Two mothers arrested with 15 marijuana packets at Las Gaviotas
Police arrested Zulmy Judith Méndez Díaz and Sandra Patricia Barillas del Cid as they tried to bring 15 packets of marijuana into the Las Gaviotas youth centre in Guatemala City for their detained sons. A duty court later bound both women over for trial on drug charges and ordered pretrial detention.
🇬🇹 Centro Especializado de Reinserción Las Gaviotas, zona 13, Ciudad de Guatemala
Police detained two mothers as they tried to bring marijuana concealed in
personal accessories into the Centro Especializado de Reinserción Juvenil Las
Gaviotas.[1][2]Police identified the detainees as 32-year-old Zulmy Judith
Méndez Díaz and 31-year-old Sandra Patricia Barillas del Cid, who intended to
pass the substance to their detained sons.[1]The arrests occurred on Sunday
11 October 2026 at the youth centre in Zone 13 of Guatemala City.[3][2]The sons
are 13 and 16 years old and are serving four-year prison terms for murder.[1][2]Official security reports describe both minors as members of the Mara
Salvatrucha gang.[1][2]When questioned, the women said the drug would help their
sons cope with confinement.[1][2]
Secretaría de Bienestar Social staff found the substance during routine checks
at the visitors’ entrance to the centre in Zone 13 of Guatemala City.[1]Monitors found 12 packets with suspected marijuana hidden in a neck pillow and
three more hidden in a hair tie.[4][2]Centre authorities then coordinated with
officers from PNC comisaría 13 to place both women at the disposal of the
courts.[1][2]
A duty court later bound both women over for trial, with one to answer for
promotion or incitement to drug addiction and the other for possession for
consumption.[3]Both women were ordered into pretrial detention while the
investigation continues.[3]
Photos and video
Police photos of the detained women and the marijuana packets hidden in a neck pillow and hair accessory. Photo: PNC de GuatemalaPhoto details
PNC officers transfer the two handcuffed women after the Las Gaviotas arrest. Video: Infobae Source: InfobaePNC officers transferring the two women who tried to bring marijuana into the Las Gaviotas correctional centre in zone 13. Photo: PNCPhoto details
No weight for the 15 envoltorios was published, so no kilograms can be recorded.
The exact date of the duty court's bind-over order was not reported; 21 October 2026 is the La Hora publication date, while 11 October 2026 is the arrest date.
Reports do not say which of the two women faces the promotion charge and which faces the possession-for-consumption charge.
No court outcome beyond pretrial detention and bind-over for trial was reported.
On 21 October 2026 prosecutors and police at the Nuevo San Carlos inter-agency checkpoint on the CA-2 route arrested three Guatemalans in a pickup and seized 15 field-test-positive bags of marijuana, prefilled cannabis cigarettes, e-cigarettes and phones.
Police arrested Jaime “N”, 52, and Máximo “N”, 25, at a control post at kilometre 132.1 in Pasaco, Jutiapa, seizing 20 packages of marijuana plus two of crack and two phones. The men were moving a pickup on a tow truck, and both vehicles were impounded with the case sent to prosecutors.
Guatemala's National Civil Police said officers arrested Alexis “N”, 25, in barrio Candelaria, Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango, on 27 September 2026 after finding four bags of marijuana in the pickup he was driving. The arrest was one of several the police reported that Sunday across five departments for crimes including kidnapping, extortion and fraud.
SGAIA anti-narcotics officers arrested a 33-year-old truck driver at kilometre 243.5 in Pajapita, San Marcos, after finding 21 bags of marijuana hidden in the cab's sleeping compartment. The drug-crime prosecution office said the 4 September inspection confirmed the drug by field test and seized the vehicle.
