Federal authorities in the United States said a Guatemalan man accused of leading a cross-border drug trafficking network has been arrested in San Diego and brought to court on cocaine-related charges.
The defendant, Eugenio Dario Molina-Lopez, is 61 and is also known by the nicknames “Don Dario” and “Molis,” according to prosecutors. He entered a not guilty plea during a hearing last Friday in federal court.
Officials said the case involves two conspiracy counts tied to cocaine shipments allegedly meant for the U.S. market, including one count related to transport by vessel. Prosecutors said the listed maximum punishment includes life in prison and a $10 million fine, though any sentence would depend on the outcome of the case.
Authorities did not publicly describe how the arrest happened. They also did not say exactly what day he was taken into custody.
Molina-Lopez had previously been sought under a U.S. State Department reward program that offered as much as $10 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction. That reward was announced in 2022.
Prosecutors say Molina-Lopez was charged years earlier, after an indictment was filed in 2019.
They accuse him of running Los Huistas, a trafficking group based in Guatemala’s Huehuetenango area near the Mexican border. U.S. officials described the organization as a large cocaine smuggling operation working out of northwestern Guatemala.
Treasury officials have also linked the group to methamphetamine and heroin trafficking. They said Los Huistas used relationships with Mexican criminal organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, to move narcotics north.
In March 2022, the U.S. government placed sanctions on both Molina-Lopez and Los Huistas. At the time, officials called the group the main criminal structure operating in Huehuetenango.
The investigation that led to the arrest was called Operation Guerrilla Unit. Authorities described it as a long-running case involving U.S. agencies and partner offices in Guatemala and Mexico. The probe also focused on suppliers connected to the organization.
Several agencies were listed by prosecutors, among them Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Other Justice Department and Treasury offices were also involved.
U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement that cartel figures do not get to choose their endings. He added that the case would proceed in the Southern District of California.
Kevin Murphy, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, said cooperation between agencies in different countries helped investigators target what he called a major transnational criminal group.
Drug routes through Central America remain a regular focus of U.S. enforcement efforts. Officials have said most cocaine reaching the United States travels through Central America and Mexico using trucks, aircraft, boats and even submarines.
Los Huistas had already seen other enforcement actions. In March 2025, Aler Baldomero Samayoa, identified by officials as a top leader of the group and one of Washington’s top 100 wanted fugitives, was arrested in Mexico and later deported to Guatemala.
The public announcement of Molina-Lopez’s arrest came one day after authorities in Mexico said they had captured a senior Jalisco cartel figure who carried a separate $5 million U.S. reward offer.
Court records show Molina-Lopez is scheduled to return on May 11 for a motion hearing and trial-setting date before U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw in San Diego.
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