El Salvador has handed down prison sentences to 248 members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. The attorney general's office said these sentences cover 43 homicides and 42 disappearances. One gang member received a whopping 1,335-year sentence. Ten others got jail terms between 463 and 958 years. The government did not say exactly when these sentences were given or if the gang members were tried together. Since March 2022, President Nayib Bukele has led a tough crackdown on gangs during a state of emergency. This lets authorities arrest people without warrants. More than 90,000 people have been arrested under this campaign. Around 8,000 were later freed after being found not guilty. Bukele's efforts have pushed homicide rates to historic lows. But human rights groups warn about abuses by security forces during the crackdown. The Salvadoran government blames MS-13 and another gang, Barrio 18, for about 200,000 deaths over 30 years. These gangs once controlled 80% of the country and caused one of the world's highest murder rates. The gangs extorted business owners, demanding money to avoid harm. The attorney general said, "Some people had to close their businesses out of fear of the threats." The US has called MS-13 and some other gangs in Central and South America foreign terrorist organizations.