Two children of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli are detained in Guatemala

Two sons of Martinelli arrested in Guatemala 3:06

(CNN Spanish) - Two sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli were detained this Monday at La Aurora International Airport, located in Guatemala City, when they passed through the Immigration Department before boarding a plane bound for Panama, he confirmed to CNN. the spokesman for the Guatemalan Ministry of the Interior, Vinicio Pacheco.

According to Pacheco, at that moment an alert from Interpol appeared. The Guatemalan National Police said through a statement that “these people, upon being identified, are notified of a provisional arrest warrant for Extradition purposes dated July 3 of this year for the reason of conspiracy to commit money laundering involving an specific activity according to the United States code ”.

The brothers Luis Enrique and Alberto Martinelli Linares were transferred to the Tower of Courts in the Guatemalan capital to be made available to the judicial body. The lawyer for both in Guatemala, José Aguilar, told CNN that the detainees were trying to take a humanitarian flight to Panama to appear before the courts of that country. Aguilar added that the Martinelli brothers "are completely unaware of what this accusation from the United States is about and consider that the procedure for their arrest was inadequate."

CNN was able to verify that the Martinelli brothers were traveling with diplomatic passports. According to the statement from the Guatemalan National Police, the detainees "indicate that they are alternate deputies to the Central American Parliament for the State of Panama," which is why the defense of the accused considers that their detention was irregular.

After the arrest, the Martinelli Linares family said in a statement: "We trust that the legal situation of the Martinelli brothers, in the Republic of Guatemala, will be resolved as soon as possible, so that they continue the process of return to Panama, with the in order to attend to the processes for which they have been cited ”.

With information from Michelle Mendoza

Ricardo Martinelli