Guatemala Cocaine Seizure

Guatemalan Interior Minister visits Puerto Quetzal where authorities seized 525 kilos of cocaine concealed in a container brought to a Pacific port from Costa Rica.

Guatemalan anti-narcotics authorities seized 605 kilos of cocaine hidden in a container that arrived at a port on the Pacific from Costa Rica, official sources reported.

The drug was found in a metal box in a container at the APM port company, located in the southern department of Escuintla, about 110 km from Guatemala City, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.

In the morning, the spokesman for the attorney general's office, Moisés Ortiz, told journalists that security forces had seized 535 kilos of that drug.

However, he did not rule out an increase in drug seizures, since the operation continued "in development with the inspection of six more containers that are suspected of containing illicit drugs."

The drug stash was transported by air from the port to the capital for safekeeping in police facilities.

The operation began by agents from the Narcotics Crimes Prosecutor's Office in coordination with the National Civil Police and the Guatemalan Army through the National Defense Navy.

Meanwhile, the police specified in their X account that the shipment arrived from Costa Rica and at the moment they do not report any arrests.

International cartels use Central America - with the help of local drug traffickers - to transit drugs to Mexico and the United States.

In 2023, Guatemalan anti-drug forces seized more than three tons of cocaine, a reduction of almost 50% compared to the previous year, according to official data.

According to Washington, 90% of the cocaine that enters its territory passes through Mexico and Central America in small planes, boats and submarines.