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Guatemala

Guatemala’s criminal organizations are the most sophisticated and dangerous in Central America. Some of them have been in operation for decades. They include former members of the military, intelligence agencies and active members of the police. Transporting illegal drugs north comprises the bulk of their activity, but organized crime in Guatemala is also involved in marijuana and poppy cultivation, as well as human trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering, arms smuggling, adoption rings, eco trafficking and other illegal enterprises. They often work with groups from Mexico, Colombia and other Central American nations. And they have the potential to expand and command other Central American nations’ underworlds.

Guatemala Criminal Groups

  • Lorenzanas
    Lorenzanas

    The Lorenzanas are a traditional contraband family, who, over time, became enmeshed in the lucrative drug trade. Despite the capture of the family's patriarch, Waldemar Lorenzana, in April 2011, they still command respect and support mainly in the western states of Izapal and Zacapa, although their domain also stretches to the Pacific coast, including the western city of La Reforma. Waldemar Lorenzana may have more life yet. He was arrested in December 2008 for alleged weapons possession but was soon released for reasons that illustrated their reach into the government justice system. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has tried numerous times without success to capture other leaders of the syndicate. In April 2010, the U.S. Treasury froze the assets of Waldemar and his three sons, citing connections with the Sinaloa cartel. A source told InSight that some in the family may be using Belize as a respite, waiting for the numerous battles between local and international cartels play out.

  • Mendozas
    Mendozas

    Based in Guatemala's northern-most province of Peten, the Mendozas mainly ran contraband before becoming one of Central America's drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). They have sought political alliances with powerful members of the government and strategic alliances with other DTOs in the country. This may have included a short-lived agreement that some called the “Pacto de Peten” between themselves and the Lorenzanas to split the country north from south and push out the rival Leones, who they believed were responsible for stealing much of their merchandise. According to some Guatemalan sources, they used hired guns to attack the Leones, supposedly bringing in feared Mexican group the Zetas, who in March 2008, assassinated Juancho Leon in the Zacapa province. This strategy, however, backfired, and the Zetas co-opted territory in southeastern and central Guatemala. Much of the Mendoza clan is thought to have fled, or to be regularly using Belize as a refuge. Nonetheless, they are also believed to have the best contacts in Guatemala’s government, something the Zetas may still lack.

  • Leones
    Leones

    The Leones, who operate along the Eastern border with Honduras and El Salvador, were car thieves and cattle rustlers before entering the drug trade. Much of their business was via robberies of many Mendoza and Lorenzana cargoes traveling through Zacapa. Once considered one of the most powerful and violent families in Guatemala, the Leones have since gone underground. On March 25, 2008, Zeta gunmen killed 11 members of the Leon clan in Zacapa, including Juancho Leon (pictured), one of the group’s leaders.

    But the reasons for this battle are not altogether clear. One theory is that the Mendozas and the Lorenzanas schemed to get rid of the Leones using the Zetas, an agreement dubbed the “Pacto de Peten.” Alternatively the massacre could have resulted from a broken Leones-Zetas alliance. In either case, the Leones' power is on the decline, and the Zetas are now thought to control their old turf.

  • Juan Chamale
    Juan Chamale

    Juan Alberto Ortiz Lopez, alias ‘Juan Chamale,’ is ranked by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as Guatemala’s number one drug trafficker. Ortiz operates with his group in the San Marcos province, one of the most important regions in Guatemala given its proximity to the highlands, Mexico and the Pacific coast, where most of the drugs coming from South America land. His power is concentrated in the San Martin municipality, in the northern part of the state where he can control both marijuana and poppy production and coordinate movement of cocaine and his drugs north. Authorities estimate that Guatemala may produce more poppy, the raw material for heroin, than Colombia. Ortiz exerts influence on local politicians and police in the region. He is thought to have worked out a deal to be the Sinaloa Cartel’s top transporter. His control of various points along the coast gives him the strategic advantage over his competitors.

  • Zetas
    Zetas

    The Zetas, once the military wing of the Gulf Cartel, are now among one of the most violent groups in Mexico, with a growing presence in neighboring Guatemala. The Zetas started out as an enforcer gang for the Gulf Cartel, taking their name from the radio code used for top-level officers in the Mexican army. Not only are they highly organized, but their use of brutality and shock tactics -- petrol bombs, beheadings, and roadblocks -- has led the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to describe them as perhaps “the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and violent of these paramilitary enforcement groups."

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  • Sinaloa Cartel
    Sinaloa Cartel

    The Sinaloa Cartel, often described as the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is an alliance of some of Mexico’s top capos. The coalition's members operate in concert to protect themselves, relying on connections at the highest levels and corrupting portions of the federal police and military to maintain the upper hand against its rivals.

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Guatemala News Map

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