COURT LINKS SUSPECTED DRUG TRAFFICKERS TO PROCEEDINGS

Guatemala, September 17, 2012. Today, by order of the Ninth Court of the First Criminal Instance, Ramón Antonio Yánez Ochoa (a Mexican citizen) and the head of protection at Port Quetzal, Juni Fernando Enríquez Monzón (a Guatemalan citizen), were remanded in custody and linked to proceedings due to their suspected links with drug trafficking.

At the initial appearance, the Court ruled that Yánez Ochoa be linked to proceedings for money laundering, conspiracy to transport drugs internationally, criminal association and storage of illegal substances and that Enríquez Monzón be linked on charges of criminal association, conspiracy to transport drugs internationally and conspiracy to commit murder.

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) acts as a provisional complementary prosecutor in this criminal proceeding. The Court declared proceedings to be confidential and set January 9, 2013 as the date for the pre-trial hearing to open oral arguments against Yánez Ochoa and Enríquez Monzón.

Background
Investigations revealed that the accused parties formed part of a structure involved in processing and producing methamphetamines and transporting chemical precursors. Yánez Ochoa is accused of transporting drugs between Mexico and Guatemala from 2009 onwards, and he is sought by US law enforcement agencies for drug trafficking.

Yánez Ochoa and Enríquez Monzón were arrested on September 12 following six searches of premises conducted in various locations by the National Civil Police (PNC) along with the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) and CICIG. A drug lab was found in the Santa Isabel warehouses at Kilometer 15 of the Chuarrancho highway. The site had been used to produce methamphetamines.