OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:07 AM – Sunday, March 16, 2025
The Trump administration recently sent over 250 Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador where they will be held in the notorious mega-prison.
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The prisoners are set to be held in El Salvador jails after President Donald Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele were able to work out a deal to hold the prisoners “at a fair price.”
The flight included 238 Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members, and 23 MS-13 gang members.
“We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador. Also, as promised by @POTUS, we sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars. President @nayibbukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S. Thank you!” wrote Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday.
The gang members were “immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center,” which is a mega-prison built to hold the most ruthless members of criminal organizations.
Following the opening of the mega-prisons in 2022 and the crackdown on violent gangs terrorizing the country, El Salvador’s murder rate has dramatically decreased.
Bukele’s government has been able to arrest over 84,000 suspected criminals in consistent efforts to crack down on gang violence.
Concerning the deal, Bukele explained that the United States would “pay a very low fee” to house the inmates, “but a high one for us.”
“Over time, these actions, combined with the production already being generated by more than 40,000 inmates engaged in various workshops and labor under the Zero Idleness program, will help make our prison system self-sustainable. As of today, it costs $200 million per year,” he continued.
“As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action. May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States,” Bukele added.
The act to remove the criminals from the United States is in line with President Donald Trump’s agenda to “Make America Safe Again,” which the vast majority of Americans support.
President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to lawfully carry out the order removing the gang members who have “unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.”
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