Country Profile: Guatemala, April 2003. Drug Intelligence Brief

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Country Profile: Guatemala, April 2003. Drug Intelligence Brief

Guatemala's location between Mexico and the other Central American countries makes it an appealing and convenient transit country for drug trafficking organizations moving South American cocaine and heroin to Mexico, the United States, and, to a lesser extent, Europe. Go-fast boats and fishing vessels travelling within Guatemala's littoral waters, as well as containerized cargo aboard commercial maritime vessels, move substantial amounts of drugs northward to Mexico and the United States. Commercial vessels transport cocaine from Colombia into major Guatemalan ports to be offloaded. Typically, these shipments are destined for Mexico and U.S. ports along the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, small fixed-wing general aviation aircraft transport multihundred-kilogram quantities of cocaine to Guatemala from Colombia and Panama. The availability of numerous remote and unmonitored clandestine airfields, combined with the lack of an internal radar system, make the use of small aircraft very attractive to drug trafficking organizations. Finally, drug trafficking organizations use commercial tractor-trailers, private passenger vehicles, and passenger buses to transport illicit drugs overland via the Pan American Highway.