Prosecutors from El Salvador’s Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) and National Civil Police officers carried out simultaneous pre-dawn raids on Saturday 1 August 2026 in Lourdes, San Juan Opico and Villa Suchit, in the department of La Libertad.[1] Prosecutors announced the capture of five people accused of belonging to a structure trafficking and distributing drugs in several areas of La Libertad.[2] Police arrested Katia María Fernández Salazar, identified by the FGR as the network’s leader and main operator, working from colonia Las Jacarandas.[1] Four others were arrested with her: Wendy Yamileth Pineda López, José Mauricio Moreno Zapata, Brayan Alexander García Martínez and Jorge Alberto Pineda Ponce.[3] The detainees will be prosecuted for illicit drug trafficking and unlawful association, the FGR said.[3] Five more members of the network were already in custody and will be notified of the new charges, while two defendants will be tried in absentia.[2]

The FGR said the group began operating in early 2026, selling cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine brought in along routes between Guatemala and El Salvador through small-dose street sales, known in El Salvador as narcomenudeo.[1] Officers seized 1,427 grams of marijuana, a further portion of the same drug, 248 grams of methamphetamine and 220 grams of cocaine.[2] The same operation yielded three mobile phones, a laptop, a digital scale, a revolver and $395 in cash.[2] El Salvador Times placed the raids in Colón district, in cantón Lourdes, and in San Juan Opico and Sacacoyo, mainly Villa Suchit.[3] Diario El Salvador also listed Versalles among the search sites.[2] Prosecutors said they were also weighing a money-laundering charge after tracing remittances sent to Guatemala and Mexico.[2]

A prosecutor who led the operation said the network hauled the drugs from Guatemala City and sold them in El Salvador under the narcomenudeo model, the small-dose retail trade.[2] The FGR released photographs of agents during the raids and of the seized evidence, including containers with drugs and electronic devices.[1]