A former Guatemalan mayor, Romeo Ramos Cruz, 58, pleaded guilty to conspiring to import over five kilograms of cocaine into the United States. Extradited from Guatemala in 2025, Cruz served as mayor of Santa Lucia from 2022–2023 and used his position to facilitate drug trafficking. Court documents state he appointed a known trafficker to a high-ranking municipal police role and coordinated disguising a cocaine shipment as a cement donation to evade inspections. Sentencing is scheduled for December 2, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life imprisonment. The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, which targets transnational criminal organizations. U.S. authorities collaborated with Guatemalan law enforcement, INTERPOL, and federal agencies to secure Cruz’s extradition and prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Materials reproduced from https://www.justice.gov/.
No endorsement by the DOJ is implied.
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