Photo: Hilberto Ruiz, Angel Antonio Ruiz, and Abel Martinez

by Kory Leslie (Freelance Writer)

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Dec. 13, 2022

The decision of El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, in March to enact one of the most extreme states of emergency in Latin American history to combat the surge in gang-related crimes in the country received much global attention—both from news outlets around the world and the leaders of various countries. This crime cleanup resulted in the arrest of over 58,000 Salvadorans and would eventually spark public outcries from human rights activists and institutions across the western hemisphere.

But beyond the criticism it has sparked due to what is being seen as human rights violations, the crackdown also has direct implications for countries like Belize, to which many of the Salvadoran gang members have been fleeing. Less than two months after President Bukele’s decision was approved in El Salvador, the Belize Police Department had to ramp up border security efforts following the arrests of several MS-13 gang members trying to enter the country. There have also been several reports of violent crimes and community terrorism (including extortion) at the hands of MS-13 members in various parts of the country in which those gang members have been living, most notably the Krooman Lagoon area in Belize City, where they are believed to be responsible for attacking some residents and setting homes on fire.

The Belize Police Department has been making an effort to identify these individuals and detain them, and on Tuesday, as a result of an investigation that, according to police, started in February 2018, three members of the NLS (Normandie Locos Salvatrucha), an MS-13 sub-group, were charged in court. The three men—Hilberto Ruiz, 35; Angel Antonio Ruiz, 30; and Abel Martinez, 20 – were formally charged for being members of the Normandee Locos Salvatrucha gang. The three are said to have been operating out of the Krooman Lagoon area on the southside of Belize City, based on intelligence gathered by the Gang Intelligence, Investigation, and Interdiction Unit (G.I.3).

During their individual arraignments on Tuesday, Hilberto Ruiz reportedly entered a guilty plea, despite denying he was a gang member and claiming he just wanted to bring the harassment to an end, but subsequently changed his plea after learning of the possible ten years of incarceration he could face if found guilty. His younger brother, Angel Antonio Ruiz, and the other accused gang member, Abel Martinez, both pleaded not guilty, and all three men were remanded to the Belize Central Prison until their hearing on February 13, 2023.

Notably, there is an ongoing state of emergency in neighboring Honduras as well. On December 6, a one-month SOE was put in place in 162 areas of Honduras’ central district in which there have been escalating rates of crime and violence.