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October 28, 2024 – 18:15
Guatemala City, Oct 28 (EFE).- Guatemalan security forces captured this Monday in the northwest of the territory a 44-year-old man wanted by the United States for extradition, accused of belonging to a drug trafficking cartel from 2013 to 2020.
The Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC) detailed that the detainee is Abelardo Mefiboset Villatoro Hidalgo, captured at the request of a court in Texas, in the south of the United States.
The Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) similarly pointed out that Villatoro Hidalgo was identified as a “member” from 2013 to 2020 of an organization dedicated to drug trafficking.
“He was responsible for transporting, directing and supervising a part of the organization’s drug trafficking activities in Guatemala,” added the Prosecutor’s Office.
The arrest took place in a village in the municipality of La Democracia, in the department (province) of Huehuetenango, bordering Mexico, located about 300 kilometers northwest of Guatemala City.
The authorities stressed that Villatoro Hidalgo will be charged in the United States with the crimes of “conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine.”
So far this year, Guatemalan security forces have detained 24 people for extradition to the United States for drug trafficking, including Villatoro Hidalgo.
On October 17, Colombian Jhon Fredy Osorio Giraldo was also arrested by Guatemala to face justice in the North American nation for the same cause.
Due to its geographical position, Guatemalan territory is used by drug trafficking cartels as a bridge to transport drugs from South America to the United States. EFE
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