Guatemalan truck driver held with 63 kg in record El Salvador seizure
Police in El Salvador arrested Guatemalan driver Luis Carlos Morales Aldana with 63 kg of marijuana hidden in a Guatemalan-plated cargo truck. Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro described it as the largest land-transport drug seizure to date, with the driver to face trafficking and contraband proceedings.
Authorities in El Salvador detained Luis Carlos M. A., a Guatemalan citizen who
was transporting marijuana and cocaine in a cargo vehicle with Guatemalan
plates.[1][2]The detainee was identified as Luis Carlos Morales Aldana, a
Guatemalan national found with 63 kilos of marijuana, 2.5 kilos of cocaine and
six boxes of cigarettes.[3]He will be processed for international
trafficking, merchandise smuggling and unlawful association.[3][2]
The procedure seized63 kilos of marijuana distributed in three bundles with 108
large portions, besides the cocaine and cigarettes.[1]The contents were
distributed in bundles of different sizes, with three bundles holding 108 large
marijuana portions and four bundles holding 33 cocaine portions.[3]The drugs
were hidden with special paper intended to make detection harder.[1][2]Material
released by the minister indicates the man tried to hide the illicit goods
behind packages of toilet paper.[1]
Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro Funes said the case was the largest drug
seizure recorded so far in land-transport mode in the country.[1]Villatoro
declared that the country is not a bridge for drug trafficking or any other
illicit activity.[1]
The operation was conducted by agents of the National Civil Police of El Salvador.[2]
Photos and video
Load hidden with special paper in the Guatemalan truck in the record land seizure. Photo: courtesy Gustavo VillatoroPhoto details
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Source: InfobaeKilos of marijuana and cocaine camouflaged in the cargo vehicle. Photo: courtesy Gustavo VillatoroPhoto details
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Source: InfobaeMinister Gustavo Villatoro presenting the record land seizure. Photo: courtesy Gustavo VillatoroPhoto details
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Source: InfobaeDrugs in bundles hidden with special material to evade controls. Photo: courtesy Gustavo VillatoroPhoto details
The articles give no separate date for the seizure; 7 October 2026 is the detention and report date used as the incident date.
No seizure location more precise than El Salvador was published, so country-centre coordinates are used.
The 2.5 kilos of cocaine and six boxes of cigarettes reported in the same operation are excluded from cannabis figures; no combined drug total is counted as cannabis.
No cannabis value, laboratory weight or court outcome was reported; the driver was to be processed but no charge or sentence had been decided in these reports.
The same Infobae page also briefly reports separate Santa Ana and August cases, which are different events left out here.
Both opened reports repeat the Security Ministry account; no independent account beyond the official version was opened.
El Salvador's Attorney General's Office and National Civil Police arrested a 41-year-old man at his home in the residencial Santa Teresa in Santa Tecla, La Libertad Sur, on 6 November 2026, seizing portions of marijuana and cocaine along with grinders, pipes, a scale and two phones. Police said he would be sent to the courts for illicit drug trafficking; no weights or court outcome were reported.
National Civil Police agents arrested César Danilo López Hernández, 34, inside a higher-education centre in San Salvador on 6 November 2026, saying he carried marijuana and cash hidden in a backpack and tried to flee. Police did not identify the university or give the amount of marijuana or money, and said he will be referred for possession and holding with intent to traffic.
El Salvador's Attorney General's Office and National Civil Police carried out five raids in San Salvador Centro and arrested a man and a woman accused of forcing minors to sell drugs, with a third arrest warrant outstanding. Investigators said the case began in October 2026 when a 15-year-old caught selling drugs told officers adults beat him and made him distribute the substances.
El Salvador's National Civil Police arrested 21-year-old Ederson Stanley Santos Bermúdez in the Mejicanos district of San Salvador Centro on 4 November 2026 and seized several bags of marijuana it said were prepared for sale, plus a mobile phone. He was to be referred for possession and holding of drugs, with no weight or court outcome reported.
