"In 2016, arguably at the peak of their power, there were an estimated 60,000-70,000 gang members and maybe half a million collaborators, constituting 8% of the entire population. The gangs operated in 94% of municipalities, extorted 70% of businesses, and between the extortion, violence, and general instability promulgated by their presence, the gangs cost the Salvadoran economy an estimated $4 billion annually, constituting about 15% of GDP. In 2014, its most violent year, El Salvador suffered almost 4,000 murders."

15%, wow, that's crazy, almost half of the US percent of GDP that the Government spends!

Gonna have to come back to this and keep reading tomorrow.