Based on statistics from the Ministry of Governance, this figure marks a 3.54% increase over last year’s seizures (1,750) and a 10.2% rise compared to the previous reporting period (1,647).

Compared to 2022, there was a 3.54 percent increase (1,750), 1.34 percent over 2021 (1,788), and up to a 19.29 percent increase compared to 2020 (1,500), the note stated.

These results are due to the strengthening of police service, explained the Deputy Minister of Security of Mingob, José Portillo, who mentioned a redesign aimed at reinforcing protection mechanisms and response capacity.

He added that the strategy identifies areas of high crime and deploys operations. “In addition, we intensified the searches in prisons,” the official asserted. Five departments (out of 22) account for almost 60 percent of the total weapons confiscated in the first six months of 2025: Guatemala, with 650; Escuintla, 138; Jutiapa, 105; Zacapa, 104; and Chiquimula, 86.

The Platform for the Communication of Statistical Data on Criminal Incidence of Mingob also specified the type of weaponry seized, including more than 1,300 pistols.

The rest are revolvers, shotguns, rifles, assault rifles, homemade weapons (of artisanal or illegal manufacture), submachine guns, and carbines.

When addressing three operations from the past 10th, the head of the Interior Ministry, Francisco Jiménez, stated that the seizure of 13 firearms saved many lives.

Analysts on the subject stated some time ago that between 800,000 and 900,000 illegal weapons circulate in the country, while former Deputy Minister of Governance Mario Mérida asserted that up to 2018, 200,000 were counted.

He considered that this number could have increased between 400 and 450 percent due to illegal trafficking.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed 631,546 of these registered artifacts and 219 authorized armories in the nation.

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