Guatemalan Defense Minister: Prison site is a corridor for drug, arms, and migrant trafficking

Guatemalan Defense Minister Henry Sáenz has characterized the location chosen for the El Triunfo maximum-security prison in Izabal as a territory historically conducive to criminal operations. He stated that the area's proximity to the border, limited road access, and nearby natural reserve make it ideal for the trafficking of drugs, weapons, and migrants.

Sáenz asserted that the establishment of a permanent state infrastructure, such as the prison, would disrupt these illicit activities. This explanation supports the government's continued push for the project, despite legal challenges and amparos attempting to halt its construction. The Executive branch views the prison as a strategy to regain state control in this part of the Guatemalan Caribbean.

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It is close to the border, there are not many roads, it is a reserved area and there is a very close natural reserve. The entire territory is ideal for the trafficking not only of drugs, but of weapons and migrants.

Previous statements from Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda echoed these concerns, identifying the prison site as a corridor used for drug trafficking and, more recently, for the illegal trade of jade and gold. Villeda suggested that drug trafficking networks would oppose the prison due to the increased security presence it represents.

Information from the Public Ministry and the anti-narcotics division of the National Civil Police corroborates these claims. They identify organized crime groups like Los Mendoza and Los Berganza as having a presence in the Morales area of Izabal. These groups are under investigation for drug trafficking and other illicit economies. The specific plot of land designated for the prison previously belonged to a convicted drug trafficker, Mario Ponce Rodríguez, and was seized by the state through an asset forfeiture process.

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By the State arriving there, obviously all the criminal activities that these structures have are interrupted.