Thursday, August 2, 2012

Operation Failure in El Salvador

Hector Silva Avalos has the story on how Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, and US authorities failed to capture the "transportista" kingpin "Chepe Luna," in 2005 because of corruption at the highest levels of the Salvadoran police force. Chepe Luna runs the trafficking network known as the Perrones.


Insight Crime has a translation of extracts from Hector's story.
The task force formed after the first meetings made a decision: the government would undertake a relentless search for Chepe Luna. Capturing the kingpin was meant to demonstrate, in the first months of the administration, that the police had not been infiltrated, that the Technical Secretariat was in control of smuggling and tax policy, and that El Salvador took the fight against drug trafficking seriously. All of this failed, because the basic premise was false. The police were deeply infiltrated, especially by Chepe Luna and his subordinates.

Sadly, the new PNC that was formed as a result of the Peace Accords was born in corruption.

You can read more from Hector at his blog or follow him on Twitter (@HsilvAvalos).