Three Guatemalan soldiers were arrested this Tuesday, accused of participating in a local drug trafficking network linked to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, one of the two most powerful in Mexico, the Guatemalan prosecutor’s office reported.
The three soldiers “were in charge of ensuring the commission of the criminal acts” of the cocaine trafficking network, from their posts in bases in the capital and the departments of Retalhuleu (south) and Petén (north and border with Mexico), he said. the Public Ministry (MP, prosecutor’s office) in a statement.
“Said members of the Army (of Guatemala) took advantage of the privileged information to which they had access to guide the actions of the criminal organization or delay the movements for the interdiction of illegal aircraft,” the text added.
According to the investigation, the structure, to which the three members of the Army are linked, “carries out the planning and coordination for the reception of aircraft loaded with drugs called cocaine, coming from other countries, mainly from South America.”
The operations were carried out in “collaboration and coordination with elements” of the Mexican cartel “known as Jalisco Nueva Generación,” the statement added.
In addition, the MP identified that the local structure is dedicated to locating clandestine landing strips for the arrival of “aircraft loaded with drugs” and “planning attacks against people who report them to the authorities.”
For its part, the Guatemalan Army indicated that “it has collaborated” for the arrest of the three soldiers, who “must resolve their legal situation individually.”
Large international cartels, with the help of local drug traffickers, transport drugs and launder money in Guatemala and the rest of Central America, with a direct impact on criminal violence in the region, according to authorities.
According to the United States, 90% of the cocaine that reaches that country passes through Mexico and Central America in light airplanes, boats and submarines.
So far in 2021, Guatemala has detained more than a hundred people for extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx