Five people were arrested today after 140 kilograms of cocaine valued at $3.5 million were seized from them. As reported by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the seizure happened on the highway that connects La Unión to San Miguel.
Among the detainees are four Salvadorans: Moisés Fernando Rosa Hernández, 23, Kevin Alexis Carranza, 25, Oscar Alfonso Velásquez, 34, and Ángel Bonilla Carranza, 45; in addition, a Guatemalan identified as Marvin Orlando Gabriel, 40 years old.
According to the Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, four detainees are Salvadorans, two from the department of San Miguel, one from the departments of La Unión, and one from Metapán, Santa Ana, and also a Guatemalan citizen.
Three vehicles were also seized from the subjects in which they were transporting the drugs. According to Villatoro, the drug came from Nicaragua and was destined for Guatemala.
According to the minister, this procedure is the result of a three-month investigation carried out jointly by the National Civil Police (PNC), the Armed Forces (FAES) and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR).
Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, director of the National Civil Police, declared that at approximately 2:00 in the morning on Tuesday, the special forces of the PNC, the Trident Naval Force, and special criminal investigation technicians from the Investigations Subdirectorate intervened to the 5 men.
“This is a fight against regional structures. Behind drugs there’s always death from business and consumption, and for them, there is jail. We are not going to falter in this coordinated work; we are going to continue firmly fighting these structures” — Villatoro said.
The Minister of Defense, Francis Merino Monroy, declared that with the seizures that have been carried out in the year, they have a record of 3.4 tons of different drugs.
Among these, there are 322.85 kilograms of marijuana, 2,918 kilograms of cocaine, 6.14 kilograms of methamphetamine, 45 marijuana plants; among other.
“We have made seizures near the coast, at unauthorized border crossings, on the high seas, and this type of seizure that is made on land in the interior of Salvadoran territory” — said Merino Monroy.
Recently, the Trident Naval Task Force, together with the other institutions of the Security Cabinet, seized 2,111 kilograms of cocaine, valued at more than 52 million dollars.