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Former President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General Consuelo Porras' ally convicted for drug trafficking
By Prensa Comunitaria, February 18, 2025
https://prensacomunitaria.org/2025/02/el-aliado-de-alejandro-giammattei-y-consuelo-porras-condenado-por-narcotrafico/
(Translated by Rights Action)
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Office reported that former congressman Armando Ubico Aguilar was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for his role in an international drug trafficking conspiracy.
Former Guatemalan Congressman sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for international drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas
PRESS RELEASE, February 18, 2025, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Office
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/former-guatemalan-congressman-sentenced-18-years-federal-prison-international-drug
The sentencing comes after Ubico pleaded guilty to being involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy. The sentence of 216 months in federal prison was handed down on February 11, but was not made public until today.
The charge highlights that Ubico Aguilar served as an elected member of Congress from 2016 to 2024, a position that allowed him to be close to authorities in office. He was also president of the National Defense Committee of the Congress of the Republic from 2018 to 2023.
“The sentencing of this corrupt Guatemalan official, who negotiated and facilitated cocaine shipments to the United States while betraying his country through his associations with known drug traffickers and other corrupt officials, shows the commitment of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas to identify, dismantle and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.
“I am grateful to our law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to ensure that Ubico Aguilar is no longer allowed to hide behind his position of power,” McGlothin added.
Ubico had previously been convicted in 2002 and was released in March 2005 after accepting drug trafficking charges, although on that occasion the conviction was for smuggling heroin by air.
Indictment against former congressman
US justice reports indicate that, in May 2024, Ubico Aguilar arrived in the United States and pleaded guilty. In addition, during his plea hearing, he admitted his role in the conspiracy, including transmitting drug-related information and U.S. currency to another Guatemalan official on behalf of an international drug trafficker. These actions resulted in the safe passage of at least 450 kilograms of cocaine through Guatemala for distribution in the United States.
The case was conducted by the North Texas Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) Strike Group Two; the Dallas Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Guatemala City Country Office and the DEA Country Office in San Jose, Costa Rica; the Dallas Field Office of the FBI; the Dallas and Guatemala Field Offices of Homeland Security Investigation; the Dallas Field Office of the U.S. Marshals Service; and the San Diego Field Office of Customs and Border Protection. The Department of Justice Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance in securing Ubico Aguilar's surrender.
Closeness with politicians
Ubico maintained close friendships with Guatemalan military officials, among them Alejandro Giammattei's defense minister, Henry Reyes Chigua. He was also close to former President Jimmy Morales. While in Congress, he supported Consuelo Porras as attorney general.
In Guatemala, the statement of an effective collaborator in the case against the “Tono Jerez” gang allegedly involved the then congressman Ubico. It mentions a deputy from Sacatepéquez as a supporter, along with agents of the National Civil Police and the Army.
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