Current Salvadoran criminal legislation and its effectiveness in controlling gang crime in the city of Santa Tecla

Abstract

The maras or gangs in El Salvador appeared with force in the eighties, but particularly in 2003 the criminal wave manifested itself in atrocious and inhuman crimes such as beheadings, rapes, dismemberment of people, which seemed to be a mechanism to draw the attention of society to the marginalization in which they found themselves; This in turn brought as a consequence a response by the authorities carrying out repressive measures and the formulation of special laws, in order to reduce the criminal boom of the gangs. The investigation was descriptive and shows the types of crimes that are usually committed by gang members, which are regulated in the Penal Code and in the so-called anti-gang laws. The hypothesis He argued that the Penal Code does not diminish, much less eradicate the criminal actions of gangs, but that the only thing it does is punish illegal conduct committed constantly by these gangs.