Member of the Salvadorian army stands guard outside of maximum security penitentiary CECOT (Center for the Compulsory Housing of Terrorism) on April 4, 2025 in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador. Alex Peña/Getty Images

The Trump administration is escalating efforts to crack down on gangs that move illicit drugs into the United States, with deadly military strikes at sea and measures to toughen up borders taking center stage.

But as the US doubles down on overt interventions, experts warn policymakers may be overlooking a key battlefield: prisons across the region.

Several of Latin America’s most powerful criminal organizations were not forged in borderlands, the streets, or jungle hideouts but inside the region’s prisons. Overcrowded, under-resourced, and often effectively self-govern

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