The operation began on 3 December 2022 when Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced that 10,000 members of the country's security forces surrounded the city.

The soldiers blocked roads and searched homes for gang members, as well as checking identity documents from anyone leaving the city.

[8] According to René Merino Monroy, the Minister of National Defense, a total of 185 people were arrested within the first three days of the operation.

[9] In the early morning of October 11, 2023, President Nayib Bukele announced a new deployment of security forces in the community of La Campanera, located in the district of Soyapango, in the department of San Salvador.

[10] The security deployment announced by Bukele also included the surrounding urbanizations of Popotlán and Valle Verde, located in the Apopa district.