Guatemalan Authorities Capture 'The Doll', Member of a Prominent Drug Clan With Ties to the Sinaloa Cartel

“MX” for Borderland Beat

The Guatemalan police announced the arrest of Marta Julia Lorenzana Cordon, alias La Muñeca (The Doll), a member of a prominent crime family responsible for smuggling multi-ton shipments of narcotics to the US from Central America with the help of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.

The clan, once headed by her father Waldemar Lorenzana, was one of the oldest crime families in Guatemala. After the arrest of several of its top members in the 2010s, the group was considered no longer relevant in the criminal landscape. But the investigation and capture of La Muñeca showed that this group was still active.

Reports say that La Muñeca was arrested with an warrant that included a US extradition request. A Guatemalan official commented that Lorenzana and his accomplices trafficked several tons of cocaine that reached Zacapa Department and other places throughout Guatemala and  Mexico before they were smuggled into the US.

As reported by Borderland Beat, in the first months of 2021, close to 20 people with pending extradition orders from the US government have been arrested in Guatemala. Most of them are wanted for drug trafficking.

Los Lorenzana crime family

The Lorenzanas are based in Zacapa Department in Guatemala and have been active in drug trafficking for over two decades. Their group played a “key role” in moving drugs from Colombia to Mexico, where it reached the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The family had deep connections with Colombian drug suppliers because the Lorenzanas reportedly had the support of Guatemalan political elites who were paid off for their operations.

Investigators say that La Muñeca was involved in drug trafficking since 2008. She was once married to Juan José León Ardón, alias “Juancho León”, the head of the Guatemalan crime group Los Leones. Juancho Leon was killed in a shootout in March 2008.

Los Leones worked closely with Los Lorenzana but operated along Guatemala’s eastern border with Honduras and El Salvador. Their original members were car thieves and cattle rustlers before entering the drug trade.

After Juancho Leon was killed, La Muñeca married Jairo Estuardo Orellana, alias “Pelón”, who was a member of Los Lorenzana. He was captured in 2014 and extradited to the US.

In April 2010, the US Department of the Treasury designated La Munca and several other relatives under the Kingpin Act for their role in facilitating the narcotics-trafficking activities of the Sinaloa Cartel in Guatemala. The action prohibited U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with the designated entities and individuals, and froze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

Their influence declined over the years with the arrests of high-profile members, including Waldemar Lorenzana Lima, alias “El Patriaca”, the head of the group. He was extradited to the US in 2014 and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. He died of natural causes the following year. Other relatives of La Muñeca were also extradited to the US and sentenced.

Sources: La Prensa; La Republica; El Periodico; Soy 502 Noticias; (2)