John A. Sarcone III Visit to Guatemala For Historic Meeting Between U.S. Department of Justice Officials and Guatemala Government President, Attorney General and Minister

On September 21, 2026, First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III traveled to Guatemala for a two-day conference along with a delegation from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to discuss with Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala Attorney General Gabriel García Luna, and Guatemala Minister of the Interior Marco Antonio Villeda Sandoval collaborative ways to assist Guatemala in eradicating cartels from its country who traffic drugs and humans into the United States. The historic meeting was sponsored by the United States Embassy in Guatemala and was hosted by Chargé d'Affaires Jorgan Andrews, in coordination with the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT), which is a program within the DOJ's Criminal Division that helps foreign countries improve their criminal justice systems.

The delegation from the DOJ was led by Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Skaret, Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) Director Jay Bauer, and Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV) Senior Advisor Gilberto Guerrer Jr. United States Attorneys representing border districts attended from the Southern District of California, District of Arizona, District of New Mexico, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Eastern District of Texas, Southern District of Florida, along with representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala.

JTFA is a joint initiative by the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created to dismantle dangerous transnational human smuggling and trafficking networks. JTFV is a DOJ federal law enforcement initiative created to dismantle and destroy transnational gangs like MS-13 and has been expanded to target other violent networks like Tren de Aragua.

On September 22, 2026, First Assistant United States Attorney Sarcone traveled to the Presidential Palace and met with Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo to discuss how the Mexican cartels have expanded into Guatemala. The meeting focused on the collaboration both countries will have moving forward to identify cartel members and stop the trafficking before it reaches U.S. borders. Later that day, First Assistant United States Attorney Sarcone spoke to the Guatemalan press at a press briefing, which was covered by many Guatemalan press outlets including Prensa LibreLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

On September 23, 2026, at the Salon Amate Conference Center, First Assistant United States Attorney Sarcone gave a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation to illustrate the challenges faced in the Northern District of New York with the Akwesasne Mohawk Tribal lands and Canadian border, which is considered the most serious threat to national security of any border today in the United States of America. Sarcone stated, "Since taking over leadership in the Northern District of New York, I have made it a priority to fight back against transnational networks who think they can bring their crimes to this district. Building these strong foreign partnerships to fight transnational crime, corruption, and terrorism before it reaches U.S. soil is instrumental in this fight. This office will persistently pursue those who endanger human life through smuggling and trafficking activities and will continue to support our Guatemalan partners. This meeting shows the power of bringing together prosecutors, agents, and international partners to target and dismantle some of the most dangerous international criminal networks. My office will not stop until these groups are eliminated."

John A. Sarcone III is the First Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York. United States Attorney's Offices conduct most of the trial work in which the United States is a party. The Northern District of New York encompasses 32 counties in Northern and Central New York, covering more than 30,000 square miles, with over 300 miles of border with Canada.

Presidential Palace front row (l) to (r): Attorney General Gabriel Estuardo Garcia Luna, Ministry of Governance Marco Antonio Villeda Sandoval, President Cesar Bernardo Arevalo De Leon, Charge d'Affaires Jorgan K. Andrews, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Skaret, OPDAT Director Erik Peterson.

Middle row (l) to (r): First Assistant USA John Sarcone of NDNY, USA Timothy Courchaine of DAZ, USA Aaron Reitz of SDTX, USA Ryan Raybould of NDTX, USA Jay Combs of EDTX.

Back row (l) to (r): First Assistant USA Ryan Ellison of DNM, Executive Assistant USA Victor White of SDCA, USA Justin Simmons of WDTX, Executive Assistant USA John Grivner of SDF.

(l) to (r): OPDAT RLA George Leal, USA Ryan Raybould of NDTX, First Assistant USA Ryan Ellison of DNM, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Grivner of SDF, JTFA Director Jay Bauer, Executive Assistant USA Victor White of SDCA, Jose Raul Lopez Lamadrid, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Skaret of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Fiscal General Gabriel Eduardo Garcia Luna, USA Justin Simmons of WDTX, Senior Adviser for JTFV Operations Gilberto Guerrero Jr., USA Timothy Courchaine of DAZ, USA Jay Combs of EDTX, First Assistant USA John Sarcone of NDNY, OPDAT Director Erik Peterson, and Consular Licenciado Carlos Ganddini.

United States of America Embassy in Guatemala, Front row (l) to (r): First Assistant USA John Sarcone of NDNY, USA Jay Combs of EDTX, OPDAT Director Erik Peterson, USA Ryan Raybould of NDTX, First Assistant USA Ryan Ellison of DNM, Senior Adviser for JTFV Operations Gilberto Guerrero Jr., RLA George Leal.

Back row (l) to (r): Executive Assistant USA Victor White of SDCA, JTFA Director Jay Bauer, U.S. Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Jorgan Andrews, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Skaret of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division, USA Aaron Reitz of SDTX, USA Justin Simmons of WDTX, and USA Timothy Courchaine of DAZ.