16 held in eastern El Salvador drug network with 570 g of marijuana
Prosecutors and the National Civil Police arrested 16 people accused of running a street-dealing network across Morazán, La Unión and San Miguel, in 23 searches before dawn on 11 March 2026. Officers seized marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine, along with $13,953.15 in cash and 37 phones; the marijuana was reported at around 570 grams, valued at about $2,012.
🇸🇻 San Francisco Gotera, Morazán department, El Salvador
El Salvador’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and National Civil Police (PNC)
detained 16 people accused of belonging to a street-dealing network that
operated in the departments of San Miguel, Morazán and La Unión.[1]The
arrests came in 23 searches with arrest warrants carried out before dawn on
Wednesday 11 March 2026.[2]The searches covered San Francisco Gotera,
Sensembra, Osicala, Jocoaitique and Gualococti in Morazán, Conchagua and El
Carmen in La Unión, and the cantón El Sitio in San Miguel.[1]Prosecutors said
those held were profiled as distributors, redistributors, intermediaries and
collaborators.[2]Prosecutors named thirteen of the detainees, among them José
Salvador Pacheco Arriaza, Wilfredo Alexander Cisneros Mejía and Nataly Esmeralda
Martínez Vásquez.[3]
El Salvador Times reported that around 570 grams of marijuana worth an estimated
$2,012 were seized in the overnight procedure.[4]La Prensa Gráfica described
the marijuana find as one large portion, alongside a large portion of
methamphetamine and large and small cocaine portions.[1]Officers also seized
$13,953.15 in cash, 37 mobile phones, four vehicles, two laptops, a tablet, a
laptop, a USB stick and two SIM cards.[3]Prosecutors said a year of
investigation had identified everyone in the network, from those who supplied
the drug to the redistributors.[1]
The investigation began with a drug transaction at a restaurant in San Francisco
Gotera on 5 May 2025, where investigators identified a distributor and a
redistributor.[1]Prosecutors said four of those held sold in San Miguel, five
in La Unión and 13 in Morazán.[1]Those detained face proceedings for illicit
associations, trafficking, and preparatory acts, proposal and conspiracy to
commit illicit trafficking.[1]Prosecutors said one more person already in
custody would be notified of a new case against them, and that they were still
looking for other accused.[4]El Salvador Times reported that the network sold
and distributed the drug between 11 March 2025 and 10 March 2026.[4]El Diario
de Hoy reported that police arrested Víctor R. A. and Samuel D. A. in October
2025 in El Divisadero, Morazán, with 13 and 2.5 grams of cocaine in a separate
step of the same investigation.[2]
Photos and video
Cocaine portions, marijuana and methamphetamine laid out with the $13,953.15 in cash seized in the 23 searches in Morazán, La Unión and San Miguel. The page credit reads only 'cortesía' (courtesy).Photo details
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Source: La Prensa GráficaThe cocaine portions seized in the searches, photographed for the prosecutor's office report. Photo: Cortesía (courtesy)Photo details
El Salvador Times' figure of around 570 grams of marijuana valued at about $2,012 is the only weight published; La Prensa Gráfica, El Diario de Hoy and Hoy.com.sv describe only one large portion of marijuana and give no weight or value.
The combined $13,953.15 in cash and the cocaine and methamphetamine valuations belong to the whole operation and are not recorded as cannabis figures.
The $2,012 is the authorities' estimate for the marijuana alone, not cash seized.
Only 13 of the 16 detainees were named; the remaining three, including the person already in custody who was to be notified of a new case, were not identified.
No court decision, charge filing or custody ruling for the 16 was reported; the accounts say only how they will be processed.
The operation took place at 23 locations across three departments, so the coordinates are for the centre of San Francisco Gotera, where the investigation began, not for every search.
The accounts reproduce the prosecutor's office's version; no statement from the detainees was published.
El Diario de Hoy gives the October 2025 cocaine arrests as 13 and 2.5 grams and El Salvador Times names Samuel Díaz Argueta with 2.5 grams; that cocaine step is not part of the cannabis figures.
A later June 2026 FGR operation in Morazán and La Unión is a different event and is not part of this report.
El Salvador's Attorney General's Office and National Civil Police arrested a 41-year-old man at his home in the residencial Santa Teresa in Santa Tecla, La Libertad Sur, on 6 November 2026, seizing portions of marijuana and cocaine along with grinders, pipes, a scale and two phones. Police said he would be sent to the courts for illicit drug trafficking; no weights or court outcome were reported.
National Civil Police agents arrested César Danilo López Hernández, 34, inside a higher-education centre in San Salvador on 6 November 2026, saying he carried marijuana and cash hidden in a backpack and tried to flee. Police did not identify the university or give the amount of marijuana or money, and said he will be referred for possession and holding with intent to traffic.
El Salvador's Attorney General's Office and National Civil Police carried out five raids in San Salvador Centro and arrested a man and a woman accused of forcing minors to sell drugs, with a third arrest warrant outstanding. Investigators said the case began in October 2026 when a 15-year-old caught selling drugs told officers adults beat him and made him distribute the substances.
El Salvador's National Civil Police arrested 21-year-old Ederson Stanley Santos Bermúdez in the Mejicanos district of San Salvador Centro on 4 November 2026 and seized several bags of marijuana it said were prepared for sale, plus a mobile phone. He was to be referred for possession and holding of drugs, with no weight or court outcome reported.
