In search of a job opportunity, cousins ​​fall into a deadly gang trap

The National Civil Police (PNC) of Guatemala has confirmed the identity of two young men found dead and wrapped in plastic bags in San Cristóbal, a crime that has shocked the country. The bodies correspond to cousins ​​Víctor Leonel Vásquez Méndez and Bryan Raúl Ordóñez Vásquez, both 17 years old and originally from Yupiltepeque, Jutiapa, who had traveled to Guatemala City in search of a supposed job offer, which turned out to be a death trap.

The young men were recruited through social networks with the promise of work in the capital. However, upon arriving at Villa Nueva, they were apparently intercepted by members of the "Solo Para Locos" (SPL) gang from Barrio 18. According to initial reports, the cousins' refusal to join this criminal structure led to a tragic outcome: both were strangled and the act was recorded on video and then spread on social media.

The bodies were found on November 6, on the San Cristóbal slope, near the Villa Lobos bridge. The victims were found wrapped in sheets and plastic bags, abandoned on the side of a road.

Estuardo Custodio Boteo, director of the PNC, explained that the case appears to be linked to a process of "self-purification" in gangs, a practice that has increased in recent months in Guatemala.

The video of the crime shows a group of young people in a private home strangling the cousins ​​using sheets and sticks. During the recording, one of the attackers receives a phone call and states that "the person they were strangling is already dead." The PNC has indicated that these images will be used as evidence to capture the others involved in the murder.

As part of the investigations, the PNC detained a suspect in the CENMA area, identified as Enrique Xuyuj Orozco Tobar, 20, who tried to identify himself as a member of the Guatemalan Army. However, authorities discovered that he was driving a motorcycle that had been reported stolen and that his phone contained images of this crime. Authorities are now continuing to work to identify and capture the rest of those responsible.