This May 21, the General Directorate of Penal Centers of El Salvador reported that Carlos Mojica, one of the founders of the Neighborhood 18 in that country and spokesman for a truce between gangs that occurred in 2012, died.
According to a statement that the Directorate shared on its social networks, Mojica, also known by the alias “Viejo Lin,” “led one of the bloodiest factions of the gangs.” linked to homicides, rapes, extortion and forced recruitment of minors”.
Mojica had been in prison since 2003 and, according to the General Directorate, he died on the night of Wednesday, May 20, due to a multi-organ failure caused by liver complications.
The Salvadoran authorities explained that “Old Lin” suffered from multiple illnesses, such as cirrhosis, hepatorenal syndrome and a probable glioblastoma.
“His death marks the end of one of the symbols of the rise of gangs in El Salvador”, the authorities said.
In 2012, Mojica gained notoriety in El Salvador since, according to authorities, he was spokesperson for Barrio 18 in a “truce” promoted by the government of Mauricio Funes.
This truce granted “prison benefits, privileges and concessions to gang members”says the official information.
In 2016, during a statement to the Salvadoran Prosecutor’s Office, Funes denied having granted perks (benefits or privileges) to imprisoned gangs in exchange for reducing homicides in the country.
In May 2023, a criminal court in El Salvador sentenced former President Funes to 14 years in prison, who died in January 2025 in Nicaragua. for crimes committed within the framework of said truce.
The authorities did not detail whether Mojica belonged to the group of more than 400 gang leaders who They were tried in a mass hearingin the context of the emergency regime of the Nayib Bukele government.