From 2021 to 2024, two companies were victims of extortion by the Mara Salvatrucha. Every week, the gang members demanded between Q1 thousand and Q7 thousand from businessmen, detailed the Prosecutor’s Office against the Crime of Extortion of the Public Ministry (MP).
The clique responsible for having obtained Q635,600 extortion proceeds is the Leeward Locos Salvatrucha of the MS, whose operations center is zones 5 and 9 of Guatemala City and the municipality of Amatitlán, authorities explained.
The leaders of that clique are José Balmore Alegría Merino, known as the Psycho and Daniel Roberto Arias Figueroa, the dwarf”, who were notified, along with 11 other inmates, of having orchestrated extortion against the transporters and allegedly having participated in eight murders, the MP reported.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office investigation, five deaths were recorded in zone 5, two in zone 9 and one in Amatitlán.
“It was possible to establish the areas of operations of this criminal organization, as well as its members and those who participated as material authors and intellectual authors,” explained the Prosecutor’s Office.
“Eight murders were solved… these with the purpose of killing members of the rival gang, and in other cases to instill fear derived from the fact that the victims did not want to access the extortion payment,” said the MP.
Among those captured are alleged hitmen, collection operators and a “jumping homie”, in addition to other members of the structure.
Collection modalities
According to the MP, one of the main modalities was direct payment.
“The modality in many cases was hand-to-hand payment. The identification of several members of the organization who went to the places where the victims were summoned to make the extortion payment was achieved,” explained the Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation determined that part of the money that the structure received was deposited in bank accounts of the gang members or their operators.
Use of personal information to intimidate
The MP reported that among the 42 detainees there is a group of imitators, who obtained personal data from the victims to generate fear and extort.
“The modality they used was to make a call to the victims and provide them with personal information, for example the place where they work, the vehicle in which they travel… and through threats they achieved the objective of making the victims pay,” detailed the Prosecutor’s Office.
Waiting to appear before a judge
The MP points to the 42 detainees and 13 inmates notified for the crimes of extortion, illicit association, extortionate obstruction of traffic, intimidating extortion, murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit illicit trade, trafficking and storage, as well as illegal carrying of firearms and possession of ammunition for the exclusive use of the Army.
“More than 20 firearms of different calibers, 39 magazines, 205 ammunition, different drugs, two telescopic sights, cell phones, a large sum of money, vests and caps with insignia similar to those of the National Civil Police, clothing with insignia similar to those of the MP, shackles, balaclavas and several telephones have been seized,” the National Civil Police indicated after the operation.
43 MS cliques operate in Guatemala
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 as the main leader of this structure, the Psychowho “coordinates the functioning 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.