Officials in El Salvador have transferred 2,000 convicted gang members to a mega-prison for terrorism amid President Nayib Bukele’s war on organized crime in the nation. Photo courtesy of Secretaría de Prensa, Presidencia de la República de El Salvador/Facebook

“This will be their new house, where they will live for decades, mixed up, unable to do any more harm to the population.”

The CECOT prison is located in Tecoluca, about 46 miles southeast of San Salvador — the country’s capital. It is under continuous surveillance from the country’s military and national police.

Bukele’s press office shared photographs on social media of the shirtless prisoners, displaying tattoos bearing MS-13 and the Barrio 18 iconography.

“The maximum security regime being enforced in CECOT ensures that these gangsters will pay for their crimes to the population,” Bukele’s press office said in a statement.

“The incarceration of these 2,000 members of criminal structures in CECOT, continues to generate peace and tranquility in the honorable population.”

Last March, El Salvador declared a state of emergency allowing for the temporary suspension of some constitutional rights in an effort to combat soaring gang violence.

The move, requested by Bukele, was approved by 67 of the country’s 64 National Legislative Assembly lawmakers after police reported at least 76 murders in a single weekend.

Within weeks of that declaration, authorities in El Salvador arrested more than 9,000 people suspected of being involved in cartel and gang activity.

Bukele’s government previously faced criticism for alleged leniency on gang members but his efforts in cracking down on gang violence in the country has received wide support from El Salvadorans.