GUATEMALAN POLICE ARREST TEN NARCOTRAFFICKERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000298

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2019
TAGS: SNAR KCRM PTER PGOV KJUS KDEM GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALAN POLICE ARREST TEN NARCOTRAFFICKERS
AFTER 12-HOUR CHASE

REF: A. 08 GUATEMALA 387

B. 08 GUATEMALA 1504

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen McFarland for reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) On March 5, the Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC)
arrested ten alleged members, mostly Guatemalans, of the
Mexican Zetas (the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel) in response
to shootouts that same day between PNC officers and the
alleged narcotraffickers. The confrontations between the PNC
and the suspected Zetas began with an act of intimidation by
approximately 20 Zetas, who detained a patrol car with four
agents from the PNC's Criminal Investigation Division (DINC)
in Coban, Alta Verapaz. The narcotraffickers confiscated the
DINC agents' weapons and patrol car keys and told them "not
to mess" with the drug traffickers, according to press
reports. Other sources suggest the Zetas may have believed
that the police had stolen a drug load from them. We have no
corroboration of this account.


2. (C) While no agents were injured in this initial
confronttion, the event spurred a 12-hour PNC-led manhunt
across five Guatemalan departments in search of the
narcotraffickers. The manhunt resulted in several shooutouts
between PNC agents and the alleged narcotraffickers. When
the dust cleared, two PNC agents and two alleged Zetas had
been killed, and seven PNC officers were wounded. The
Guatemalan army cooperated with the PNC in the operation by
passing intelligence and setting up roadblocks. This
cooperation contributed to the resulting ten arrests.
President Colom told the Ambassador that he was especially
pleased that peasants in Solola department had provided
information to the authorities that assisted in the arrests.



3. (C) Among the ten detainees was a Mexican national
believed to be a Zeta commander. The PNC confiscated seven
vehicles and an arsenal of weapons, including high-caliber
rifles, hand grenades, 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a
grenade launcher. According to other police sources, the
chase exposed PNC deficiencies in weapons and tactics; the
two PNC casualties resulted from a local PNC commander's
orders to send a small, lightly armed PNC force to chase the
better armed traffickers.


4. (SBU) Comment: This most recent incident reminded
Guatemalans, once again, of the growing presence of Mexican
drug cartels in their national territory and the willingness
of narcotraffickers to use violence. In response to the
March 5 shooutouts, Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section
persuaded the Guatemalan government to create a task force of
vetted personnel from SAIA (anti-drug police),D-2 (military
intelligence),and the Public Ministry (Attorney General's
Office) to consolidate information on the Zetas and establish
a strategy for investigating their presence in Guatemala.
Embassy's Drug Enforcement Agency representatives also
participate on the task force. The March 5 operation comes
in the aftermath of two successful PNC-led operations in
February that resulted in the arrest of eleven alleged Zetas.
There are reportedly 33 alleged Zetas being held in a prison
in Zone 18 of Guatemala City, including eight believed to be
Mexican nationals.
McFarland