SAT OFFICIALS ARRESTED FOR CONTAINER SMUGGLING

Guatemala, April 25, 2013. Yesterday, the National Civil Police (PNC), with the support of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), arrested seven alleged members of a customs smuggling network. The network is comprised of former and current Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) officials who facilitated the illegal entry of containers at the Quetzal Port customs checkpoint between April and June 2009.

The majority of accused parties are customs security officials:

1. José Galián Ayuso De León
2. Esvin Ramón Xitumul López
3. José Tereso Velásquez López
4. Marcos Oziel Bautista Bautista
5. Ramiro Cortez Vásquez
6. Antonio Clemente Bartolón
7. Jorge Aníbal Hasse Fernández (former customs official)

The seven arrested individuals are accused of customs smuggling, customs fraud, criminal association and the use of false documents. Today, they were taken to the Court of the First Instance of Escuintla for Criminal Matters, Drug Trafficking and Crimes Against the Environment to give initial statements; however, the hearing was rescheduled.

The investigations established that the containers entered the country without fulfilling the customs procedures of the Office of Customs, even failing to pay the due taxes. When the containers arrived at customs, they were directed to a storage facility under the temporary admission of containers provision and then illegally taken from the port with the alleged aiding and abetting of the accused parties.