In our October 11 Facebook Live session, co-director Steven Dudley and senior editor Mike LaSusa spoke about InSight Crime’s new investigation of the complicated criminal ties of the mayor of Ipala, Guatemala — Esduin Javier Javier, also known as “Tres Kiebres.”

As the investigation details, Javier claims that suspicions surrounding his ties to organized crime groups are a result of “misunderstandings.” And indeed, he has not faced any formal investigations or charges along these lines. But as Dudley and LaSusa discuss, the story of Javier’s ascent in the construction business in Ipala and his later election as mayor is a complicated one that intersects at various points with organized crime.

Watch the full conversation below:

What are your thoughts?

Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.