20 members of a gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States escape from prison in Guatemala

Twenty members of a gang designated by the United States as a “foreign terrorist organization” escaped arrest in… GuatemalaThe prison chief said Sunday.

Members District 18 gang Prison director Ludin Godinez said in a press conference that the prisoners “escaped security controls” in Vryganes 2 prison.

On Friday, he received an “intelligence report” warning of a “possible escape” from the prison located southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible corruption.

Washington last month black list Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang known for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US Embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison break, calling it “completely unacceptable.”

He added, “The United States has classified members of this heinous group as terrorists and will hold accountable anyone who provides, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members.” The embassy said in X.

She called on the Guatemalan government to “move immediately and forcefully to arrest these terrorists again.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are languishing in prisons.

The country’s homicide rate rose from 16.1 per 100,000 people in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the global average, according to the National Economic Research Center.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (known as MD-13) is responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80% of El Salvador, which had one of the highest murder rates in the world.

The US State Department said that Barrio 18 is one of the largest gangs in the Northern Hemisphere press release last month, adding that the foreign terrorist group designation “also demonstrates the Trump administration’s steadfast commitment to dismantling cartels and gangs and ensuring the safety of the American people.”

More than a dozen groups They have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations since the beginning of President Trump’s second term. The Trump administration has used the foreign terrorist designation to justify multiple killings Strikes on boats They are alleged to be carrying drugs, including at least three off the coast of Venezuela.