Security & Strategic Review - March 2026

On 15 February El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele claimed that the navy had seized 6.6 tonnes (t) of cocaine worth some US$165m in what he described as the country’s biggest single drug seizure. His claim comes amid other security successes trumpeted by his administration, whose hardline security initiatives, including the implementation of a state of exception which has been in place since March 2022, and a mass incarceration policy, remain very popular despite ongoing human rights concerns.