HomeNewsBrief'Sinaloa Cartel' Contact Goes Free in Guatemala
BRIEF

'Sinaloa Cartel' Contact Goes Free in Guatemala

GUATEMALA / 3 OCT 2012 BY ELYSSA PACHICO EN

A Guatemalan court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to hold a man the government described as a key link with the Sinaloa Cartel, raising the question of whether the suspect should have been detained at all.

The suspect, Enio Geovanny Rey Sosa, was arrested in Guatemala's northern Huehuetenango province on September 30, along with two women, a Colombian and a Nicaraguan. He had three weapons in his possession, reported Proceso. That day Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez told the press that Rey Sosa was the Sinaloa Cartel's contact in the province. Rey Sosa has been under investigation for his ties to the Mexican group since 2010, the minister added. 

A court has now ruled that Rey Sosa's case is "without merit" and set him free. According to EFE, Rey Sosa and his companions were arrested after a "confused incident" at a motel, in which the Nicaraguan woman was shot in the foot. 

InSight Crime Analysis

This could be a case of the court being intimidated by Rey Sosa's connections to organized crime and allowing him to walk, or a case of the Guatemalan authorities being overly hasty in presenting him as an important criminal, in an effort to show results in the fight against organized crime.

If he was falsely presented as a Sinaloa Cartel contact, this could cast doubt on some of the government's other claims. Recently, authorities said they'd arrested a local Zetas commander in northern Guatemala.

The Sinaloa Cartel does have an established presence in Guatemala, trafficking cocaine and heroin through the country and using it as a base for methamphetamine production. The Mexican group has also worked with a local Guatemalan crime family, the Lorenzanas.  

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

ECUADOR / 24 DEC 2021

Ecuador's descent into violence followed a common path: more cocaine led to more cash and more weapons for the gangs.

EXTORTION / 7 OCT 2021

Despite the pandemic’s economic fallout being felt throughout the Riviera Maya, cartels have continued their extortion schemes in Mexico's popular…

COCAINE / 29 JUN 2022

Turkish and foreign law enforcement have seized record quantities of cocaine heading from South America to Turkey, revealing the growing…

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…