Cecot After El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele took power in 2019, 87 people were killed in a week in 2022 due to gang violence, after which the president announced the construction of the world’s most dangerous and unsafe prison.
SNPNEWS.IN News Update By Gurmail Kamboj: During the second term of US President Donald Trump, an agreement was made during the meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the President of El Salvador in February 2025, according to which criminals living illegally in the US will be deported to Cecot (Terrorism Confinement Center) under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (which allows deportation without trial).
On March 15, the US administration sent 300 criminals to Cecot, for which the US administration paid the Cecot administration a huge amount of $ 6 million to keep them in prison for one year.
In March 2025, a federal court ordered a halt to deportations; the agreement was not revoked, according to court filings in September 2025.
Why is Cecot the world’s most secure prison?
El Salvador was ranked among the world’s most insecure countries until 2022. Gang wars, robberies, rapes, and murders were commonplace for the people of El Salvador. President Nayib Bukele, who won the 2019 presidential election, began an effort to crack down on criminals after seeing the number of criminal cases in the country.
In early 2022, information about the construction of Cecot began to appear in the media after 87 people were killed in a gang war in one week.
The president declared a state of emergency in February 2022 and ordered a large-scale arrest of criminals. As a result, thousands of criminals were arrested within a few days.
President Nayib Bukele shared some pictures of Cecot Prison, Tekoluka in February 2023, announcing steps towards making the nation crime-free. The administration made 70,000+ arrests between 2022-23.
Cecot (Terrorism Confinement Center) was constructed in Tekoluka on a 166-acre area between 2022-23. This prison has the capacity to handle more than 40,000 prisoners. With more than 1,000 security personnel equipped with state-of-the-art weapons, modern technology, 8 security sectors, thousands of cells, 15-20 feet high concrete walls, a large steel door, CCTV surveillance 24×7, this prison is no less than a hell for criminals.
The result of this decision by the President was that the number of criminal cases in El Salvador decreased rapidly.
On February 4, 2024, presidential and legislative elections were held in El Salvador. In which Bukele won a landslide victory with 85% of the vote. His party New Ideas won a supermajority (almost all 60 seats) in the legislature.