FORMER PNC DIRECTOR ARRESTED

Guatemala, March 23, 2012. Today, National Civil Police (PNC) officers—with the support of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP), the Ministry of the Interior and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG)—arrested Marlene Blanco Lapola, former PNC director and former vice-minister of security; Edwin Nathaniel Chipix Notz, PNC police chief (head of the Central District); and former PNC officers Lino Efrén García Castillo and Israel Cháves Chaves. The arrests were made because of the parties' alleged involvement in a parallel structure within the Police and the Ministry of the Interior which conducted hired killings.

This structure was allegedly under the command of Blanco Lapola and worked to locate and murder people suspected of extorting money from urban transport businesspersons. The structure is accused of murdering three people: Rosa del Carmen Coyoy Ixcot (November, 2009); Lauro Oswaldo Andrino (October, 2009) and Jonhy Estuardo Sac Rojas (June, 2009).

Minister of the Interior Mauricio López Bonilla declared that this was a typical case of uncovering a parallel structure within the State which conducted illegal operations involving pursuing and taking action against alleged criminals. "The State cannot become a criminal in order to pursue criminals. As security officials, we should not act in breach of the law that we have the responsibility to defend," stressed the minister.

Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz declared that the joint investigation conducted with the Ministry of the Interior and CICIG discovered the way in which a criminal network functioned from within the Ministry of the Interior and the Police. The network was allegedly led by Blanco Lapola.

Commissioner Francisco Javier Dall'Anese Ruiz described the coordination between the MP, the Ministry of the Interior and CICIG to make the arrests as "excellent". The case was investigated by CICIG, the MP and the Police over the course of various months. "If the State violates citizens' rights—whoever the victim may be—it violates rule of law and becomes an authoritarian state," added the Commissioner.

Blanco Lapola was arrested at the residence of a family member in the Tikal 3 neighborhood of Zone 7 (Guatemala City) and other officers were arrested in other areas of the city. The arrest warrants were issued by the Court of the First Criminal Instance in relation to extrajudicial killing and criminal association charges.

CICIG and Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) investigations determined that in response to the money extorted from transport businesspersons, the officers involved were given instructions from their superiors to take tough measures against the extortionists, including death. On June 17, 2011, as part of the case, Juan Carlos Rojas Salguero and Martín García Hernández were sentenced to 25 years in prison.