HomeNewsBriefNorthern Triangle Deploys Tri-National Force to Combat Gangs
BRIEF

Northern Triangle Deploys Tri-National Force to Combat Gangs

EL SALVADOR / 15 NOV 2016 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

The Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will launch a tri-national force aimed at disrupting the movements of street gangs that are increasingly crossing borders in order to coordinate criminal activities and flee security crackdowns. 

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández announced in a November 14 press conference that the anti-gang unit would be inaugurated the following day in the western department of Ocotepeque, which shares a border with El Salvador and Guatemala, reported AFP. Hernández said that the force will be comprised of police, military, intelligence, migration and customs officials. 

The head of state also said that the unit will monitor some 600 kilometers of shared border areas "because we are no longer going to permit that criminals commit atrocities in one country and evade justice by fleeing to another."

Hernández added that the unit will increase intelligence sharing among the Northern Triangle countries, which will facilitate "the capture of drug traffickers, gang members and any other criminals along the border."

The deployment of the anti-gang force has been in the works since it was first announced in August.

InSight Crime Analysis

The new unit is a response to the increasing number of gang members migrating from one Northern Triangle country to another. Most of this migratory flow is emanating from El Salvador, where the crackdown on gangs by security forces has been felt the strongest. Over 365 alleged Salvadoran gang members were reportedly arrested in just the first ten months of this year. Rather than maintaining a low profile, some of these gang members who fled because of the increased security pressure have gone on to become leaders of gang structures in Guatemala. 

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Security Policy

While the problem it seeks to address is real, the initiative may be more window dressing than tangible security reform. Authorities from the three countries are presumably already sharing intelligence and monitoring the border areas; as Hernández mentioned in the press conference, Honduras and Guatemala deployed a similar bi-national force to its shared frontier last year. The effectiveness of the new tri-national force will ultimately depend on whether the Northern Triangle countries can improve upon the mechanisms for multilateral security cooperation already in place. However, on this topic there have so far been few details. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 10 MAR 2022

The arrest and possible extradition of a former Honduras police chief suspected of drug trafficking could provide explosive evidence in…

COCAINE / 10 MAR 2022

The recent assassination of a former drug lord's grandson may stem from disputes between members of a family clan already…

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 10 FEB 2022

Jamaica's country's prime minister has promised to stem the violence by clamping down on illegal firearms.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…