Freddy Arnoldo Salazar Flores, a member of the Central American Parliament from Guatemala, appeared in federal court in Washington, D.C. on May 15. Salazar Flores returned to the United States voluntarily on May 14. His alleged co-conspirator and father-in-law, Aler Baldomero Samayoa-Recinos, also known as "Chicharra," was arrested in Mexico in March 2025 and extradited to the U.S. on May 9.
Salazar Flores was indicted in May 2017 for conspiring to import over five kilograms of cocaine into the United States between 2010 and 2017. Samayoa-Recinos faced separate charges in August 2018. The indictments were unsealed in March 2022.
Court documents allege that Salazar Flores and Samayoa-Recinos operated a drug trafficking organization called Los Huistas, which facilitated cocaine transport from South America through Guatemala to Mexican cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel. The operation involved warehouses and transportation networks within Guatemala, with cocaine transported through properties owned by Samayoa-Recinos into Mexico for further distribution into the U.S.
Between 2010 and 2014, it is alleged that approximately 50 metric tons of cocaine were moved into Mexico under their direction. In April 2014, Honduran authorities seized a shipment of cocaine intended for further transportation by the defendants.
In March 2022, financial sanctions were imposed on Salazar Flores, Samayoa-Recinos, and other members of Los Huistas by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The announcement was made by Matthew R. Galeotti from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Robert J. Murphy from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA Bilateral Investigation Unit along with DEA's Guatemala Country Office led investigations with support from various international agencies including INTERPOL Washington.
Trial Attorneys Doug Meisel and Ligia Markman are prosecuting this case under Operation Take Back America—a DOJ initiative targeting illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations.
"An indictment is merely an allegation," officials stated, emphasizing that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.