Daniel Roberto Arias Figueroa, 31 years old, alias the dwarfis identified by the National Civil Police (PNC) and the Public Ministry (MP) as the leader of the Leeward Locos Salvatrucha (LLS) clique, of the Salvatrucha gang (MS).
Arias is now being investigated for allegedly ordering the attack on a prison from prison. cevicheria in zone 6 of the capital on April 21, where six people died and a five-year-old child was injured.
The ringleader has been arrested twice for being linked to extortion, murders and shootings in Guatemala City.
Arias Figueroa had already been arrested on May 25, 2019 in an operation against extortion and gangs. On that occasion, after the criminal investigation work carried out by the National Division against the Criminal Development of Gangs (Dipanda), he was identified as an alleged member of the Salvatrucha gang along with Luis Alexander Arroyo Zamora, 23 years old, and a 17-year-old teenager.
The investigations identified Arias Figueroa as the leader of the gang and in charge of extorting delivery drivers, businesses and markets.
On October 21, 2025, he was arrested again after a two-block chase on 19th Street and 10th Avenue, Zone 1.
During the arrest, according to the PNC, he was carrying a hidden pistol with a magazine and 14 ammunition. On that occasion, the Police indicated that Arias also had an arrest warrant against him for the crime of murder.
After he was linked to criminal proceedings, he was sent to the Pavincito prison, but intelligence work by the Penitentiary System and the PNC identified him as one of the gang’s operators from prison. Due to these events, on March 2, 2026, he was transferred to Renewal 1.
According to the Police, from that detention center he would continue giving instructions to criminal structures that operate in zones 4, 5 and 9 of Guatemala City.
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Clique structure
According to Dipanda reports, the Leeward Locos Salvatrucha clique is “one of the 43 cliques that make up the Mara Salvatrucha in Guatemala” and has a presence in key sectors of the capital.
The document states that “criminal activity is the collection of extortion, contract killings, firearms trafficking and recruitment of children, adolescents and women.”
Leaders of the “Leeward Locos Salvatrucha” clique
Dipanda identifies José Balmore Alegría Merino, alias “El Psyco,” as the main leader of this structure, who “coordinates the operation of the criminal structure from the prison center.”
Regarding his location, the report states that he is serving a 45-year sentence for attempted homicide in the El Boquerón Preventive Detention Center, Cuilapa, Santa Rosa.
Other leaders appear in the clique hierarchy:
- • Williams Alexander Ramírez Rivas, alias “Gorilla and/or Yauns of Leeward”
- • Daniel Roberto Arias Figueroa, alias “the Dwarf”
- • Edwin Antonio Alvarado, alias “Macuto or Snaider”
The report also identifies other areas of influence of the structure, such as “colony La Chácara, Lourdes, Santa Ana, Arrivillaga; zones 4 (Terminal) and 9 of Guatemala City, and San José Pinula”, which describes its territorial expansion.