A Guatemalan national has been extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges in the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced on Mar. 17.
Elmer Antonio Pancan Barrios, also known as “Chepio,” age 42, was extradited from Guatemala to the United States on March 5 after being charged in a federal indictment with drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas.
According to the indictment, Pancan Barrios is accused of conspiring with and assisting other international drug traffickers in manufacturing, distributing, and transporting large amounts of cocaine into the United States for further distribution.
This case falls under the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is described as a partnership among government agencies focused on eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating both within the United States and abroad. The task force emphasizes investigating crimes involving children and uses all available tools to prosecute and remove violent criminal aliens from the country.
If convicted, Pancan Barrios could face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. The investigation is being conducted by several offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), including those based in Dallas; Guatemala City; Bogota; Cartagena; Panama; and San Jose.
The Justice Department expressed gratitude to Guatemalan authorities for their cooperation in making the extradition possible. Assistance was also provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala.
Officials remind that an indictment is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
