Exclusive-U.S. preparing indictments against Salvadoran officials over alleged pact with gangs -sources

Chief of the Salvadoran Penal System and Vice Minister of Justice and Public Security Osiris Luna Meza speaks during the inauguration of the new cell area called Mariona 2 in La Esperanza prison in Ayutuxtepeque, El Salvador December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are preparing criminal charges against El Salvador's deputy justice minister Osiris Luna and another senior official, accusing them of negotiating a secret truce with gangs, two sources said, amid rising tensions between Washington and President Nayib Bukele's government.

According to the sources, the indictments are being prepared by a Department of Justice (DOJ) taskforce against Luna and Carlos Marroquin, a close Bukele ally who heads a Salvadoran government social welfare agency.