Guatemalan authorities extradited to the United States Romeo Ramos Cruz, a former mayor accused of having been part of a cocaine trafficking network, the Ministry of the Interior and the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City reported on Wednesday.

According to the Department of Justice, between 2022 and 2024, while he was mayor of the southern municipality of Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, Romeo Ramos Cruz was a "key member" of an organization in Guatemala dedicated to transporting cocaine to the United States market, according to the diplomatic mission.

During this period, Ramos Cruz held a public office as mayor of the municipality of Santa Lucía, in the Guatemalan department of Escuintla, and is accused of having taken advantage of his official position to facilitate the operations of the organization. As part of the conspiracy.

Ramos Cruz allegedly used his authority and access to coordinate the logistics and transportation of cocaine shipments destined for the United States. On one occasion, he agreed to help disguise a cocaine shipment from Venezuela to Guatemala as a cement shipment. He also prepared a letter with official municipal letterhead so that the shipment could evade inspection by Guatemalan authorities.

Arrested in May, Ramos Cruz, 57, was extradited on Monday "under strict security measures" for drug trafficking crimes, Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez said Wednesday in X.

The former mayor, known as "Alpha," was handed over to a District of Columbia court in Washington DC, and on Tuesday attended his first appearance, the US embassy added in a statement.