A Guatemalan prosecutor investigating a recent massacre involving the Zetas, a Mexican drug gang, was found mutilated and murdered in the state of Alta Verapaz.
Allan Stowlinsky Vidaurre’s body was found on May 24, a day after he was abducted, reported the Associated Press. His body was cut into pieces and left in five bags around Coban, Alta Verapaz.
The state, long hit by violence related to organized crime, was the site of the May 17 arrest of Hugo Alvaro Gomez Vasquez, alias “Comandante Bruja.” He is an alleged leader of Z200, the local cell of the Zetas which has been blamed for the massacre of 27 farm laborers earlier this month. Stowlinksy had taken part in the operation to catch Gomez, according to media reports.
Guatemalan authorities said that a note accompanying parts of the prosecutor’s body was signed “Z200.” While they didn’t release the text of the note, authorities said that it referred to recent crimes linked to the group, including the seizure of 466 kilos of cocaine, which Stowlinsky was involved in.
Guatemalan authorities have arrested a number of people suspected of participating in the massacre. Elder Estuardo Morales Pineda, another leader of Z200 who was suspected of leading the group that carried out the massacre, was arrested in Peten yesterday.
In addition to the cell leaders, three people were arrested earlier this week while attempting to hang a “narcomanta,” or banner, allegedly on behalf of the Zetas. Interior Minister Carlos Manocal announced the arrest of five Mexicans linked to the gang in the northern city of Huehuetenango.