21,000 cannabis plants burned in Las Cruces, Petén
Guatemalan anti-narcotics police and soldiers eradicated and burned 21,000 marijuana plants in Los Laureles, Las Cruces, Petén. Authorities valued the crop at Q10.5 million and described the operation as part of continued rural eradication patrols.
🇬🇹 Caserío Los Laureles, Las Cruces, Petén · Guatemala
Guatemala’s anti-narcotics police and soldiers located 21,000 marijuana plants
in a mountainous area of caserío Los Laureles in Las Cruces, Petén.[1]
The Interior Ministry put the value of this single operation at Q10.5 million,
reported as about US$1,346,153.85.[1]The plants were found in the harvesting
stage and were burned after seizure.[1]The joint operation by the Interior
Ministry, the Army and the National Civil Police was reported by the authorities
on Thursday through social networks.[1]
Authorities described the eradication as part of strategic actions against
organized crime operating in remote areas of the country.[2]The ministry said
patrols and eradications would continue in other areas identified with illegal
crops to strengthen public welfare through crime repression and citizen
protection.[1]
Photos and video
Police and military forces with the destroyed 21,000 marijuana plants in Petén. Photo: Ejército de Guatemala via Infobae.Photo details
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Source: InfobaeThe plantation found in Las Cruces, Petén. Photo: PNC via Soy502.Photo details
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Plants destroyed
21,000
Value (official estimate)
GTQ 10,500,000
Agency type
Military, Anti-narcotics agency, Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis; Living plants (21,000 plants)
Activity
Cultivation
Sources
Infobaeinfobae.comESGuatemala: Destruyen plantación de marihuana valuada en más de un millón de dólares
Soy502soy502.comESLocalizan plantación de droga valorada en más de Q10 millones
Open questions the AI reported
The articles give no separate operation date; 3 April 2026 is the publication date of both accounts and is used as the incident date, although Infobae says authorities reported the result on Thursday.
No arrests, charges or court outcome are reported for this eradication.
No area or weight for the plantation was published, so no hectares or kilograms are recorded.
The quetzal valuation of Q10,500,000 and the reported conversion of about USD 1,346,153.85 are treated as the same official estimate; only the quetzal figure is recorded.
The same Infobae article reports a separate detention of an alleged distributor in Escuintla with marijuana and crack, left out here as a different event.
Only two opened accounts document this operation; no separate agency statement beyond the social-media reports they cite could be opened directly.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Soy502: Agents of the Subdirección General de Análisis de Información Antinarcótica (SGAIA), the National Civil Police's anti-narcotics unit, working with the Army, eradicated and incinerated the crop under established protocols.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Soy502: Police put the estimated value of the seizure at Q10,500,000.
Guatemala's anti-narcotics police eradicated and burned 8,820 mature cannabis plants near Ixcoch and Ixmucané in Las Cruces, Petén, on 25 October 2026. The agency valued the plants at Q4,410,000.
Guatemala's anti-narcotics police eradicated and burned 6,915 marijuana plants ready for harvest in the mountains of Momostenango, Totonicapán, on 23 October 2026. The National Civil Police valued the crop at 3,457,500 quetzales. No arrests were reported. The ministry named the site aldea Pamaría; other accounts of the same count call it Paraje Racaná.
Anti-narcotics police destroyed 19,420 cannabis plants near Momostenango, Totonicapán, and 15,143 in Ixmucané, Las Cruces, Petén, the Interior Ministry reported after weekend operations. Prosecutors supported the searches and eradication work. The operations applied the existing cultivation prohibition, which carries five to twenty years in prison plus a fine for unauthorised growing.
Guatemala's National Civil Police and Defense Ministry eradicated 7,920 cannabis plants on a 660-square-metre plot at Cooperativa Ixmucané, Las Cruces, on 3 October 2026. The police valued the crop at Q3,960,000.
