HomeNewsBriefGuatemala Arms, Explosives Seizures Point to Gang Sophistication
BRIEF

Guatemala Arms, Explosives Seizures Point to Gang Sophistication

BARRIO 18 / 28 AUG 2014 BY CAMILO MEJIA EN

Authorities in Guatemala have seized an extensive weapons cache and remotely operated explosives belonging to the country's "mara" street gangs, in an indication these groups are growing in sophistication -- a trend also seen in El Salvador and Honduras.

According to Guatemala's Interior Ministry, two alleged members of the Barrio 18 gang were arrested on August 27 in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula -- just outside Guatemala City -- with two home-made explosive devices. In addition to the explosives, the alleged gang members were carrying two cellphones authorities believe may have been rigged to detonate the devices, as well as a document explaining manufacturing and operational procedures for the explosives.

Authorities found two additional mobile phones on the alleged gang members containing videos and images showing the recent murder of two women, reported the Interior Ministry.

In another operation on August 26 in the nearby municipality of Villa Nueva, authorities captured five alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang and seized a large arms cache including explosives and high caliber weapons, reported Guatemala's National Police (PNC). The arsenal, discovered in a home used as a hideout, included five AK-47 assault rifles, a submachine gun, six fragmentation grenades, three bulletproof vests -- one of which bore the PNC logo -- and clothing resembling police uniforms. A cadaver was also discovered on the premises.

A police official told Prensa Libre the gang had been amassing the arsenal in preparation for an offensive against their Barrio 18 rivals.

InSight Crime Analysis

Both the seizure of military grade weaponry and the leap to remote-controlled explosive devices are troubling indications of the growing sophistication of Guatemala's Barrio 18 and MS13 gangs, which authorities warned last year were becoming more hierarchical and better organized.

A similar shift appears to be occurring in neighboring El Salvador and Honduras.

In El Salvador, a 2013 report warned of the MS13's access to sophisticated weaponry and deepening ties to transnational drug trafficking organizations including Mexico's Zetas. According to another more recent news report that cited anonymous officials, the group has also conducted military training sessions for some of its members. 

SEE ALSO: MS13 Profile

Meanwhile, the Barrio 18 gang ambushed a Salvadoran police patrol in April, leading authorities there to warn that the group was expanding its territory and drug trafficking operations and had acquired military grade weapons.

In Honduras, the Barrio 18 has also reportedly begun to professionalize its operations, and now counts lawyers, architects, and engineers among its members, as well as a medical team.

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

BARRIO 18 / 15 JUN 2022

El Salvador has arrested over 40,000 alleged gang members. This seems shocking but it is not without precedent in the…

GUATEMALA / 7 FEB 2022

In this run-down neighborhood in Guatemala City, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) does not exist. And yet, there are still a…

CARIBBEAN / 11 FEB 2022

Latin American countries scored poorly on Transparency International’s latest corruption index, with the worst joining the ranks of war-torn nations…

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…