Ciudad Barrios prison, Prison facility in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador.
This detention center operates with concrete walls arranged in a square layout, housing four sectors of cells, a shared courtyard, workshops, and a school within its perimeter.
The facility was assigned exclusively to Mara Salvatrucha gang members in 2004 when the government implemented a policy to segregate inmates by criminal organization affiliation throughout the prison system.
The prison reflects the complex relationship between state authority and organized gang structures, with internal hierarchies and informal markets operating under rules enforced by incarcerated gang leaders.
The facility holds over 2,300 inmates despite having a designed capacity for only 800 people, resulting in severe overcrowding and ongoing security challenges for correctional staff.
Guards discovered multiple underground tunnels beneath the cell sectors in 2011, some large enough to facilitate escape attempts or coordinate activities with external gang members operating nearby.
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