MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to 335 Years in Prison for Murdering 11 People in La Paz

Key Points

• Henry Alexander Flores Gamez, an MS-13 member, was sentenced to 335 years in prison for the murder of 11 people in the department of La Paz.
• A total of 14 gang members from the Peajes Locos Salvatruchos clique were convicted in the same trial.
• Rosario del Carmen Gamez received 125 years for five homicides and criminal association.
• The murders, committed between 2013 and 2015, targeted former gang members or people suspected of cooperating with police.

The Fifth Tribunal Against Organized Crime in San Salvador handed down one of the harshest sentences in recent years, condemning Henry Alexander Flores Gamez, a member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), to 335 years in prison for the murder of 11 people. The gang member also received an additional five years for the crime of criminal association.

According to the Attorney General's Office (FGR), Flores Gamez was not the only one sentenced. In total, 14 members of the Peajes Locos Salvatruchos clique received sentences ranging from 5 to 335 years in prison, in a trial that highlights the extent of gang violence in the country's paracentral region.

A Network of Terror in La Paz

The clique operated across multiple areas of western La Paz department, including the El Mariscal subdivision, Nuevo Eden canton, La Zunganera Beach, El Pimental Beach, the Los Diamantes, Oro Arriba and Oro Abajo subdivisions, as well as the outskirts of San Luis Talpa district and sectors of San Pedro Masahuat.

The FGR investigation determined that these individuals terrorized residents across communities, marking their territory with gang graffiti. Their criminal activities extended far beyond homicide to include weapons trafficking and drug dealing.

The Targets of Violence

The murders, perpetrated between 2013 and 2015, were not random. Victims were selected using specific criteria: former members of the gang structure who had left the organization, individuals suspected of cooperating with the National Civil Police (PNC), or people believed to have ties with rival gang Barrio 18.

Among the most notable sentences are those of Rosario del Carmen Gamez, sentenced to 125 years for five homicides and criminal association, and Francisco Nicolas Cruz Mejia, who received 65 years for two homicides and the same associative crime.

Our Take

The sentences handed down by the Fifth Tribunal Against Organized Crime send a powerful message from El Salvador's justice system: gang crimes will not go unpunished, no matter how much time passes.

However, these convictions also force us to reckon with the sheer magnitude of damage these criminal structures inflicted on entire communities over years. Eleven lives taken, families destroyed, and whole neighborhoods subjected to the terror of a clique that operated with total impunity between 2013 and 2015.

The state of exception and the offensive against gangs have dramatically changed El Salvador's security landscape. But true justice is measured not only in years of sentencing, but in the state's capacity to ensure these communities never again live under the yoke of organized crime. Sentences are necessary; prevention and rebuilding the social fabric are indispensable.