NEW YORK — A presidential candidate in Guatemala has been arrested in Miami on drug charges.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman says Mario Amilcar Estrada Orellana promised to let a drug cartel use Guatemalan ports and airports.

He says Estrada and a second defendant also conspired to try to arrange the assassinations of political rivals. Estrada was arrested Wednesday in Miami along with fellow defendant Juan Pablo Gonzalez Mayorga.

Both were charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and a related weapons offense.

It was unclear who will represent them when the men appear before a federal magistrate in Miami on Thursday.

Berman credited the Drug Enforcement Agency with using confidential sources to convince Estrada and Gonzalez that they were dealing with members of a powerful Mexico-based drug cartel. </s> By The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A presidential candidate in Guatemala has been arrested in Miami on drug charges. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman says Mario Amilcar Estrada Orellana promised to let a drug cartel use Guatemalan…

NEW YORK (AP) — A presidential candidate in Guatemala has been arrested in Miami on drug charges.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman says Mario Amilcar Estrada Orellana promised to let a drug cartel use Guatemalan ports and airports.

He says Estrada and a second defendant also conspired to try to arrange the assassinations of political rivals. Estrada was arrested Wednesday in Miami along with fellow defendant Juan Pablo Gonzalez Mayorga.

Both were charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and a related weapons offense.

It was unclear who will represent them when the men appear before a federal magistrate in Miami on Thursday.

Berman credited the Drug Enforcement Agency with using confidential sources to convince Estrada and Gonzalez that they were dealing with members of a powerful Mexico-based drug cartel.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> U.S. authorities have detained former Guatemalan presidential candidate Manuel Baldizon to face charges in Guatemala.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City said Sunday the detention occurred at an undisclosed location in accordance with an Interpol request.

The charges involve Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has acknowledged paying bribes across the region and elsewhere to win public works contracts.

Baldizon is a tycoon-turned-political populist who lost a runoff election in 2011 to Otto Perez Molina, the former president who is himself facing trial in a separate corruption case.

A statement from prosecutors alleges Baldizon took bribes from Odebrecht to help win highway construction contracts in Guatemala. He faces charges of conspiracy, receiving bribes and money laundering in the first Odebrecht-related corruption case in Guatemala. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - U.S. authorities have detained former Guatemalan presidential candidate Manuel Baldizon to face charges in Guatemala.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City said Sunday the detention occurred at an undisclosed location in accordance with an Interpol request.

The charges involve Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has acknowledged paying bribes across the region and elsewhere to win public works contracts.

FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2011 file photo, Manuel Baldizon, presidential candidate of Guatemala's Democratic Freedom Revival Party, gives a press conference in Guatemala City. Baldizon was arrested on Jan. 20, 2018 at a U.S. airport for immigration irregularities, and after deportation to Guatemala he will face corruption charges in connection with Odebrecht. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

Baldizon is a tycoon-turned-political populist who lost a runoff election in 2011 to Otto Perez Molina, the former president who is himself facing trial in a separate corruption case.

A statement from prosecutors alleges Baldizon took bribes from Odebrecht to help win highway construction contracts in Guatemala. He faces charges of conspiracy, receiving bribes and money laundering in the first Odebrecht-related corruption case in Guatemala.
A judge in Miami orders the arrest of Guatemalan presidential candidate Roberto Arzú. Arzú is the second presidential candidate who has had legal problems with the United States.