Guatemalan security forces arrested 35 people this Tuesday – including 25 police officers – allegedly linked to a migrant smuggling network from America, Africa and Asia seeking to reach the United States.
The Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) detailed that, in addition to the 25 members of the National Civil Police (PNC) detained, there are arrest warrants against four other agents. Likewise, 10 more people, allegedly responsible for the gang, were arrested.
Prosecutor Marvin Orellana told journalists that the investigation into the human trafficking network began in 2021 and “several events regarding the functioning of the” criminal structure have been documented. He explained that the network operated in the departments (provinces) of Chiquimula (east), Guatemala (center), Retalhuleu (southwest) and San Marcos (west), with the transfer of irregular migrants initially to Mexico and then to the United States.
Orellana also said that patrols were not used to transport migrants in Guatemalan territory, but they were used to make payments linked to the criminal network. According to the investigation, the detained police officers charged bribes to the migrant groups to allow them to advance through Guatemalan territory and, in other cases, they let them pass without checking them. Orellana pointed out that these migrants came mainly from Cuba, China, Ecuador, Haiti, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam, among other countries.
The police officers were detained in a large operation, to be later transferred to the Court Tower of the Guatemalan Judicial Branch, a few kilometers from the center of Guatemala City. The agents are accused of illicit association, breach of duties, passive bribery and obstruction of justice, according to the MP.
Every year, thousands of people cross the Central American country irregularly in search of reaching the United States, according to data from international organizations.
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