Army and police burn 201,019 cannabis plants in Las Cruces
The Guatemalan army, prosecutors and anti-narcotics police burned 201,019 cannabis plants on 12 fields covering 13,712.6 square metres in Las Cruces, Petén. The army valued them at 100,509,000 quetzales, about 13.1 million dollars.
The Guatemalan army, the public prosecutor’s office and SGAIA, the
anti-narcotics analysis unit of the national civil police, eradicated and
burned cannabis in the municipality of Las Cruces, Petén.[1][2]The defence
ministry said the work was done through CICNAG, the inter-institutional
centre against drug activity.[1]
The army said officers found 12 fields of cannabis ready for harvest,
covering 13,712.6 square metres, about 1.37 hectares, and incinerated 201,019
plants.[1]It valued them at 100,509,000 quetzales, about 13.1 million
dollars.[1]The interior ministry also reported 201,019 plants eradicated
in Las Cruces and said they were worth more than 100 million quetzales on
the illegal market.[2]It said prosecutors and the army took part with
SGAIA.[2]
The army said the plants were burned under the procedures set by the competent authorities, and that it would keep running joint operations with the civilian security institutions.[1]The announcements name no one arrested.[1][2]
Photos and video
Aerial view of uniformed personnel in a partly cleared field of tall cannabis plants (Ministerio de Gobernación).Photo details
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.
