Guatemalan security forces seized 1.7 tons of cocaine hidden in containers at a major Pacific port in the Central American country, a shipment valued at over $16 million, the National Civil Police reported on Monday. Some 1,240 kilograms of the alkaloid were seized on Sunday from two containers at Puerto Quetzal, one of the country's two main ports located in the province of Escuintla, and another 500 kilograms on Monday in a third container, specified National Civil Police (PNC) spokesman César Mateo. Commissioner Jorge Aguilar Chinchilla, in turn, told EFE in the afternoon that the shipment arrived in Guatemala from Costa Rica in sacks that supposedly contained flour. Similarly, Chinchilla detailed that the operation was carried out "through information from international agencies in coordination" with local police. The cocaine seized on Sunday was transported by air this afternoon to the National Civil Police in the Guatemalan capital to continue the investigation. The Ministry of the Interior (Government) detailed in its official channels that the seized drugs are valued at approximately 127 million quetzales (about $16.5 million). Security forces, with the backing of the Public Ministry (Prosecutor's Office), continue to conduct the operation at the port facilities. Last year, Guatemala seized 9.8 tons of cocaine and captured 19 drug traffickers requested for extradition by U.S. justice. The figure was less than the 18.2 tons of the same narcotic that authorities seized in 2024, a year in which 18 drug traffickers were also detained at the request of the U.S. Due to its geographical position, Guatemala is used by international cartels as a bridge to traffic drugs from South America to the United States. Photo EFE
