A candidate for councilor in Guatemala was caught by a US extradition request for drug trafficking

Guatemalan authorities They captured a candidate for city councilor from the ruling party Vamos for an extradition request from the United States for crimes related to drug trafficking.

It is Byron Orellana Velizwho was arrested on Sunday in the municipality of Guastatoya in the department (province) of El Progreso, located 70 kilometers east of Guatemala City, the Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) reported on Monday.

“Extraditable apprehended. National Police authorities report the capture of Byron Orellana Véliz, wanted by the judicial system of the United States of America for the crime of conspiracy to distribute 5 kg or more of a mixture and a substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine”, reported the Ministry of Government of Guatemala in social networks.

Orellana Véliz was registered to compete in the June 25 elections as a councilor for the municipality of Guastatoya on the list headed by her cousin and current mayor, Jorge Orellana, a member of the Vamos party, which led to the presidency. Alejandro Giammattei in 2019.

According to the prosecution, Orellana Véliz is wanted by the court for the Southern District of Florida for the crime of conspiracy to distribute and traffic cocaine in the United States.

The investigation states that the politician, now detained, had acted since 2005 as an intermediary between a Colombian drug trafficking organization and buyers from Mexico and the United States.

Orellana Véliz has become the fifth person Guatemala is holding for extradition to the United States so far in 2023.

Last January, the former interior minister and analyst Carlos Menocal told the news agency EFE that the electoral process in Guatemala would be marked by the active participation of candidates linked to drug trafficking structures.

The Guatemalan elections will take place on June 25 and will elect, in addition to the new president, 340 municipal corporations, 160 deputies and 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament.

According to official sources, large international cartels, with the help of local drug traffickers, transport drugs and launder money in Guatemala and the rest of Central America and generate criminal violence in the region. .

US figures indicate that 90% of the cocaine that reaches this country passes through Mexico and Central America in planes, boats and submarines, among other means of transport.

On December 28, the government of Joe Biden requested the extradition of two Guatemalan deputies and two mayors for activities related to drug trafficking. For this reason, the prosecution requested the withdrawal of his immunity. One of these parliamentarians is Jose Armando Ubico Aguilarthey are looking for President Giammattei.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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