The arrest of Guatemala’s most wanted fugitive marks a breakthrough in a years-long campaign to dismantle one of the country’s main drug networks. But the capture alone may not be enough to curb the group’s operations.
Aler Samayoa Recinos, the alleged leader of the Huistas drug clan, was detained on March 11 in Chiapas, southern Mexico, after more than six years as a fugitive. Following his arrest, he was handed to Guatemalan authorities and transported to a courthouse in Guatemala City.
Also known as “Chicharra,” Samayoa Recinos faces criminal charges in Guatemala and the United States. Both countries accuse him of leading the Huistas, a drug trafficking clan based in Guatemala’s western province of Huehuetenango.
US prosecutors indicted Samayoa Recinos on drug trafficking charges in 2018. The Treasury Department later sanctioned him for allegedly coordinating cocaine shipments between Guatemala and Mexico.
SEE ALSO:US Sanctions Up Ante in Hunt for Guatemala’s Huistas
The US Embassy in Guatemala applauded Samayoa’s arrest in a post on social media, describing it as a “major breakthrough in the fight against drug trafficking.”
Samayoa Recinos now faces the prospect of extradition to the United States, but must resolve his legal situation in Guatemala before he can be transferred into foreign custody.
His arrest marks the first capture of a top Huistas leader. Much of the group’s hierarchy has remained intact despite intense pressure from Guatemalan and US authorities.
The Huistas have been active in the narcotics trade since the late 1990s. During that time, the group has forged partnerships with some of Mexico’s most powerful drug groups and also branched out into poppy cultivation and synthetic drug production, according to US authorities.
InSight Crime Analysis
Though Samayoa Recinos’ will rattle the Huistas, it may not threaten the group’s position as one of Guatemala’s dominant drug clans.
“The arrest of Samayoa Recinos represents an important blow to the Huistas’ structure, particularly to its leadership and operations,” said Juan Francisco Sandoval, a former Guatemalan prosecutor who previously investigated the drug group. “The detention may also lead to in-fighting or temporarily upset the group’s logistics,” he added.
But according to Sandoval, “the arrest of a top leader won’t necessarily lead to the group’s immediate collapse.”
This is partly because the group has spent decades consolidating its power base in remote territories in Huehuetenango, controlling lucrative smuggling routes on the Guatemala-Mexico border and protecting its operations by corrupting law enforcement.
The group has also built an extensive influence network that has included prominent Guatemalan politicians, allowing it to operate despite facing criminal investigations at home and abroad.
“Trying to conduct a normal investigation [in Huehuetenango] was very challenging because they had so much control,” said Alan Ajiatas, a former Guatemala drug prosecutor.
SEE ALSO:Huistas profile
The Huistas’ strength also stems from its strategic alliances with other criminal groups, particularly Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG). Both groups rely on networks like the Huistas to coordinate cocaine shipments from Guatemala into Mexico.
Proximity to Mexico has also allowed the group’s top leaders to hide out by crossing unmanned checkpoints along the porous border connecting Huehuetenango to the neighboring country.
The group’s other main leader, Darío Molina López, remains at large despite US authorities offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
The continuing crackdown on the Huistas comes as the US government increases pressure on regional authorities to arrest and extradite suspected drug kingpins. In recent years, the Huistas’ lower to middle ranks have also been shaken by arrests and US sanctions.
“It’s difficult to stay hidden for such a long time,” said Ajiatas.
Featured image: Alleged leader of the Huistas drug clan, Aler Samayoa Recinos, in jail in Guatemala City. Credit: Edwin Bercián / AFP