HomeNewsBriefGuatemala Asset Seizures a Key Tool, But Implementation Tough
BRIEF

Guatemala Asset Seizures a Key Tool, But Implementation Tough

GUATEMALA / 27 AUG 2014 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

Asset seizure laws can be an excellent way to attack the economic power base of organized crime groups, but in Guatemala -- and other countries in the region -- a number of bureaucratic challenges have made implementation difficult.

In the three years Guatemala's Asset Seizures Court of First Instance has operated, it has handed down about 40 sentences per year, leading to the seizure of around $3.2 million in assets, reported La Hora

According to Asset Seizures judge Marco Antonio Villeda, the 2010 law (pdf) allowing authorities to seize properties bought with illicit funds is an important complement to attempts to prosecute criminal leaders.

However, while the Public Ministry (MP - Guatemala's Attorney General's Office) -- which directs asset seizure cases -- has wide-ranging investigative powers, proving beyond reasonable doubt a property's origins is a slow and difficult process, Villeda stated. This is particularly true when transnational transactions are involved.

Guatemalan experts say it can take years to complete an asset seizure case. As an example, seven properties belonging to one of Guatemala's major drug clans, the Lorenzanas, were frozen in 2012, but the MP has yet to request their seizure. 

SEE ALSO: Lorenzanas Profile

Informing the subject in question of an asset seizure hearing can also take a long time if they are being held in prison outside Guatemala, Villeda said.

Finally, there are problems regarding what to do with the properties after they are seized. Many people are skeptical about acquiring a narco-linked property or do not meet the qualifications to do so. The properties also often deteriorate over the course of the lengthy seizure process. 

InSight Crime Analysis

As noted by Villeda, property seizure laws can be a huge boon in helping officials target criminal structures. They can also serve to shed light on the scale and scope of criminal operations.

However, many Latin American countries still lack this legislation, and even for countries that do have seizure laws, they are a relatively new legal tool that has proved difficult to implement. In Mexico, just 29 asset seizure trials took place between the 2009 implementation of the Federal Forfeiture Law and 2013. Honduras passed a similar law in 2010 (pdf), but all asset transfer orders filed since that year were still pending as of last year. Colombia's property seizure law reaches back to 2002 (pdf), but its effectiveness has been hampered by slow judicial processes

Bureaucratic flaws are just one challenge. Others include the potential misuse of the law to attack political opponents, the deep-seated corruption in many of the region's judicial systems, and the temptations surrounding these luxury goods. Following one major scandal, Colombia's National Narcotics Directorate (DNE) -- formerly responsible for managing seized properties -- is being dissolved after billions of dollars in narco assets "disappeared." 

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

GUATEMALA / 20 DEC 2022

Increased security on land borders is forcing more migrants to enter Mexico from Guatemala by sea, running the risk of…

ELITES AND CRIME / 25 AUG 2023

Reports of an assassination plot against Guatemala's president-elect Bernardo Arévalo may be a final act of political elites as they…

ELITES AND CRIME / 22 JUN 2023

Presidential frontrunner Edmond Mulet has run on a promise of change. But ties to candidates accused of corruption cast doubt…

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…