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.
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