Entrepreneurs who move vans with merchandise throughout the country year after year are millionaire losses for the theft of their units. Although the cases have dropped from 200 per month to 2 every two months, which could be attributed to coordinated actions between entrepreneurs and authorities, the phenomenon persists.
The owners of the merchandise have detected that the structures steal merchandise on demand and that the loot ends up on sale in the local markets.
Large -scale robberies against vans and trucks are perpetrated by 49% on the route to Pacific. Despite the arrests and operations of the authorities, merchandise theft persist although in lower quantity.
Ana Beatriz Herrera, representative of the private sector, indicated that they monitor 12 thousand units of heavy transport that transfer import, export, construction and products of the basic basket. Herrera said that the value of the merchandise stolen for each van ranges between Q30 thousand and Q500 thousand.
He added that, in the last 18 years, the way of operating with organized crime structures has mutated, and since 2024 the use of signal blockers has been recurring among the robbers. It is estimated that 49% of large -scale robberies against vans and trucks are perpetrated by 49% on the Route to Pacific.
Herrera said that, on average, during 2017 and 2018, 200 monthly robberies of heavy transport vehicles were registered.
“They were the worst years, but then control of the situation remained, although the robberies continued to affect economically,” he said.
He commented that, in 2019 and 2020, the monthly average was 58 stolen vans, but in the following year there was a rebound to 190. In 2022, 129 stolen containers were reported every month.
“In 2023, after eight years, we had incidents with 200 monthly incidents. I think that all changes of government generate some instability and there is a use of these groups,” he explained.
The Guatemalan Chamber of Cargo Transportation (CGTC) reported that, at the beginning of 2024, between 10 and 15 weekly robberies were recorded.
“That’s where we started gathering and the Ministry of the Interior created a security table to address the phenomenon that was affecting us. That is where they began to give the consignments of the blockers,” Herrera said.
The researchers determined that the members of these criminal structures are members of heavy transport, lawyers, owners of wineries and “loaders”, who are responsible for transferring the stolen merchandise of the stores to the trucks.
Robs to vans decrease, but criminal structures persist
From April to December of last year, the robberies against vans decreased to two per month, and from January 1 to April 15, 2025, two cases were recorded, according to statistics from the National Civil Police (PNC).
The businessmen said that other facts have been reported, but have implemented a methodology to recover merchandise.
“We monitor all trucks in real time, and when we observe that the GPS signal is lost and we do not have the image of the vehicle cameras, we alert the PNC,” said Marco Saravia, entrepreneur and security expert.
The private initiative, in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, assigned telephone numbers to the PNC police stations to respond to thefts.
“When we suspect a fact, we send a text message to the nearest police station and, in less than three minutes, they respond to us and give persecution to criminals. Thus we have been able to recover the merchandise, and the PNC has captured members of the structure,” said the entrepreneurs.
Departments with more robberies of vans and trucks
The investigations revealed that the theft are committed against heavy transport vehicles that transfer products of the basic basket, appliances and construction materials.
The investigations show that the stolen merchandise is initially taken to Bodegas, from where small trucks distribute it in markets in Guatemala, Escuintla, Chimaltenango and Santa Rosa.
In addition, they detailed that possibly the structure operates under orders, that is to say that the merchants demand the products and members of the band seek the container that moves them to steal them.
“This network has three ways to operate to steal a van. After the robbery, they take the product to Bodegas, from where pickups and small trucks move the merchandise to supply municipal and cantonal markets,” said a researcher.
He added that the band previously obtains information from the van and then pursues it to a desolate road section.
“The first way of operating is to intercept its victims about the asphalt tape and strip the pilot from the truck. One of the criminals leads the vehicle to a property, while leaving the pilot among the weeds, under death threats,” he explained.
Another modality is to follow the truck and, when the pilot stops, armed criminals approach and threaten him with death.
The third way is to deceive the driver making him believe that the trailer has mechanical failures.
“People aboard vehicles sign the pilot, and when he stops to inspect the unit, a group of armed men kidnaps him and puts a hood on his head. After several kilometers they leave him in desolate areas,” he said.
PNC disarticulate criminal structures
In accordance with the Subdirectorate of Criminal Investigation of the National Civil Police (PNC), 73 people were captured and sent three adolescents to the Courts of Minors in conflict with the criminal law, for their involvement in three structures dedicated to the theft of vans.
From January 1 to April 15, 2025, the PNC reported the arrest of nine people for that same crime. In addition, in the last 16 months, he seized 21 signal inhibitors.
The captured 21 devices designed to block the pilot phone signal, the global positioning system (GPS) and the cameras of heavy transport vehicles were seized.
“These devices also block the signal of highways and ambulances,” said the PNC.
The businessmen pointed out that the technology that criminals have begun to use has affected them, although the robberies have been reduced.
The Public Ministry was consulted on the progress of criminal proceedings against the union, but reported that they do not have a consolidated data consolidated. Some cases are in charge of the Prosecutor’s Office against organized crime, which also did not provide details about the results obtained against the criminal structures dedicated to the theft of vans.
Blockers are not regulated by a law
The researchers reported that seized signal blockers can have a market value of until Q25 thousand and are imported from countries like China.
Entrepreneurs warned that there is no specific regulation to regulate or prohibit the use of these devices.
“There are no penalties for carrying a signal blocker. The captured are bound to the process for theft or theft,” said Marco Saravia.
In November 2024, the Government Commission presented a law proposal to regulate the use of blockers. The objective is that its use is exclusively in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob), prohibiting its acquisition and use by individuals.
On May 7, when he still served as Vice Minister of Security, Claudia Palencia acknowledged that there are deficiencies and weaknesses that prevent the justice system from sanctioning those who use that technology, due to the absence of regulations.
Julio Marroquín, president of said Legislative Chamber, stressed that anyone can acquire these devices easily, which represents a risk to the safety of carriers and other citizens.
For six months, the bill remains stagnant in the legislative body.
“It is an answer in which the Congress of the Republic must also join to support the criminal phenomena that occur in Guatemala,” Palencia said.
On May 15, during a corporate security conference, Servio Camey, president of the Council of Security Advisors abroad at the United States.
Mingob invites entrepreneurs to join the security table
The former Security Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob), who held the position until last May 9, said that cooperation between the public and private sectors is essential to combat criminal structures.
He added that, during his management, a security table was created with the aim of strengthening trust between citizenship and Mingob.
“This has allowed us to have a low incidence in the theft of vans, and we want to encourage all sectors to approach the ministry to address these problems. In the end, as public officials, we have the obligation to respond to the population,” he said.