President of El Salvador Naive Bukele which is waging a “war” against these groups, said on Friday that the new residents of the Center for the Containment of Terrorism (CECOT) had been unable to harm residents any further and had “decades I will live there confused for a while.”

The prison, which is distinguished by strict entry controls, responded to the escalation of violence by removing some of the 64,000-strong gang members previously detained under a system of exceptions promulgated by Congress at Bukele’s request. Built for detention. Between 25 March 2022 and 27 days he has claimed 87 lives.

CECOT was built on 166 hectares of state-purchased land in a rural valley just off the impressive Chichontepec volcano in Tekorca, about 74 km southeast of San Salvador. A concrete wall 11 meters high and 2.1 kilometers long, protected by electrified barbed wire.

To enter the prison, both inmates and guards and administrative personnel must reach a registration area before passing through three fortified gates controlled by guards. Each criminal who arrives body scanner You have to register at the entrance to be photographed.

2.1km boundary wall

The prison has 2.1 kilometers of perimeter walls and is guarded day and night by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers. A security guard will be on duty inside. Directorate General of Penal Institutions.

To give the prison autonomy, two wells were dug and a 600 cubic meter water supply plant, four cisterns, eight substations and a sewage plant were built. The prison also has a fuel-based emergency power plant to ensure power.

In front of the cell block is a control room for operating the water and electricity systems, preventing prisoners from “manipulating” both services, said the CECOT director, who requested anonymity. . The pavilion has a curved roof that ensures natural ventilation for the prisoners.

Each pavilion has a construction area of ​​6,000 square meters, each of the 32 cells is equipped with rebar, and about 100 gang member Each cell, measuring about 100 square meters, has two sinks with running water for personal hygiene, two toilets, and iron-clad cabins without mattresses, and can sleep 80 people.

In addition, each pavilion has a dark, windowless “punishment cell” that is used with gang members who have committed misdeeds.

This new prison houses members of the gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18, which originated in the streets of the American city of Los Angeles in the early 1980s.The main activity of these groups consists of personal and corporate extortion. , hitman, drug dealer.