The Ministry of the Interior confirmed this Thursday, March 23, the location of a shipment of possible fentanyl in containers from Turkey. The discovery occurred in the Puerto Barrios Railway Terminal, in the department of Izabal.
The ministry indicated that the shipment entered a ship that, as part of its route, initially passed through France, then through Colombia, until it reached Guatemala.
The operation to follow up on this case was carried out by agents of the General Subdirectorate for Anti-Narcotics Information Analysis (SGAIA) of the National Civil Police (PNC), in coordination with personnel from the Office of the Prosecutor for Drug Crimes of the Public Ministry (MP).
The analysis carried out by the experts made it possible to establish that they were four containers with a possible drug called fentanyl. The preliminary data is that there are 120 barrels that supposedly transport this substance.
“Preliminary field tests gave presumptive positive results for fentanyl, a highly dangerous drug that has caused the death of millions of people around the world,” said the Minister of the Interior, Napoleón Barrientos.
The official stressed that President Alejandro Giammattei has issued instructions not to allow the entry of drugs into Guatemalan territory, for which he considered that this discovery represents a severe blow to drug trafficking.
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The Interior portfolio announced that investigations are underway to establish the final destination of the boat where the possible drug was located.
In addition, as part of the investigations, it is intended to establish whether the shipment is related to the latest arrests of extraditables for crimes related to drug trafficking.
Last Friday, the Guatemalan anti-narcotics forces arrested the Mexican Sergio Duarte (26) and the Guatemalan Ana Rubio (32), accused of trafficking fentanyl for criminal groups in Mexico, including the Sinaloa cartel of Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán, imprisoned for life in the United States.
A day later, the police detained Humberto Beltrán, a Mexican national, for extradition purposes, also accused of trafficking fentanyl.