El Salvador gang members get 1,048-year sentences

A court in El Salvador has given prison sentences exceeding 1,000 years to gang members convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes, the Attorney General's office said Wednesday.

Prosecutors said the El Gremio gang was targeted for drug trafficking, money laundering and illicit associations. Two of the 28 gang members were sentenced to 1,048 years in prison.

The sentences come during President Nayib Bukele's anti-gang crackdown, launched in 2022, which has led to the arrest of more than 90,000 alleged gang members.

In March, El Salvador's Bukele-controlled Congress approved a constitutional reform that removed the previous maximum sentence of 60 years and replaced it with life imprisonment for murderers, rapists and terrorists. The maximum sentence was later extended to apply to children under 18.

NGOs say El Salvador lacks judicial independence. Human rights groups accuse Bukele's government of committing crimes against humanity and imprisoning innocent people. Amnesty International says hundreds of people have died in custody and thousands have faced arbitrary detention during the crackdown.