Guatemalan security forces captured a drug trafficker on Thursday in a region near the border with Mexico, for extradition to the United States, official sources confirmed.The Public Ministry (MP-Prosecutor’s Office) explained through its communication channels that it coordinated with agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) the arrest of Roberto Arnoldo de León Alarcón because there was an order against him for the purpose of extradition to the United States nation.According to the Public Ministry, De León Alarcón was arrested during an operation carried out in the municipality of Ocós, in the department (province) of San Marco s, some 250 kilometers west of Guatemala City.According to the investigating body, De León is required to appear in the Court of the Eastern District of Texas, United States, for the crimes of illicit association, manufacture and distribution of 5 or more kilos of cocaine. The organization in which the syndicate operated is responsible for trafficking in drugs, specifically cocaine, from South and Central America to the United States, the same source said.“The organization uses sophisticated methods to manufacture, acquire, store, transport and distribute, multiple tons of cocaine destined for the United States,” emphasized the Public Ministry.Guatemala es utilizada por su posición geográfica como puente para el traslado de narcóticos desde Sudamérica a Estados Unidos (EFE/ Esteban Biba)EFEThe investigations determined that De León Alarcón was a member of the organization from approximately 2010 until at least June 2021, and was responsible for directing, managing and facilitating some of the group’s drug trafficking activities in Guatemala.With this arrest, there are 10 Guatemalans arrested so far this year in request for extradition by the US justice system for drug trafficking offences. In 2021, Guatemala broke its record by capturing 57 people demanded in extradition for drug trafficking offenses by the United States justice system.According to official statistics, in 2020 the Central American country captured 15 people required by the US; in 2019 there were 21 detainees in total, while in 2018 8 people were arrested for extradition.Guatemala is used because of its geographical position as a bridge for the transfer of narcotics from South America to the United States, according to the view of experts in the field, who also consider that 90% of the drugs that arrive in the United States pass through the Central American nation.The President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, said Monday that 95% of the planes that are used to transport drugs to Central America and Mexico “leave Venezuela”.“Central America is a strategic geopolitical area, neighboring Mexico” and “Guatemala is a bridge for drug trafficking from South America to the United States,” the president emphasized during his participation in the Parliamentary Forum on Intelligence and Security in the Guatemalan Congress.Giammattei explained that three days ago “human sources” took a photo on a runway in Venezuela, where he claimed that 95% of drug-bearing aircraft leave for Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Mexico.“We are in the midst of the largest producer and the largest consumer,” the president added, referring to South America and the United States, and that is why “Guatemala becomes a tactical territory for illicit drug trafficking,” he added.The Guatemalan president argued that his country is “a strategic ally” of the United States in the fight against drug trafficking and that his cooperation has allowed progress in reducing irregular migration, drugs and combating corruption and money laundering.(With information from EFE)Keep reading:The IAPA denounced attacks on the press in Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador and HondurasThe president of Guatemala assured at the UN that 95% of the narco-planes that arrive in that country come from Venezuela
