US authorities capture alleged Guatemalan drug kingpin

US authorities detained a suspected Guatemalan drug kingpin with a $10 million bounty on his head, the Central American nation’s US embassy announced.

Eugenio Molina-Lopez is accused of heading up a gang called Los Huistas, which allegedly trafficked US-bound cocaine from South America to Mexican cartels.

He was arrested in San Diego, California, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a statement, which the embassy in Guatemala City shared on X.

The statement did not specify when the arrest took place.

The 61-year-old known as “Don Dario” pleaded not guilty during a federal court appearance on Friday.

Molina-Lopez is charged with conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine, which carries a possible life sentence.

“Once again, the final chapter for a man alleged to be one of the world’s most notorious and prolific cocaine traffickers is here in the Southern District of California,” US Attorney Adam Gordon said.

Los Huistas operate in northwestern Guatemala near the border with Mexico, according to the embassy.

In 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on group members including Molina-Lopez.

In March 2025, the “top leader” of Los Huistas and one of Washington’s top 100 most-wanted fugitives, Aler Baldomero Samayoa — alias “Chicharra” (Cicada) — was captured in Mexico and deported to Guatemala following joint efforts between the two countries and the US, officials said at the time.

International cartels, with help from local drug traffickers, traffic drugs and launder money in Guatemala and other Central American countries, fuelling regional violence.

Ninety percent of the cocaine that reaches the US passes through Central America and Mexico in trucks, aircraft, boats and submarines, according to US officials.

AFP