On March 10, 2025, during a joint operation between guards of the Penitentiary System and the National Civil Police, Carlos Roberto León Barillas He was transferred from Cantel, prison located in Quetzaltenango, to renewal 1, maximum security prison in Escuintla.
An investigation of the General Directorate of Civil Intelligence and Penitentiary Intelligence determined that León Barillas demanded a share of the inmates –Talacha– In exchange for a cement plate to sleep and not to attack them.
León Barillas, who now saw an orange uniform with the number 236 within renewal 1, is the son of Juan José León Ardón, aka “Juancho León”, Cabecilla del Clan Los Leones, which trafficked drug between Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Juancho León was 42 years old when he was killed by Los Zetas in 2008 at the La Laguna spa, Zacapa.
Carlos Roberto León Barillas is sentenced to 105 years in prison for the murder of three men in November 2013, and is also pointed out of having beheaded seven inmates during a riot on May 19, 2021 in Cantel.
In February 2017, the judges of the Second Criminal Judgment of Quetzaltenango indicated that León Barillas led a criminal structure dedicated to drug trafficking, in which he served first as a guard, then as a pilot and finally as a drug trafficker. In addition, they said that he participated in the murder of Over Dagoberto López Samayoa, José Loaiza and Odilio de Jesús López González, lawyer of López and president of the Departmental Electoral Board of Quiché.
According to the investigation of the Public Ministry, León Barillas tried to strip the victims of a estate valued in Q5 million.
The son of “Juancho” León was held since 2016 in the Cantel prison until last Thursday and is pointed out to have caused a riot four years ago to kill seven inmates.
The massacre occurred on the same day that Anais del Carmen Gamboa Méndez was shot dead in the 9th Avenue of Zone 6 of the departmental head of Quetzaltenango.
On that occasion, the PNC indicated that the riot was a consequence of the murder of Gamboa Méndez.
Apparently, those deprived of decapitated liberty had demanded an extortion of Q20 thousand to León Barillas.
SP ensures that transfers and requisitions will follow
Sergio Vela, general director of the Penitentiary System, indicated that León Barillas is cataloged as a high danger and that was transferred to a center where the deprived of liberty do not have access to cell phones or any type of technology.
He added that this transfer is part of a security and control strategy in the detention centers. In addition, he affirmed that the requisitions and operations in the country’s penalties will continue based on complaints and risk analysis.