Guatemalan presidential candidate arrested in Miami for cartel links, drug trafficking and assassination plot
- Mario Estrada, candidate of the centre-right National Change Union, who is polling far behind other rivals, is accused of seeking between US$10 and US$12 million from Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel to fund his campaign
A Guatemalan presidential candidate was arrested in Miami on Wednesday and charged with an elaborate plot to use drug cartel money to win the election and assassinate rivals, according to US officials, two months before voters head to the polls.
Mario Estrada, candidate of the centre-right National Change Union, who is polling far behind other rivals, is accused along with another man, Juan Pablo Gonzalez, of seeking between US$10 and US$12 million from Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel to fund his campaign and transport cocaine into the United States.
“As alleged, Estrada and Gonzalez conspired to solicit Sinaloa Cartel money to finance a corrupt scheme to elect Estrada president of Guatemala,” US attorney Geoffrey Berman said in the statement, referring to a powerful Mexican drug-running organisation.
According to the statement, the two men pledged that if Estrada won the June 16 election, he would help the cartel transport drugs from Guatemalan airports and ports with the aid of complicit security officials.
The two also conspired to kill unnamed rival candidates, the US attorney’s statement said.