Guatemala extradites suspected drug trafficker "Chicharra" to the U.S.
Guatemala on Friday handed over one of its most wanted drug fugitives to the United States, which noted the extradition as the Central American country's "most important" in decades. Aler Baldomero Samayoa-Recinos, whose alias is "Chicharra" (Cicada), is accused of leading a group called Los Huistas, which allegedly trafficked U.S.-bound cocaine from South America to Mexican cartels. He was captured in Mexico in March and deported to Guatemala as a result of joint efforts between the two countries and the United States, officials said at the time. Announcing his extradition, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said that he hoped the suspect would "share a lot of information" with US authorities to help the fight against the "scourge" of drug trafficking. The U.S. embassy in Guatemala City described his handover as "the most important extradition in decades" by the country to the United States.
Samayoa Recinos was captured in Mexico in March in a raid carried out with the cooperation of the U.S. and Mexico, Guatemala Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez said at the time.
A federal indictment against Samayoa Recinos and his son-in-law unsealed in March 2022 accused the two of trafficking cocaine into the U.S. from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico between 2006 and 2016.
That same month, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Los Huistas, describing it as the "dominant criminal structure in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetenango (along the border of Guatemala and Mexico)."
In March, Samayoa Recinos told reporters from his cell that he would accept the charges against him.
Did the conclave pick a front-runner to be new pope?
World awaits new pope after conclave's vote
Trump touts UK trade deal, but U.S. companies fear they won't survive China tariffs
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Trump vows to ‘liberate Los Angeles' – slams ‘Third World lawlessness' and ‘rioters bearing foreign flags' in speech to US troops
President Trump on Tuesday vowed to 'liberate Los Angeles' from 'Third World lawlessness' on night five of the anti-ICE riots raging through downtown LA in a fiery speech to US troops. Trump, defending his decision to deploy the National Guard and US Marines to the City of Angels amid violent riots, argued that without the reinforcements, LA would be 'burning' like it did when wildfires swept through Southern California in January. 'Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness, like is happening in California,' Trump told soldiers during a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. 'As commander in chief, I will not let that happen.' Advertisement 6 President Donald Trump stands on stage during a speech in front of service members at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on June 10, 2025. REUTERS 6 Masked protesters line up in front of National Guard troops during protests in Los Angeles on June 10, 2025. Barbara Davidson/NYPost The president declared that the 4,000 Guardsmen and 700 Marines he dispatched to Los Angeles will 'protect federal law enforcement' carrying out his mass deportation order 'from the attacks of a vicious and violent mob.' Advertisement 'If we didn't do it, there wouldn't be a Los Angeles. It would be burning today just like the houses were burning a number of months ago,' Trump argued, referring to the wildfires. 'Within the span of a few decades, Los Angeles has gone from being one of the cleanest, safest, and most beautiful cities on Earth to being a trash heap with entire neighborhoods under the control of transnational gangs and criminal networks,' the president said. 'It's horrible.' 'As the entire world can now see, uncontrolled migration leads to chaos, dysfunction, and disorder.' 'Very simply, we will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again,' Trump pledged. 'It's happening very quickly.' Advertisement 6 An American flag burns on the ground during protests in the streets of LA on June 8, 2025. AFP via Getty Images Protesters have been clashing with local police and federal authorities in Los Angeles since Friday. The unrest was sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeting criminal illegal immigrants in the sanctuary city, where officials, including Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, refuse to go along with Trump's immigration crackdown. 'What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags,' Trump said. Advertisement 6 Protesters wave a Mexican flag in front of riot police outside a federal building in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. AFP via Getty Images 6 Vulgar graffiti is spray-painted on the exterior of an Apple store looted during the LA Riots on June 10, 2025. REUTERS Mexican and Palestinian flags have been a ubiquitous presence in the demonstrations and violent rioting that have plagued the city for the last five days. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the presence of foreign flags arguably makes the LA riots 'worse' than the unrest that broke out in Minneapolis in 2020 after the death of George Floyd in police custody. The senator called on Trump to consider invoking the seldom-used Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow US troops to conduct law enforcement activities, to quell the rioting. 6 Mounted police and other riot units enforce a curfew on the streets of Los Angeles on June 10, 2025. Getty Images After Trump's speech, Bass announced that a curfew would go into effect in parts of downtown Los Angeles in response to the violence and looting. 'We reached a tipping point,' Bass said at a news conference, declaring a local emergency after 23 businesses were vandalized Monday night.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘We are human': Los Angeles residents explain the drive behind days of mass protests
LOS ANGELES — As protesters hit the streets here Tuesday for a fifth consecutive day to denounce arrests of immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, President Trump intensified his rhetoric, calling Angelenos 'animals' and 'a foreign enemy' and vowing to 'liberate' the city. The Chronicle spoke to protesters in Los Angeles to hear about what drove them to take action. One wore a flag bearing the statement: 'We are human.' Others spoke of their concern over racial profiling, treatment of immigrants and family members. Excerpts from those interviews are below. Trump has ordered 2,000 California National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines into Los Angeles — moves Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday criticized as illegal and dangerous. 'This brazen abuse of power by a sitting President inflamed a combustible situation… putting our people, our officers, and the National Guard at risk,' Newsom said in a speech Tuesday night. The demonstrations in Los Angeles have spurred a dramatic protest movement across the U.S., with large crowds gathering in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Seattle and St. Louis. Newsom said more than 370 people have been arrested in Los Angeles on vandalism and violence since the protests began Friday, following ICE's arrests at a clothing factory. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass imposed an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m curfew in a square-mile area of downtown Los Angeles after 23 businesses were looted. Meanwhile, ICE arrests continued in Los Angeles and other parts of the U.S. Steven Steven, 24, who declined to provide his surname, said he is upset that people are being detained by ICE when they attend immigration court appointments. The Los Angeles resident stood with hundreds of others at Gloria Molina Grand Park for a vigil against deportations, wrapped in a flag reading 'We are human.' 'I don't think it's right,' Steven said. 'They are taking away people who are just trying to have a better life. I'm not even talking about deporting criminals.' Steven said he was also concerned that many people without criminal records are being targeted — pointing to cases of a high school girl and her mother who were arrested at immigration court. Frida Aguilar Frida Aguilar, 22, of Los Angeles, came out to protest downtown 'for my family,' she said, including many who are 'Dreamers' under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Aguilar stood wrapped in a Mexican flag at the corner of Los Angeles and Temple Streets, accompanied by her friend Yaire Linares, who was wrapped in a Guatemalan flag. 'It's getting insane out here,' Aguilar said. Aguilar said she was upset with how immigration officials seem to ignore due process in detaining and deporting people and with how they use racial profiling to stop people. She cited a case, reported by NBC News, in which ICE detained a U.S. marshal in Arizona because he 'fit the general description of a subject being sought by ICE.' Aguilar criticized Trump's characterization of the violence in Los Angeles, saying that 'the violence is occurring because they are provoking… us.' 'We are trying to speak for people who don't have a voice,' Aguilar said. Nico Chavez Nico Chavez said he attended the demonstration in support of 'my people.' 'It's why my parents came here!' Chavez said. Chavez was protesting with hundreds of others outside a federal building in Los Angeles when police started firing rubber bullets. Chavez was near a pedestrian bridge when he heard the bullets. 'That was scary!' Chavez said. 'I was just throwing up a peace sign; I wasn't doing anything.' Bianca Stopani Bianca Stopani, 36, of Los Angeles, said she decided to protest because she doesn't think ICE 'telling us we can't be here' is fair. Stopani said she is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. 'My parents fought for a better life,' Stopani said. 'It's my turn to fight for them.' Stopani said she has protested before, including against the Iraq War when she was 14. She said Trump is 'such a hypocrite.' 'He wants to talk about Latino people being criminals, but he's the one who has all these RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] charges,' Stopani said. Aleah and Kimberly Aleah, 19, of Pomona, was protesting — for a third day — for her parents, who came into the United States without authorization when they were children. 'I am protesting for my parents and for the right to not to be taken away,' Aleah said. Aleah, a U.S. citizen, was protesting in Los Angeles, alongside her friends, including Kimberly, a 19-year-old from East Los Angeles. Aleah said Trump's criticism of immigrants and protesters appalled her. 'I don't think a criminal should be talking against hard-working people who take all of the dirty labor jobs no one else wants,' Aleah said. 'He [Trump] should be looking for real criminals.' Kimberly said she thinks Trump is targeting 'Hispanics and Latino people and a lot of people are letting him get away with it and it needs to stop.' 'Trump is getting away with a lot, and I think people are finally realizing it,' Kimberly said. Chronicle Staff Writer Molly Burke contributing to this report.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Un-American' or 'necessary'? Voters divided on Trump's LA protest crackdown
US President Donald Trump has sent thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of US Marines to Los Angeles as protests take place against the administration's ramped-up immigration enforcement. While the president's allies cheer him on, both the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles say Trump is overstepping his authority and stoking tensions. Everyday Americans are no less divided over the issue. But do they feel it is the president or the protesters who have gone too far? Here's what six voters had to say about the news. This Indiana man worries about the precedent Trump is setting by sending the National Guard into Los Angeles. I've seen some different takes on the legality of it, but it feels to me like the federal government is being very, very heavy-handed on this, which is concerning to me since protest is a protected form of expression in this country. I'm concerned that this sets Americans against Americans, and specifically American military against American citizens. The Trump administration is going about [the ICE raids] in an interesting manner... While making unilateral raids like these, they're making a lot of mistakes and those mistakes are costing people their freedoms. [The Trump administration] is not admitting to their mistakes and they're not following due process. We have laws in this country for a reason. This Mexico-born Texas resident - a naturalised US citizen - supports the deployment of troops to put down "shameful" protests in California. It's a shame that people who have come to this country to set themselves up are doing this, the riots. I tend to think that many of the rioters are people with criminal histories. Violent protesters. People that want to be here to create a future and have a family in this generous country would not be doing that. Many are even waving Mexican flags. That's so shameful. I respect the president in so many ways. He is a guy who knows how to get things done. He's the law-and-order president. What was he supposed to do? Let them burn trash? Let them destroy Los Angeles?When I saw they called on the National Guard, I just started crying because he's weaponising everything he possibly can. There's no free speech, there's no dissent - it's Hitler's playbook all over again. It's heartbreaking, really. I just feel for the people he's targeting. It's wrong, it's so un-American. It's so against what this country was founded for. I'm just shocked. I probably shouldn't be, but I just can't believe it's happening. I can't believe the military and the National Guard are supporting this. How protests erupted after rumours of immigration raid Analysis: This is a political fight Trump is eager to have This Indiana man wants the violence to stop, but also worries about what deploying the military in response to protests means for the future. This goes far beyond just protest, in my view. This is an attack on our sovereignty and our civil society. We can debate immigration policy, but violence and chaos should not be tolerated. [But Trump is] the one who's going to push the envelope to the legal limit, and if he can get by with more, he will, I think. That's one of my concerns about this whole thing. I'm not 100% on board with it, but at the same time, I think something has to be done. It's not getting taken care of. My trepidation is about precedent...I feel like everything we do, when we set new precedents, it will become new norms and not the exception. This Nebraska woman says she's likely to get involved with protests happening in her town because she's upset with what she sees Trump doing in LA. When watching clips, I saw some mostly peaceful protests. It seems like Trump is just mad that they're happening, rather than trying to prevent them from being violent. More and more, he's become a president who uses his power to enforce his will [rather] than the will of the people. I wonder to what extent is he going to keep doing this. It's extremely valid that people are protesting ICE, because in all honesty there is very little proof of due process for people who have been taken by ICE and wrongfully detained. A 29-year veteran of the US Army who retired as a colonel, this Texan - from the overwhelmingly Latino Rio Grande City on the border - believes that it is the protests that have gone too far. When state and local governments fail to support federal law - in this case deportation orders - the military deployment is necessary to protect lives, property and the movement of commerce. The protesters are blocking major highways, disrupting commerce, destroying and burning police cars, and interfering with police orders to disperse in certain areas. Everyone has the right to protest, but you don't have the right to make me or others listen to you. Creating violence so I can have your attention comes with consequences. Everything we know about the demonstrations Trump's deportation drive is perfect storm in city of immigrants LA's chaotic weekend of protests in maps and pictures
