According to anti -narcotics researchers, in recent years they have captured members who collaborate with The Flexes Cartel, dedicated to the transfer of drugs to Mexico and then sent to the United StatesBut they point out that leaders have evaded justice due to the tactics they use in the area where they operate.
They affirmed that they have carried out operations in Huehuetenango, where it is presumed that the leaders inhabit, but only seize weapons and other illicit and have not achieved captures.
“We are aware that the population collaborates with this structure and, when raids are carried out, sometimes they prevent the passage of the National Civil Police and the Public Ministry, while the criminals escape,” they said.
They added that they have detected people who monitor the main routes, the so -called “flags.”
“We have seen how there are vigilantes about 100 kilometers from where the leaders are located or when they perform transactions. When we arrive at the property, they have already left, ”they emphasized.
They commented that the intelligence work carried out with other countries has shown how these drug traffickers take refuge in Mexico for weeks and then return to Guatemala “for blind border points.”
Huista cartel and their operators
The Organization of the fleeing, the cartel that emerged in Huehuetenango, in the northwestern area of Guatemala, expanded, like other criminal networks within the illegal drug trafficking industry, driven by the high drug demand that emerged decades in the United States and other latitudes ago.
This criminal group was founded by Eugenio Darío Molina López, known as Boots, and ALER BALDOMERO SAMAYOA RECINOS, Cicada, arrested on March 12.
United States sanctioned members of that cartel for drug transfer in 2022 to the north of the continent.
- ALER Baldomero Samayoa Recinos allegedly coordinated the transport of cocaine from Huehuetenango to Chiapas and was a financial operator of the group. Reports link it to Guatemalan policy through Parlacen and the National Change Union (UCN) party. He was arrested on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
- Eugenio Darío Molina López (“Boots”): One of the main leaders. Supervised cocaine traffic from South and Central America to Mexico. He was accused in the US. In 2019. A reward of US $ 10 million for its capture.
- Axel Bladimir Montejo Sáenz: Son -in -law of Molina López (“Boots”), Key Lieutenant and Coordinator of the Transport of Narcotics. Accused in the USA in 2017.
- Freddy Arnoldo Salazar Flores: son -in -law of Samayoa Recinos (“Chicharra”), handles storage and transport of cocaine. He was also deputy of Parlacen. He was cusado in the US in 2016.
- Werner Darío Molina Montejo: son of Molina López (leader). Participated in the commercial relations of the organization.
- Ervin René Moreno López: Accountant of a company controlled by Molina López.
- Roger Antulio Samayoa Montejo: son of Samayoa Recinos (leader), lieutenant and operations coordinator.
At present, of the seven people who designated the United States, it has only been captured aller Baldomero Samayoa Recinos, the others, remain fugitive.
The drug trafficking cartel in Guatemala
Being a border territory, the clan of fleeing made this area a key point of influence for cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin smuggling from its base in Guatemala to North America.
To achieve this, it established connections with Mexican organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, with which it was involved in the production, distribution and sale of prohibited substances, warned the United States Department of the Treasury by sanctioning the organization in 2022.
By then, the group had already evolved.
In the beginning, they dedicated themselves to the cultivation of poppy in the valleys and mountains of Huehuetenango, a conducive environment where community members knew the terrain well.
Subsequently, they expanded their operations to their nearest territory, San Marcos, and, with the growth of drug trafficking, they expanded their illegal activities to the importation of chemical precursors from China to manufacture methamphetamines.
The Financial Integrity Global Organization (GFI), a Washington DC Studies Center, points out that fleeing are also dedicated to money laundering, arms and people trafficking – known as coyotage -, as well as smuggling and various acts of corruption.
The criminal group has also diversified its income with the operation of hotels, resorts and restaurants, according to a GFI report.