Carlos Mojica, the leader of notorious Central American gang Barrio 18, has died in prison after suffering kidney problems, liver problems and a brain tumour
The founder and longtime leader of violent Central American gang Barrio 18 has died in a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Feared boss Carlos Mojica died 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 a slew of accusations for other crimes.
He was deported from the US to El Salvador in the 1990s and had been part of emerging gang cells that were beginning to identify themselves as Barrio 18 in the States.
READ MORE: El Chapo’s fugitive drug lord son ‘secretly discussing surrender with US’READ MORE: Belarus declares it is ‘preparing for nuclear attack’ in cooperation with Russia
According to authorities, Mojica continued to lead the gang and order crimes from prison. By using “wilas” (notes) and prison visits, he still pulled the strings – ordering purges of prisons and massacres on the outside.
Mojica ruled with an iron fist, ordering systematic extortion that suffocated small business owners and truck drivers in the territories controlled by Barrio 18.
Control of those territories was consolidated through murder. Those who didn’t pay either died or disappeared.
Clinical reports released by the General Directorate of Prisons suggest Mojica suffered from liver cirrhosis, hepatorenal syndrome and suspected glioblastoma – a highly aggressive brain tumor. He was diagnosed with kidney and liver problems in 2024.
He was instrumental in facilitating a 2012 truce between his gang and major 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.
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.
