No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeCentral AmericaGuatemalaEx-Guatemalan Police Chief Deported from US, Faces Murder Charges

Ex-Guatemalan Police Chief Deported from US, Faces Murder Charges

The United States deported a former local police chief to Guatemala on Monday, who was involved in the homicide of two people in an indigenous village, including a Canadian, the Police reported.

“Deported and captured ex-policeman implicated in crimes against Canadian and Guatemalan,” the Guatemalan Police stated on the social network X, along with a video showing the former officer descending handcuffed from a plane at the capital’s airport.The former police chief faces charges in Guatemala for “the crimes of extrajudicial execution and forced disappearance,” they added.

Vásquez, 33, was arrested on June 11 in the town of McAllen, in the southern state of Texas, as reported at the time by the Guatemalan Interior Minister, Francisco Jiménez.The ex-officer fled to the United States after the murder two months earlier of a Guatemalan and a Canadian in the municipality of San Andrés Itzapa, about 35 km west of Guatemala City.

On April 18, in a confusing incident, the victims were detained by police in that municipality where Vásquez was the chief of the police station.The Canadian died in a hospital allegedly from a beating by the officers, while the body of the other person was found days later.

Four police officers, including two women, were also arrested for the crime of extrajudicial execution.

Trending Now

Costa Rica’s La Fortuna Waterfall Ranks in Top 1% Globally on TripAdvisor

La Fortuna Waterfall in Costa Rica received TripAdvisor's "Best of the Best" award for the second straight year in the Travellers' Choice 2025 rankings....

Costa Rica’s Local Beach Economy Through the Eyes of an Expat

Change is in the air. The threatening, gray, rain-filled clouds of September and October are starting to give way to the pleasing, fluffy, white...

Kyrgios Eyes Australian Open Return with Kooyong Classic Entry

Nick Kyrgios has given his strongest hint yet of a full-scale return to competitive tennis by entering the Kooyong Classic, a key warm-up ahead...

EU to Send First Observer Mission for Costa Rica’s 2026 Elections

The European Union has agreed to send an observer mission to monitor the country's national elections for the first time, marking a new step...

Costa Rica Faces Escalating Gender Violence Crisis, Ombudsman Warns

Costa Rica's Ombudsman has sounded the alarm on a deepening crisis of violence against women, with femicides hitting a peak not seen in over...

No Army in Costa Rica: How a 1948 Decision Changed Central America

On December 1, 1948, José Figueres Ferrer, President of the Founding Junta of the Second Republic, officially abolished the Costa Rican army by symbolically...
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica