HomeNewsBriefGuatemala Mayor's Brother Tied to Major El Salvador Cocaine Seizure
BRIEF

Guatemala Mayor's Brother Tied to Major El Salvador Cocaine Seizure

COCAINE / 5 JUN 2017 BY PARKER ASMANN EN

Authorities in El Salvador have intercepted a cocaine shipment with alleged ties to political elites in Guatemala, further indicating how corruption and political protection are helping to fuel drug trafficking operations in Central America.

Last week, Salvadoran authorities intercepted a fishing boat transporting 840 kilograms of cocaine worth more than $21 million, the largest seizure ever recorded by El Salvador's navy, Prensa Libre reported.

Among the ship's crew of four Guatemalans and one Ecuadorean was Jorge Marroquín Fuentes, the brother of the mayor of Moyuta, a town in Guatemala's Jutiapa department along the southern border with El Salvador.

Moyuta's mayor, Carlos Roberto Marroquín Flores, reportedly has had disputes with another Guatemalan elite turned criminal, Marixa Ethelinda Lemus Pérez, alias "La Patrona," who was recaptured by Salvadoran authorities on May 25 after escaping from a Guatemalan prison earlier that month.

Lemus Pérez is accused of heading a criminal network responsible for multiple kidnappings and murders during and after the time that her and her family exercised control over Moyuta while her brother, Magno Lemus, was mayor between 2008 and 2011.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Elites and Organized Crime

Shortly after her escape, Carlos Marroquín stated that Lemus Pérez wanted to reestablish her criminal ties in Moyuta and that he feared for his life, Prensa Libre reported separately on May 16. Lemus Pérez reportedly blames Carlos Marroquín for her sister's death after she challenged him in Moyuta's 2011 general elections, Guatevisión reported in May.

InSight Crime Analysis

This recent drug bust further emphasizes the role that corruption and political protection play in allowing criminal structures in Central America to move drug shipments throughout the region. The nearly one ton of cocaine that was seized is a significant amount for Central American players and demonstrates their capacity to traffic drugs in large quantities.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Cocaine Production

Colombia is currently experiencing a surge in coca production, and this in turn is affecting the role of Central American countries in the international drug trade. As a result, the geography of Guatemala's municipality of Moyuta has turned local politics into a cutthroat business. After her sister was killed in 2011, Lemus Pérez told elPeriódico in 2015 that the bad blood between herself and Carlos Marroquín in part stems from his desire to "remove all the competition [in Motuya] in order to control the territory."

SEE ALSO: Guatemala News and Profiles

The dispute illustrates the importance drug traffickers place on controlling political levers of power in order to further their illicit activities. This dynamic is further highlighted by reports that Carlos Marroquín spent more than $100,000 of the municipality's money to armour his vehicle in addition to hiring more than 15 security guards to protect himself and his family from the danger he felt they were in, according to Prensa Libre.

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

COCA / 10 FEB 2023

Guatemala is dealing with the rapid expansion of coca leaf plantations, but there is little evidence the country is becoming…

CHINA AND CRIME / 15 NOV 2021

A string of large seizures of cocaine underscores Hong Kong’s growing role as a regional import point and consumer market.

COCAINE / 23 JAN 2023

A string of large cocaine seizures in Jamaica suggests the island is becoming a central hub for trafficking to the…

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…