The grenade misses its target: Marlon Ochoa, the imprisoned brother of the founder of Guatemala’s ‘Calle 18’ gang

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

At least one woman was killed and 22 people were injured Tuesday after a drive-by grenade attack outside Guatemala’s second-largest hospital aimed at a jailed gang leader who was having a checkup, the country’s interior minister said.

Marlon Ochoa, the brother of the founder of Guatemala’s “Calle 18” gang, had been taken from prison for a checkup at the San Juan de Dios hospital in Guatemala City when the morning attack took place, Mauricio López told reporters.

Ochoa was already inside the building and was unscathed, he added.

A grenade was lobbed at the prison services vehicle he had travelled in and assailants on a motorbike and in a car opened fire, López said. The car was later found abandoned with guns in it, he added.

“This may be an attack by the Mara Salvatrucha, because if it had been a rescue, there would have been a shootout with the guards,” López said.

Gangs have long run riot through much of Central America, one of the world’s most violent regions.

First formed in the 1980s in the US by Central American immigrants, the “Calle 18” and “Mara Salvatrucha” gangs, or “maras”, later blossomed into international franchises as members were deported back to their home countries.