HomeNewsBriefLeader of MS-13 Cell Arrested in Guatemala
BRIEF

Leader of MS-13 Cell Arrested in Guatemala

GUATEMALA / 5 APR 2013 BY CLAIRE O NEILL MCCLESKEY EN

Guatemalan authorities have captured the leader of a Mara Salvatrucha cell, amidst reports that the gang has grown increasingly sophisticated and centrally organized.

Marco Antonio Sian Chavez, alias "El Bufon," was arrested on April 3 in the port of Iztapa, in Escuintla province, in southern Guatemala, reported Prensa Libra. Although initial reports indicated that El Bufon was the "alleged maximum leader" of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) the Attorney General's Office later told press that El Bufon was merely the leader of a cell known as the "Batos Locos."

According to the Attorney General's Office, the Batos Locos were involved in drug dealing and extortion of bus drivers, taxi drivers, and small businesses. El Bufon is accused of at least four homicides, including the murders of three gang members he reportedly suspected of serving as informants for the authorities.

InSight Crime Analysis

Authorities accross the region have voiced concerns MS-13, along with rival gang Barrio 18, has recently begun transforming from a loosely organized collection of street gangs into an increasingly sophisticated organization under a more centralized leadership. Although there are indications that the group may be moving into transnational criminal activity such as human smuggling, drug trafficking, and money laundering, their main revenue source remains the kind of street-level extortion and drug dealing exhibited by El Bufon's cell.

Earlier this week, an investigation by the Anti-Extortion Unit of Guatemala’s Public Ministry named the nine leaders of the gang's central council, eight of whom are currently imprisoned in El Boqueron prison in Santa Rosa.

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

CRIMINAL MIGRATION / 6 OCT 2022

El Salvador will hold off on extraditing a top MS13 gang leader to the United States to face terrorism charges.

CRIMINAL MIGRATION / 25 JUN 2021

Prosecutors in Honduras say they will ask Nicaragua to extradite an alleged MS13 leader who has been on the lam…

EL SALVADOR / 31 OCT 2022

Rodolfo Delgado, El Salvador's Attorney-General, may have worrying connections to an alleged money launderer and MS13 collaborator.

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…