The Zetas, Mexico’s most feared and violent criminal organization, have moved operations to Guatemala, penetrating local police forces and the military. They have made alliances with locals and are redefining organized crime in Central America.
The Zetas in Guatemala
GUATEMALA
/
8 SEP 2011
Chapter 1
Part I: The Incursion
GUATEMALA
/
8 SEP 2011
On Tuesday, May 12, 2011, some 10 SUVs and pickups with tinted windows pulled up to a local gasoline station in Coban, the capital of Alta Verapaz state, north Guatemala.
Chapter 2
Part II: The Modus Operandi
GUATEMALA
/
8 SEP 2011
It is not a fancy video production. It begins, Horse Races Coban, Guatemala September 15, 2010. Two men -- one wearing a jockeys uniform, the other in street clothes -- ready their…
Chapter 3
Part III: A Guatemalan Response?
GUATEMALA
/
8 SEP 2011
On December 18, 2010, a local soccer league in Coban held its championship match. One team featured Alta Verapazs governor at the time, Jose Adrian Lopez. The other team featured…
Related Content
ELITES AND CRIME
/
21 MAY 2021
Guatemala seems to have brushed aside international pressure to crack down on entrenched government corruption, as authorities dropped charges against…
GUATEMALA
/
15 DEC 2010
According to a U.S. State Department cable released by the international whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, state department officials are highly concerned…
BARRIO 18
/
3 DEC 2015
The declaration by El Salvador's Supreme Court in August that the MS13 gang and its rival Barrio 18 are…
About InSight Crime
THE ORGANIZATION
Who Are Memo Fantasma and Sergio Roberto de Carvalho?
24 JUN 2022
Inside the criminal career of Memo Fantasma In March 2020, InSight Crime revealed the identity and whereabouts of Memo Fantasma, a paramilitary commander and drug trafficker living in…
THE ORGANIZATION
Environmental and Academic Praise
17 JUN 2022
InSight Crime’s six-part series on the plunder of the Peruvian Amazon continues to inform the debate on environmental security in the region. Our Environmental Crimes Project Manager, María Fernanda Ramírez,…
LA ORGANIZACIÓN
Series on Plunder of Peru’s Amazon Makes Headlines
10 JUN 2022
Since launching on June 2, InSight Crime’s six-part series on environmental crime in Peru’s Amazon has been well-received. Detailing the shocking impunity enjoyed by those plundering the rainforest, the investigation…
THE ORGANIZATION
Duarte’s Death Makes Waves
3 JUN 2022
The announcement of the death of Gentil Duarte, one of the top dissident commanders of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), continues to reverberate in Venezuela and Colombia.
THE ORGANIZATION
Cattle Trafficking Acclaim, Investigation into Peru’s Amazon
27 MAY 2022
On May 18, InSight Crime launched its most recent investigation into cattle trafficking between Central America and Mexico. It showed precisely how beef, illicitly produced in Honduras, Guatemala…
#SupportFreePress
Support Our Work
Investigating organized crime is an expensive and often risky enterprise. Reaching primary sources and getting the real story involve extensive fieldwork. Please donate. Every dollar supports our mission.
DONATE NOW
Stay Informed with Weekly InSight
Get fresh updates on organized crime from across the region delivered to your inbox.
SUBSCRIBE