidence the prosecution says it has amassed.