El Salvador forces arrest MS‑13 gang members and dismantle internet‑fraud network

El Salvador’s Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) and the Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) carried out coordinated operations in San Salvador, detaining five suspected MS‑13 gang members operating in the districts of Cuscatancingo, Ciudad Delgado and Mejicanos. The suspects – José Antonio Linares Cea, Kevin Ernesto Mejía Alvarenga, Jorge Luis Córdova Realageño, Mario Enrique Contreras Ventura and Nelson Alessandro Erazo Cruz – were linked to illegal gatherings, drug trafficking, and the recruitment of minors. Seized items included drugs, cash, electronic devices and other evidence of criminal activity.

In a separate crackdown, the same authorities targeted a criminal group that had created an application to steal the internet signal of a transnational company and sell illicit data‑service packages. Three men – Félix Antonio Salguero Hernández, Óscar Iván Melgar Monge and Eduardo Daniel García García – were arrested. Police confiscated two CPUs, a laptop, four phones, 22 USB drives, a debit card and a hard‑drive, and investigators estimated the scheme caused a loss of about $152,000. The detainees face charges of computer‑fraud, trademark infringement, commercial fraud and participation in an illicit organization.

Both operations illustrate an intensified effort by Salvadoran authorities to combat organized crime and emerging cyber‑economic offenses.