POLICE CHIEF AND OFFICERS FACE JUSTICE FOR STEALING DRUGS

Guatemala, August 19, 2013. The former Director of the National Civil Police (PNC), Baltazar Gómez Barrios, five police officers and three other individuals face justice today before Court B of Criminal Sentencing for High-Risk Matters. The individuals are charged with allegedly being involved in stealing drugs from a criminal drug trafficking organization.

The following are the accused and their main charges:

1. Baltazar Gómez Barrios, former Director of Police.
2. Nelly Judith Bonilla Estrada, Deputy Police Chief.
3. Fernando Antonio Carrillo García, police corporal.
   The trio are charged with conspiracy, criminal association, illegal possession and storage of firearms, illegal possession of ammunition, illegal entry and searching of premises, illegal apprehension, abuse of authority, seeking to create impunity and obstruction of justice.
4. Vinicio Soel Toledo Meneses: conspiracy; criminal association; illegal trade, trafficking and storage; illegal possession and storage of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition.
5. Ana Teresa Tubac Pérez
6. Flor de María Ayala Tello
7. Erick Renato Linares Cordón
   The trio are charged with impeding clarification of events.
8. Francisco José Fernández Herrera: conspiracy; criminal association; illegal trade, trafficking and storage; illegal possession and storage of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition.
9. Iván Vinicio González Ayala
10. Victoria Elizabeth Hernández Godoy
    The pair are charged with conspiracy; criminal association; illegal trade, trafficking and storage; illegal possession and storage of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition.
11. Daniel Isaac Graves: conspiracy; criminal association; illegal trade, trafficking, and storage; illegal possession of ammunition, criminal association with armed individuals, illegal use of uniforms and insignia, aggravated assault, aggravated resisting arrest, use of false documentation, illegal possession of firearms.
12. Luis Roberto González Berreondo: possession for consumption, conspiracy, criminal association, illegal carrying of firearms, illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of ammunition and illegal storage of firearms.
13. Luis Roberto González Berreondo: conspiracy, criminal association, illegal carrying of firearms, illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of ammunition and illegal storage of firearms.
14. Elías Danilo Barrientos Figueroa: conspiracy, criminal association, illegal carrying of firearms, illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of ammunition and illegal storage of firearms, and trafficking and illegal storage.
15. William Leonel Florez Pérez, police officer
16. César Augusto Sánchez Lajuj, police officer
    The pair are charged with conspiracy; illegal entry and searching of premises; abuse of authority; illegal arrest; illegal trade, trafficking and storage; and obstruction of justice.
17. Sergio Aníbal Ramos Zabaleta: illegal trade, trafficking and storage; criminal association; illegal possession and storage of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition.
18. Pedro Romero López: conspiracy; criminal association; illegal trade, trafficking, and storage; criminal association with armed individuals; illegal use of uniforms and insignia; aggravated assault; aggravated resisting arrest; use of false documentation; illegal transportation of firearms and ammunition; illegal carrying of firearms; and illegal carrying of ammunition.
19. Héctor Raúl Sierra Ramírez: illegal trade, trafficking and storage; criminal association; illegal possession and storage of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition.

During the trial, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) will provide approximately 50 witnesses and 21 expert witnesses as well as documentary evidence, such as official reports and analyses, to demonstrate the manner in which the group of police officers—with the help of other individuals—took advantage of their structure and organization to steal drugs.

The case concerns a criminal structure involved in the murder of five police officers and also linked to 370 kilos of drugs seized at the scene as well as an arsenal of weapons found in warehouses in the township of Amatitlán on April 24, 2009.

On July 11, 2012, Court B of the First Criminal Instance for High-Risk Matters sentenced Vidal Efraín Requena Mazariegos, former Deputy Director of the Prison System, to 6 years in prison on the charge of money laundering, after demonstrating his ties to this criminal organization involved in drug trafficking and murder.