Gang Crackdown

Nationalist congressman Kilvett Bertrand announced that Congress will consider security measures modeled on El Salvador's approach, including restrictions on gang-related tattoos, harsher penalties for minors committing serious crimes, and a possible maximum-security prison in Naco, Santa Bárbara.

The National Congress president says lawmakers are preparing major reforms to criminal and procedural codes—including no parole for members of designated terrorist groups and allowing prosecution based on gang tattoos alone—pending the Supreme Court's legal opinion.

Congress has sent proposed criminal-code reforms to the Supreme Court that would allow police to arrest suspected gang and cartel members and search homes without judicial warrants in high-risk zones, with prosecutors validating the actions afterward.

After disbanding the Dipampco following an internal probe linked to the deaths of five officers in Omoa, Security Minister Gerzón Velásquez announced a replacement División Antiextorsión y Asociaciones Terroristas that will handle organized-crime and extortion investigations nationwide.