A priest in El Salvador was arrested Wednesday for allegedly smuggling contraband into prisons for gang members.
Catholic priest Antonio Rodríguez Tercero, known as Father Tony, was accused of sneaking cell phones and drugs into jails and giving them to members of the Barrio 18 street gang.
Authorities arrested 12 police officers, three court employees, two prosecutors, two judges, lawyers, and gang members in a sweep that netted 125 arrests, Fox News Latino reported.
Father Tony was detained while driving home through San Salvador.
Some of the suspects are accused of influencing court cases against gang members by expediting rulings and arranging certain sentences. National Civil Police Director Mauricio Ramírez Landaverde declined to comment on the charges against Father Tony, but Regional Prosecutor Germán Arriaza told the Associated Press that there is evidence that he was smuggling contraband.
Priest Gerardo Méndez, who works in Father Tony's parish, said that the arrest was in retaliation for Tercero's gang ministry.
"This is a kind of persecution for Father Tony's stance on the problem of violence," he told AP.
Father Tony was involved in gang rehabilitation and work programs.
President Salvador Sanchez Ceren also questioned the motivation for the arrest.
"The Attorney General has to give a good explanation to the population about the reason behind the detention," he said, according to Reuters.
Leaders of the rival Mara Salvatrucha (or MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs said that ministers helped them to temporarily end a feud in 2012. The truce, organized by the Catholic Church and the Organisation of American States, led to a drop in killings, but officials said that the gangs are fighting each other again.
During the truce, killings fell to about five per day in El Salvador – the lowest murder rate in ten years. Today, the murder rate in the Central American country is about 12 killings per day.
