The battle for the southern border continues. The Sinaloa cartel entered Guatemala on Monday, where it sowed chaos in several municipalities in the departments of Huehuetenango and San Marcos, across the border in Chiapas. The Guatemalan Ministry of Defense confirmed that the confrontation with “illegal armed groups” occurred during a routine patrol in the community of Agua Zarca. Uniformed officers detected one of these groups and “immediately” launched the attack. During the clash, a civilian died and an officer was injured in the leg, but he is now out of danger.
The dispute over control of the southern trafficking routes reached Guatemala. This Monday is another example that the fight between organized crime groups is already a transnational issue. For two years, the criminal maremagnum (made up of the Sinaloa Cartel and its divisions, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and now also the so-called Chiapas-Guatemala Cartel) has been fighting for control of Chiapas, the gateway for drugs, weapons and migrants to the north. Today’s attack is part of this struggle, which has already caused the displacement of thousands of people within the country and a series of executions, kidnappings and disappearances.
In the early hours of the morning, members of the Sinaloa cartel stormed into Guatemala with weapons, explosives and drones. Their target was the Chiapas-Guatemala Cartel, the criminal cell that split from the Jalisco Next Generation Cartel. The two groups clashed under fire in several municipalities, until the attack also reached the army. The Guatemalan Defense Ministry said there was currently only one detainee.
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