HomeNewsBriefEl Salvador Drug Arrests Linked to Perrones Chief: Prosecutors
BRIEF

El Salvador Drug Arrests Linked to Perrones Chief: Prosecutors

EL SALVADOR / 9 JAN 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

Authorities in El Salvador said that nine people arrested on drug charges this week were working for the organization of an imprisoned leader of a transportation group known as the Perrones, highlighting how the group remains a force in El Salvador's underworld despite the arrests and sentencing of key leaders.

Since 2009, authorities said, the nine had been smuggling cocaine moving through El Salvador and to destinations on the East coast of the US, including New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Boston, according to local prosecutors quoted on ElSalvador.com.

The prosecutors added that the group was "connected to the structure of Juan Maria Medrano." Medrano, better known by his alias "Juan Colorado," is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence after being convicted on drug charges last year.

Colorado was one of the founding members of the Perrones, El Salvador’s most infamous transportista or smuggling group. He was arrested in 2008 alongside other Perrones leaders, including Reynerio Flores Lazo, Daniel Quezada, Wilfredo Antonio Reyes Martinez, and Carlos Armando Umanzor. Dozens of police and judicial officials were also connected to this network, which operates mostly from the eastern part of this small country.   

InSight Crime Analysis

Since suffering the loss of key figures such as Colorado, the Perrones have successfully regrouped and reasserted their influence in El Salvador. As InSight Crime has reported, the group has re-established smuggling networks and infrastructure, and it has cemented alliances with international organizations such as Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. It may also be seeking to expand its operations into other parts of the region, even while it continues to have a strong presence in neighboring countries such as Honduras.

Many of the cases against the Perrones leadership have now unraveled, leaving them free or facing minor charges. Of those that are still serving lengthy sentences, intelligence reports suggest Reynerio Flores continues to coordinate trafficking activities.

Before his arrest, Juan Colorado was responsible for establishing and maintaining the East coast smuggling routes used by the recently arrested group and was the first of the Perrones smugglers to move drugs directly to the US. The fact that these routes are still active and that investigators still consider Colorado as the head of a trafficking structure suggests he may also still be active despite his imprisonment.

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

ARGENTINA / 1 FEB 2022

In 2021, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a marked increase in murders. Resurgent violence was to…

BELIZE / 2 JUN 2022

Since El Salvador's government began a campaign of mass arrests two months ago in a gang crackdown, fewer than 60…

EL SALVADOR / 10 JAN 2023

Extortion in Latin America continues to bring in fortunes for criminal gangs. So how do they do it?…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…