Army recruiters recently detained 26 gang members who tried to join the military. They told authorities that joining the army was part of a plan to get military training and then steal military uniforms and weapons, another sign that gangs are looking to be better armed and better trained, Perdomo said.
El Salvador’s Mara street gangs are arming themselves with high-powered rifles and some gang members have tried to join the army to get military training, a top official said Friday.
Public Safety Minister Ricardo Perdomo said the Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18 street gangs are buying automatic rifles in the black market in Honduras and Guatemala, and also getting them from the brutal Zetas drug cartel.
“We have evidence (the gangs) are buying these weapons,” Perdomo said.
Authorities recently arrested a person in downtown San Salvador who sold gang members 15 M-16 rifles, Perdomo told the TCS television network. He said he couldn’t give any other details because there is an open investigation.
Another way gangs are getting weapons is by stealing them from private security guards, he said.
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