El Salvador’s Attorney General’s Office and National Civil Police arrested 13 people in an operation against a network accused of moving drugs from Guatemala for delivery to clients by order in San Salvador and La Libertad.[1] The arrests were made on the night of Saturday 23 October and in the early hours of Sunday 24 October 2021.[1] Prosecutors issued 15 administrative arrest orders against members of a structure dedicated to selling marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine, of which 13 detentions were carried out.[2] Officers carried out about 30 searches with raid authorization in San Salvador and La Libertad, including San Marcos, Nejapa, the centre of the capital, Santa Tecla, Comasagua and Antiguo Cuscatlán.[3] Police identified Miguel Ernesto Iraheta, alias Mike, as the organisation’s leader, with international contacts for buying drugs and control of its trafficking orders.[1] Marco Antonio Landaverde, alias Oso, described as one of the leaders under Iraheta, tried to get rid of narcotics by throwing them into the toilet when detained.[3]

Officers seized 19 kilos of marijuana from the network in the operation, alongside more than a kilo and a half of cocaine and two pounds of methamphetamine.[4] Those detained also had nine vehicles, more than 6,000 dollars, a handgun, drugs and 23 cell phones seized.[4]

Police said the network distributed the Guatemalan drugs through an organised network of InDriver platform drivers for delivery to clients by order across the San Salvador metropolitan area.[1] Prosecutors said the group was also organised to commit armed robberies of people in La Libertad department.[2] Prosecutors said the investigation with anti-narcotics agents had run for more than a year, and attributed cumulative seizures since April 2020 of 1,173.295 grams of cocaine, 19,362.813 grams of marijuana and 816.116 grams of methamphetamine to the structure.[4] The detainees were to be sent to a specialised court in the jurisdiction in the following hours.[2]