Ashly Jordan
Ashly Jordan1,2, Pamela Ruiz1. 1Behavioral Science Training Program in Drug Abuse Research, New York University, United States; 2Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, United States
Background: In the global illicit drug market, individual countries are generally recognized as primarily being drug transit, production, or consumption countries. This classification impacts domestic legislation as well as international cooperation agreements. While Guatemala has historically functioned as a drug corridor, recent data suggest domestic shifts with increasing domestic drug production/consumption reflecting larger, regional shifts in drug markets and narcotrafficking and in response to evolving bilateral agreements in the Americas. The crisis in population-level drug use and harm related to drug use and drug trafficking cannot be overstated.
Methods: Data from the Guatemala National Civilian Police (illicit drug seizures), the Prosecutor’s Office (drug-related arrests), and the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (autopsy/toxicology) from 2015-2019 was used to examine patterns in and correlations between drug transit, production, and drug-related arrests and deaths at the department-population level. We mapped significant findings to display their concentration. We tested for spatial autocorrelation.
Results: There were 1,405, 109, and 4,591 arrests for drug transit, production, and consumption. Largest drug seizures were for amphetamines and powdered cocaine; and marijuana and poppy plants were the largest drug production seizures. There were few recorded drug-related deaths. Death from pesticides represented 81%-87% of all autopsies. Correlation analyses demonstrate complex relationships that vary geographically within Guatemala.
Conclusion: This paper presents one of the first analyses examining relationships between drug-related arrests, drug seizures, and population-level drug-related autopsies and clinical reports in Guatemala. The lack of systematized information in Guatemala is a gap. These data are of particular interest given current events in the Americas and changing drug market and production dynamics in the context of an increasing population-level drug use throughout the region.