MS-13 gangsters hunted by 'Black Shadow' death squad who 'hack off hands before killing' [View all]

MS-13 gangsters hunted by 'Black Shadow' death squad who 'hack off hands before killing'
The Authorities in El Salvador have cracked down hard on gangs, building brutal prisons where gang members have no hope of release – but the inmates are the lucky ones with death squads roaming the streets and torturing suspected gang members to death

By Michael Moran
Audience Writer
13:53, 25 MAR 2024

A former member of the MS-13 street gang says members live in constant fear of "death squads" hunted them down. Alex Sanchez became a member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang in the early 1980s, enduring the infamous savage beating that all new recruits have to undergo. He served time in a US prison and was deported back to El Salvador.

It was shortly after arriving in El Salvador that Alex was targeted by the Sombra Negra (or ‘Black Shadow’), one of the largest and most feared of the Salvadoran death squads.

He told the Insider podcast how, everywhere he went, he was ready for a shootout. He explained: “I had two people with me, two gang members that had been child soldiers in the in the [Salvadoran civil] war … I had two grenades and I gave them to the two guys, saying ‘I've never used a grenade, I’l probably blow myself up’.”

He claimed he was in much more danger at home than he had been on the streets of LA. Every day he was at risk of being shot or kidnapped and tortured.

Sombra Negra killers would patrol the streets in blacked-out vehicles and wear masks and costumes that disguised their identity. They would typically kidnap suspected gang members, tie them up and torture them for hours – hacking off hands and genitals or smashing their teeth with hammers.

More:
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/ms-13-gangsters-hunted-black-32434994