HomeNewsBriefEl Salvador Accuses Ambassador of Arms Trafficking
BRIEF

El Salvador Accuses Ambassador of Arms Trafficking

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 6 JUN 2016 BY LUIS FERNANDO ALONSO EN

Prosecutors in El Salvador have asked Congress to strip the country's ambassador to Germany and former Defense minister of immunity so they can pursue charges against him related to an alleged arms trafficking ring.

The Attorney General's Office is accusing Gen. Jose Atilio Benítez of fraud, illegal possession of weapons, and illegal arms trafficking, La Prensa Grafica reported. The prosecutors alleged that Benítez ordered subordinates to fraudulently register firearms, allowing for their subsequent illegal sale.

Attorney General Douglas Meléndez filed the petition with the Legislative Assembly on June 2, alleging that Benítez was at the head of an arms trafficking ring. State prosecutors said the ring involved current and former officials essentially transforming a military logistics office into a gun shop.

Investigations of Gen. Benítez have reportedly been ongoing since 2014. Prosecutors raided Benítez's home in July of that year, finding the registrations for 29 firearms that were supposed to have been destroyed. The general was serving as ambassador to Spain at the time.

A simple majority of Chamber of Deputies is needed to remove Benítez's constitutional immunity. Prosecutor Rodolfo Delgado said the investigation has found no connection between the arms trafficking ring and organized crime, the Prensa Grafica reported.

InSight Crime Analysis

This is not the first time that higher ups in El Salvador's military have been accused of trafficking arms. In September of 2015, a retired colonel was arrested for weapons possession and trafficking. Military officials have traditionally experienced a high level of impunity when it comes to these types of crimes.

SEE ALSO: El Salvador News

While no links have yet been established between Gen. Benítez's alleged arms dealing and organized crime groups, active duty and retired military officials have sold weapons to transnational criminal groups in the past, including Los Zetas in Mexico and both the MS13 and Barrio 18 in El Salvador. Arms trafficking at the upper echelons of government can undermine the state's legitimacy and its efforts to crack down on organized crime.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

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.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

EL SALVADOR / 15 JUN 2022

El Salvador's sweeping crackdown, which has seen over 30,000 people arrested, may in fact drive many desperate young people straight…

BARRIO 18 / 16 MAY 2022

As part of his sweeping gang crackdown, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has overseen the mass imprisonment of tens of…

CRIMINAL MIGRATION / 23 MAR 2023

Nelson Alexander Flores Pacheco, alias "Mula", was the liaison between the Mexican Mafia and the MS13 in Tijuana, Mexico.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…