All About Juan Chamale

NEWS

Did Guatemala Military Help Escort Sinaloa Cartel's Cocaine?

COCAINE / 8 JUL 2021

A US investigation has shed light on the alleged participation of Guatemalan soldiers in a cocaine smuggling network linked to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, a reminder of the pivotal role the…

COCAINE / 10 JAN 2020

The arrest of a mayor in Guatemala's northern department of San Marcos has unveiled a criminal structure known as "Los Pochos" which investigators see as heirs of "Los Chamalé," formerly…

GUATEMALA / 11 NOV 2014

The criminal history of the drug trafficker who reportedly inherited the network once run by crime lord "Juan Chamale" sheds light on the ties between Central America's top criminal groups,…

GUATEMALA / 10 JUN 2014

Authorities in Guatemala say the underworld has fragmented in the wake of the arrests and extraditions of the country's top drug traffickers, but the flow of cocaine has been unaffected.

EXTRADITION / 29 FEB 2012

A Guatemalan court ruled that one of the country's most notorious alleged criminals, Juan Alberto Ortiz Lopez, alias 'Juan Chamale,' can be extradited to the United States, suggesting the practice…

EXTRADITION / 7 FEB 2012

A legal safeguard built into Guatemala's justice system is being used to stall the extraditions to the United States of some of the country's most notorious suspected drug traffickers.

GUATEMALA / 11 OCT 2011

International Crisis Group’s new report on Guatemala paints a bleak picture of a country overrun by Zetas and a government undermined by local drug lords, but it is as useful…

GUATEMALA / 4 MAY 2011

Guatemala's top drug lord, Juan Alberto Ortiz Lopez, alias "Juan Chamale," is accused of smuggling over 3,000 kilos of cocaine in small fishing boats in 2009, according to a…

GUATEMALA / 15 APR 2011

In recent years Guatemala and Mexico have seen demonstrations in apparent support of convicted or slain drug traffickers. But is it dangerous to interpret these rallies as sincere expressions of…

GUATEMALA / 31 MAR 2011

A trafficker believed to be a key contact for the Sinaloa Cartel was arrested in Guatemala on Wednesday. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) considered Guatemalan Juan Alberto Ortiz Lopez, alias…

GUATEMALA / 21 MAR 2011

There is a troubling trend in Guatemala that is very hard to measure: opium poppy production, which provides the raw material for heroin.

GUATEMALA PERSONALITIES / 2017-03-09 22:42:30

Until his arrest in March 2011, Juan Alberto Ortiz Lopez, alias "Juan Chamale," was ranked by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as Guatemala's number one drug trafficker. He…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…