The armed attack against Helver Romeo Beltetón It occurred in the early morning of May 31, according to a report from the National Civil Police (PNC).
Beltetón was traveling with his daughter, his 16-year-old niece, and a friend of the young women, 25, in a black pick-up truck, with official plates O-499BBZ, which belongs to the PNC and is assigned as part of the officer’s security. The four were returning from a religious activity in Patulul, Suchitepéquez.
When the family reached kilometer 11 of the route to the Atlantic, two vehicles approached the car and began shooting. The exchange of fire ended two kilometers later.
The first investigations by investigators from the Specialized Criminal Investigation Division (Deic) suggest that members of the Mara Salvatrucha would be involved in the attack against the former police chief, where the 16-year-old girl and her 25-year-old friend died.
According to the PNC, after the attack, a surveillance camera scan was carried out throughout the sector and thus the two vehicles from which the deadly attack originated were identified. The cameras allow us to determine that the gunmen after the attack drove to kilometer 13.5 of the route to the Atlantic, where there is a return and returned towards the capital, specifically towards zone 7 of the capital.
Investigators located 23 properties linked to the criminal structure that allegedly planned the attack and last Tuesday all the residences were raided.
According to file MP001-2026-26379, of the Prosecutor’s Office against the Crime of Femicide, of the Public Ministry, the raids were carried out in the Jireh neighborhood, in zone 1, and in the Bosques de Linda Vista residential complexes, zone 7, both in Guatemala City.
During the investigation, prosecutors located one of the vehicles supposedly used in the attack: a white sedan with license plates 761KSK. Inside they found at least 13 pieces of evidence, including personal documents, water bottles with possible fingerprints, and a black jacket that would have been used by one of the suspects.
In addition, Saulo Sebastián Pérez Sunún, 26, was captured, indicated by the authorities to be linked to the case. According to the investigation, the detainee allegedly participated in the armed attack against Beltetón and his companions.
The Public Ministry reported that Pérez Sunún is wanted for the crime of murder, according to an arrest warrant issued by the Second Criminal Court of First Instance of Guatemala.
Background
Police records indicate that Pérez Sunún was arrested when he was 16 years old. In 2016 he entered a correctional center for illegally carrying a firearm and remained incarcerated until 2023. During that period he was involved in two riots that occurred in centers managed by the Ministry of Social Welfare (SBS).
direct attack
The PNC maintains that the attack against the former deputy director of the institution was direct. However, investigators are still investigating the motive for the incident and whether it is related to the functions that Beltetón performed as deputy director general of Anti-Narcotics Information Analysis, and later as deputy director of the institution.
The authorities also reported that the shell casings located at the scene were sent to the Ballistics laboratory of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif).
According to investigators, the attackers used 9 millimeter caliber pistols during the attack.
Who is Helver Beltetón?
Commissioner General Helver Romeo Beltetón Moscoso has a degree in Criminology and Criminalistics, graduated from the fifth promotion of the basic course of police officers.
He has 24 years of service and has served as head of the Investigations Department and deputy director general of Anti-narcotics Information Analysis.
In 2023 he expressed concern about the advance of coca leaf planting and synthetic drugs in the country.
On January 15, 2024, the then Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, appointed him deputy general director of the PNC, position in which he accompanied the general director, David Estuardo Custodio Boteo.
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The appointment was part of the changes made to the institution’s command structure tohe beginning of the new government administration.
In February 2025, he declared that the Inspector General’s Office would investigate the actions of agents involved in the arrest of a firefighter who was responding to an emergency in Mixco. He argued that the policeias acted in accordance with their duties while the internal investigations were developing.
In November 2025, the Ministry of the Interior reported on the dismissal of Beltetón as deputy director general of the PNC. Héctor Noé González Prera was appointed in his place, as part of changes in the senior leadership of the police institution.