United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Central America and the Caribbean

Course on Investigation and Prosecution of Arms-Related Criminal Offenses in El Salvador

San Salvador, July 30, 2021. The UNODC Global Weapons Programme delivered the course on investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses related to weapons in which 23 officials from the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Justice and Security, the National Civil Police, the Ministry of Defense and the General Directorate of Customs in El Salvador participated.

The objective of this training was to strengthen the knowledge of national law enforcement agents and to promote higher standards in the investigation and prosecution of illicit firearms trafficking and related crimes.

According to the UNODC Global Report on Homicide 2019, in Latin America firearms are closely related to the commission of violent and property crime, ranking as the region with the highest overall levels of firearms incidence on homicides.

The assessment mission conducted by the Arms Program in 2019 and subsequent meetings with counterparts from national institutions concluded that El Salvador has made significant progress in security, however, the rates of violence and homicides remain high and, for the most part, are committed with firearms.