El Salvador · Tecoluca
Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT)
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT)
Step-by-step guidance using the El Salvador system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) is a correctional facility operated by the Dirección General de Centros Penales (DGCP) in the department of Tecoluca, El Salvador. Official capacity: 40,000 inmates. World's largest single prison; opened February 2023; houses MS-13 and Barrio 18 members under Bukele's Territorial Control Plan. El Salvador's prison system has been under a State of Exception since March 2022, with restricted access for monitoring bodies.
Capacity
40,000
Current population
—
Occupancy
—
Year opened
—
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 16 Jun 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
—
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
—
Region
Tecoluca
Security level
—
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Contact & address
No public contact details available.
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT)TecolucaMaximumMega-prison36% occupancy
- La Esperanza (Mariona)San SalvadorMaximumPenitentiary635% occupancy
- Centro Penal de ApopaPrison
- Centro Penal de San VicenteSan VicentePrison
- Penal de Ciudad BarriosPrison
- Centro de Reeducacion de Menores de IlobascoIlobasco
Compared to other facilities in El Salvador
33 peersData completeness
32%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- DGCP — Dirección General de Centros Penales
- Wikipedia: List of prisons in El Salvador
- Reuters — El Salvador inaugurates the Americas' biggest jail
- DGCP — Centros Penales de El Salvador — Dirección General de Centros Penales (DGCP), El Salvador
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT). Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/centro-de-confinamiento-del-terrorismo-cecot
"Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT)." World Prisons. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/centro-de-confinamiento-del-terrorismo-cecot.
@misc{worldprisons-centro-de-confinamiento-del,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT)},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/centro-de-confinamiento-del-terrorismo-cecot},
urldate = {2026-10-15}
}