Whack-a-mole Drug War: Zetas Execution, Guatemala Drug Gangs

A closer look at the history of Guatemalan gangs that are now working with Mexican cartels

Zetas Execution | Guatemala Violence | Drug Gangs: "Guatemalan criminal networks play a principal role in drug trafficking, a scourge that has caused crime rates to spike in the tiny Central American country, security experts said. ...

“Saying Mexicans have overrun the [border] area is an excuse for the government … so that it doesn’t have to deal with the real problem that is here,” said Sandino Asturias, founder of the Guatemala City-based Center for Guatemalan Studies and grandson of Nobel Prize-winning writer Miguel Angel Asturias. “The presence has been here for years and it’s controlled by local families. They’ve grown stronger due to the weakness of the state.”

“The drug cartels are made up of Guatemalans who are guided by the cartels, such as the Zetas and the Gulf. Many of the low-ranking [cartel] officers were trained in the same military school that is located in Poptun, Peten,” said a government official in the area who requested anonymity for fear of their family’s safety. "