Global Courant 2023-05-24 16:00:57
A team from the General Inspectorate of the National Civil Police (PNC) was sent to Tecún Umán, San Marcos, to collect evidence and verify if the agents charge large sums of money to the smugglers in exchange for passing the merchandise to Guatemala, as the same merchants assure.
The groups that pass without declaring merchandise from Mexico not only admit paying bribes to the Police in exchange for free transit, but they also say that there is a structure with established collection rates and that it is directed by the PNC.
Last Friday, the rafters, shrimp boats, and tricycle drivers who transport contraband products through the Suchiate River burned a PNC patrol car, because supposedly they are charged between Q5,000 and Q10,000 to let them continue with said activity.
“It is an odyssey to pass the merchandise to Guatemala. Since we unloaded in the Suchiate river, the first payment begins, they ask us for Q50, then Q200 or Q300, but they have also taken up to Q2 thousand from us. Later on, on the route we have to pay again. The trucks are charged more because they carry more products, the payments range from Q500 and up,” according to Raúl, a 40-year-old merchant who buys merchandise in Mexico and distributes it to stores in Guatemala, without declaring his income.
Raúl, who travels to Mexico up to four times a week, says that the protests last week were not because of the illegal charges, which according to him have been done for years, but because this year the rates increased because “everything went up in price ”.
“After crossing the Suchiate River towards Tecún Umán, we put the merchandise in a parking lot for at least an hour. Meanwhile, the patrol makes its rounds and charges (…) they don’t tell you anything, we already know that we have to approach them and give them Q50 per vehicle, but they decide if they are going to charge you more for the size of the car and for what you carry. We carry a pickup truck”, continues Raúl.
After leaving the parking lot in the direction of the crossroads known as “la Virgen”, they must pay Q200 more to the agents of another police vehicle, according to the smuggler.
Raúl knows that he should always travel with enough cash in case they are stopped by a vehicle from the Border Protection Division (Difapront), “because they are the ones who ask for up to Q2 thousand without any argument,” according to his story.
“On the way to Catarina, San Marcos, there are usually two more patrol cars and we have to stop to pay the police officers,” he adds.
Structure
Those who want to pass without any problem should coordinate with the PNC in the area, says Mario, also a smuggler of various products, who sometimes waits for hours at the edge of the road until the police checkpoint moves.
“We are traveling with an informant who is ahead of us in a private vehicle. He is in charge of seeing where the checkpoints are. He warns us to wait or move forward. If we can’t continue, we risk it, and if they stop us, he gets out to negotiate with the police how much they want so that they let us pass, ”says Mario.
Those who generally avoid checkpoints are those who transport boxed milk or detergents to the capital, because they are the ones who pay the most. According to Mario, to avoid inconvenience they have telephone numbers to coordinate the quota with the police chiefs of the area, and at the registration posts they only deliver the agreed money.
“When the trip is not coordinated, they take the driver down, ask for papers, check the car, but give him a chance if he wants to negotiate and then the police call the chief, describe the type of vehicle and what kind of merchandise they are carrying to put a fee,” he adds.
When the police officers of the area are assigned to another department, coordination is not lost, because they are informed of who will be in charge of the collections, always according to the version of the smugglers.
Investigation
David Boteo, Deputy Director General of Operations of the PNC, acknowledges that the Guatemalan borders with Mexico are a “focus of corruption.” However, he assures that there is no structure within the PNC that has as much coordination as the smugglers say.
“A team was sent to Tecún Umán. Testimonies will be requested and security cameras will be reviewed to determine if the agents commit crimes. It is a problem that occurs in other border areas. On other occasions we have opened disciplinary files and dismissed elements that are later made available to the courts. The purification is constant ”, he refers.
The police chief adds that police officers and commanders have been involved in these events, and it is for this reason that they are rotated and assigned to other departments.
“It is important that they also report, to give continuity to the issue. Even if the agent is not arrested in flagrante delicto, an investigation is launched. What happens is that the same people agree to pay to pass their merchandise, and if the policeman agrees, the problem is not solved ”, he highlights.
“Our hands are tied when there is no complaint that accompanies the process,” he says.
Regarding the disturbances in Tecún Umán, the director of the PNC, Edwin Ardiano, only responded that there is an ongoing investigation.
On November 12, 2019, smugglers destroyed the Tecún Umán customs facilities and detained personnel from the Superintendence of Tax Administration, who they sprayed with gasoline and threatened to throw them into the Suchiate river, after the security forces and personnel from the supervisory entity carried out an operation and seized contraband merchandise.
