US imposes sanctions on Guatemalan cartel Los Huistas

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The U.S. Departments of State, Justice and Treasury on Friday sanctioned members of the Los Huistas cartel, a transnational criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking in Guatemala with ties to Mexican cartels and connections to Guatemalan politicians.

The Treasury Department, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), announced financial sanctions on all members and leaders of Los Huistas designated as a drug trafficking organization, as its actions “threaten the people and security of the United States and Guatemala,” it said in a newsletter of press.

According to the entity, Los Huistas have connections with the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel that operate in Mexico.

“Criminal groups like Los Huistas contribute to instability in Guatemala and the region,” said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

“The Los Huistas drug trafficking organization smuggles deadly narcotics, including cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, from Guatemala through Mexico for distribution in multiple cities in the United States. The Treasury and our government partners in the United States and Guatemala will continue to use all available resources to dismantle these criminal networks,” Nelson added.

Sanctions involve the freezing of the property or property in the United States of the designated persons and the prohibition of all types of transactions with them by Americans or within the United States.

The Justice Department also revealed two charges in separate cases against Aler Baldomero Samayoa-Recinos, alias “Chicharra” and one of the leaders of Los Huistas, and his son-in-law Freddy Arnoldo Salazar Flores, current deputy deputy in the Central American Parliament for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms of cocaine for shipment to the States United.

In 2018, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala — a United Nations body that dismantled organized crime and corruption groups in Guatemala for 12 years — announced for the first time investigations against Los Huistas, which it accused of drug activity and identified Samayoa Recinos as the leader.

The investigation also included Henry Hernandez Herrera, brother of former vice president of the Guatemalan Congress Sofía Hernandez, as one of the organization's members. Hernandez was convicted of impeding criminal proceedings for allegedly presenting false documentation to release a man who had been arrested with money allegedly from Los Huistas. He regained his freedom but was killed last January.

According to the allegations Samayoa-Recinos and Salazar Flores began trafficking drugs into the United States in 2006.

The State Department also offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Guatemalan Eugenio Darío Molina-López, whom it considers leader of Los Huistas.

The Huistas operate mainly in the Huehuetenango region, in northwestern Guatemala bordering Mexico.

“This is another example of the United States government's coordinated approach to combating transnational organized crime in Central America,” the State Department said in its statement.