Founder and leader of Barrio 18 gang dies in El Salvador

According to ​authorities, Mojica ⁠continued to lead the gang and order crimes from prison. He was instrumental in ⁠facilitating a 2012 truce between his gang and its rival, MS-13, during ​the presidency of the late Mauricio Funes.

Carlos Mojica, a founder ​and longtime leader of ​the violent Central ‌American gang Barrio ​18, has died in El Salvador from liver complications, the government announced on Thursday. Known ‌as "El Viejo Lin," or Old Man Lin, Mojica had been in a maximum-security prison since 2003. He was convicted of ordering dozens of ‌murders and faced accusations of other crimes.

He was deported to ‌El Salvador in the 1990s from the United States, where he was part of emerging gang cells that were beginning to identify themselves as Barrio ⁠18. According to ​authorities, Mojica ⁠continued to lead the gang and order crimes from prison.

He was instrumental in ⁠facilitating a 2012 truce between his gang and its rival, MS-13, during ​the presidency of the late Mauricio Funes. The agreement led ⁠to a dramatic drop in El Salvador's homicide rate, from 14 to an ⁠average ​of five per day. In 2024, he was diagnosed with kidney and liver problems, along with a suspected brain tumor.

Since ⁠Nayib Bukele became president in 2019, his administration's crime crackdowns and state ⁠of emergency declarations ⁠have significantly weakened the influence of Barrio 18, which had previously split into two factions: the Sureños and ‌the ‌Revolucionarios.