All About Lorenzanas

NEWS

Minor Players Take Center Stage in Guatemala Drug Trade

COCAINE / 22 FEB 2021

An anti-narcotics operation targeting an alleged trafficking ring in Guatemala has shed light on the increasing importance of small, often discrete transport networks in the country's cocaine trade.

InSight Crime Presents Guatemala Cross-Border Crime and Corruption Investigation

COCAINE / 4 FEB 2021

Drug trafficking has been reconfigured in Guatemala. The large clans that traditionally dominated the business have broken up.

Izabal, Guatemala

GEOGRAPHIC PROFILES / 22 JAN 2021

Izabal is one of the most important transit hubs for cocaine being smuggled from Honduras into Guatemala by land, as well as for cocaine arriving by plane or sea from…

Zacapa, Guatemala

GEOGRAPHIC PROFILES / 22 JAN 2021

In the department of Zacapa, long a transit point for cocaine and marijuana bound for Mexico and the US, drug traffickers exert much influence.

Guatemala Drug Lord Still in US Custody Amid Debate Over Mental State

GUATEMALA / 7 MAR 2017

The "patriarch" of drug trafficking in Guatemala, Waldemar Lorenzana, was quietly released from US prison in 2015, it has emerged, adding a new twist to a saga that has reshaped…

US Convicts Sons of Guatemala's Lorenzana Drug Clan

GUATEMALA / 24 MAR 2016

A US court has convicted two sons of a top Guatemala crime figure on international drug trafficking charges, heightening the possibility they might trade information about former associates or corrupt…

Guatemala Extradites Brutal Drug Trafficker to US

EXTRADITION / 27 JUL 2015

Guatemalan authorities recently extradited drug trafficker Jairo Orellana, alias "El Pelon," to the United States, ending a criminal career that left a bloody legacy in Guatemala. …

Alzheimer's May Get Guatemala Drug Trafficker Out of Prison

GUATEMALA / 9 JUN 2015

Twenty years ago, the United States patiently prepared a punishment for Waldemar Lorenzana Lima, one of the most prominent drug traffickers in Guatemala. But in 2015, the case against him…

Betrayal in the Family Drug Business: The Lorenzanas in Guatemala

GUATEMALA / 5 MAY 2015

Loyalty is one of the strengths of family drug trafficking clans. But the Lorenzanas in Guatemala are the exception. The children of Waldemar Lorenzana Lima deceived “the Patriarch,” who has…

Guatemala Extradites Son of Top Drug Trafficker

EXTRADITION / 1 MAY 2015

Guatemala's recent extradition of a prominent drug trafficker marks the end of the Lorenzana crime family, once considered one of Guatemala's top crime families.  …

Guatemala Drug Trafficker Waldemar Lorenzana May Have Alzheimer's

EXTRADITION / 27 FEB 2015

The story of the precipitous fall of Guatemala's once-feared drug trafficker Waldemar Lorenzana may now include Alzheimer's.

The Fall of Guatemala's 3 Top Drug Lords

GUATEMALA / 29 OCT 2014

The stories of the captures of Walter Montejo, Elio Lorenzana, and Walther Overdick -- three of Guatemala's criminal capos wanted by the US -- shed light on the degree of…

Has Extradited Guatemala Criminal 'Patriarch' Turned US Informant?

EXTRADITION / 19 AUG 2014

The extradited former head of Guatemala's Lorenzana criminal organization has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges after reportedly being offered a deal by US authorities, something likely to become commonplace as…

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Guatemala Social Insecurity Investigation Makes Front Page News

10 DEC 2021

InSight Crime’s latest investigation into a case of corruption within Guatemala's social security agency linked to the deaths of patients with kidney disease made waves in…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela El Dorado Investigation Makes Headlines

3 DEC 2021

InSight Crime's investigation into the trafficking of illegal gold in Venezuela's Amazon region generated impact on both social media and in the press. Besides being republished and mentioned by several…

THE ORGANIZATION

Gender and Investigative Techniques Focus of Workshops

26 NOV 2021

On November 23-24, InSight Crime conducted a workshop called “How to Cover Organized Crime: Investigation Techniques and A Focus on Gender.” The session convened reporters and investigators from a dozen…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Names Two New Board Members

19 NOV 2021

In recent weeks, InSight Crime added two new members to its board. Joy Olson is the former executive director of the Washington Office on Latin America…

THE ORGANIZATION

Senate Commission in Paraguay Cites InSight Crime

12 NOV 2021

InSight Crime’s reporting and investigations often reach the desks of diplomats, security officials and politicians. The latest example occurred in late October during a commission of Paraguay's Senate that tackled…

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