WASHINGTON: The United States has designated the El Salvador-based gang Barrio 18 a “foreign terrorist organization,” part of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on drug trafficking.
“Barrio 18 is one of the largest gangs in our hemisphere and has conducted attacks against security personnel, public officials, and civilians in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Tuesday.
In February, the United States had designated the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, the Mexican Sinaloa cartel, and six other drug trafficking groups as “terrorist” organizations.
In July, Washington added the “Cartel de los Soles” to this list, which it described as a Venezuelan gang led by President Nicolas Maduro to support drug trafficking into the United States.
The United States has deployed eight warships to the Caribbean to combat drug trafficking, and says it has destroyed at least three small boats belonging to suspected drug traffickers in waters near Venezuela, killing a dozen people.
The legality of the strikes has been questioned by critics. In the past, such boats have been intercepted and seized, if detected by US authorities.
According to the Salvadoran government, Mara Salvatrucha (better known as MS-13) and Barrio 18 are responsible for the deaths of approximately 200,000 people in three decades.
The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of the country, and El Salvador had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.