Following an armed confrontation, Guatemalan anti-drug agents arrested three Guatemalans suspected of belonging to the Mexican Los Zetas cartel, which is believed responsible for the massacre of twenty-seven peasants on a rural property on 14 May, and seized 336 kilos of cocaine, the police announced.
Following an armed confrontation, Guatemalan anti-drug agents arrested three Guatemalans suspected of belonging to the Mexican Los Zetas cartel, which is believed responsible for the massacre of twenty-seven peasants on a rural property on 14 May, and seized 336 kilos of cocaine, the police announced.
“Three individuals were arrested, and Mexican documents were seized from them, so that the investigation is pointing toward their possibly being members of Los Zetas or having ties with that (criminal) organization,” police spokesperson Donald González told AFP.
The three suspects were detained after a pursuit when they failed to obey an order to stop at a police checkpoint on the Atlantic highway, and in their attempt to escape, they drove onto a dead-end road, where the confrontation took place, González indicated.
The agents also seized 336 kilos of cocaine, three armored vehicles, two AK-47 rifles, and two M-16s, as well as ammunition.
The Guatemalan authorities attribute to Los Zetas the massacre of twenty-seven peasants on a rural property in the northern department of Petén on 14 May and the murder of a public prosecutor last week.
President Álvaro Colom imposed a state of emergency in Petén two days after the massacre, as a result of which sixteen suspects have been detained, seven of them Mexicans.
Los Zetas, whose networks extend from the southern United States to several countries in Central America, are a group created by Mexican military personnel who deserted some years ago to join the Gulf cartel, with which they are now clashing.