El Salvador prosecutors present witnesses in MS-13 mega-trial

The Attorney General’s Office of El Salvador presented new witnesses in the trial against 486 alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, who implicated 22 leaders of the gang as responsible for ordering thousands of crimes, including killings police officers and civilians.

The office said in a message published Tuesday that the testimonial evidence links the so-called ranfleros, considered the highest-ranking members of the gang, to the direct or indirect authorization of the crimes.

“No member of the structure acted without the direct or indirect instruction of the ranfla,” the agency said, adding that the 22 gang leaders allegedly ordered up to 9,043 criminal acts.

These include killing more than 80 police officers and the order to murder 86 people during a weekend in March 2022 in actions the gang referred to as “open valves.”

The judicial process began Monday in a specialized organized crime court, where the 486 defendants are being tried collectively for crimes committed between 2012 and 2022. They include homicide, extortion, forced disappearance and acts of rebellion, according to Mexican newspaper La Jornada. 

According to the newspaper, the trial is being conducted virtually, with the defendants connected online from prisons such as the Terrorism Confinement Center. Prosecutors have presented evidence including autopsies, ballistic analysis and testimony to support the charges.

Deputy prosecutor for organized crime Max Muñoz said the new statements add to 13 testimonies collected in recent months.

“We aim to illustrate to the court the entire criminal structure, its composition, its areas of influence and all of its criminal activity,” he said in a video published by the Attorney General’s Office.

Muñoz said the homicides cited in the case span from 2012 to March 2022 -- a period during which, according to the indictment, the organization carried out systematic attacks, including killing police officers and attacks against public institutions.

“All of these deaths will be attributed to the historical ranfleros who are the center of power of this structure,” he said.

Muñozalso said that criminal orders were issued under the concept of “open valves,” which allowed gang members to carry out killings and attacks without restrictions, as long as they were authorized by the leadership.

Other reports, such as one by NTN24, indicate that the case includes more than 47,000 crimes, including about 29,000 homicides, and is part of a counter-strategy of President Nayib Bukele’s government following the wave of violence in March 2022 that led to the implementation of a state of emergency and mass arrests.

Salvadoran authorities have said they will seek maximum sentences against the defendants in a process they consider key to dismantling the gang’s command structure and assigning responsibility to its historical leadership.

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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 2:20 PM.