HomeNewsBriefSeizure Highlights Guatemala's Poor Record in Cash Smuggling
BRIEF

Seizure Highlights Guatemala's Poor Record in Cash Smuggling

GUATEMALA / 6 NOV 2013 BY CHARLES PARKINSON EN

Authorities in Guatemala have almost doubled annual drug-related cash seizures by recovering $1.4 million from a car travelling in the south of the country, in a case highlighting the low level of illicit profits captured in the country.

Anti-drugs officers and public ministry investigators made the seizure after stopping a car travelling near Sumpango, around 10 miles west of the capital Guatemala City. The money was bundled into more than 80 packets in a secret compartment in the car and has been linked to drug trafficking, reported elPeriodico.

SEE ALSO: Guatemala News and Profiles

The operation took the total amount of drug money seizures this year up to $3 million, reported Prensa LibreAuthorities made one arrest -- the driver of the car -- reported Siglo 21.

InSight Crime Analysis

While the seizure of $1.4 million represents a coup for anti-drugs efforts, given its proportion of the total money seized this year, it raises the question of whether Guatemalan authorities are achieving enough in their battle against the financial side of the drug trade.

InSight Crime sources estimate so-called "transportistas" -- hauliers who move drugs through their areas of influence -- earn between $600 million and $800 million in Guatemala each year. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has previously estimated more than 200 tons of cocaine passes through Central America each year -- much of it through Guatemala -- which is worth an estimated $6 billion to drug trafficking organizations.

Where this money ends up is a difficult question to answer. Undoubtedly much of it is laundered through financial transactions, although according to the US State Department, Guatemala is "not a regional financial center" like other countries in the region, such as Panama and some Caribbean islands. However, a significant proportion likely finds its way into country in the form of the type of bulk cash smuggling seen in Sumpango, which, according to US authorities, is an increasingly popular method as a result of tighter financial regulations and actions targeting money laundering. 

It is impossible to know exactly how much money is moved by each method, but given the profits on offer from the drug trade, it is clear $3 million is a tiny fraction of the cash smuggled in Guatemala.

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

ELITES AND CRIME / 5 AUG 2021

Before the firing of Juan Francisco Sandoval, Guatemala’s top anti-corruption prosecutor, Attorney General Consuelo Porras pressured him to curtail investigations…

GUATEMALA / 20 DEC 2022

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

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC / 7 SEP 2022

President Luis Abinader has vowed to root out corruption in the Dominican Republic. But this is much easier said than…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…