The Public Ministry (MP) reported that the Sacatepéquez District Prosecutor’s Office is following up on the investigation of the armed attack occurred on the night of July 18 in San Miguel Dueñas, Sacatepéquez, where Cristián Alexander López Pérez, alias “el Tiny”, and Héctor David Noriega Sotoj died. Alexandro José Galindo Arellano was also injured in the incident and was transferred to a healthcare center in Antigua Guatemala.
The three men, pointing out as members of the Neighborhood 18 and operators of the Caradurashad criminal records. López Pérez had a record for the crimes of extortion and illegal transportation or transfer of firearms, from September 24, 2012, and another for attempted kidnapping or kidnapping, from February 6, 2016.
In addition, on June 14, 2021, he was captured during raids in the Refugio de San Rafael neighborhood, zone 18, where authorities seized three bags of marijuana. López Pérez was held in the El Boquerón prison, the Preventive Center of Zone 18 and the Preventive Center for Men of Mazatenango for the crime of illicit trade, trafficking and storage.
The MP reported that, alias Tiny, he was being investigated for an incident that occurred in the Preventive Prison for Men in zone 18, where he was being held in preventive detention and in which people died. He added that he was only part of the investigation and that there was no arrest warrant against him in that case.
Alexandro José Galindo Arellano remained detained in the Preventive zone 18 for the crime of illicit trade, trafficking and storage, in 2016. Meanwhile, Héctor David Noriega Sotoj was captured on June 3, 2026 and transferred to the Criminal Justice Court for Misdemeanors in Guatemala, where he regained his freedom after paying a penalty for disturbing public order. In addition, the investigating entity reported that it had a current arrest warrant requested by the Women’s Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, the three victims were traveling in a pick-up truck when they were intercepted by two vehicles while leaving a residential complex. Several armed men descended and fired repeatedly before fleeing.
At the crime scene, MP prosecutors located 159 ballistic evidence and three cell phones inside the vehicle involved.
The MP said he interviewed witnesses and requested recordings from the security cameras that captured the attack, with the aim of identifying those responsible.
The National Civil Police (PNC) maintains as its main hypothesis that the attack is related to the dispute between the Mara Salvatrucha (MS), Barrio 18 and the group known as “the Caraduras“.
The investigations indicate that this criminal struggle, which began in the El Gallito neighborhood, zone 3 of the capital, extended to zone 6, where “the Caraduras” previously operated. According to the PNC, the Mara Salvatrucha seeks to displace that structure to consolidate control of retail drug distribution and extortion.
You might be interested in: MS-13 displaces Los Caradura from El Gallito and control by drug dealing would increase violence, according to authorities
What happened in San Miguel Dueñas, Sacatepéquez?
According to the investigation, the three alleged gang members were traveling in a red Ford Ranger pick-up truck when they were intercepted by two trucks, one gray and the other red. Several armed men got out of these vehicles, shot repeatedly and then fled towards National Route 14 and Ciudad Vieja.
The deceased were identified as Cristián Alexander López Pérez, alias “el Tiny”, and Héctor David Noriega Sotoj. The injured person is Alexandro José Galindo Arellano, who was transferred with multiple gunshot wounds to the Pedro de Bethancourt National Hospital, in Antigua Guatemala. His health status is reserved, according to authorities.
The National Civil Police reported that the first investigations indicate that the attack was carried out by members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS) against Barrio 18 and “Los Caradura”, for the control of drug dealing in that department.
The links and a sentence
According to the PNC database, Alexandro José Galindo Arellano has a record for the crime of illicit trade, trafficking and storage, dated August 10, 2016.
According to the Public Ministry, that day he was captured at La Aurora International Airport when he intended to travel to Switzerland with 77 drug capsules inside his body. That case gave rise to an investigation by the Narcotics Crimes Prosecutor’s Office that allowed the dismantling, in March 2019, of a criminal structure allegedly linked to the international transit of drugs between Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, with links to the Gulf cartel.
As a result of this investigation, 15 people were captured, including Marvin Estuardo Alfaro Bravo, alias “Stuart”, as well as five agents of the National Civil Police, accused of collaborating with the organization. In May 2025, the Ninth Criminal Sentencing Court convicted three former agents for the crime of obstruction of justice.
For his part, Héctor David Noriega Sotoj was captured on June 3, 2026 and transferred to the Criminal Peace Court for Misdemeanors in Guatemala. The judge ordered his release after imposing a sanction for disturbing public order.