Reports that an armed attack on the Guatemala-Honduras border was linked to the Lorenzanas trafficking network illustrate the resilience of family clans in the Central American drug trade.

The incursion came in late May, when a convoy of around 20 vehicles carrying some 100 masked men opened fire on residents of San José Las Lágrimas, a village in eastern Guatemala bordering Honduras, Prensa Libre reported. 

Guatemalan authorities linked the attack to an infamous family clan known as the Lorenzanas, which has trafficked drugs and contraband through Guatemala since at least the 2000s. The group, based in the Zacapa department on the border with Honduras, was attempting to drive out villagers to consolidate its control of crosspoints used to smuggle drugs and cattle between the two countries, according to Guatemalan military intelligence cited by Prensa Libre.

If the reports are correct, the assault would represent a major show of force for a group believed to have been on the brink of extinction following a series of crackdowns led by Guatemalan and US authorities.  

SEE ALSO: Lorenzanas profile

The group’s original leadership was decimated following the arrest and extradition to the United States of family patriarch Waldemar Lorenzana Lima and two of his sons in the 2010s. His last son and daughter were then extradited in the 2020s. Lorenzana Lima died in prison in 2021, though all four children remain behind bars in the United States. 

The assassination of the patriarch’s grandson in Zacapa in 2022 deepened the turmoil within the group. At the time, Guatemalan prosecutors told InSight Crime the murder pointed to a possible internal power struggle. 

But the border attack in May suggests the group has recovered from these setbacks. And the Lorenza family continues to direct operations, according to US prosecutors, who are now targeting a younger generation of leaders they claim have taken over the business.

The group’s current alleged leader is Haroldo Waldemar Lorenzana Terraza, alias “Haroldito,” a cousin of Waldemar Lorenza’s murdered grandson. Haroldito has overseen the group’s expansion along the Guatemala-Honduras border and coordinated US-bound cocaine shipments on behalf of Mexican, Honduran, and Venezuelan-based drug trafficking organizations, according to a 2023 superseding indictment against him. 

The Justice Department has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Haroldito’s arrest. US authorities extradited two of his co-conspirators in 2025—a sign that the group’s leadership remains firmly on the radar of anti-narcotics agencies.

The Lorenzanas appear to have outlasted other prominent Guatemalan drug clans, such as the Mendozas, which have fallen into relative obscurity after their original leaders were arrested and replaced by younger relatives. Other tight-knit drug groups like the Huistas have suffered significant blows with the arrest and extradition of top leaders but are nonetheless believed to remain active thanks to their control of strategic territory and their political connections. 

Featured Image: Graphic based on the reward poster for the current alleged Lorenzanas leader, Haroldo Waldemar Lorenzana Terraza, alias “Haroldito.”