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        {"code":"25133","sect":"El Salvador","sect_slug":"el-salvador","hits":"1250","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202101\/el_salvador\/25133","link_edit":"","name":"Prison Officials Flouted Legal Protocols in Transfers of MS-13 Leaders","slug":"prison-officials-flouted-legal-protocols-in-transfers-of-ms-13-leaders","info":"Officials at the Salvadoran Prison Bureau ordered the emergency transfer of MS-13 leader Chino Milo from the maximum-security wing of Izalco Prison, where he is incarcerated, to the hospital in Zacatecoluca\u2014despite the prison\u2019s chief doctor\u2019s claim that he had a clean bill of health. Not only is Chino Milo a member of the ranfla, or senior gang leadership\u2014he\u2019s also the right-hand man and authorized negotiator of the gang\u2019s most senior leader.The irregular transfer occurred just one month after El Faro revealed negotiations between the Bukele administration and incarcerated MS-13 leadership. Prison documents show Prison Bureau officials signed off on irregular hospital transfers of at least four other members of the ranfla last year.","mtag":"Gangs","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/cmartinez'\u003E Carlos Mart\u00ednez\u003C\/span\u003E, \u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/sarauz'\u003E Sergio Arauz\u003C\/span\u003E, \u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/elemus'\u003E Efren Lemus\u003C\/span\u003E y \u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/omartinez'\u003E \u00d3scar Mart\u00ednez\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"carlos-martinez":{"sort":"cmartinez","slug":"carlos-martinez","path":"carlos_martinez","name":"Carlos Mart\u00ednez","edge":"0","init":"0"},"sergio-arauz":{"sort":"sarauz","slug":"sergio-arauz","path":"sergio_arauz","name":"Sergio Arauz","edge":"0","init":"1"},"efren-lemus":{"sort":"elemus","slug":"efren-lemus","path":"efren_lemus","name":"Efren Lemus","edge":"0","init":"1"},"oscar-martinez":{"sort":"omartinez","slug":"oscar-martinez","path":"oscar_martinez","name":"\u00d3scar Mart\u00ednez","edge":"1","init":"0"}}},"view":"1250","pict":{"cms-image-000035153-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"35153","name":"cms-image-000035153.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035153.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035153.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000035153-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;A prison guard walks through a sector of the maximum-security wing of Izalco during an official visit by the director of prisons, Osiris Luna. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EA prison guard walks through a sector of the maximum-security wing of Izalco during an official visit by the director of prisons, Osiris Luna. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000035154-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"35154","name":"cms-image-000035154.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035154.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035154.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000035154-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Prosecutors\u2019 record of Danilo Antonio Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez, alias Chino Milo, member of the MS-13 ranfla and right-hand man of national leader Diablo de Hollywood.&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EProsecutors\u2019 record of Danilo Antonio Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez, alias Chino Milo, member of the MS-13 ranfla and right-hand man of national leader Diablo de Hollywood.\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000035155-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"35155","name":"cms-image-000035155.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035155.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035155.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000035155-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;El 17 de septiembre de 2021, El Faro pidi\u00f3 una entrevista al director de Centros Penales, Osiris Luna. La oficina de comunicaciones de esa dependencia pidi\u00f3 las preguntas de la entrevista, pero solo se le explic\u00f3 el hallazgo de este reportaje. Al cierre de esta nota, el director Luna no hab\u00eda respondido a la solicitud. Foto: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro&lt;\/p&gt;\r\n&lt;p&gt;\u00a0&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EEl 17 de septiembre de 2021, El Faro pidi\u00f3 una entrevista al director de Centros Penales, Osiris Luna. La oficina de comunicaciones de esa dependencia pidi\u00f3 las preguntas de la entrevista, pero solo se le explic\u00f3 el hallazgo de este reportaje. Al cierre de esta nota, el director Luna no hab\u00eda respondido a la solicitud. Foto: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":35155,"date":{"live":"2021\/01\/12"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2021","data_post_dateLive_MM":"01","data_post_dateLive_DD":"12","text":"\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-ad92da60-7fff-2181-0c09-306f58a6ae74\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEditor\u2019s Note: This article, a follow-up to El Faro\u2019s September investigation into the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202009\/el_salvador\/24785\/Bukele-Has-Been-Negotiating-with-MS-13-for-a-Reduction-in-Homicides-and-Electoral-Support.htm\"\u003Enegotiations between the Bukele administration and MS-13\u003C\/a\u003E, has been adapted from the \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202101\/el_salvador\/25130\/Direcci%C3%B3n-de-Penales-saca-de-m%C3%A1xima-seguridad-a-l%C3%ADder-sano-de-la-MS-13-por-emergencia-m%C3%A9dica.htm\"\u003Eoriginal Spanish version\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn October, the Bureau of Prisons ordered the emergency hospital transfer of Danilo Antonio Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez \u2014 or Chino Milo, one of the leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) who is incarcerated in Izalco Prison\u2019s maximum-security wing \u2014 despite the prison\u2019s chief physician issuing a report finding no medical justification for the transfer. Rather than transferring him to the nearby hospital, as emergency protocol would demand, the Prison Bureau sent him to the hospital in Zacatecoluca, 128 kilometers away.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EChino Milo, who is in prison for fraud, armed robbery, and murder, is not only a member of the ranfla\u2014he is also the right-hand man of MS-13 national leader Diablo de Hollywood, Attorney General Ra\u00fal Melara explained to El Faro.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe hospital where he was transferred, Zacatecoluca, is home to the maximum-security prison where most of the incarcerated MS-13 senior leadership is serving time. Chino Milo\u2019s hospital transfer took place one month after El Faro revealed President Nayib Bukele\u2019s ongoing negotiations with the gang\u2019s leaders, in which Director of Prisons Osiris Luna would regularly organize clandestine meetings in the maximum-security prisons of Izalco and Zacatecoluca between at-large and incarcerated members of the ranfla, or gang leadership.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThese clandestine meetings, according to extensive internal Prison Bureau documents obtained by El Faro, involved negotiations between the gang and senior Bukele officials for a reduction of homicides and electoral support for Bukele\u2019s political party, Nuevas Ideas, in the February 2021 elections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe documents also specified that the gang leadership in Zacatecoluca was in charge of negotiating with the government, whereas those in Izalco coordinated the enforcement of the leadership\u2019s decisions among the gang\u2019s cliques outside of prison. Senior Bukele officials facilitated this inter-prison communication throughout the negotiations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOn October 6, 2020, one month after El Faro published revelations of the negotiations, a security officer from Izalco Prison informed the chief physician, Mario Arnulfo Herrera Espinoza, of unexplained \u201chigher orders\u201d from the office of Director of Prisons Osiris Luna to send Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez on an emergency trip to the hospital in Zacatecoluca instead of to the closer-by hospital in Sonsonate. Confused about the reason for the emergency transfer, the chief doctor conducted an exhaustive evaluation and found that Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez showed no signs of health problems. He then signed and sealed a report detailing his findings. Dr. Herrera Espinoza declined multiple requests for comment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=2000&ImageHeight=1333&ImageId=35154 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Prosecutors\u2019 record of Danilo Antonio Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez, alias Chino Milo, member of the MS-13 ranfla and right-hand man of national leader Diablo de Hollywood.\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Prosecutors\u2019 record of Danilo Antonio Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez, alias Chino Milo, member of the MS-13 ranfla and right-hand man of national leader Diablo de Hollywood. \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-51b936da-7fff-0690-a29a-e987ec62d881\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETop-down Instructions from the Prisons Bureau\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EPrison Bureau regulations specify that only a prison\u2019s chief physician authorize an emergency hospital transfer\u2014not the warden or even the Director of Prisons\u2014after determining that adequate on-site treatment is impossible. Emergency transfers go to the nearest hospital.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EHandwritten Izalco Prison logbooks obtained by El Faro show four October hospital trips from Izalco, each involving five incarcerated members of the MS-13 ranfla. In three of these, Osiris Luna himself gave the transfer order. Two of these five leaders were Borromeo Enrique Henr\u00edquez, alias \u201cDiablo,\u201d and Tiberio Valladares, alias \u201cSnyder,\u201d longtime gang leaders and protagonists of the 2012 negotiations with the Funes administration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Zacatecoluca logbook shows that Diablo was transferred to Santa Teresa Hospital in Zacatecoluca on November 1, 2019. A driver and passenger, one from the Prisons Bureau and the other from the Special Operations Group of the National Civil Police, then picked Diablo up that afternoon and transported him to Salda\u00f1a Hospital in San Salvador, according to the record. Late that night, they brought him back to Santa Teresa and, finally, to Izalco Prison. The logbook did not specify who authorized these trips.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EJust over a week later, a driver, two police officers and a nurse transferred Tiberio Valladares, or Snyder, to Santa Teresa to treat colitis and high blood pressure. Osiris Luna had approved the transfer, according to the Zacatecoluca logbook. On January 27, 2020, a government vehicle transported Mario Roberto Vidaurro Herrera, alias \u201cSkyny de Stoner,\u201d and C\u00e9sar Antonio L\u00f3pez Larios, alias \u201cGre\u00f1as de Stoner,\u201d on emergency medical trips accompanied by three police officers and another car of three soldiers. Next to their hospital check-in time, the logbook noted that the director of prisons and the Zacatecoluca warden had approved the transfer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Attorney General\u2019s Office has labeled Gre\u00f1as de Stoner as a member of MS-13\u2019s national ranfla, and Skyny de Stoner as one of the members of the ranfla imprisoned in Izalco.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAnother page, this time typed on official prison letterhead and dated August 8, 2020, confirmed the transfer of Rom\u00e1n Ernesto Reyes Aguilar \u2014 named by the National Civil Police in 2019 as a member of the ranfla \u2014 from Izalco to Zacamil National Hospital in San Salvador with the authorization of the Izalco warden and Luna.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAll of the gang members whose releases to hospitals were ordered directly by Director Osiris Luna were part of the national leadership of the Mara Salvatrucha-13. Chino Milo, whose release was ordered by Luna\u2019s assistant, is not an exception.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u201cI Did Not Authorize This Release\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAna Ruth Gonz\u00e1lez Navarro, Judge in the Second Court of Penitentiary Oversight in San Salvador and in charge of gang member Colocho Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s sentencing, objected to Chino Milo\u2019s emergency hospital transfer. \u201cI did not authorize any release from the prison because nobody asked me to. In the court there is no record nor existence of any release or a medical certificate declaring that the inmate needs medical attention,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez Navarro said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAccording to the judge, Article 92 of the Penitentiary Law establishes that releases from a prison for medical consultations may be authorized by the courts of penitentiary oversight, by the prison advisors, and by the directors of each prison, with an order from the prison doctor. \u201cThey should have told me because this court is responsible for its oversight, but I received no official communication.\u201d The judge explained that some prison directors inform the courts about every prisoner release, but the current bureau, run by Luna, has typically not informed the courts about transfers or releases.\u00a0\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=2000&ImageHeight=1333&ImageId=35153 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"A prison guard walks through a sector of the maximum-security wing of Izalco during an official visit by the director of prisons, Osiris Luna. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E A prison guard walks through a sector of the maximum-security wing of Izalco during an official visit by the director of prisons, Osiris Luna. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-94f5103b-7fff-44f5-8611-d3cb09b31127\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESince last September when El Faro published the investigation into the negotiations between MS-13 and the government, the President and many of his officials have denied the story and accused El Faro of fabrication, despite El Faro publishing various official documents corroborating the story. The Attorney General\u2019s Office opened an investigation into the matter that is ongoing. Some U.S. Republican members of congress sent \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/en.calameo.com\/read\/006111931136c517e2bea?page=1\"\u003Ea letter to Bukele expressing their concern about the revelations\u003C\/a\u003E. Bukele responded by undermining the importance of the missive sent from Washington.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Faro reached out to C\u00e9sar Salinas, assistant director to Osiris Luna, to Osiris Luna himself, and to Alejo Carbajal, head of communications for the Bureau of Prison, explaining the scope of this article and seeking comment. When reached by phone, both Salinas and Luna hung up. By the time of publication, none of the above have responded.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E*Adapted from Spanish by Roman Gressier and John Washington\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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