The Huistas are one of the most powerful drug trafficking groups in Guatemala, controlling critical territory along the border with Mexico. The group’s longstanding ties to businessmen, law enforcement officials, and politicians have enabled it to dominate the underworld in parts of northwestern Guatemala.
History
The Huistas have been active in the narcotics trade in the border department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, since the late 1990s and their members have been targeted by both US and Guatemalan authorities since the late 2010s.
While marijuana and poppy cultivation began in some mountainous areas of Huehuetenango in the 1970s, these were isolated activities driven by demand from independent Mexican traffickers. It was not until the 1990s that groups like the Huistas developed the capacity to manage the storage and transport of drugs into Mexican territory.
Initially, these operations were dominated by Mexicans affiliated with the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels, who had established alliances with local Guatemalan groups and had experience in contraband and migrant smuggling. Over time, these Guatemalan groups built their own logistics networks, allowing them to move drugs from other parts of Guatemala to the border.
Though traditionally linked to Mexican criminal organizations, over time the Huistas have acquired a large degree of autonomy. They have expanded from mere transshipment of drugs to importing precursor chemicals from China and producing methamphetamine for export, according to US authorities. Additionally, they control poppy cultivation for heroin production in the mountainous regions of Guatemala.
In addition to their drug trafficking operations, the Huistas have developed a network of legitimate businesses including hotels, recreation centers, workshops, and construction companies. These ventures — some of which are under international sanctions — allow the group to launder illicit funds and forge connections with businesspeople, officials, and other authorities through intermediaries at both local and national levels.
Leadership
The Huistas organization operates with a centralized and hierarchical structure, incorporating specialized units for money laundering, as well as smuggling, storing, and producing drugs.
The group is primarily led by Eugenio Darío Molina-López, alias “Don Dario,” who allegedly oversees all operations of the Huistas. He has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, and the US Department of State has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
Another leader within the organization was Aler Baldomero Samayoa Recinos, alias “Chicharra,” who was arrested by Mexican security forces in March 2025. Before his detention, Chicharra allegedly managed the group’s trafficking operations, specifically coordinating the transportation of cocaine shipments from Huehuetenango, Guatemala, into the Mexican state of Chiapas.
Geography
The Huistas dominate the department of Huehuetenango, which borders Chiapas, Mexico. This area is a crucial drug trafficking corridor and a vital route for goods, people, and international migration.
The group takes its name from the region it controls; “Huista” refers to San Antonio Huista and Santa Ana Huista, two small municipalities located in the northeast of Huehuetenango. They control other municipalities in the region, such as La Democracia and the capital city of the department, Huehuetenango.
The group’s money laundering operations have enabled the creation of a network of businesses that offer employment opportunities to residents.
Any disclosure of the group’s activities is met with violent retribution. The Huistas also enforce a strict “zero tolerance” policy toward common crime within their territory. They have executed suspected gang members, rapists, and other criminals, effectively preventing the presence of rivals and reinforcing their role as the de facto guarantors of community safety.
Allies and Enemies
The Huistas have significantly benefited from the increasing presence of Mexican criminal groups in Central America, a region that is strategically crucial for the production and transportation of drugs to the United States and Europe.
Primarily, the Huistas serve as transporters in the regional drug trafficking landscape. They are responsible for moving cocaine and other drugs from Guatemala into Mexico, thereby facilitating the operations of both the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Drugs are typically transported from Guatemala’s eastern border, southern coast, or Guatemala City into Huehuetenango. The group utilizes caravans of vehicles with hidden compartments and makeshift runways on roads in northern Huehuetenango for rapid drug plane operations. These road sections are illuminated by torches at night, allowing planes to land under cover of darkness, unload the drugs into waiting pickup trucks, and take off again in a matter of minutes.
The Huistas have infiltrated state institutions in Guatemala across multiple levels of government. Their links with local politicians, law enforcement, and other government officials have provided the group with protection and the ability to operate with relative impunity, allowing them to expand and sustain their illegal businesses.
Prospects
The Huistas maintain a critical role in the cocaine supply chain, serving as the link between major criminal groups and acting as logistical facilitators for larger drug trafficking operations that extend beyond their immediate control. The group’s discreet approach, territorial dominance, and political connections have helped it weather a series of state crackdowns that took down a host of notorious Guatemala drug rings in the 2010s.
Most of the Huistas’ leaders remain at large, despite recent pressure from US and Guatemalan authorities. The group’s secretive nature makes it difficult to gauge the impact of arrests and sanctions, though there is little to suggest its control of strategic territory or partnerships with major Mexican cartels have been compromised.