Organized Crime on the Northern Triangle

The Narrative reports states that 9 investigations were implemented during the period, covering the 3 countries of the Northern Triangle. Following is list of the investigations -with a small description extracted from the partner's report:  1. Guatemala’s Mafia State and the case of Mauricio López Bonilla – The former Interior Minister Mauricio López Bonilla of Guatemala is the near perfect illustration of how crime and corruption overlap on a national level. The once celebrated, former intelligence official took control of the ministry after heading up thesuccessful Patriot Party campaign. He then proceeded to outsource every aspect of the ministry’s budget (which now exceeds any other entity aside from Guatemala’s Social Security Institute), including everything from toilet paper services to car rentals to video and surveillance equipment 2. The Lucky ‘Kingpin’: How ‘Chepe Diablo’ has (so far) Ridiculed Justice – Adán Salazar, alias “Chepe Diablo,” is one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in El Salvador. He’s also a money launderer and drug trafficker who used his vast political and economic network to undermine the justice system in El Salvador. Chepe Diablo is, in fact, a great example of how local criminal networks have started byinfiltrating the state through the basic ranks in the police, the judiciary and then thesystem of political parties. 3. Guatemala Mayor ‘Tres Kiebres’: The Art of Being ‘3 Times Broken’ - Esduin Javier Javier, aka “Tres Kiebres,” is the mayor of Ipala. He is also owner of numerous construction companies and was connected to the now slain drug trafficker, Giovanny España. He has survived two attempts on his life, but his nickname comes from when a truck he was fixing fell on him, cracking three vertebrae. Javier has long been linked to organized crime figures but he claims he is transparent, setting up cameras in his municipality to film his every move. 4. A Honduras Political Clan and Its Criminal Fiefdom - Yoro Mayor Arnaldo Urbina Soto was arrested along with two of his brothers on July 27, 2014. A third brother fled and is still at large, presumably hiding in the mountainous province that goes by the same name. The brothers were accused of drug trafficking, woodtrafficking, money laundering, and land theft.  5. Symbiosis: Gangs and Municipal Power in Apopa, El Salvador - José Elías Hernández, or “Old Timer” as the gangs knew him, got into the political party ARENA through the back door with a promise: He would win the municipality of Apopa from the rival FMLN party. How did he do that? He worked closely with the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios, a faction of the feared street gang in El Salvador 6. Guatemala’s Convoluted Road to a New Attorney General – Although it was not part of the original plan, the project felt the need to investigate a little known aspect of the judicial system in Guatemala: the convoluted process to select the attorney general. 7. The Zetas, Drug Money and the Colom Campaign in Guatemala – The story traces how the Zetas and other drug trafficking interests channeled money through a little known political operator named Obdulio Solorzano to the campaign of Alvaro Colom. 8. Guatemala Politics and the Patriotic Party’s Theory of ‘Eternal Return’ – The Patriotic Party took corruption to another level beginning with its campaign. The party, via various channels, funded the campaign by rendering services it never provided. Once in power, its donors collected, and the party leaders collected as well. 9. President Jimmy Morales’ (and Guatemala’s) ‘Original Sin’ – Jimmy Morales came from nowhere to win the presidential election during 2015, the same year that the corruption scandal involving the Patriot Party was exploding and leading to the downfall of the Pérez Molina administration.

Deep and systemic knowledge on the organized crime in the Northern Triangle of Central America as a major source of political and economic instability, is available for the use of Prosecutors, judges, journalists,human rights activists and policymakers, with the purpose of create and influence policies around this issue.