U.S. authorities apprehended Eugenio Darío Molina-Lopéz, the suspected leader of The Huistas, a criminal organization based in northwestern Guatemala, dealing a significant blow to Central American drug trafficking networks.
Molina-López, also known as “Don Darío,” was caught in San Diego with a $10 million bounty on his head. He is charged with worldwide conspiracy to distribute controlled narcotics, criminal forfeiture, and conspiracy to distribute cocaine on a vessel.
Molina-López made his first appearance in federal court on Friday, April 24, and pleaded not guilty. A motion hearing and trial are scheduled for May 11 before U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw. Cartel leaders do not get to write the endings of their stories. “We do,” stated US Attorney Adam Gordon. “And once again, the final chapter for a man alleged to be one of the world’s most notorious and prolific cocaine traffickers is here in the Southern District of California.”
Who is Don Dario?
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, Molina-López’s arrest was the result of a multi-year investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, HSI Attaché Guatemala City, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office San Diego.
Molina-López is thought to be the main leader of The Huistas since March 2025, when another top leader of the organization and one of Washington’s top 100 most wanted fugitives, Aler Baldomero Samayoa, better known as “Chicharra,” was apprehended in Mexico and returned to Guatemala.
The arrest of Don Darío is a severe blow to the Huistas, who mostly operate in the Huehuetenango region of northwestern Guatemala, near the border with Mexico.
According to InSight Crime, the Huistas are one of Guatemala’s most formidable drug trafficking organizations, active in Huehuetenango since the late 1990s. The organization began as an affiliate of larger Mexican cartels but eventually established its own networks, allowing it to transport enormous amounts of cocaine from Central America to the United States.
In addition to drug trafficking, the Huistas have established a network of legitimate businesses, including hotels, entertainment centers, workshops, and construction firms.
In 2022, the US sanctioned the group, identifying it as “the dominant criminal structure in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetenango,” while also announcing a reward for Don Darío.
Molina-Lopez’s arrest comes just one day after Audias Flores Silva, a key Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader with a $5 million reward, was apprehended in Nayarit, Mexico.
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