Known by the aliases of “Julie”, “Julia” or “Morena”, Marta Julia Lorenzana Cordón, 47, became this Thursday, March 14, the Guatemalan with the most years in prison in the United States after having been convicted on charges of drug trafficking, activities that, according to investigations, she would have carried out hand in hand with the Sinaloa cartel of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Marta Julia, daughter of the former leader of the Lorenzana clan, Waldemar Lorenzana Lima, known as “The Patriarch” who, according to the US Department of Justice, has been “one of the largest and most influential drug cartels in Guatemala” , was sentenced this Thursday in the United States to 33 years in prison and a fine of US$27 million for drug trafficking.
Marta Julia’s life has been marked by events related to drug trafficking, since, according to anti-narcotics authorities, “El Patriarca”, her father, who died in 2021 in the US prison where he was serving a 23-year sentence, years for drug trafficking, he was the leader of what they describe as a family clan.
According to investigations by the US Justice Department, the Lorenzana clan had links with the Mexican Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence in the US.
From this account, the investigations against the operations of the Lorenzana family included Marta Julia, who was captured in an anti-drug operation on April 30, 2021, in Zacapa, at the request of the United States, where she was extradited on the 10th. December of the same year, together with brother Haroldo Jeremías Lorenzana Cordón.
The daughter of “El Patriarca” pleaded guilty in May 2023 to a charge related to the distribution of cocaine for importation into the United States, a statement from the Department of Justice indicates.
According to US anti-narcotics authorities, between 1996 and 2019 the Lorenzana clan coordinated the transportation, storage and distribution of tons of cocaine from Colombia to Central America and Mexico for final distribution in the United States, allegations that were used in the accusation. which concluded with a sentence of 33 years in prison.
In addition, two of Marta Julia’s brothers, Eliu Elixander and Waldemar Lorenzana Cordón, were also convicted of drug trafficking in the US and have been serving life sentences since 2019, while another, Haroldo Geremias, is awaiting sentencing.
According to the US Treasury Department, in 2012, Marta Julia belonged to the drug trafficking network of her brothers and father, partners of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel. In 2014, she married drug trafficker Jairo Orellana, when he was detained in the Matamoros Barracks, prior to his extradition in 2015.
His name does not appear in the files of his brothers and his father in the United States, which includes Ovaldino Lorenzana Cordón, still free, and for whom there is no public information indicating that he has an arrest warrant in Guatemala.
The Prosecutor’s Office affirms that Marta Julia Lorenzana admitted that she trafficked 27 thousand kilos of cocaine between 2008 and 2019.
“The defendant revealed that she earned between US$1,000 and US$2,000 for each kilo she sold to her co-conspirators (…), which was her main source of income,” said a prosecutor.
“Based on her testimony, she received at least US$27 million from her drug trafficking businesses, and knew that most of the cocaine would be transported to the United States,” he added.
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