On January 16, 2021, Guatemalan authorities captured Álvaro Rodolfo Oliva Reyes, a narcotrafficker investigated for participating in an organized crime ring that shipped cocaine from South America to the United States.
“In Zacapa, anti-drug agents apprehended a man wanted for narcotrafficking. The detainee is Álvaro Rodolfo Oliva Reyes, age 47, who has an extradition arrest warrant,” the Guatemalan National Civil Police said on Twitter.
According to a statement the Guatemalan Office of the Attorney General posted on Facebook, Oliva has an order to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, where he is accused of manufacturing and distributing cocaine.
Authorities allege that Oliva was the Guatemalan liaison to a South American organization that trafficked Colombian cocaine. The alleged criminal is being held at Mariscal Zavala Preventive Detention Center, awaiting authorization for his extradition to the United States to face trial.
“The authorities identified that [Oliva] worked for a drug trafficking organization, operating across South, Central, and North America. The organization uses a sophisticated structure and methods to manufacture, acquire, store, transport, and distribute multiple tons of cocaine bound for the United States,” the Office of the Attorney General said.
“The authorities identified that [Oliva] worked for a drug trafficking organization, operating across South, Central, and North America. The organization uses a sophisticated structure and methods to manufacture, acquire, store, transport, and distribute multiple tons of cocaine bound for the United States,” Office of the Attorney General.
Second blow to narcotrafficking
Oliva’s detention is the second important blow that Guatemalan authorities have dealt to international narcotrafficking in 2021. Authorities arrested Mario Aldredo Hurtarte Ramírez, alias Cantinflas, as he arrived from Panama at La Aurora International Airport on January 14.
Hurtarte is also under investigation for narcotrafficking crimes in the United States, where he is linked to heroin trafficking.
“This person [had] an extradition arrest warrant for the crime of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute heroin in the United States,” the Guatemalan National Civil Police reported.