Guatemalan police seize 1,217 kg of marijuana hidden in fabric rolls
Guatemalan police found 880 packages of suspected marijuana, weighing 1,217 kilograms, hidden in 44 rolls of leatherette fabric at the edge of a dirt road in El Socorro, Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla, on 28 October 2026. The National Civil Police valued the load at 18,573,854 quetzales and the Interior Ministry said it was bound for Guatemala City; no arrests were reported.
🇬🇹 El Socorro, Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla · Guatemala
Guatemalan police seized 880 packages of suspected marijuana in El Socorro, a
rural subdivision of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla, on 28 October 2026.[1][2]No arrests were reported, and police said they were still trying to
identify and capture those responsible.[3]The rolls had been left at the edge
of a dirt road, and the drug was hidden inside the fabric.[1][2]Officers counted
44 rolls holding nylon bags of the drug.[1]
The operation was run by SGAIA, the National Civil Police’s anti-narcotics
analysis unit, with prosecutors from the Public Ministry present.[1][2]The
Interior Ministry said the drugs belonged to a criminal organisation that
planned to move them from Escuintla to Guatemala City.[4][2]The find stopped the
load from continuing its journey, the ministry said.[4]
The PNC put the load’s weight at 1,217 kilograms and valued it at 18,573,854
quetzales.[1][2][5]The force said it fixed the weight and the value after finishing
its count of the packages.[1]An initial Interior Ministry statement had given
about 1,005 pounds, or 453 kilograms.[4]The ministry said investigators were
still trying to establish the drug’s origin and any links to trafficking
structures.[4][5][6][7]
The investigation that led to the find began after a citizen complaint.[2][8]
The government valued the load at about 2.4 million US dollars, or 18.5 million quetzales.[6][9][7]
The National Civil Police said the load was found about 75 kilometres south of the capital, in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla.[9][7]
Photos and video
Police photograph of the fabric rolls and packages from the load seized in El Socorro, Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa. Photo: PNC de Guatemala / Ministerio de GobernaciónPhoto details
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Source: Ministerio de GobernaciónPolice photograph published with the Interior Ministry statement on the 880 packages seized in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa. Photo: PNC de Guatemala / Ministerio de GobernaciónPhoto details
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Source: Ministerio de GobernaciónWrapped packages of plant material published with AlbertoNews's account of the Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa marijuana seizure. No photo credit is given.Photo details
Infobaeinfobae.comESGuatemala incauta 1.217 kilos de marihuana valorada en 2,4 millones de dólares
Open questions the AI reported
No arrests, charges or court steps were reported; the sources name no suspect or organisation.
The Interior Ministry's statement of 28 October put the load at about 1,005 pounds (453 kilograms); the PNC's later update gave 1,217 kilograms, and the report uses the later figure.
The ministry says the load was to be taken from Escuintla to Guatemala City, while Infobae describes the rolls as abandoned at the roadside; the sources do not explain how the load came to be there.
The sources give no count of the people involved and do not say where the load was loaded or who was to receive it.
The same article briefly reports a September attack in Alta Verapaz in which one security force member was killed and two were wounded during eradication work, but gives no exact date or community; that separate event is not part of this report.
AlbertoNews rounds the value to 18.5 million quetzales and about 2.4 million US dollars; the report keeps the PNC figure of 18,573,854 quetzales.
AlbertoNews does not name El Socorro or the 880 packages given in the existing sources.
The page's URL says 24 million dollars, but the headline and body say 2.4 million; the body figure is used.
The article also gives year-to-date national seizure totals and a September Alta Verapaz attack, which are not this seizure.
This Infobae EFE copy does not name El Socorro or 880 packages and rounds the value to 18.5 million quetzales, about 2.4 million US dollars; the report keeps the later PNC figure of 18,573,854 quetzales.
The page URL says 24 million dollars, but the headline and body say 2.4 million.
This reprint says the find was “the eve” of “this Thursday” while the page is dated 30 October 2026; the report keeps 28 October from the Interior Ministry.
The image caption is only “AlbertoNews - Periodismo sin censura”, so it was not treated as a photo of this seizure.
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.
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.
Guatemala's anti-narcotics police seized about 900 pounds of marijuana packed in 30 boxes at the Santo Tomás de Castilla port in Puerto Barrios on 24 June 2025. The boxes were declared as electronic spare parts and were supposedly bound for the Dominican Republic; police valued the load at about Q3 million.
