Edgar Morales, prosecutor against the extortion of the MP Public Ministry, indicated that the gangs have a hierarchical structure and that their members obey the top leaders of each Mara.
MP data detailed that prisons of Pavón, Pavoncito, Fraijanes, Cantel and La Granja Canada They are the centers where more extortion calls are carried out.
In those penalties the ringleaders of the gangs and their operators are held, according to the investigations.
Morales explained that several members of The Ruedita del Barrio 18a kind of advice that makes decisions inside the gang, are held in the Fraijanes prison.
He added that there is another substructure of that mara called The eleven wheelwhich operates in sector 11 of the preventive for men in zone 18.
The leader of that faction is Aldo Dupié Ochoa, aka The Wolfwho, according to investigations, controls the jail.
“When we do requisitions, we have to negotiate with the gang members of sector 11 because they have keys and control in that place,” A MP prosecutor said.
Morales indicated that gang members have built and remodeled rooms and other common areas within that sector.
“They have carried out constructions within the preventive center with the aim of improving the conditions for the members of the structure. The funds come from the gang ”, detailed.
La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) only has a substructure that controls the entire gang and is called The Council of the Ninewhose members are held in the Pavoncito prison.
From that prison, the leaders order extortion and other crimes, according to investigations.
In addition, during a requisition on November 19, 2024, the construction of luxury apartments for bosses of this gang.
The authorities of the Penitentiary System denounced on that occasion to the director, deputy director and warden in charge of the center for allowing the construction of infrastructure illegally, without SP.
MS-13 leader of a leader
Of that penalty José Arturo Lagos Reyes escapedaka El Phantom, a leader of the MS-13 and member of the Council of the nine.
On February 14, 2024, during a prison count, the prison system detected its escape.
The prosecutor against extortion explained that in the El Boquerón jail other members of the MS-13 ordering extortion are held.
He commented that in the detention centers of Puerto Barrios, Zacapa, La Granja Canada in Escuintla and Cantel in Quetzaltenango Groups of gang members dedicated to making extortion calls still operate.
Imitors and Organized Crime
The prosecutor said there are groups of imitators that are part of organized crime structures.
“They do have an impact, since they have attack capacity,” Morales argued.
He added that these imitators operate from the Pavón and Rehabilitation Criminal Farm and Canada Criminal Farm.
Renovation prison 1, without gang members
On November 5, 2024, the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob) inaugurated the jail Renewal 1formerly known as Infiernito.
During the protocol ceremony, he explained that it is a maximum security prison, equipped with advanced technology and better protocols to avoid the entry of illicit.
The privileges of the inmates cataloged as “High danger” They would end in that prison and, according to the Mingob, the leaders of criminal structures dedicated to extortion that operated from prisons were transferred there.
However, among inmates transferred to renewal 1 There were no leaders of the 18th neighborhood or the Mara Salvatruchasaid the Ministry of the Interior.
Eddy Morales, former director of the Penitentiary System, said that Mingob probably did not transfer to Las Maras to prison renewal 1 to avoid reprisals from gang members against the population.
“When moving leaders, this would cause disagreements, trifulcas and riots within the centers for deprivation of liberty,” he said.
He added that between 2009 and 2010, when he was in charge of the SP, there were armed attacks on the streets after he decided to transfer the Maras and withdraw privileges.
The Doctor of Criminology and Independent Analyst Federico Reyes He commented that the transfer of gang leaders to a maximum security prison and without privileges could generate a wave of violence in the country.
“I think it is generated discomfort, there can be reaction from the gang members.”he said.
Reyes said that the National Civil Police (PNC) has done a good investigation of the way of operating these structures, but there is a lack of direction in how to continue those investigations.
“The prosecution against extortion has a very good technology, the MP criminal analysis direction is quite strong, let’s say. But I believe that the idea is comprehensive analysis, ”he acknowledged.
He said that the phenomenon of extortion has increased in recent years and that now, for the authorities, it is a challenge to control it.
“The methodology that Mingob has applied is quite effective, but it is not supplied because the crime is mutating periodically,” he said.
Increase of complaints by extortion
PNC statistics show that in 2024 25 thousand 151 complaints were registered by extortion, exceeding 18,96 reported in 2023.
In addition, in the first two months of 2025, the PNC received 4,871 complaints for this crime.
The authorities of the General Directorate of the Penitentiary System indicated that, in order to prevent extortion calls from continuing to be carried out from prisons, they have designed a plan that includes the acquisition of equipment and technology to block signals in the detention centers.
“Likewise, investment in prison infrastructure and the recovery of more centers under the Penitentiary Renewal Model,” they said.
In addition, they emphasized that they continue to file complaints against prison guards who cooperate with those deprived of liberty in the entry of illegal prisons. They also assured that they continue to collaborate “unrestricted with the authorities in charge of the investigations.”