GUATEMALA CITY, Oct 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Twenty members of a gang designated a "foreign terrorist organization" by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang "evaded security controls" at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received "an intelligence report" Friday warning about the "possible escape" from the prison, which is southeast of the capital Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as "utterly unacceptable."

"The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members," the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to "act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists."

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country's homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Center for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (better known as MS-13) are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.