The matter came to light during a televised appearance of the Minister of Defense, René Merino Monroy, who affirmed that the Armed Forces together with the Police “have demonstrated that we respond to complaints and give results”.

The Minister highlighted the effectiveness of the exception regime, extended 35 times, to continue capturing gang remnants still hiding in some areas and asked the population to keep reporting.

He pointed out that the work of the institutions in charge of public security have intensified the search for gang members, as it is more difficult every day to identify the criminals.

Merino Monroy emphasized the importance of the support of the population because, he said, it is more difficult to identify an unmarked gang member, as opposed to the way they used to walk around, all tattooed and with the clothes they used to wear.

The Rear Admiral’s pronouncements come at a time when the country is registering notable successes in reducing the number of homicide-free days, which has already surpassed 41 so far in 2025.

Until date, in February, the number of murder-free days has risen to 16, including seven in a row.

Since President Nayib Bukele took office in 2019, there have been 839 days without deaths at the hands of violence, 726 of which were spent under the emergency regime.

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