A federal grand jury in San Diego has indicted 13 Guatemalan nationals, alleging their involvement in a cocaine trafficking organization based in La Mesilla and Democracia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The indictment was unsealed on Friday and returned on May 31, 2019. Among those charged are Baldemar Calderon-Carrillo, known as “Don Valde,” and his son Walfre Donaldo Calderon-Calderon, also known as “El Teniente Jr.”
On June 13, 2025, federal agents received information that Calderon-Carrillo had been killed during a shootout with Mexican authorities on June 8, 2025. U.S. agents are working to confirm the details of his death. Videos showing the incident have circulated on news outlets and social media.
In January 2023, Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon, another son of Calderon-Carrillo who is included in the indictment under the alias “Panon,” was arrested in Paris and extradited to the United States in March 2024. He pleaded guilty to international cocaine distribution conspiracy charges in February 2025.
Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon’s plea agreement revealed that he conspired to distribute cocaine from at least 2017 until May 31, 2019. He admitted his involvement with a drug trafficking organization operating out of La Mesilla, Huehuetenango. The conspiracy reportedly involved at least 550 kilograms of cocaine smuggled into the United States via Mexico.
He was sentenced to 87 months in prison on May 30, 2025. Meanwhile, other defendants remain fugitives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari is prosecuting this case with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and French authorities for Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon’s arrest and extradition.
The indictment serves as an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
